2014.05.16 - Rock on the Range, Columbus, OH, USA

Danielle Seamon wrote:Opinion: Guns N’ Roses leaves fans hungry with slashed members
January 21, 2014
Danielle Seamon

November rain is expected to fall in May.

With ‘80s hard rock band Guns N’ Roses as one of Rock On The Range’s headliners, theoretically, an appetite for destruction will be satiated by the time the annual Columbus music festival concludes.

This is how I imagine their set.

Steven Adler’s drumming will be what welcomes Columbus to the jungle. His smile, rooted at the corners of his mouth, will greet fans underneath his whispy, wavy golden locks of sunshine. He might not fall high in the ranks of history’s best drummers, but Adler’s sub-par talent is all that is needed to lay down the groundwork for “Paradise City” and the other 91 percent of “Appetite for Destruction.” Plus, it will be great to see him alive and well after his stints in rehab for multiple substance abuses.

Wait … Adler is not in GNR anymore? They kicked him out in 1990 for his drug problem? Oh, OK, bummer. Well, he was just the drummer, I guess.

At least bassist Duff McKagan will be there to lay down the funk in the opening of “Rocket Queen.” The blond, sexual sweetheart of the band always laid low, super mysterious in the shadows of the more prominent members, but now as a family man with a knack for entrepreneurship, McKagan is on fire. Not to mention, the journalism side of me envies his ability to score weekly columns for Playboy.com and ESPN.com in the past.

What did you say? McKagan made like a banana and split from GNR in 1997? So he’s not going to be there? Oh. Well, it is a known fact that bass is the choice instrument for those incompetent in any other type of guitar, so an orangutan could easily fill in.

As long as Izzy Stradlin, whose real name is Jeffrey Dean Isbell, is there to aid Axl Rose, whose real name is William Bruce Rose, Jr. in vocals, primarily on “Mr. Brownstone,” GNR will still tear it up despite Adler and McKagan’s absence. I imagine the rhythm guitarist will sport at least four different types of scarves, enough to give Steven Tyler a run for his…

Izzy isn’t going to be there either? He left the band in 1991 in an effort to get sober? He didn’t even show up to GNR’s induction ceremony into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012? Well … good … we didn’t need him anyway.

So long as Slash (beautiful Slash), whose real name is Saul Hudson, is on stage, donning that top hat and cigarette, shredding through the opening lick of “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” GNR can continue to exist as the best hard rock band in the…

Oh my God. No. Then who is going to be there from the band’s original lineup?

Just Axl Rose? The reason why the other four members left? He replaced all of them? He had cornrows at some point?

So Guns N’ Roses might be headlining Rock On The Range this year, but Guns N’ Roses really isn’t headlining Rock On The Range this year.

Jurnan says:
January 22, 2014 at 3:18 am

Hardly an opinionated article. More like mentioning facts we’ve known 10-20 years and then summing them up with the only possible result of arguing about whether or not it is Guns n’ Roses. Poor effort.

Pennyworth says:
January 22, 2014 at 7:41 am

Wtf? Is this article from the 90′s? I hope this writer doesn’t get paid.

Guns N' Roses Latinoamérica says:
January 22, 2014 at 5:56 pm

A poor writer and a stupid too..

Guns N' Roses Latinoamérica says:
January 22, 2014 at 5:57 pm

Estamos con vos eduardo!

Christian Rains says:
January 22, 2014 at 8:49 pm

What an uninformed opinion. How plebeian.

the keeper says:
January 22, 2014 at 9:34 pm

The article is fine, jeez some of you people…

Liam Vageena says:
January 22, 2014 at 10:41 pm

Guns N Roses was bad ass back in the day! But somehow Axl got to keep the rights to the name and came out with a garbage album, Chinese Democracy. The writer was just trying to inform the uniformed, not please all of you die hard “Guns N Roses” fans. This article isn’t meant to be taken so seriously. Lay off…I enjoyed the article!

Axl Rose and his current lineup of Guns N' Roses will be making their Rock on the Range debut this May. While all rock fans would rejoice at seeing the original band together again; it's pretty clear by Axl's snubbing of their Hall of Fame induction that that will probably never happen. With that being said, it isn't as if he hasn't surrounded himself with a talented bunch of musicians to carry the GNR name forward.

Rose, who is one of the most prominent lead singers in rock history, really needs no introduction. With classic songs like November Rain to his credit, everyone at the festival will be anticipating quite the show from him and the rest of the band.

Long time fans of the band will probably recognize Dizzy Reed as being the only remaining member of the band from their peak years of success. Reed has been with the band since 1990 and has contributed to the group on keyboards, piano, percussion, and backing vocals.

