2019.10.11 - Austin City Limits Festival, Austin, TX, USA

So do you guys think Locomotive will be played again tonight, or maybe that it was a one-time thing?

Since it went well, I wouldn't be surprised if they will play it again!

Johan wrote:Since it went well, I wouldn't be surprised if they will play it again!

I wouldn't be surprised if they will alternate between Coma and Locomotive. Hopefully through Hard School into the mix, too.

No Locomotive, back to Coma. Will update with setlist later.

Official pictures by Kat Benzova

Duff on Instagram:
Thank you once again @aclfestival ! love this festival BIG time! I dunno how these people got this cross in...but..COOL! Photo by @susanholmesmckagan



https://www.instagram.com/p/B3gPrtNn7_n/

Review in OnStage Magazine, Oct. 16, 2019

*

Guns-N-Roses ACL

By Kip Sikora

The first time I saw Guns N Roses Cindy Crawford had recently graced the centerfold pages of Playboy. My buddy Chris and I were 15 and scored GA floor tickets to the Use Your Illusion tour in Houston. His mom dropped us off at the Astrodome and we were immediately absorbed into a hazy sea of well-seasoned heads and sweaty cleavage. It was, in retrospect, my first rodeo, and it was a helluva good time.

They were reckless, confrontational and at the peak of their powers. The band was tight and Axl howled like a banshee, but it wasn’t too long after that the juggernaut began to implode. Compared to the meteoric success of their earlier releases, The Spaghetti Incident, an album of cover songs, and Chinese Democracy, an album of originals minus the entire original lineup, flopped. Drug addiction ran rampantly through the ranks. Acrimony boiled over into a full-blown meltdown and breakup. Side projects and lineup changes came and went. And when the dust settled, they were left in the shadow cast by a myth of their own making.

It’s a complicated timeline well documented elsewhere, but somewhere along the way Axl, Slash and Duff got sober. They buried the hatchet, rounded out the lineup and hit the road with the Not In This Lifetime tour in 2016. As of last December, it had grossed over a half a billion dollars. Call it a cash grab or an extended victory lap, the never-ending tour rolled into Austin last weekend to headline the Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Park. Axl, Slash, and Duff were joined by Dizzy Reed on keyboards, Richard Fortus on rhythm guitar, Frank Ferrer on drums and Melissa Reese on synthesizers and keyboards.

Cash grab or not I wasn’t alone in hoping for a steady diet of high-octane, classic bangers. I spoke to more than a couple of folks who were there on a bucket list quest. Some kids blew it off as “my dad’s lame shit”. Fair enough. I wondered how much they would have left in the tank after the incendiary itinerary of their former selves. At the very least I hoped to avoid a first-hand experience of anything resembling a wheezing Vince Neil jabbering his way through Kickstart My Heart on Kimmel Live.

It was an uncharacteristically cold October evening by the time they took the American Express stage. Gotta love corporately endorsed rock and roll. Bill Hicks would’ve been apoplectic. In any case, the sun slipped below an overcast horizon and the sound of a motorcycle engine roared through the PA system. Outdated animated graphics seemingly leftover from the ’90s and featuring guns, roses and skeletons splashed across giant video screens. And then, for a moment, it all went black. Technical difficulties? Had Axl gotten a bee in his bonnet and canceled the show? Turns out it was just a pause for dramatic effect.

Ripe with anticipation, fans erupted as fireworks punctuated the darkness and the band tore into “It’s So Easy”. The Appetite For Destruction anthem, inspired by unrepentant, consequence-free excess and the slobbering sycophants eager to deliver it all on a silver platter, was a solid, if predictable, opener.

“Mr. Brownstone”, “Chinese Democracy” and “Welcome To The Jungle” followed. Twenty bucks if you can guess when I broke the seal.

Axl changed his wardrobe at least a half dozen times throughout the night and was looking real sharp by the time they fired up their treatment of Wings’ “Live And Let Die”. It lacked the searing vocal edge of the old days, but you would’ve been hard-pressed to find a sober head to contest that fact. Sir Paul, opining under a pseudonym, was rumored to have praised this particular rendition in a backwater chat room.

