2016.07.23 - Metlife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ, USA

John Varvatos and Bravado Launch Guns N’ Roses Bowery Pop-Up Shop: Exclusive Preview

By Nick Williams

Today (July 22), luxury menswear designer John Varvatos and Bravado, the merchandising arm of Universal Music, launched the fashion brand’s first-ever pop-up shop inside the walls of their Bowery Store in New York City — fittingly, the former home of legendary rock club CBGB. The occasion? The companies’ exclusive new collection of merch for Guns N’ Roses, feting the rockers’ Not in this Lifetime Tour and return to the city with a two-night run at Metlife Stadium (July 23-24).

Varvatos and Bravado’s three-day pop-up will house an exclusive collection of the band’s merch, including six one-of-a-kind painted leather jackets ($950), limited edition numbered bombers ($425) and 2 exclusive John Varvatos designed concert tees ($78), alongside the band’s official tour merchandise, featuring a range of tees ($40-$65) and jackets ($500), plus — of course — jean-vests ($250) and trucker hats ($25).

Kicking off the festivities today from noon until 2 p.m. ET, Varvatos and Bravado invited Billboard inside for a sneak peek before opening the doors, as diehard fans lined up outside for the special in-store event, which featured a DJ set, plus a giveaway of the GnR ‘NJ Electric’ Event Exclusive tee for the first fifty attendees. Guests also had the opportunity to enter to win a chance to see the rock legends at their East Rutherford, NJ performance Sunday July 24, with VIP tickets for the — wait for it — “Welcome To The Jungle Experience” (a $2K value), which includes an exclusive backstage tour and invitation to Paradise City lounge.

For Varvatos, the pairing couldn’t have been a more organic fit. “I’m a huge fan of GnR, and we are excited to welcome our friends from the band to NYC,” the designer told Billboard. “I know there are a lot of Guns fans out there and hope they come out to celebrate with us. Working this collaboration with Bravado has been inspiring.”

Bravado, who oversees merchandise of all stripes for its artists — from tea towels to key chains — is no stranger to exclusive pop-ups, having just recently launched one with VFiles and Justin Bieber. “We really wanted to create something that celebrates Guns N’ Roses and their epic Not in This Lifetime stadium tour. At Bravado we are constantly looking to give our artists opportunities to elevate their fan’s experience and we are excited to partner with John Varvatos on this collaboration,” Bravado CEO Mat Vlasic told Billboard. “With John, who is also part of the Universal Music family, we were able to deliver a retail and merchandise experience that lives up to the passion of Guns N’ Roses and their fans.”

The GnR pop-up will be open during usual store hours.

Concert review: Guns N' Roses at MetLife Stadium

JAY LUSTIG | The Record

Axl Rose got a lot of big cheers Saturday night at MetLife Stadium, but none so big as when he yelled, “You know where the (expletive) you are? You’re in the jungle, baby!,” to introduce “Welcome to the Jungle.” Guns N’ Roses has always represented danger, or at least the illusion of danger – brought back into the rock world at a time, the late ’80s, when it seemed to have vanished forever. And on their big reunion tour, 29 years after “Welcome to the Jungle” became their breakthrough single, this is what they still represent.
MUSIC

WHO: Guns N’ Roses.

WHAT: Rock.

WHEN: 8:30 p.m. July 24, with Lenny Kravitz opening.

WHERE: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford. 800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com or metlifestadium.com.

HOW MUCH: $30 to $285.

The show, which kicked off a two-night stand in East Rutherford, is part of the band’s Not in This Lifetime … Tour, which got that name because The Eagles already used the title Hell Freezes Over Tour in the ’90s. Frontman Axl Rose, 54, and guitarist Slash, who turned 51 on Saturday (as noted by Rose before Slash’s longest solo showcase of the night), fought so bitterly, for so long, that such a tour didn’t seem possible, but it finally has come to pass. They are being joined on the tour by bassist Duff McKagan, 52, who was also part of the band’s classic ’80s quintet, along with four other musicians with varying tenures in the band: guitarist Richard Fortus, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese, and drummer Frank Ferrer.

But it’s the return of Slash, of course, which is the big news about this tour, and he was in fine form on Saturday, playing with his usual stoic intensity and wearing his trademark top hat. Rose’s voice took a while to warm up; it was a low croak on the first few songs. But it did eventually get where it needed to be, and even on those early songs, he was able to summon his most distinctive vocal trait, a piercing shriek, at will.

