GUNS ‘N’ ROSES + GARY CLARK JR – WHITE HART LANE STADIUM, LONDON 1.7.22
I arrive early at White Hart Lane as I’ve never seen Guns ‘n’ Roses before, and I’m also keen to see Michael Monroe (formerly of Hanoi Rocks) who is the opening act.
Opening time of 3.30pm comes and goes without the gates opening. No problem – I’m sure nobody minds waiting a few minutes. Time goes by, and still there’s no sign of the gates opening. I decide that I ought to try to find out what’s going on, so I find a supervisor from the security team. He tells me that the stadium team were ready to go at 3.30pm, but that there is a “production problem”, that is, the problem lies with the artist. Naturally, I begin to visualise the worst case scenario: Guns ‘n’ Roses have in the past been notorious for late appearances and no-shows. There are so many people here that if the gig is called off, there will be a riot…..
The gates eventually open one and three-quarter hours late. I never do find out precisely what the “production problem” was, but by the time I get to my seat Michael Monroe has been unceremoniously booted from the bill, and Gary Clark Jr is onstage.
Until today I’m pretty sure that I have been unaware of Gary’s existence, which is rather a shame as he’s turning out some rather superlative electric blues. His band are certainly no slouches. As well as Gary’s solos, the other guitarist also takes solos, as does the keyboard player. Also, they don’t appear in the least bit fazed about playing on a large stage in front of a large crowd. They’re naturals in fact. Certainly well worth seeing in their own right.
Gary Clark Jr setlist:
‘Ain’t Messin’ Round’
‘Bright Lights’
‘Next Door Neighbor Blues’
‘Feed The Babies’
‘Gotta Get Into Something’
‘Low Down Rolling Stone’
Due to the late opening of the gates, Guns ‘n’ Roses appear exactly an hour later than planned. Well, no point in playing to a half empty stadium….. The opening one-two of ‘It’s So Easy’ and ‘Mr. Brownstone’ are pretty much faultless. Axl Rose certainly seems to be enjoying himself, which is a good sign. The title track of the ‘Chinese Democracy’ album makes an early appearance. I heard this album when it initially came out, and I remember being markedly unimpressed. However, this song works quite well live. Maybe I should revisit the album….
One thing I should point out straight away is that what this band are doing is a very long way from going through the motions, which is what I feared that we might see. They clearly love what they are doing, and are not simply looking for a big pay cheque. They are still incredibly mobile, and very definitely kick ass. They’re clearly still very much music fans too. ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ for example is prefaced by a pretty vicious run through Link Wray’s ‘Rumble’. Later they roll out The Stooges’ ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’, with Duff McKagan on vocals. Also, they play most of their set in daylight. This can often detract from the impact of a live rock performance, but that doesn’t detract from the Gunners’ performance one iota.
Axl wears a t-shirt featuring the Ukrainian flag. It’s noticeable that the diva Axl really does seem to be no more. He comes across as a really nice bloke! Now there’s a sentence that I didn’t think I’d ever write.
As usual they deliver a killer version of ‘Live And Let Die’. This is the second time in a week that I’ve heard the song performed live, the first time being by its composer Paul McCartney at Glastonbury. Who’s version is best you ask? Well, to be honest they’re both pretty much on a par, and I’m not just being diplomatic!
‘Rocket Queen’ is essayed, thankfully without the orgasmic sound effects of the studio version. Guitarist Richard Fortus solos and is on a par with Slash. Slash sings through a voice tube a la Peter Frampton, and treats us to a bit of slide as well.
Slash’s solo slot is based upon Albert King’s ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’. It’s a pretty absorbing jam, but nonetheless people troop out of the golden circle to the bar or bog. More fool them because the jam leads straight into ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’. Axl reappears for the song dressed as a cowboy, and guest singer Carrie Underwood shares lead vocals with him.
‘November Rain’ features Axl on piano (see – he is sensitive!) and ‘Knocking On Heaven’s Door’ and ‘Night Train’ end the main set. The band aren’t gone for long and return for encores of ‘Patience’ and ‘Paradise City’, the latter once again featuring Carrie Underwood. They have played for two-and-a-half hours, but it doesn’t seem anywhere near that long. This has been a superb taut performance that hasn’t let up at any point. In middle age Guns ‘n’ Roses have perhaps become the consummate hard rock band. Indeed, they could give bands half their age a run for their money. They’re an astonishingly good live band, and long may they continue.
Guns ‘n’ Roses setlist:
‘It’s So Easy’
‘Chinese Democracy’
‘Mr Brownstone’
‘Rumble’ / ‘Welcome To The Jungle’
‘Slither’
‘Better’
‘Estranged’
‘Live And Let Die’
‘Double Talkin’ Jive’
‘Reckless Life’
‘Rocket Queen’
‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’
‘Absurd’
‘Hard Skool’
‘Civil War’
‘Born Under A Bad Sign’ (Slash guitar solo)
‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’
‘November Rain’
‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’
‘Night Train’
(encore)
‘Patience’
‘Paradise City’
Ha, not sure what gig you were at but guns n roses were bad. 4th time I’ve seen them and this was by far their worst performance. Sound was terrible, axel stopped twice audience couldn’t hear him. Silence and blacked out stage in-between tracks, no pyrotechnics, no fireworks. The stage usual bursts with fire during live and let die. Very short encore too, fans couldn’t believe it was over. Ok, turns out Axels voice wasn’t good and they cancelled next gig and that can’t be helped but your review is unbelievably skewed. We enjoyed it but it was well well below parr, I wonder if you was actually there.
I was at the Friday gig. Were you there on Saturday? By all accounts that was pretty bad. Axl’s vocals were fine on Friday, but not so good on Saturday apparently. Admittedly my enjoyment was possibly enhanced because it was the first time that I had seen Guns ‘n’ Roses. However, I have attended well over a thousand gigs and I’ve played in bands so I do have a vague idea of what I’m talking about.
I really do wish that this was true but, sadly its not. This Michael guy was never on the bill to play and although Gary Clarke jnr was a great act it was always him on the bill from the get go. Gnr were not an hour late they were 45 minutes late and Axl was wearing a union jack t shirt.
His mic ‘apparently’ was not working correctly so his vocals were the worst I’ve ever heard, causing most of the songs only identifiable from the amazing work of slash and Duffy. I was so disappointed that I left the gig early.
I loved gnr as a teenager and had waited patiently for three years to see them but all it made me realise was that Axl is definitely too old to perform and has lost his amazing voice.