Slash fired up Velvet Revolver’s “Slither” during which I took the opportunity to buy several plastic bottles of wine, but I stumbled back to the fray in time for an incredibly raucous “Rocket Queen”. Duff was on point during the bridge, and it was then that I noticed Slash was wearing an old Bob Dylan tour t-shirt. At first glance I thought it looked like Todd Snider, an emphatic error exclaimed loudly that exactly nobody in my immediate vicinity appreciated.

Duff took the lead on “Attitude>You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory”, which was one of the standouts of the entire set. I attended to my bladder afterward and missed another Axl wardrobe change, which apparently included a sombrero, and made it back in time for “Civil War”.

It was a marginally heady song back in the day, but, in light of our current red and blue gulf, it carried some legitimate gravitas. Some people seem hungry for it. Perhaps not in Austin, but unfortunately on a national scale.

Slash took an extended solo following “Civil War” that allegedly included a nod to Maggot Brain, but the curse of the seal struck again. Maybe I should check Groupon for a deal on a prostate exam?

With two more plastic bottles of wine in hand, I found my friends and settled in for the home stretch.

“Sweet Child O’ Mine” inspired some much-needed wine consumption. “November Rain” followed. It remains a Mount Rushmore power ballad, and nobody’s friends were out to harm them on this night. Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” was good to hear. A kid, he must’ve been all of six years old and wearing earmuffs, danced in circles next to the beer tent.

“Nightrain”, a fitting nod to the well-lubricated crowd, closed the set.

It was only then that I realized that the biggest of all the big guns had yet to make an appearance. Turns out they served up a double shot for the encore. “Patience” reminded everybody that it takes too long, and then at long last Slash led the charge into “Paradise City”. If there’s a better rock anthem from that era, let me know.

All in all, there were more than vestiges of the volatile energy that define GNR on Friday night. Slash slayed. Duff was solid and stood out with the aforementioned highlight. Axl’s range, especially at the high end, is torn and frayed, but he gave it hell and sounded like a big, bad wolf for the better part of two and a half hours. Time spares nobody. “Mama Kin” would’ve been nice, but my only real grievance is that, other than the ubiquitous threat of a mass shooting, it didn’t feel as dangerous as my first go-round. ~KS

https://onstagemagazine.com/guns-n-roses-acl/

Report in Austin American-Statesman, Oct. 11, 2019

*

For Guns N’ Roses fans, the cold and the rain is just so easy

By Ramon Ramirez
Special to the American-Statesman

Nothing lasts forever, even cold October rain.

It’s dipped into the high 40s Friday afternoon at Zilker Park, and there’s chilly drizzle, but Guns N’ Roses fans remain undeterred from camping at the front of the stage for seven-and-a-half hours until the rock legends take the stage. By 12:15 p.m., the Austin City Limits Music Festival’s first lawn chairs had staked their ground at the American Express stage. At 12:20, I counted 50 people along the front barricade, just after the noon gates opened. The beer and wine were already flowing.

Christian Bates said he moved to Austin from California six weeks ago. He made an early festival dash to the front, and said “Welcome to the Jungle” is one of his all-time favorite rock songs. He also said that he was born in 2001, and that Dad helped him discover his love for classic rock---YouTube’s suggested, auto-play videos did the rest.

“I just looked up ‘rock’ music on YouTube. Ozzy was the first person that popped up, and videos just kept playing and playing,” Bates said. “I ended up hearing ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ for the first time. It was just so mesmerizing. ... It’s still one of my favorite rock songs of all time.”

But it’s a long way from the 7:30 p.m. performance, and the weather is gross. At what point is Bates going to seek shelter should conditions worsen?

“When their set finishes,” he said flatly.

The 18-year-old also said he doesn’t have any thoughts about what he’ll eat when he gets hungry, but said he’ll “figure it out when I get there.”

Another patron, University of Houston student Santiago Pereira, chimed in: “That’s one of the last things you worry about. (All that matters is) just water and surviving.”

