The initial reaction was one of cynicism. Who needs differences anyway when you’ve got millions of dollars to earn touring the world as a nostalgia act? Plus, that fried chicken won’t buy itself… In 2016 Axl, Slash and Duff patched up their differences and announced a reunion tour. The new Axl was a portly fellow, rumoured to have an addiction to fried chicken and was described by one audience member in London as ‘a gold lamé blob up on stage.’ A reunion seemed as unlikely as all four Beatles playing together on stage. Axl retained the Guns N’ Roses name, touring the band in the 21 st century with a host of stand-in musicians and finally releasing the long-threatened Chinese Democracy album in 2008. Slash kept himself busy, playing in Velvet Revolver (with Duff) before going on to record several decent solo albums. It’s been a long time coming, but for a large part of the twenty five years since I first heard Appetite For Destruction, it seemed unlikely that a reunion would ever happen. I saw something last night I thought I’d never see – Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan on the same stage together. As they shook hands in a rare moment of gig-going humanity, de la Rocha was on stage was shouting “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me!” Magical. Despite the madness, everybody cleared and one guy found his glasses and handed them to him, absolutely relieved. The other thing I remember is the moshpit absolutely going off during Killing In The Name, and some guy getting his glasses knocked off his face. I have a clear memory of sneaking into the downstairs section during the break, and watching Chiz run ahead of me, jumping and shouting “Encore!” – which nobody says, unless you’re at the Opera. We had tickets to the seated area upstairs – a bit of a suck as it’s always better at that venue to stand downstairs. That gig was also a weird one because of the strange mix of people I went with – my usual gig-going friends (Russ, Chris Wild, Paul Roberts) but a couple of other people from Sixth Form that I’d never been out socially with (Chiz and JP). His only words between the songs was to say “We are Rage Against The Machine from Los Angeles, California.” Nothing more, nothing less. Again, I was disappointed in the band, this time for Zack de a Rocha’s inability to connect with the audience. This tour was also the first and only time I saw the band play live, at the Manchester Apollo. That one definitely has that groove going, perfectly shown here in a cover by a high school brass band. Bulls On Parade in particular is brilliant – and on its own is as strong as anything on the first album. Over the years, it’s grown in my estimation still nowhere near as strong as its predecessor but not the million miles away I first thought it was. Of course, I was wrong, but man I was disappointed at the time. I didn’t like the cover either – they’d gone from one of the most arresting images of all time with the monk committing self-immolation on the debut, to some weedy looking boy dressed as a superhero. My initial thoughts were that the songs – and most importantly, the grooves – of the debut record had been replaced by guitarist Tom Morello investing in a couple of new guitar pedals. I can even remember my first listen to this, thinking ‘Is that it?’. The four years spent between Rage Against The Machine’s peerless 1992 debut and this 1996 follow-up felt like an eternity. When you’re a teenager a year can feel like a lifetime.
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