Guns N Roses - Guns N Roses Live

Hammerstein Ballroom
May 14, 2006


4 out of 5 stars

Touring Lineup:
Axl Rose - Vocals
Robin Finck - Guitar
Ron Thal - Guitar
Richard Fortus - Guitar
Tommy Stinson - Bass
Dizzy Reed - Keyboards
Chris Pittman - Keyboards
Brain - Drums

In the interest of full disclosure I should start by saying that I view Guns N Roses as the most overrated/over-hyped band in the history of music.  I can’t even think of a close second. That’s not to say I don’t like the band. Appetite for Destruction is without a doubt one of the greatest records ever made, it holds it’s own against anything the Beatles or Stones ever produced but that doesn’t put them on a level with either of those bands and it puzzles me when people lump G’n’R with some of the greatest bands ever. They simple don’t have the catalog to back the hype.

So it was with this love/hate opinion of G’n’R that I entered Hammerstein Ballroom Sunday night, May 14, 2006. I entered excited, wanting to relive a bit of my youth and maybe even see something special ( Izzy join the band for a song, etc.). By 10:45 my excitement had turned to annoyance. Well over an hour had passed since the opening act had left the stage and knowing Axl’s track record another hour might have passed before the show starts.

11pm, the opening notes of “Welcome to the Jungle” ring out.  Sporting a goatee, dark aviator style sunglasses, blue jeans and an open black shirt, the original international man of mystery hit the stage. (The goatee makes him look a little like home run slugger Mark Maguire) For the first few songs the vocals were low in the mix but the crowd was more than happy to fill in the gaps. The band - all 7 of them - sounded amazing. Although, I have no idea why Axl needs 3 guitar players. The sound was surprisingly clean; not muddy as you’d expect with so many people playing. Bumblefoot, the bands newest member seemed a bit out of place at times which may have had to do with the fact that he’d just joined the band a week earlier.

By the fourth song, “Rocket Queen”, Axl’s vocals had been pushed front and center and he was delivering the goods. His trademark raspy scream is as powerful now as it was 2 decades ago.  He seemed genuinely excited to be on stage and the 30-something crowd was worked into a tizzy...and they would stay that way the whole night slowing down only to catch their breath during the multiple guitar solos. Richard Fortus and Robin Finck’s instrumental version of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” was interesting and cool and would have been a nice break from the pedal-to-the-metal show—if it was the only break! Most likely the multiple guitar solos were put in to give Axl a rest but they all seemed oddly placed and...well, boring.

The set list barely touched on the Use Your Illusion era. “Live and Let Die” and “November Rain” were punctuated with large amounts of pyro. More pyro than I’ve ever seen used for a venue the size of Hammerstein.

Before “My Michelle” Axl explained to the crowd that he had lost his voice after the first night of this 4 night NYC stay and if it hadn’t been for a call to an old friend he wouldn’t have been able to perform this show. He brought out Sebastian Bach and thanked him for referring him to a doctor who helped him regain his voice. As Baz and Axl traded vocals it was easy to turn back the hands of time and remember how special the late 80’s and early 90’s were for fans of hard rock music. Somehow, the 30-something crowd found some reserves of energy and exploded with excitement as we all forgot what year it was.

The encore began with yet another guitar solo that segued into Paradise City, capping 2 hours of music. It’s hard to watch Axl on stage and not long for the good ole days when Slash, Duff and Izzy were his band mates. However, if this is to be the G’n’R that we have to live with, well then things aren’t all that bad.

Photo credit:  www.brooklynvegan.com (Click link for many more)

Reviewed by: Antonio Marino Jr. | May 2006

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