I saw GnR the last time they came through, and was amazed. But this show blew the previous tours out of the water!

Duff and his solo band opened. Duff cracked jokes about “The elephant in the room” (him opening for a band he helped launch), before playing a full hour of Loaded material, as well as GnR songs “So Fine”, “Attitude” and “New Rose”.

When Duff left the stage I figured we were in for a long wait. We barely had time to comment on Duff’s show and suddenly the house lights were down and the crowd was screaming. It seriously was the shortest wait between bands I’ve ever seen. The opening strains of Chinese Democracy began and the crowd erupted. My girlfriend is a Chinese Democracy fan, and when Axl’s vocals kicked in sounding raw and note-perfect, her eyes actually watered up with happiness. They launched right into Welcome To The Jungle next, and when Axl nailed every single scream perfectly, my girlfriend was so happy she held her face in her hands and cried. That will always be my favorite GnR memory. Axl paused during the “You know where you are” breakdown in Jungle and told the crowd that the song had been written in Seattle!

During Estranged, all the fans in the front row held up inflatable dolphins and waved them around in time with the beat. One of them was thrown on stage and Axl kicked it back into the crowd.

Axl congratulated all the former members of the band for the Hall of Fame induction, and then launched right into “Sorry”. Which could be a pretty cold blow if it really is about Slash.

Later Axl invited Duff on stage to play on You Could Be Mine, which I videotaped:

GnR’s performance was over THREE HOURS LONG. They played everything I wanted to hear, and lots of covers and solos.

Aside from Axl’s vocals, my favorite part of the show was definitely DJ. He ran, jumped off risers and interacted with the crowd the entire time, while playing the hell out of the songs in his bluesy Slash style while still making them his own instead of merely copying previous guitarists. He has that energy that GnR had in their club days, and it really adds to the show.

Here’s the Seattle PI’s take on the night:

Guns N’ Roses, Loaded set KeyArena on fire

By GENE STOUT

It was classic arena rock: Axl Rose and Guns N’ Roses — plus former bandmate Duff McKagan and Loaded — on stage Friday, Dec. 16, at Seatle’s KeyArena.

Face-melting pyrotechnics, numerous spotlight solos, five video screens and a split-level stage with a “grille” of LED lights – all done in a red, white and black color scheme that would have pleased Santa’s wardrobe department.

Seattle fans got a special treat when former G N’ R bassist (and Seattle native) McKagan opened the show with his current band, Loaded – then joined Rose and company later for a raucous version of “You Could Be Mine.”

The Key was maybe 15 percent full at the official start time of 7:30 p.m., but filled to more than half capacity for the opening set by Loaded. By the time Rose and Guns N’ Roses took the stage at 10:30 p.m., the arena was completely packed. G N’ R continued playing into the wee hours of the morning, rocking and rolling through a long, loud, lead-footed show.

The boisterous concert opened with the theme to TV’s “Dexter,” before exploding with a flash pot-enhanced version of “Chinese Democracy” – followed by “Welcome to the Jungle,” “It’s So Easy” and “Mr. Brownstone.”

With more than 30 songs in the marathon set, the band charged through its songs like a grizzly bear on fire.

Classic songs peppered the show, among them “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City.” Rose, wearing jeans, black jacket, black hat, dark glasses and several crosses around his neck, was in great form, commanding the crowd’s attention.

Even at 49, Rose still has plenty of sass and attitude, qualities fans expect from the veteran rocker and only original member of G N’ R. He looked fit.

Band members playing solos included guitarists Richard Fortus, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (on “Pink Panther” theme) and DJ Ashba (“Ballad of Death”); pianist Dizzy Reed (“Baba O’Reilly) and frontman Rose, also on piano (“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and other songs). Among the instrumental jams was a powerful take on “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2.” And bassist Tommy Stinson was featured on the song “Motivation.”

There were some other choice cover songs, too, among them Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” AC/DC’s “Riff Raff” and “Whole Lotta Rosie”; and Paul McCartney and Wings’ James Bond theme, “Live And Let Die.”

The audience clearly got its money’s worth from the marathon rock ‘n’ roll show. The current tour is a nice prelude to the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2012.

A highlight reel of Seattle footage filmed in the front row:

DUFF MCKAGAN’S LOADED — the band led by VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N’ ROSES bassist Duff McKagan — will open for the current version of GUNS N’ ROSES on the following dates:

Dec. 16 – Seattle, WA – KeyArena
Dec. 17 – Vancouver, BC – Pacific Coliseum

McKagan made a surprise guest appearance in October 2010 with GUNS N’ ROSES at London, England’s O2 arena. He told Seattle radio station KISW last year that playing in London with the current version of the band he left in the mid-Nineties was “great.” McKagan came onstage during the group’s October 14, 2010 gig to play on “You Could Be Mine”, “Patience”, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” and “Nice Boys”, sticking around to take a bow with Rose and the rest of the group at the end of the show. The gig marked the first time McKagan had performed with GUNS N’ ROSES in 17 years.