A trio of guitar players now play the roles of former stars Slash and Izzy Stradlin. Replacing them is obviously no small feat, but DJ Ashba and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal share lead duties and are definitely no slouches when it comes to the guitar. Richard Fortus also provides rhythm guitar for the band. Ashba formerly played with the BulletBoys, another hard rock group from the same era as GNR. Bumblefoot's prior experience also includes playing for Lita Ford while Fortus has also played with Thin Lizzy.

Tommy Stinson, formerly of Soul Asylum, now holds the bass playing duties since the departure of the legendary Duff McKagan. Gone also is Steven Adler, who has been replaced by Frank Ferrer on drums and Chris Pitman rounds out the band by contributing in several ways. He plays keys, bass, drums and even is an active song writer in the group.

The original band was formed in 1985 and exploded in 1987 with the release of Appetite for Destruction. The album was a massive hit at a time when hard rock and heavy metal were getting lost in excess. Guns N' Roses burst onto the scene by combining the sleaze of Motley Crue with the rawness of Bon Scott era AC/DC and the live energy of Aerosmith. While their joyride was relatively short lived and virtually blown up by 1994, few bands have ever reached the level of popularity in a small time frame as what GNR accomplished. As always seems to happen, the excesses of the bands that they replaced became the excesses of their own lifestyles. Egos grew, tempers flared, and in 1994 the Guns N' Roses that conquered the world were one by one dismantled. All of the members of the glory days era of the band have gone on to have successful solo careers and have formed new bands. Slash, especially has been just fine as he has forged on with Velvet Revolver and as a solo artist.

Between then and now Rose has added to his legacy. Multiple line up changes and Axl's penchant for showing up late or not at all for concerts has earned him and the new band a negative reputation. When you throw in the fact that the much hyped Chinese Democracy seemingly took 47 years to be released, a lot of fans have grown impatient with Rose or have ceased to be fans all together. I liked the album, actually, but I don't think it reached its potential because so many people refused to give it a chance after the 15 year long wait.

Hopefully with the negatives in the past, Guns N' Roses will live up to their billing as one of the headliners for America's largest rock festival at Crew Stadium. All of that lies on the shoulders of Axl and his band. The music stands up. Time hasn't softened the appeal of those old songs. If the band shows up and consistently delivers, the Guns N' Roses reputation will begin to creep back up towards the level of their music.

The following links are my Top 20 Essential Guns N' Roses songs. Do you agree with me? Disagree? Tell me what you think.

1. November Rain 1991

2. Welcome to the Jungle 1987

3. Paradise City 1987

4. Don't Cry 1991

5. Civil War 1991

6. Sorry 2008

7. You Could Be Mine 1991

8. Sweet Child O' Mine 1987

9. Patience 1988

10. Knocking on Heaven's Door 1991

11. Live and Let Die 1991

12. Night Train 1987

13. Used to Love Her 1988

14. One in a Million 1988

15. Yesterdays 1991

16. My Michelle 1987

17. Madagascar 2008

18. Anything Goes 1987

19. It's So Easy 1987

20. Hair of the Dog 1993

Uli wrote:It is indeed much better, but a few "strange" things mentioned. Stinson, "formerly of Soul Asylum"?   

Rock on the Range review: For Guns N' Roses, nostalgia works best

Axl Rose, the man who waited 15 years between albums and has never been a model for punctuality, took the stage right on time last night.

For a crowd shivering in its hoodies and ripped jeans after a drizzly day suggesting more tundra than, uh, jungle, the arrival was more than welcome.

Headlining the first night of Rock on the Range in Columbus Crew Stadium, the 52-year-old Guns N’ Roses vocalist offered his signature yowls in a closing set whose noise curfew was extended an hour past the venue’s typical 11 p.m. cutoff.

For the nostalgic, Rose and his crew (absent all original members, including Slash, long separated from the lineup) offered glimmers of a time when the rocker led the world’s biggest band.

For some moments in the show, at least.

It’s So Easy, Rocket Queen and You Could Be Mine found Rose’s pipes in quality form — although clarity of vocals was often a problem.

Sweet Child o’ Mine, likewise, offered prime upper-range wails.

But cuts from the long-delayed and most-recent release Chinese Democracy failed to garner much enthusiasm. That was clear after comparing reaction to the album’s title-track opener with Welcome to the Jungle following on its heels.

Sapping momentum, too, were four extended breaks when Rose left the stage to cede the spotlight to solo performances by the musicians — including guitarist DJ Ashba, keyboardist Dizzy Reed and bassist Tommy Stinson.

Rose, who donned multiple fedoras, made no stage banter and never took off his sunglasses, remained a man of mystery for the show, which was still going as of press time.

He seemed most in his element when seated at a grand piano to pound out the powerful notes of November Rain, a 10-minute power ballad accented by falling sparks.

Given the singer’s past notoriety, the audience size didn’t match. Crowds had grown more sparse as the night went on, giving Guns N’ Roses a smaller base than those for the bands preceding them.

That’s a shame. But likely it was because the temperature felt like November and not paradise city.

kjoy@dispatch.com