2016-07-27 Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA

BuckinTN
Just got back. Crowd was pretty rowdy. Axl and the boys seemed to be enjoying themselves. Axl seems almost playful at times. I also attended Nashville and think the sound was better there. Georgia Dome sounded kinda muddy at times. I would say there were probably 45k there. Very good crowd for a Wednesday evening. I like most wish they would switch up the 2nd half of the setlist. However, we are the only ones watching every other show on periscope. The crowd seems to love it and that's all that matters right now. The band seems good and we can hope they get in the studio soon!

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tajandreas
Don't really know how to start this, but here I go.

What an amazing show. From start to finish the band was a fucking locomotive! Some pit stops along the way (I'll get to that shortly) but all in all they kept us going. For me, it was a very spiritual experience. I discovered the band after hearing Nightrain on the radio and have been hooked since. Forever wishing for a reunion and it finally happened, I knew I couldn't miss this show. The atmosphere in the dome was crazy. I called Ticketmaster in the morning and the guy told me the show was 90% sold out, and it was probably at 95% by the time the show started. I went alone but once I got into my seat and Duff's bass line echoed the stadium, it felt like a huge family in our section. Everyone was singing along, dancing, the whole sha'bang. There were some duds in the setlist that sucked the life out of the arena (Better, THE SEEKER) but staples like LALD,YCBM, & Nighttrain pumped life back into us. Paradise was a thriller and great way to end the show. Some notes I'd like to add:

-Axl: Holy shit. Not only was his singing up to par and on point in many spots, his screams literally peeled back skin. You could feel them in every way and added to the presence of the band. People can rant all they want about how he's aged/his weight/etc., but he's still the most electric frontman in Rock. Hands down.

-Slash: Not much to say that hasn't been said. The dude is a musical robot. Always improving and his solo part was one to remember. It's a completely different vibe when you experience it live.

THE SEEKER: This has been talked about time and time again but witnessing it live takes on a whole new meaning. Don't get me wrong, I like the song. I feel like if they're going to play it, hell, put it in the regular set. In the encore though? TOTAL buzzkill and it KILLS the momentum leading into Paradise. The outtro's to both Don't Cry/Patience get the crowd so hype. Everyone was singing along to Patience and it was just a magnetic vibe going on. Once The Seeker started though, people sat down immediately and went on to browsing their phones. It's pathetic imo to not put another great song from their catalog into that slot. It's an encore after all, give the fans what THEY want.

-The Setlist/Band live: On a brighter note, this band is solid. Tight knit in every way, and you can feel it. Duff & Frank have this symbiosis thing going on that just resonates through everything. You could literally feel Duff's bass as if it was a second heartbeat. And finally seeing him live, it makes sense as to why they call Frank "thunderchucker." My ears will have to pay for that. He played great by the way. Richard was in the shadows most of the time (Kinda like how Izzy used to be) but when it was his time to shine, that's exactly what he did. Nothing but praise for him. Which brings me to my point. Alot of people can say what they want: Axl doesn't sound good in the periscope links, Mickey this mickey that, Frank's fill's suck, Slash isn't playing the TIL solo like it is on the album, so on and so forth. The negativity that I've seen on this board seems to come from people that haven't even witnessed the band live. TRUST ME. Once you do everything changes. I appreciate them alot more and you realize that there's alot more to a performance than dissecting the good and bad about the performers. They put on a complete show, and considering how old they are and what they've been through, it's astonishing that they're pulling it off every night. Again, it's something that you have to experience to understand. You can't "feel" anything through a periscope link, although we'd like to think we can.

I give the show a 9/10. Something I'll never forget and hope to experience again. One thing's for sure though. I have NO doubt in my mind that this lineup could put out a killer album or two. Not in this lifetime? We're waiting on it!

-Taj

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Concert review: Guns N’ Roses ignite Georgia Dome with brawny rock show
July 28, 2016

More than 40,000 fans came to hear the reunited Guns N’ Roses at Georgia Dome Wednesday night. Photo: Katarina Benzova

There were plenty of reasons to be skeptical of this Guns N’ Roses reunion tour.

Would there be any passion onstage or would it be a rote musical exercise with the dangling carrot of a meaty paycheck?

Could Axl Rose, a guy who admittedly joined the Bloated Aging Rock Star Club a few years ago, handle the physical and vocal rigors of a stadium show?

And, would the band notorious for starting their concerts after even Madonna has gone to bed actually show up?

