The travesty of Guns N’ Roses at Warfield, 2006
No rock band is safe from having the occasional disastrous gig from time to time. Even though there may be shows that have gone down in history as some of the greatest performances of all time, every artist can have an off-night now and again, either due to technical issues or the person not being well-versed in the material to deliver to the best of their abilities. While Guns N’ Roses may have been known as one of the most dangerous outfits to ever turn up on a stage, they had become a husk of their former selves when they played this disaster gig in 2006.
Then again, the Guns N’ Roses taking the stage that night was much different from the rock and roll institution that most had come to know. Since frontman Axl Rose had secured the ownership of the band’s name after founding members Slash and Duff McKagan left, this new lineup featured a who’s who of talent behind the scenes, including the guitar legend Bumblefoot.
Even though the group were ready to roll when they turned in Warfield to perform, it was all about whether Rose decided to show up on time. As far back as the band’s massive gigs to support the album Use Your Illusion, Rose was known to take his time when he was due to take the stage, either making the crowd wait for hours on end or deciding not to show up at all.
While Rose did decide to take the stage that night, it would be a full two hours after they were set to take the stage. Once the group were firing on all cylinders, Rose’s outlandish behaviour started to rear its head when he spotted someone in the crowd with whom he took issue.
Famous for diving into the crowd to fight fans in the past, Rose brought the entire show to a halt midway through the solo of ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’, yanking out his ear monitors so that he could let this person know that he wasn’t welcome at their gig. While many fans are known to get unruly at a show, this wasn’t the first time Rose stopped the gig to remove someone, famously telling security to throw someone out because they were wearing a shirt with Slash on the front.
Also, the band’s choice of using fireworks at the theatre complex was already risky. Around the same time that they took the stage that night, the rock world faced an immense tragedy when Great White were performing at a small club, letting off different pyrotechnics that caused a massive fire, killing several fans struggling to find the exit.
Although Guns N’ Roses may have checked the structure of the building by the time they went on, the number of unnecessary flashes so soon after the tragedy tended to come across as tone-deaf. While this version of the outfit would continue for years before the release of the long-anticipated Chinese Democracy, fans couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed, as if they had waited for decades to hear the ramblings of a madman.
For all of the critiques that were thrown Rose’s way, he stuck to his principles, continuing with the name lineup of the group before deciding to reform with Slash and McKagan in the 2010s. While the band can still bring the thunder whenever they perform live, let’s hope that Rose learned some sort of lesson about how to treat fans after this gig.