Rose still performs with a crazy glint in his eyes – that’s a good thing for a band devoted to evoking life on the edge – and changed costumes often, though in his case, that just meant putting on a new T-shirt, or switching hats or headbands, or adding a jacket or a flannel shirt wrapped around his waist. His “look” was a jumble of clashing layers, but this was just another expression of his restlessness, just like Slash expressed his own laidback cool by wearing only one outfit, including a sleeveless T-shirt with an obscene phrase, throughout the evening.

It was a long set – two hours and 40 minutes – with lots of extended solos and instrumental interludes. The band dutifully played hits such as “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” “November Rain,” “Paradise City” and its cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” though the length of the show allowed for some detours that may have surprised casual fans, such as the intense melodrama of the epic “Coma” and Slash’s spacey, almost jazzy solo during “Rocket Queen.”

The band played three songs from their Slash-less 2008 album, “Chinese Democracy,” but mostly stuck to the older material, with lots of nods to their influences. The band was tight and punchy on The Who’s “The Seeker,” and appropriately bombastic on Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die.” “Patience” started with a portion of The Rolling Stones’ “Angie.”

Slash and Fortus played an instrumental duet version of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” that segued to the coda from Derek and the Dominos’ “Layla,” played by Rose on piano. McKagan sang lead on a fast-and-furious cover of Jersey punk band The Misfits’ “Attitude,” preceded by some of Johnny Thunders’ “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory.”

Lenny Kravitz and his sharp 10-piece backing band opened the show with a satisfying hour-long set that included hits such as “Are You Gonna Go My Way” and “Let Love Rule,” and had some unpredictable excursions of its own, including a long jam on “Always on the Run.” Kravitz noted that this last song was co-written by his “high school buddy,” Slash, and recorded, like most of Kravtiz’s early material, in Hoboken (at Waterfront Studios).

Guns N’ Roses Turn Meadowlands Into a Jungle at MetLife Stadium

By Joe DiVita

They said it wouldn't happen, but here we are in 2016 with the closest to a full blown classic Guns N' Roses reunion, as Slash and Duff McKagan have famously rejoined Axl Rose in the legendary band. Appropriately dubbed the 'Not in This Lifetime...' tour, thousands of fans descended upon the MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands in New Jersey to scratch an unyielding 20-year itch to see 'The Most Dangerous Band in the World' back in action.

With temperatures in the high 90s, it did little to dissuade the legions of fans from tailgating in the parking lot, bringing to mind images of rock's glory years where stadium tours were the standard. For fans too young to have witnessed these years of global domination on the world's biggest stages, it was a chance to bask in the magic of a time gone by. The cardinal rule of "Don't wear the shirt of the band you're going to see" was clearly not in effect on Saturday, July 23, as some fans were seen wearing tattered and faded GN'R shirts that must have been unearthed from closets after decades of not seeing sunlight.

With the sun firmly below the horizon, the anticipation was increasingly high. The circular GN'R emblem was emblazoned on two utterly massive screens bookending the stage as well as the background behind the stage. Sounds of gunshots filled the air as the emblem turned animated, receiving a deafening roar from the sold out stadium crowd. The Looney Tunes theme song signaled the beginning of the event around 10:15PM and before long, the familiar bass line of "It's So Easy" sent everyone into pure ecstasy as the crescendoing snare rolls from Frank Ferrer mounted.

Boasting one of the meanest riffs in their catalog, "It's So Easy" was a perfect set opener as Axl Rose stormed the stage, every bit the frontman he was back in the early days of Guns. Continuing with the lower singing, "Mr. Brownstone" was up next, given extra vigor as Axl declared, "And I don't worry about nothing, no / 'Cause worrying's a waste of my f--kin' time." It sounds trivial, but the addition of the expletive here (and again in "Nightrain") conveyed so much attitude in just that one word, that the show would have had less grit and conviction without it.

Demonstrating a dominant command of the stage, Axl hurled his microphone stand toward the drum riser twice early in the show, only to have a crew member return it to its rightful spot up front for when the singer needed it next, even if it was just to be discarded again moments later.

Following "Chinese Democracy," Slash warmed up the crowd for one of the highlights, teasing the introduction of "Welcome to the Jungle" before Axl belted out "You know where the f--k you are!?" and introduced the all-time classic, leading in with an unbelievable low to high scream. As this was happening, it was nearly impossible to take your eyes off the aforementioned screens, which helped give the show a truly larger than life presentation. Able to see Axl's bulging eyes and thousand-yard-stare, there was a palpable sense of danger in the air as the frontman put on a truly flawless performance for the full two and a half hour set.

These screens also made it noticeable just how much hotter it was onstage for GN'R as sweat routinely poured off Axl's bent elbow. The singer ran through a myriad of wardrobe changes, wearing shirts that said "The B--tch Is Back," "Show Some Class" (with a woman in stockings bent over) and more, while Slash appropriately wore a shirt that said "New York F--ckin' City." As for Duff, he paid tribute to two fallen icons, rocking a shirt with Lemmy Kilmister's iconic face and Prince's purple insignia slapped on the body of his bass.

