Guns n' Roses to Play Sweden Rock Festival
Friday, February 12, 2010 at 10:02AM
One of the biggest rock bands of all time, Guns N' Roses, will bring their "Chinese Democracy World Tour" to Sölvesborg and Sweden Rock Festival in June.
The worldwide tour promotes the band's latest album, Chinese Democracy, which debuted at #1 on the charts in thirteen countries including Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Finland, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, as well as the European Top 100 Albums survey.
Chinese Democracy was released on Black Frog/Geffen Records in November 2008 and reached 3 times Platinum in Canada, Platinum in Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, UK, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa. The album is Gold in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Holland, Sweden, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Brazil and Colombia. In the U.S., the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 3, 2009.
Produced by Axl Rose and Caram Costanzo, Chinese Democracy includes 14 tracks.
On this tour, singer/main man Axl Rose is accompanied by long-time keyboardist Dizzy Reed, the latter's fellow ivories tickler Chris Pitman, bassist Tommy Stinson, drummer Frank Ferrer and guitarists Richard Fortus, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and DJ Ashba - a musical dream-team and one of the most prestigious SRF-debuts this festival has ever had the pleasure of introducing!
Guns N' Roses last played in Sweden in June 2006, when they sold out the Globe arena in Stockholm.
Sweden Rock Festival is arranged in Sölvesborg in the south of Sweden June 9-12. Tickets are available on the festival's website, www.swedenrock.com.
Reader Comments (10)
I commented on one of Al's posts a ways back, don't remember which, unfortunately, where I mentioned I had a great hour long conversation with a dude that was one of his sound engineers where he bought out The Captain and Tenille's Recording Facilities in Hollywood for months, keepin' all the musicians on call while he'd show up around 2 a.m. for a little weight lifting while doing tequila shots.
I had another source who I trust tell me that around 2004 Axl was hangin' downtown in NYC late night after this particular establishment where he was hangin' went into "after hours" mode and where my contact was a bartender. Axl put on his latest version of "Chinese Democracy" and asked this dude's opinion.
He did not appreciate the feedback, apparently, as my boy told him he thought it was too industrial. Don't remember the exact detailz but Axl got all defensive and as*hollish and they actually had to ask him to leave, which they did'nt have a problem with because he had been out of the limelight for so long at that point, he had become a "Rockstar" non grata.
Too bad he did that stifling deal with Bestbuy, as that really has limited the exposure potential of that album, no matter what we want to believe about the massive illegal downloads going on in our culture these days etc., etc.
I would love to see 'em, tho. Apparently, he just nails the old stuff, just as I have witnessed on those fairly recent YouTube clips.
And I do like some of the ever weird, overwrought stuff on the album, but like it better live as the guitars get punched up a little more in the mix.
Rock on, despite yo' weird, misguided, falsely-self entitled, dysfunctional, crude n' rude a*s, Axl!
It must have really blown if he brought you to the point where you'd walk out on the show.
I saw Cheap Trick recently and they, at one point or another, had 3 guitarists (if you count Zander's occasional Telecaster usage) and two keyboardists (these were all guyz from Jellyfish) and it was flawlessly killer.
That said, maybe it's not the same for Axl. Sorry he drove you to walk out on him, but when I saw some of the live stuff on YouTube from the world tour, I gotta say , it was pretty impressive, as much as I now despise him, tho I didn't always, like when I saw these guys at their last real club date they ever played, according to Slash, himself.
That show took place at The Bayou in Georgetown, in front of a sold-out crowd of 250 people, just 2 weeks after "Appetite" hit the stores.
Axl's weirdo stretched and pulled plastic surgery disaster of a face and bizarro and Un-Rock goofball cornrows? Those things are another story.
I'll buy a ticket if G n R play the same day as four or five other bands I really wanna see.
Update on the aforementioned Stockholm Rock Out - they've added Kix, Tigertailz and Crashdiet!
I'm glad to see Kix sustaining, and quite possibly, expanding their worldwide appeal. I just think of them as local boyz made good with their multiplatinum success of "Blow My Fuse" -- specifically, the song, "Don't Close Your Eyes" and to see they're playin' over there, it's awesome!
And to see 'em with the recently added Tigertailz and last but not least, Crash Diet, I am not worthy!
I gotta get over there for Stockholm Rock Out, I just wish Gunz would play that, too. Dunno, if I strike it rich (even semi-rich), which I could be if one of theez crazy dealz goes through, I'll see G'n'R in Solvesborg, too!
In the meantime, I'm actually goin' to see Kix on March 13th around their old stomping grounds, in Baltimore, MD at Ram's Head Live! (they are actually from Hagerstown, MD and I was raised in that general area, as well, by an old couple on a farm in a rural area just south of Baltimore.)