We have to admit to being a little surprised when Guns N’ Roses were announced as part of the Neil Young-organized annual Bridge School Benefit concert, taking place this weekend. But it happened, and they showed up and delivered something rather unusual for the band: an acoustic performance, with some song versions we frankly can’t remember the band having done before.
That’s not to say they’re very good. Because they’re not. If you own GNR Lies, then you’ll cringe your ass off during You’re Crazy, for reasons which will become very clear within a minute of pressing ‘play’. Same applies to Used To Love Her, which sounds like Angela Lansbury howling over a chorus of backup vocals that don’t go anywhere near far enough in covering up the shoddy frontman delivery.
Watch GNR’s acoustic gig below, and be careful when dealing with those high notes (especially during Better):
Guns N’ Roses Bridge School Benefit setlist:
You’re Crazy
Used to Love Her
Welcome to the Jungle
Better
Patience
Sweet Child O’ Mine
Paradise City
5 Comments
I love that Axl wears his going-in-public disguise on stage.
“Now, Billy, make sure you dress in layers when going out – you can never be sure of the weather.” – Ms. Bailey, 1972
And that 3rd-place-in-Trent-Reznor-lookalike-contest plays a mean acoustical guitar.
Glad to see that 6/7ths of music performed in 2012 is stuff originally released before 1989. The other 1/7th stinks.
What do you think they pipe into Axl’s headphones that makes him think he doesn’t sound like a constipated chimp?
You know, I’d rather have seen Eddie Vedder stay out there and just perform these songs himself.
It’s a shame all these talented musicians are stuck in this GNR cover band. I think they should have a double-bill with Adler’s Appetite at the state fair, maybe they’d get noticed.
I look at the members of the band and they all look like they have nothing in common, but that’s not true, they all kick butt at saying “Yes, Axl” and “Sounds great, Axl.”
Axl : GNR as Michael Bay : Transformers
Big fan of both versions of GNR and thought that was the worst version of ‘Better’ I’ve ever heard. Older stuff sounded solid but ya, its almost 25 years old. Play some new stuff, Axl
Always loved GNR, liked Chinese Democracy, thought the new lineup sounded killer when I saw them circa 2008. I was also excited to attend the Bridge… but gosh that axl sounded awful that night.
It was nice to see jungle and others in an acoustic format though.
PS: Can’t wait to see the Vegas setlists where they will play Appetite in its entirety. Oh wait, they already play 10-11 songs off the album…every night… since GNR-2.0 made their live debut in 1999 or something.
This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Shakey Pictures.
:'(