Known for playing a variety of covers live, including some that became GN'R hits of their own ,like "Live and Let Die" and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," one surprise came when McKagan took the mic. Simply stating "New York City punk rockers..." he was at the vocal helm of their badass cover of the Misfits' "Attitude."

The set was well laid out in regards to tempo, ebbing with slower / longer tracks like "Civil War," "Coma" and the Chinese Democracy ballad "This I Love" that saw Axl seated behind a piano, belting out some of the most emotional notes of the night and flowing with hard-chargers in "You Could Be Mine," "Out Ta Get Me" and "Nightrain."

After walking offstage, the stadium shook with thunderous applause and cheers which only escalated when Guns N' Roses walked back out onstage for the encore. The gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar sent the first notes of the Rolling Stones' "Angie" through the PA towers, cleverly shifting into "Patience." From there it was the Who's "The Seeker" followed by the biggest tune left that had not yet been performed: "Paradise City."

Closing in on 1AM, the song ended the show on the highest note possible as an endless stream of fireworks were sent careening upward from behind the stage for over two straight minutes during the solo and into the end of the song. Confetti, a lot of confetti, filled the front of the stage as the fireworks tee'd off and the crowd, already soaked in sweat as the temperature plummeted to a contextually pleasing 90 degrees, soaked in the final moments of the tour that was never supposed to happen in their lifetime. Yowza!

The ceaseless hype built up surrounding this reunion and tour could have made expectations insurmountable, but GN'R positively shattered any and all of them with a show each attendee will get to gloat about for the rest of their lives.

Guns N’ Roses played Metlife Stadium (pics, review, setlist), do it again tonight

Magdalene Taylor

Last night, Guns N’ Roses made their first of two NYC-area stops on their Not In This Lifetime tour at Metlife Stadium, and I made the hour and forty minute commute from Brooklyn to New Jersey to witness it. The venture was obviously worth it -- you don't have to really identify as a fan of the band to understand that it's fucking Guns N’ Roses, and when the opportunity strikes you better take advantage of it.

I can't think of any way the show really could have been better. The band gave us exactly what we wanted: the majority of the hits, some covers, some jam sessions, fireworks displays, artwork of bullets and rose petals projected upon the screens. We got to see Slash duck-walk. Axl danced around and changed his shirt a minimum of five times, with a different flannel wrapped around his waist each time purely as accessory.

Basically, Guns N’ Roses knows who they are and knows that we damn well better know who they are, too. There's no denying that they were, and still are, an incredible rock band. In fact, they've essentially defined what being a big-name rock band even means.

It's also just abundantly obvious that everyone in the band is wildly talented, and that age has not dampened that. Axl still manages to hit the high notes with ease and Slash still melts the guitar, which is no surprise. Both Slash and bassist Duff McKagan returned to the stage for this tour, which was something the audience was naturally excited about.

The return of Slash and Duff McKagan to the GN'R fold is the giant selling point, but the audience was pretty excited about damn near everything. They're devoted, and it shows. Everyone around me was so thrilled to be seeing Guns n' Roses, that excitement was contagious.

Surely there's plenty of purists like Chuck Klosterman out there who could point out all that's wrong with the band in its current incarnation, how exactly it functions as spectacle and how much it's changed since the Appetite for Destruction era...but nobody at this show really cared about that. Not even Guns N’ Roses. So what's the point in complaining? Once you hear "Paradise City" live as fireworks and flames shoot up in the air, there's nothing more to think about.

30 People Arrested at Guns ’N Roses Concert, Proving GNR Still Rock and Roll

By Tolly Wright

On Saturday night, Axl Rose welcomed New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium to the jungle, and the audience sure let their wild side out. Unfortunately, local law enforcement was not feeling that serpentine. The New Jersey State Police told New Jersey 101.5 that they arrested “at least 30” people at the show on charges that ranged from disorderly conduct to “open lewdness” to a rather large number of solicitation arrests (11 in total). While it’s been reported that the band has made the lyrics “The show usually starts around seven/We go on stage at nine” a mantra of the past with a more responsible outlook for their Not in This Lifetime Tour, it’s been 20 years since the whole gang — or at least the gang that matters (Axl Rose and Slash) — got back together again. That’s a lot of decades worth of “Paradise City”’–inspired antics for the folks of New Jersey to keep bottled up. Most of the charges were minor, so the wily fans scream-singing pleas to “please, please take me home” were probably heard quickly.