GUNS N’ ROSES is among the artists that will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at its 27th annual ceremony on April 14, 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio, home to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame And Museum. Also scheduled to be inducted are RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, BEASTIE BOYS, THE SMALL FACES/FACES, Donovan and Laura Nyro. Freddie King well enter the Hall Of Fame as an Early Influence, while the late producer and TV host Don Kirshner will receive the Ahmet Ertegun (nonperformer) Award and producers Cosimo Matassa, Tom Dowd and Glyn Johns will receive the Award For Musical Excellence.

The ceremony will be taped for broadcast by HBO, which plans to air it in early May. Like the 2009 inductions, which were also held in Cleveland, the event will be open to the public; tickets go on sale for Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame + Museum members at 10 a.m. on December 16, and to the general public at 10 a.m. the next day. Tickets are $50 and $100, with a two-ticket limit on all orders. More information is available at www.rockhall.com.

GUNS N’ ROSES was nominated in its first year of eligibility.

“It’s a great honor,” former GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Gilby Clarke told The Plain Dealer. “The band deserves it. It was a long time coming.”

Acts become eligible 25 years after the release of their first record.

Show cancelled by the venue, NOT cancelled by Axl

GUNS N’ ROSES’ show scheduled for tomorrow night (Wednesday, November 23) at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York has been canceled.

“Due to production issues beyond the venue’s control, Magic City Productions and the Times Union Center are forced to cancel the appearance of GUNS N’ ROSES set to take place on November 23, 2011,” said Stu Green of Magic City Productions. “We apologize for any inconvenience.”

GUNS N’ ROSES’ management has released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:

“GUNS N’ ROSES will continue their tour on Friday, November 25 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts and the remainder of the tour as scheduled.”

Refunds for will be available at the original point of purchase beginning immediately. Tickets purchased online through Ticketmaster or over the phone will automatically be refunded to the credit card used.

New Year’s Eve will never be the same! The final show of the 2011 U.S. tour will be one big party on December 31 at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

The band will perform a two and a half hour show with all of their hits. Tickets go on sale Nov. 19.

Visit www.hardrockhotel.com for information on New Year’s Eve room & ticket packages.

SOURCE: http://thejointlasvegas.com/Home/Events/Event-Details.aspx?id=183

That Metal Show kicks off its ninth season Friday with an interview that will likely appeal to more than just hardcore metal fans.

Yep, the one and only Axl Rose sits down for a chat with the hosts of the VH1 Classic series this week. And, as host Eddie Trunk tells it, the goings-on behind the scenes are a story within itself.

USA Today called Trunk to get the scoop:

Eddie Trunk

Me: Hi, Eddie. I’m eager to talk to you — this sounds like one of your biggest episodes yet.

Eddie: It’s going to be a little different than the normal episodes, because we’re on location and we’re not doing the usual shenanigans. But as far as from an interview standpoint, it’s certainly up there, yeah.

Axl seems so reclusive. How did you get him to come on the show?

He has new management, and they reached out to VH1 and inquired about what sort of things that they might be able to do to get the word out that Axl’s out on the road and all that. And I have a little bit of history with Axl, because five years ago he walked into my radio studio and did his only interview to date, really, in a long time. He hung out with me on the air for about three and a half hours.

There was already a connection and … some sort of trust. So I think that was a big part of it. We were told that there was a chance he would sit down with us if we were at the venue. Originally, I was hearing that it might be some sort of a hotel room interview, kind of like 60 Minutes-style type thing. And then I was told, “Well, what if we just bring all the guys and do a version of (That Metal Show) from the Guns show?”

Of course, we were up for anything. To be honest with you, we never had a firm commitment — even when we went down there — that this was 100% gonna happen. It was a big gamble.

We weren’t sure if he was gonna show up and when he was gonna show up, so to that end, we got to the venue very early at, like, 3 o’clock. Axl walked into the venue at, like, 8 o’clock. He walked onstage at midnight and played until 3 a.m., and he walked in and sat down with us around 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning. So it was a long, long day. But obviously you’ve gotta kind of expect that going in if you’re going to try to do something with Axl. (Laughs)

So were you exhausted by that point?

By the time the interview happened, I was coming up on 24 hours with no sleep, so I was a little crispy. Once he went onstage at midnight, I was like, “There’s no way this guy walks offstage and goes and does a TV interview.” So it was a huge shock to me that he actually did end up coming and sitting with us.

But you know, there’s a woman that’s an adviser to him that’s been with him for a long, long time. Her name is Beta. And I think she, more than any management, has Axl’s trust. Midway through the set, she came over and said, “I’m gonna get him to come over to see you afterwards.” And when she said that, that’s when I went back and told the crew, “I think this is gonna happen.”

We’ll obviously see on Friday, but how did Axl look to you?

