It was a good week for Guns N’ Roses fans, especially the Pittsburgh ones.
Not only did they get their first GNR show in seven years, but a legit new song and video on the eve of the concert with “Perhaps,” the third single from the band since “Hard Skool” in 2021.
It made GNR seem a little less like a nostalgia band heading into PNC Park on Friday night on the We're F'N' Back! Tour.
Coming in, there were some mixed reviews: on the plus side, the length of the show, the solid playing. the overall good spirits of the band. On the down side, Axl Rose’s everywhere vocals, bad sound mixes, meh drumming, minimal production and, of course, from that critic across the pond, the part about them being “exhausting viewing and frontrunners for the worst Glastonbury headline set of all time.” (Maybe he’s the reason no review tickets or photo passes are being issued.)
Guns N’ Roses didn’t sound like the worst of anything at PNC, which was packed — except for the completely empty, unsold upper deck.
They hit the stage with a mushroom cloud on screen and sounding properly nuclear on their standard opener, “It’s So Easy.”
Rose, sporting a black T, silver pants and short hair, went through his full range on the song, from the menacing lower register to feral screech while he did that sideways slide across the stage.
Within a few songs, it was clear you’d never know what sound was going to come out of him next. Some of the notes he flat-out nailed; others, in that falsetto range, nailed him. I dare say there were times when he wouldn’t have passed the audition for a Guns N’ Roses tribute band, but, all in all, he was an impressive frontman for this sort of thing at 61.
The guitar power was high voltage between Slash, the shredding mad hatter, and Richard Fortus, who delivered one of the best solos of the night on “Rocket Queen,” at least until Slash absolutely unloaded on the endless jam coming out of “Civil War.”
The guitarist also had a moment, with keyboardist Dizzy Reed, in the extended jam on “Estranged.”
Bassist Duff McKagan remains a badass in every way, and his lead vocal on The Stooges’ “TV Eye” suggested he should do more of the vocals. Rose immediately matched the punk intensity, capturing the spirit of ’77 on the UK Subs’ “Down on the Farm.”
McKagan’s rhythm section partner, Frank Ferrer, is indeed more of a plodder than most drummers in that lofty position.
“Forgive me if I don’t run around a lot on this next song,” Rose said about an hour in, adding that he needed to concentrate on “how to sing it live.”
With that, they unveiled a solid version of “Perhaps,” on its live debut.
“Now that was an experience,” Rose said.
For most of the crowd, the best experiences were the big Guns: early on, the grinding “Welcome to the Jungle” and explosive “Live and Let Die” (though pyro-less), and then later a run of hits with a rousing “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” piano power ballad “November Rain,” the Dylan doorbuster “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” a thunderous “Nightrain” and, like three hours in, a showstopping “Paradise City.”
Here’s the thing: Just because you CAN play till 11 in Downtown Pittsburgh doesn’t mean you HAVE to. Marathon sets are superb for jam bands, less so for high-energy hard rockers. Ideally, Guns N’ Roses would add a third band, come out and slay for 100 minutes and bolt.
Rather than stack the bill with pop-metal bands — thus making ticket sales easier — GNR has some oddfellows on the tour, including Carrie Underwood and, for Pittsburgh, The Pretenders, a punk/New Wave band that never would have crossed paths with GNR in its heyday.
They went on at the early hour of 6 p.m., before a lot of people got there, and lived up to their reputation as one of the elite bands of the post-punk/New Wave we era.
This set, however, was more in the midtempo gear than the punk one, with radio songs like “Talk of the Town,” “Kid” and “Brass in Pocket.”
The one original member, Chrissie Hynde, at 71, looks great and somehow doesn’t sound any different than she did at 31.
Even paring down the punk, The Pretenders still mustered a rowdy clatter, with “Boots of Chinese Plastic” being one of those standouts.
Hynde, one of Rose’s favorite female singers, displayed her stunning vibrato on a pair of ballads — “I’ll Stand By You” and “Hymn to Her,” by Rose’s request — and finished loud and heavy with “Middle of the Road” (with shrieking harp) and “Mystery Achievement.”
Wearing a black “Steel City”’ T-shirt and dark glasses, the Ohio native told the crowd, “I feel so close to home. Akron is only a hundred miles away. Pittsburgh is what Athens should have been, but they [expletive] it up!”
She also said, “I got on the 71C today, rode it all the way to the end. It’s really lovely.”
I can only hope some old East End scenester got to enjoy the thrill of seeing Chrissie Hynde on the 71C.
Scott Mervis: smervis@post-gazette.com
Guns N’ Roses Set List:
It's So Easy
Bad Obsession
Mr. Brownstone
Chinese Democracy
Slither
(Velvet Revolver cover)
Welcome to the Jungle
(Link Wray’s “Rumble” intro)
Hard Skool
Reckless Life
Double Talkin’ Jive
Absurd
Estranged
Perhaps
Live and Let Die
(Wings cover)
Rocket Queen
You Could be Mine
T.V. Eye
(Stooges cover)
Down on the Farm
(UK Subs cover)
Anything Goes
Civil War
(Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child"… more )
Slash Guitar Solo
Sweet Child o' Mine
November Rain
Don’t Cry
Coma
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
(Bob Dylan cover)
Nightrain
Paradise City
The Pretenders Set List
My City Was Gone
Talk of the Town
Kid
Turf Accountant Daddy
Boots of Chinese Plastic
Hymn to Her
Don't Get Me Wrong
Back on the Chain Gang
Thumbelina
I'll Stand by You
(Dedicated to fan with… more )
Brass in Pocket
Junkie Walk
Let the Sun Come In
Middle of the Road
Mystery Achievement
First Published: August 19, 2023, 3:02 a.m.
Updated: August 19, 2023, 4:11 p.m.
