that explains why i never get to see ACDC OR METALLICA open at GIANTS STADIUM, its always a sucky band that no one cares about

Very very true.

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24FPS
I saw two of the L.A. shows. The first one was the infamous one where Axl bitched about band members doing heroin.

I went to the final night and the crowd was a little mystified by Axl. I think that's the night he wore the buttless chaps.

I'm glad I didn't have a beer in my hand because I probably would've spilled it all over the keyboard! That is HILARIOUS!

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mickscarey

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Dan
They played 80 mins. They were the biggest rock band in the world at the time. At that point, your older rock fan wasn't a well-heeled senior citizen but instead mid 30's to early 40's. Not old at all.

They were very well-recieved by a majority of the crowd. They were responsible for selling tens of thousands of tickets so they should have had more than 45 mins. Appetite had sold millions of copies since their last LA shows in Sep 88. Their original fee was $400,000 for Oct 21&22 then when Oct 18&19 were added, they recieved $600,000.

Regardless of "tour gross" and hype, these shows still remain the biggest Los Angeles rock event of my concert going life.

They were not needed to sell seats on that tour. Shea Stadium sold out SIX shows in minutes.

Does anyone here get the idea that Mickscarey doesn't actually READ what is in these posts sometimes? No where did anyone say TOUR, it was those SHOWS. Not sure why someone would willingly confuse that for an entire tour but it happened anyway. Amazing. Absolutely brilliant.

It's a bit strange in a way almost that G'N'R opened for the Stones for those shows when 2 years earlier they were opening for The Cult on their Electric tour and at one point The Cult were on the list of bands to be picked to open for the Stones for the Steel Wheels tour.

Melillo said:

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that explains why i never get to see ACDC OR METALLICA open at GIANTS STADIUM, its always a sucky band that no one cares about

While obviously not in the same league as AC/DC or Metallica , I saw the Pretenders open up for the Stones in '02 at Giants Stadium and I thought they were quite good and seemed to be rather well recieved by the crowd (at least in the floor section were I was). Maybe not your cup of tea but I would definitely not say that they were a sucky band that no one cared about.....

I was there also and thats true they are not sucky but not a power house either

Great info here guys thanks a lot. This is what I know about these shows...

BACKGROUND: GN'R released "Appetite for Destruction" in 1987 and toured pretty much non-stop for two years (1987 until december 1988) and by the end of that tour they were the biggest band in the world.

These two LA Times articles published on October 15, 1989, just a few days before the four shows opening for the Stones, show that:

[articles.latimes.com].

[articles.latimes.com]


Besides being the hottest band of 1989, GNR was falling appart. Slash, Izzy Stradlin and Steven Adler were deep into heroin addiction, Duff was an alcoholic and Axl was becoming aware that he had a lot of power as the singer for the biggest band in the world. And soon he realized that he could use that power to control a lot of things, including GN'R.

GN'R opened four nights for the Rolling Stones in 1989. The site gnrontour.com has some cool info about what happened on each of those nights. Some of the info confirms a lot of what you guys have written about these shows.

Below there is some info that I copied and pasted from the site gnrontour.com. And the link to some reviews published on the LA Times.



FIRST SHOW: 10.18.89 - Los Angeles Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
set: It's So Easy, Mr. Brownstone, Out Ta Get Me, Move To The City, Patience, My Michelle, Rocket Queen, Sweet Child O' Mine, Welcome To The Jungle, Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Paradise City
audio/video recording?: audio, video [incomplete]
notes: Before the 1st song, Axl gives his famous 'One In A Million' speech. Before 'Mr. Brownstone,' Axl says that unless some people stop dancing with 'Mr. Brownstone,' these will be the last GN'R shows (referring to the opening dates for the Stones). Axl falls off the stage during 'Out Ta Get Me!,' later he says it was due to bad footwork.

LA Times review: [articles.latimes.com]

Another LA Times review: [www.latimes.com]

Kerrang review: [gnrontour.com]





SECOND SHOW: 10.19.89 - Los Angeles Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
set: Mr. Brownstone, It's So Easy, Out Ta Get Me, Move To The City, I Was Only Joking [Intro] / Patience, Guitar Solo, Rocket Queen, Sweet Child O' Mine, Only Women Bleed [Intro] / Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Welcome To The Jungle, Guitar Solo, Paradise City
audio/video recording?: audio, video [incomplete]
notes: Slash addresses the crowd before the show, saying among other things that GN'R will not be a weak band and fall apart because of drug use. After 'Mr. Brownstone,' Axl apologizes for what he said the night before (10.18). Axl refers to falling off the stage last night (10.18).

