Guns N' Roses Triumphs On Their Second Night At Soldier Field
By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 5, 2016 9:55PM
Guns N' Roses (Photo by Katarina Benzova)
Seeing the original members of Guns N' Roses Axl Rose, Duff McKagan and Slash share the same stage was something we honestly never thought would happen. After Rose continued on with the group as an ostensible solo project since the mid-'90s, there seemed to be no love lost between its core members. We had seen the band a number of times, first on the opening night of their Use Your illusion tour in 1991 and then at a small show at House Of Blues a few years ago. Last Sunday night's show, the second Chicago stop on the aptly named Not In This Lifetime... tour, held much more in common with that 1991 show.
Lead singer Rose is famous for keeping fans waiting, so imagine our surprise when they actually started Sunday's show 15 minutes early. It served as a harbinger of things to come. Previous reviews have held Rose to task for leaving the stage for extended costume breaks during drawn-out guitar solos, but Sunday he remained onstage for most of the night, even air-guitaring alongside Slash a number of times.
The presence of Slash and McKagan certainly helped inject life into the rest of the band. Both members have seemingly not aged since the band's '90s heyday and that served to reinvigorate the band's classic material. Even extended numbers like the ten-minute plus "Coma" managed to keep the audience's attention as the members of the band stalked the stage.
With an over twenty song setlist, the band delivered material from all phases of its career but wisely focused on their older material, alongside a number of familiar covers including "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and "Live And Let Die." This was largely a nostalgia act, to be sure, but it was one the crowd relished taking in, and the band seemed happy to deliver. If there are any lingering resentments between the members, it wasn't visible on the stage as the band delivered an explosive set. We spoke to some audience members who had been to Friday's show at Soldier Field and they told us that the band seemed to be in finer form during Sunday's show. Maybe the day off allowed them to rev up their musical engines?
For this tour the band is filled out by Dizzy Reed on keyboards, Richard Fortus on rhythm guitar, Frank Ferrer on drums, and Melissa Reese on additional keyboards.
Set List for Sunday, July 3
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
Double Talkin' Jive
Estranged
Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
Rocket Queen
You Could Be Mine
Raw Power (Iggy and The Stooges cover)
This I Love
Civil War
Coma
Slash guitar solo - Speak Softly Love (Love Theme From The Godfather/Andy Williams)
Sweet Child O' Mine
Better
Out Ta Get Me
Jam (Including snippets of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here")
November Rain
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan cover)
Nightrain
Encore:
Don't Cry
The Seeker (The Who cover)
Paradise City