Santiago Pereira is here with his brother, Ricky, and they’re from the border town of McAllen. They’re here for the Raconteurs, and say that afterward they’ll head to see ACL Fest’s other Friday headliner, Tame Impala. Ricky is wearing white shorts and a sleeveless, white Red Hot Chili Peppers T-shirt.

“I did not come prepared,” he said. “I came in shorts and no sleeves thinking it’s going to be hot ... the coldest ACL of all time.”

Ricky digs it though: “Once everyone gets here we’re going to warm up” and that it’ll be a “group bonding experience.”

Santiago is wearing a green jacket, and says that after five years of ACL, the brothers are better mentally prepared for camping out up front. Their key rule is that no one leaves for food after 4 p.m.

“Our first year we were very broke. We just ate half a P. Terry’s burger and that was all we ate all day,” Santiago said. “The third day: Just one Pop Tart.”

Both brothers talk about the group that forms a bond during that long window of waiting. That’s ultimately why they’re not worried about the weather.

“We’re the ones that are OK but the ones in the middle who don’t get any water and don’t get direct care, those are the ones who pass out,” Santiago said.

https://web.archive.org/web/20210801052346/https://www.austin360.com/entertainmentlife/20191011/for-guns-n-roses-fans-cold-and-rain-is-just-so-easy

Review of sorts in Austin360/Austin American-Statesman, Oct. 12, 2019.

*

A bridge too far: Trying to appreciate Guns N' Roses at ACL Fest

By Peter Blackstock

Our review of Guns N' Roses' performance during the first weekend of the Austin City Limits Festival offered a reasonably straightforward take from Ramon Ramirez that admirably covered why their fans hold them in such high regard.

So it seems fair to say right up front that this has never been a band that resonated with me. But it's weekend two, and our Austin360 crew uses the fest's second go-round largely to seek out things that might be less obvious choices for us, or simply acts we weren't able to catch the first time around. So I parked myself at the American Express stage from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday night, game to give the band a full airing.

There was no "a-ha" moment, no lightbulb that went off illuminating what I've been missing all these years. Thinking back on why that was, it occurred to me that there are certain things you probably have to like in order for GNR to appeal to you. Here's a list of five, counting down to the most important.

5. Posturing. This is a pretty quintessential rock-band characteristic, and it's fair to say that GNR has it down far better than most. From singer Axl Rose's sneers and struts, to guitarist Slash's general coolsville aura, to bassist Duff McKagan's no-prisoners presence, they play the part well. But you have to like that about rock bands to begin with to buy in. If you lean more toward bands who tend to make fun of such posturing — like, say, the Replacements — this is not likely to be a draw. (And yes, I realize the irony of the reference I cited, given that Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson spelled McKagan in the GNR lineup for a decade or so.)

4. Long songs. A little over an hour into GNR's set Friday, I stopped to count the number of songs they'd played and figured out that, on average, their songs were clocking in at about six and a half minutes. GNR loves the extended jam, which is great if you're there to just rock out with them. But if you're the type who appreciates concision and editing in songwriting and performing — basically, pare down the stuff that doesn't really need to be there — this isn't going to be a selling point.

3. Dynamics. Or, more specifically, the dearth of them. No doubt part of GNR's appeal is their full-tilt sonic assault, and it was indeed impressive out of the gate on Friday. But by the time they got past "Welcome to the Jungle" (song four in the set), it seemed OK to shift gears a little bit. That never really came until Rose went to the piano for "November Rain," but by then the stretch of two-plus hours with the foot on the gas had dulled the senses to some of their energy. And while dynamics isn't the same as volume, on this night GNR cranked it up enough that my Facebook feed was filled with posts from Austinites who could feel the noize from up to 5 miles away. This was one of the lessons that bands such as the Pixies and Nirvana learned well: Loud stands out more when you balance it with quiet moments.

2. Guitar solos. Slash is quite obviously one of the best guitarists in rock, and his spotlight solo that finally gave way to the all-time-great riff opening "Sweet Child O' Mine" near the end of the set was without question the concert's crowning moment. But between Slash's pull toward the weedly-wee jam and plenty more from his counterpart Richard Fortus — who, in should be noted, plays his Ron Wood role perfectly in this lineup — you have to hold guitar solos in high regard to fully appreciate GNR. Otherwise you'll spend a lot of minutes at a GNR show just waiting for the band to get on with it already.

