Guns N’ Roses locked and loaded at Fillmore show – The Detroit News
It was around 2 a.m. Wednesday when Guns N’ Roses really started heating up.
The group was two and a half hours into a fiery performance at the Fillmore Detroit when it rolled headlong into “Nightrain,” a classic cut from 1987’s “Appetite for Destruction.” A female fan crowd-surfed toward Axl Rose, and the enigmatic frontman extended his arm, smiled, and directed his next line toward her: “And I can tell you honey, you can make my money tonight.”
It was a small moment in a king-size three-hour concert, but it was an example of the intimate connection between performer and fan that comes from a theater show. And it was those kinds of bits that seemed to stoke the band’s fire, as it played with a vigor that was missing during Guns’ December performance at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
At that half-empty Palace concert, GNR was powerful but aimless, going through the motions of being a gigantic rock band, a post it has long since abandoned. But Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning at the Fillmore, GNR felt much more like a working band, rather than an army of hired guns making rock poses in between loud blasts of pyro. It was almost as if the band had been humbled, and as a result was playing with a renewed purpose.
The band members riffed between songs, entertaining themselves with bits of the Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing,” Jackson 5’s “ABC,” MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams” and Kiss’ “Detroit Rock City.” And they seemed to go a bit outside the playbook, offering up a bluesy, stripped-down version of “You’re Crazy” early on and later easing into “Used to Love Her,” which was absent from the December concert.
Then there were the epics: A mighty “Estranged” and a ferocious “Civil War” were full of arena muscle, and “This I Love,” from “Chinese Democracy,” felt as strong as anything from the band’s golden era.
The show was still bloated in parts, full of extraneous solos from the band’s guitarists that could have easily been excised. It was unclear why “November Rain” was cut short to allow for guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal to play the “Pink Panther” theme, but it was an awful decision. Likewise with bassist Tommy Stinson’s mid-show offering of “Motivation,” though it was likely just an excuse to let Axl run off stage and catch his breath for a bit.
Rose tweeted early in the day he was “sick as a dogg!!,” and his voice — particularly the high-end — seemed especially shaky during the show. There were times when he went to sing and nothing at all came out, and still other times — such as “Nightrain” — when he was in solid form.
Vocals aside, it was fascinating to simply be that close to Rose, who has existed in a sort of self-imposed isolation for decades. He’s long been as inaccessible as rock stars get, but this small venue tour feels like a new leaf. The singer turned 50 earlier this month, and if he’s not the lean, serpentine figure he once was, he still makes quite an impression.
GNR wrapped the show with “Paradise City,” as bursts of red confetti rained down on the crowd. It was 2:35 a.m. and GNR’s nightrain had pulled in for the evening, but it’s a ride passengers aren’t likely to forget anytime soon.
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