LA Times Review: [articles.latimes.com]






THIRD SHOW: 10.21.89 - Los Angeles Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
set: It's So Easy, Mr. Brownstone, Out Ta Get Me, Move To The City, I Was Only Joking [Intro] / Patience, My Michelle, Guitar Solo, Rocket Queen, Only Women Bleed [Intro] / Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Welcome To The Jungle, Sweet Child O' Mine, Paradise City
audio/video recording?: audio
notes: 'Out Ta Get Me,' Axl says there hasn't been anyone in rock n roll to crucify in a while, so now it might as well be GN'R & Axl Rose.






FOURTH SHOW: 10.22.89 - Los Angeles Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
set: It's So Easy, Mr. Brownstone, Out Ta Get Me, Welcome To The Jungle, Move To The City, I Was Only Joking [Intro] / Patience, My Michelle, Guitar Solo, Rocket Queen, Only Women Bleed [Intro] / Knockin' On Heaven's Door
encore: Paradise City
audio/video recording?: audio
notes: Last opening show for The Rolling Stones, which is also last show ever for GN'R as an opening band! 'Out Ta Get Me' is dedicated to overbearing authority figures. During 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door,' Axl says 'C'mon people, we gotta warm you up for the greatest rock n roll band in the world – The Rolling Stones!"

REVIEW: [www.deseretnews.com]



***


About the "heroin threath" that Axl did onstage: He basically said that those shows with the Rolling Stones would be the last GNR shows "unless some people on this band stop dancing with Mr. Brownstone".

That was a public threath done in front of thousands of people AND the music press. Axl deffended himself by saiyng that he had tried "every other way" and it didn't work so that's why he was doing that public threath.

Was it a honest, desperate move by Axl? Or was it a publicity stunt?



****


Other thing that was very talked about after those four shows was the "One in a Million" controversy, but that was between Axl and Vernon Reid from Living Colour. (check this 1989 LA Times article about it: [articles.latimes.com])




***


GNR BOOTLEGS: Yes, there are bootlegs recording of some of those nights (video) and all the four of them (audio). And yes, back then GNR was a true rock n' roll band, a great one, and those shows are great rock shows. Too bad that those bootlegs are all audience recording, so you gotta really love GNR to go through those. I would not recommend them for casual fans.

A curiosity: those four shows were the last full-shows that drummer Steven Adler performed with Guns n' Roses. He would play with them again on Farm Aid (april 4, 1990) but that was only a two-song set. He would then be replaced by Matt Sorum.

If any of you guys are looking for great sounding Guns n' Roses bootlegs from that era, you got to go with the obvious choice -- which is the Ritz 1988 show (here: [uploading.com]). But thankfully there are other insanely great bootlegs for those who want to go a little further.

I strongly recommend these fine bootlegs to every rock n' roll lover:

10.30 1987 - CBGB's, New York City - a rare acoustic show including a rare live performance of One in a Million;
[uploading.com]

12.30.87 - Perkins Palace, Pasadena, CA - a rare long headlining homecoming show in California with a great bluesy feel;
[uploading.com]

12.07.1988 - Tokyo, Japan 1988 - a headlining show with many tracks from GN'R Lies.
[uploading.com]


If you wanna go a little further into GNR bootleg stuff try also:

Rock in Rio 1991 - both nights, with Use Your Illusion songs being performed for the first time.
== 1st night, includes bonus track "Salt of the Earth" with Stones from 1989: [uploading.com]
== 2nd night (GREAT): [www.guitars101.com]

Indiana 1991 - homecoming show for Axl and Izzy, also the last great show by GNR that is available on soundboard quality.
[www.guitars101.com]


Troubadour 1986 - early show before Appetite release, includes a bitchin version of Jumping Jack Flash:
[uploading.com]


These shows suggested above are must have for GNR fans and will fit in just fine on a casual fan bootleg collection.