The suspicion of any doubters was quickly quashed Wednesday night at the Georgia Dome when Guns N’ Roses – the heyday lineup of Rose, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan, along with longtime accomplices Dizzy Reed on keyboards, Richard Fortus on guitar and Frank Ferrer on drums and newcomer Melissa Reese on synthesizers – launched into the opener “It’s So Easy” and the crowd roared as Slash stepped forward for his first solo.

By the way, this all started at 9:30 p.m. – 15 minutes earlier than scheduled – and ended more than two and half hours and a few thousand damaged eardrums later.



The big news of the tour? Axl and Slash together again. Photo: Katarina Benzova

From that first song, Rose proved a vital presence. Clad in ripped jeans with a flannel shirt tied around his waist and what turned out to be a series of T-shirts – likely due to the perpetual sweat that dripped from his elbows throughout the show – Rose slid from his pronounced nasal delivery during a taut, funky “Mr. Brownstone” to the mighty wails that infuse “Welcome to the Jungle” with its primal intensity.

The arrival of that song – the band’s first major hit from 1987 – was everything a fan could anticipate. While Rose’s vocals were a bit rushed on the verses, his yowling was in admirable form, as was the beautiful cacophony created by McKagan (who showcased a Prince symbol on his bass) and Ferrer during the song’s famous breakdown.

Performing on a stage stacked with tiers of stairs and flanked by a pair of colossal video screens, Rose and Slash in particular consumed the open space.

Slash struck his classic pose of right knee tipped forward as he melted strings during a solo on “Double Talkin’ Jive,” while Rose raced around the stage and spun on one leg as pyro popped behind him during “Live and Let Die,” the band’s rather thrilling cover of the Wings staple.

Watching how Guns N’ Roses appeared to legitimately enjoy playing together – was that a smile on Rose’s face during the epic “Civil War”? – you had to shake your head thinking about all of the years wasted on acrimony and bitterness when they could have been rousing fans and stuffing their bank accounts.

But at least they wised up in time – and came ready to play as professionals.

No one would have begrudged Rose if he had to take a hit off of an oxygen tank, but between these shows and his stint with AC/DC (he’ll be back with the Aussies Sept. 1 at Philips Arena), the mercurial frontman seems, at 54, re-conditioned for rock ‘n’ roll.

Rose did cede the microphone to McKagan, who churned out a boisterous cover of Iggy and the Stooges’ “Raw Power,” but he otherwise rarely rested, whether complementing Ferrer’s locomotive drumming on “You Should Be Mine” with a sneer or delivering “Sweet Child O’ Mine” with nostalgic flair.

Slash kept the 40,000-plus in attendance from flocking to the beer lines with a riveting rendition of “Speak Softly Love,” otherwise known as the love theme from “The Godfather” as well as a gorgeous guitar duet with Fortus on Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” which was full of fretboard acrobatics.



Axl Rose still has his rock star moves. Photo: Katarina Benzova

While Guns N’ Roses achieved their mega-platinum fame with a combination of serrated guitars married to insinuating melodies, the band could also stomp out a power ballad with the same intensity as one of Rose’s glass-shattering shrieks.

That ability was on display early in the night during “Estranged,” from 1994s’ “Use Your Illusion II,” and later during the pensive “November Rain.”

Seated at a piano brought to the edge of the stage, Rose, with Slash nearby, unfurled the timeless coda of “Layla” as the introduction to “Rain.” As Rose dug deeper into the sweeping 1992 hit, he sounded like man who believed what he was singing.

Fans likely chuckled when they heard that Guns N’ Roses christened the tour “Not in the This Lifetime.” But not too long ago, the notion of hearing “Patience” or “Paradise City” with three of the band’s five original members seemed preposterous.

But a combination of clarity and maturity is apparently a musical jackpot.

Opening the Atlanta date was The Cult, the venerable British punk-goth-rockers.

Singer Ian Astbury was a vision in black – including sunglasses – as he and the band slammed through “Lil Devil,” the dark and foreboding “Deeply Ordered Chaos” and “Sweet Soul Sister,” with its reverberating chorus.

Astbury’s vocals often echoed uncomfortably in the half-filled stadium, and, despite his neck-vein-popping vocal performance on “Fire Woman,” the song was audibly mucky. The tunefulness of “She Sells Sanctuary” was better discerned and by the time they wrapped with “Love Removal Machine,” Astbury’s hair was freed from its ponytail and the crowd was primed for the main event.

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