I thought he looked good — it’s funny, because the three of us were wiped. We were there all day. We interviewed everybody but Axl by the time he walked in. We were interviewing fans, we were interviewing crew, we interviewed Buckcherry, who opened the show … So we were all pretty wiped out come 5 in the morning. But Axl looked great. I mean, listen: That’s probably prime time for him.

I think we all did as good of a job as you could expect under the circumstances, and we were obviously amped that he came in and did it. But at the same token, in a perfect world scoring an interview of that magnitude, I probably would’ve preferred to be a little more sharp.

It’s funny, because most artists don’t wanna do anything after a gig, let alone after a three-hour set. But he was looking and sounding at the top of his game at 5:30 in the morning.

What was the first question on your mind for Axl?

I was curious about how he felt about Chinese Democracy since it had been released. I was kind of curious to see … what his take is on it now that he’s had time to live with it. So we discussed that a little bit, and I also asked him exactly what is up with all the lateness, you know? He said it has been a lifelong problem for him; it dates back to when he was a little kid.

Was there anything surprising or new that you learned about him?

I think there are some things the audience will learn and find surprising. For me personally, no, only because I had this experience with him once already. So I already kind of knew that he’s a good guy and a fun guy and a music fan. I think there’s a lot of things that are probably very misunderstood about him.

There’s been every story in the world about this guy, but I can only speak from my two personal experiences dealing with him in interview situations. And both were really fun and really positive and (he showed) a good sense of humor. I talked to him about the style in which he sings — if it’s tough on him now that he’s older. He joked about how hard it is to sing a song like You Could Be Mine: “What the hell was I thinking when I did that?”

So I think people are going to see a side of him they may not have realized existed. Is he a sensitive guy? Absolutely. But he also has a great sense of humor about it, and I didn’t get the sense that he was gonna storm off and was on the edge of his seat. He really started to get comfortable and warmed up to hanging out with us. He loved talking music, he loved talking about this version of the band and how he feels about going forward.

He stressed a number of times that this tour is really important for him, to finally once and for all establish the line-up and this group the way he really wants to. He feels he’s got a good team around him.

Friday (11/11/11) has been declared National Metal Day. How will you be celebrating?

I will be doing the same thing I’ve been doing for the last 30 years: my radio show. I think this is a wonderful promotion and all that, but for me every day is Metal Day.

Note: The Axl Rose episode of That Metal Show airs Nov. 11 at 11 p.m. ET on VH1 Classic.

Axl and DJ finally open up to Eddie Trunk on 11/11/11!

Axl Rose gave an hour-long interview to VH1 Classic‘s “That Metal Show” early this morning (Sunday, October 30) — a couple of hours after the band’s headlining performance at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.

In a series of tweets, “That Metal Show” co-host Eddie Trunk expressed his frustration about having to wait around for Axl to decide whether or not he wanted to speak on camera, “[It's] 5:30 a.m. [now], [and we] got to this arena at 3:00 p.m. [on Saturday],” he wrote. “[We are] still here…. If this interview happens, I might dose off for the first time ever in an interview. . . My producer ain’t giving up on this and I’m [here] working for VH1, so [I'm] sticking it out until he calls it. But this is nuts!” Shortly before 7:00 a.m., Trunk tweeted, “[Five] years after [Axl gave a] radio interview [to 'Friday Night Rocks', a show hosted by Trunk. — Ed.], Axl Rose has just done an hour interview for ['That Metal Show']. History made! Will air [on November 11] on VH1 Classic! Get ready!”

Check out this hysterical clip of Axl Rose in the Hotel Sheraton Asuncion in Paraguay, telling a story about his time partying with Slash.

Axl braved a downpour, and the show went on despite severe technical difficulties

GUNS N’ ROSES headlined the closing night of the Rock In Rio festival (Sunday, October 2) in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The band hit the stage at about 2:45 a.m. local time in the pouring rain and kicked off the show with “Chinese Democracy” before singer Axl Rose addressed the crowd. “Good evening… good morning,” the singer said. “Please bear with us and give us a little second here to figure out what to do about not falling on our asses. I’m gonna try to focus on singing rather than running around like an idiot. I’m better at being an idiot. We want everybody to be careful.”

The band surprised fans by performing “Estranged” for the first time since the Use Your Illusions tours.

Professionally filmed video footage of GUNS N’ ROSES‘ Rock In Rio performance can be seen below.

GUNS N’ ROSES will embark on its first U.S. tour in five years this fall. The trek will kick off October 28 in Orlando, Florida and will include stops in 30 cities — fueled by Monster Energy — from October to New Year’s Eve.

GUNS N’ ROSES made its first U.S. concert appearance in four years and only one of 2010 when it headlined the fifth and final night of the Rock ‘N Rev Festival at the 70th annual Sturgis Bike Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota on August 13, 2010.

The U.S. tour is getting fired up, and with that comes a whole round of new promotion. Check out this new television commercial for the U.S. tour!