If you wanna dig even deeper into GNR go here:

[worldofgnrbootlegs.blogspot.com]

Advice: avoid anything GNR after August 31 1991. That was their last show with Izzy Stradlin. After Izzy left, the band turned into a circus with several "additional musicians" (keyboard players, back-up singers, etc) and lost their edge and rock feel. GNR slowly died during two years on the road (1992 and 1993) and then never came back.

Hey, but they were inducted to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame.

And they MAY perform together again in 2012.


***

An after thought:

Nearly two months after those four LA shows, Axl and Izzy were invited back to join the Rolling Stones for three nights at the Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJ.

This is the famous pay-per-view gig that was on TV and radio also with guest appearances by Clapton and John Lee Hooker.

A vert little known story about these shows is that they asked Axl and Izzy to choose a Rolling Stones song top play. They choose Salt of The Earth. But Keith said that he didn't remember how to play it so Izzy (a full-on Stones fan) "teached" him how to play the song again.

The info below was also copied and pasted from gnrontour.com:

12.17.89 - Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJ
set: Salt Of The Earth
audio/video recording?: no
notes: The first of 3 nights when Axl & Izzy join the Stones for this classic Stones song.

12.19.89 - Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJ
set: Salt Of The Earth
audio/video recording?: video, audio
notes: Axl & Izzy join The Rolling Stones for this song. This concert was on Pay-Per-View and also broadcast on FM radio stations.


12.20.89 - Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJ
set: Salt Of The Earth, Mixed Emotions [w/ Axl]
audio/video recording?: audio
notes: Axl & Izzy again join The Rolling Stones the next night for "Salt Of The Earth." Axl sings background vocals on "Mixed Emotions" as well.


***

Below some funny quote from and 1990 Axl interview for Kerrang (http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/articles/showarticle.php?articleid=4):

K : I heard that David Bowie apologised to you after the incident at your video-shoot.(the story goes that Axl got pissed off with the ageing superstar after he appeared to be getting a little too well acquainted with Axl’s girlfriend, Erin, during a visit last year to the set where the Gunners were making a -yet to see the light of day- video for ‘It’s so easy’. The upshot, apparently, was that Axl ended up aiming a few punches Bowie’s way before having him thrown off the set.)

A : Bowie and I had our differences. And then we talked and went out to dinner and then went down the China club and stuff. And when we left, I was like, « I wanna thank you for being the first person that’s ever come up to me in person and said how sorry they were about the situation and stuff. » It was cool, you know? And then I open up Rolling Stone the next day and there’s a story in there saying I’ve got no respect for the Godfather of Glam even though I wear make-up and all this bullshit... It’s laughable. I was out doing a soundcheck one day when we were opening for the Rolling Stones and Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton cornered me. I’m sittin’ on this amp and all of a sudden they’re both right there in front of me. And Jagger doesn’t really talk a lot, right? He’s just real serious about everything, and all of a sudden he’s like (adopts exaggerated Dick Van Dyke-style Cockney) : « So you got in a fight with Bowie, didja? ». So I told him the story real quick and him and Clapton are going off about Bowie in their own little world, talking about things from years ago. They were saying things like when Bowie gets drunk he turns into the Devil from Bromley.... I mean, I’m not even in this conversation. I’m just sittin’ there. Listening to ‘em bitch like crazy about Bowie. It was funny.

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WeLoveToPlayTheBlues

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24FPS
I went to the final night and the crowd was a little mystified by Axl. I think that's the night he wore the buttless chaps.

I'm glad I didn't have a beer in my hand because I probably would've spilled it all over the keyboard! That is HILARIOUS!

I am just glad someone else remembered it as I thought I may have hallucinated it from the all the pot we smoked at the show!

Wasn´t there a "battle with words" with Corey Glover and Vernon Reid
of Living Colour about the racist lines in One In A Million?

Way to go ludurigan!

Really great stuff you posted.
Thanks for sharing.

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Father Ted
G n R were a great band back in the late 80s. Just reading Slash's autobiog right now and it seems that they were in an incredibly creative place, despite the opiate abuse.

btw, does anyone know if there are any more decent live shows out there from this period? I have the 1hr Live at The Ritz show, which is pretty good.

For years I've been getting a great kick out of that early Dec. 88 (was it the 4th?) Japanese show which was taped from the audience in exc. quality. TIGHT performance and lotsa jams/intros by Slash that are wonderful.