1. Axl's voice. This isn't limited to GNR by any means, certainly: I've long believed that the number one factor in determining personal likability of pop-vocal music is whether or not the singer appeals to you. I understand, for example, why some folks are turned off by distinctive singers I happen to love (Victoria Williams comes to mind). But it's exaggerated in the case of Rose, whose particular blend of screech-and-whine lifts annoyance to a new level, for me. Other things about him I appreciate, such as his willingness to speak his mind about sociopolitical issues, and even his awkward fashion sense. (The flannel-shirt-tied-around-the-waist accent to his Friday wardrobe was just ridiculous enough to be kind of sublime.) But in the end, I'll never be able to connect with GNR, first and foremost because of the way he sings.

In the end, I can only say in my defense that I tried. For a solid 150 minutes, I tried. The only cure may be another dose of The Cure on Saturday night at ACL Fest. Now Robert Smith, that's a voice I can abide.

https://web.archive.org/web/20220525091614/https://www.austin360.com/story/entertainment/music/acl-fest/2019/10/12/bridge-too-far-trying-to-appreciate-guns-n-roses-at-acl-fest/2546973007/

Review in Austin 101 Magazine, Oct. 23, 2019

*

ACL Festival Weekend Two Review

Edging ever closer towards to 2 full decades at Zilker Park, this year’s Austin City Limits brought 2 weekends full of local and international music (up-and-comers and big headliners), great eats, and lots of great times.

Weekend 2 was certainly a dramatic weather shift from the hot and muggy weather from ACL weekend 1. Both weekends broke weather records. The first was one of the hottest, the second the coldest. The first day of weekend 1 had temps in the 40’s and 50’s- people wearing hats, coats, and scarves and each day the temps got slightly better in the 60’s and 70’s but was mostly cloudy. We felt we won the weather lottery.

As festival fever sweeps the nation this time of year, thousands of fun-loving people gathered at Zilker Park in Austin to listen to an electric lineup of musicians from a lot of genres, styles and generations. Don’t think that ACL is just another festival to check off the list, Promoter, C3 did a great job bringing a great mixture of up-and-coming artists, viral sensations and musical legends. ACL truly did a great job bringing something for everyone. Come with us as we recap some of the bands that we felt were highlights, some of them you may have heard of and some you may not and will quickly add to your playlists.

Friday

The Band Camino, Houses, Savannah Conley and Madison Beer, Cherry Glazerr, Jai Wolf, King Princess, K.Flay, Lil Uzi, The Raconteurs, Tame Impala and Guns n’ Roses

[...]

Tame Impala had the very tough job of co-headlining the day with the legendary Guns n Roses. I love both bands so I had to make it to both of their sets.The Australian band fused their psychedelic pop melodies and modern electronic production to delight the tens of thousands that were in attendance. I love the blend of visuals, the synthesizers and tight drum programming that the band puts together to create dope dance floor melodies. I would have loved to catch all 90 minutes of their set but I couldn’t. The pull for GNR was too strong and I headed toward the American Express stage on the other side of the festival in Zilker Park.

There are bands that take you back to a place, whether that place is good or bad, the music has the power to take you there. GNR (Guns n Roses) is one of those bands for me. As I sat on the lawn listening to Axl and Slash rock the stage I remised about my youth and whatever it was that I was doing in the 90s. The band sounded as good as I remember when I saw them many years ago. Axl’s legendary powerful vocals and Slash’s unmatched guitar skills (often considered one of the best guitarists) were in full display as the festival closed its first day. The band played hits like “Sweet Child of Mine”, “November Rain”, “Live and Let Die” and “Welcome to the Jungle” and many more songs in the crazy-long 2 ½ hr set.

[...]

Full article:
https://austin101magazine.com/2019/10/23/review-highlights-of-another-acl-festival-in-the-books/