It's quite amazing to see how much they improved from the Ritz MTV show which was only 10 months before... (Feb. 2?)

RE 1991 : The June shows were strong and focused, and don't miss the last L.A. Forum (Aug. 3) which was a giant musical orgy (3h40 of music).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-01-24 00:13 by dcba.

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melillo
that explains why i never get to see ACDC OR METALLICA open at GIANTS STADIUM, its always a sucky band that no one cares about

I saw Bob Dylan open for The Grateful Dead at the old Giants Stadium.

I was at all the LA shows. Living Colour was the hit. GnR kicked on parasdise city and maybe one other. that's it. of course Axl saying he'll leave if some members didn't quit messing with the brownstone. Childish shit. The stones were mediorcre. Living Colour owned the days. peace.

Lol...Living Colour owned the days? Come on Naturalist, unless you're a major fan of them, that's the ultimate exaggeration.

I was at those shows as well. Living Coulour was a typical opening band---mediocre at best.
Guns and Roses were already over the hill in my opinion...bloated ego rock stars.
They were pretty good a year earlier when I saw them open for Aerosmith-in fact they were way better than Aerosmith,
but by the time they opened for the Stones in '89, they had worn out their welcome.
The Stones were indeed mediocre...my least favorite Stones tour.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Thanks dcba, I'll keep an eye out for that Dec 88 show you mentioned. It's a pity there isn't a bit more live Guns stuff on DVD (I watched the Use Your Illusion shows recently and they're good but not great).

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Hairball
Lol...Living Colour owned the days? Come on Naturalist, unless you're a major fan of them, that's the ultimate exaggeration.

I was at those shows as well. Living Coulour was a typical opening band---mediocre at best.
Guns and Roses were already over the hill in my opinion...bloated ego rock stars.
They were pretty good a year earlier when I saw them open for Aerosmith-in fact they were way better than Aerosmith,
but by the time they opened for the Stones in '89, they had worn out their welcome.
The Stones were indeed mediocre...my least favorite Stones tour.

LIVING COLOUR are one of the most musically talented bands ever and were able to take hard rock in a new direction and still push the envelope

Could anybody tell me what Axl says around 1:45 mark in the places marked with the question marks?

... trying to sell you ?????????? for 15 bucks ??????????????

Thanks in advance.

Well this thread is a blast from the past! I believe what he's saying is:

"... trying to sell you free parking for 15 bucks kick him in the @#$%& nuts!"

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franzk

Can someone transcribe what Axl says before It´s So Easy starts?
Please!
I´m really interested.

Axl Rose rant before It's So Easy:

"Before we start playing... calm down... calm the @#$%& down from there! Ok, I'll wait...

I am sick and @#$%& tired of this publicity bullshit about our @#$%& song 'One In A Million' with "police and niggers, immigrants and faggets, and radicals and racists". I don't give a... I don't give a god damn @#$%& what @#$%& color you @#$%& are, as long as you ain't no god damn beat drug using, @#$%& crack selling piece of shit. I use the word @#$%& nigger, but that don't mean every black man is a @#$%& nigger. That means if you go downtown and some @#$%& @#$%& is trying to sell you free parking for 15 bucks, kick him in the @#$%& nuts. Faggets, I don't give a shit about gay people either but I don't need some fagget trying to rape me. Immigrants, I don't care what @#$%& god damn country you're from. If you're in America, just act like it, thats all! If you're a @#$%& kind of prowlent or what color you are and you want to call me a racist, shove your head up your @#$%& ass!

This is a song called One... This is a song called It's So @#$%&' Easy."

The guy certainly has a way with words.

I suffered thru 3 nights of them at the L. A. Coliseum. They were horrible. And American. Yuck.

blew the stones away,lmao.what show were you at pal,gnr was a good warm up band.you probably believe what artimus pyle believes that his dead band blew the stones away too.

It's funny how Axl wanted to introduce "One In A Million" after this rant. I wonder if this was a slip of a tongue or did he want to trick people that they were going to plat this song.

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MadMax
A bit like when I saw The Stones at the Cirkus and The Hellacopters supported them, really good and kind of a relief after seeing the shitty Hives twice. I wouldn't have complained if Guns opened. But Toots were the best!! ANd Charlatans!!! And Primal Scream!!!

So Primal has opened for them? I did not know that that happened. What city?