Guns N' Roses / Skid Row Concert 6-10-91

What Is This?
I was asked by many about my musical influences when making stamps and asked to share some of the stories behind the concerts I have seen. I have been to 1200+ live concerts (all national touring bands/singers with albums, not local club bands or tribute/cover bands, have seen plenty of those too) and have saved every ticket stub and backstage pass (when I had one) and kept notes (like a journal) on every show I have ever seen. So from time to time I will scan in the ticket stub from a show I saw (going in no order, skipping around) and talk a little about the show and my opinion. All information property of dA--stamps/dA--bogeyman (me). This is entry#46.

The Concert:
Guns N' Roses
Skid Row (Opening Act)
June 10, 1991
Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), Saratoga Springs, New York (USA)

Just So You Know:
Guns N' Roses was touring to support their 'Use Your Illusion I & II' albums even though they would not be released until September 1991. Guns N' Roses was one of the biggest bands in the world at the time and this was G&R's classic lineup (Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin, Matt Sorum, Dizzy Reed). This Guns N' Roses tour was one of the longest concert tours in rock history consisting of 194 shows in 27 countries over a two and a half year period. Many live audio & video recordings were taped and released from this G&R tour. Skid Row was touring to support their second album 'Slave To The Grind' and Sebastian Bach was their lead singer on this tour.

Personal:
I had seen both bands in concert a few years before, Guns N' Roses open up for Motley Crue and Skid Row open up for Bon Jovi, and really liked both so when tickets when on sale I jumped on them. I took my then girlfriend Cathy who really liked G&R at the time. We got to the venue early because we knew the concert would be sold out or close to it and wanted to make sure we were inside and relaxed before the show began. SPAC is a nice place to see live performances (outdoor shed) so we walked around a bit and purchased a few tour t-shirts before going to our seats.

The Live Concert (Opener):
Skid Row opened the concert and then got everyone pumped up and grooving right away. They opened up with "Slave To The Grind" and went right into "Big Guns" and they sounded awesome. Sebastian Bach was running all over the stage and playing to the crowd pointing out pretty girls up front as he went along. Skid Row was full of energy and really jamming out and the crowd was with them. Other notable crowd pleasing songs performed that night include "!8 And Life", "Monkey Business", "I Remember You", "Get The F*ck Out", "Youth Gone Wild", "Piece Of Me" and "Train Kept A-Rollin". They played for about an hour and got the crowd rocking and roaring and ready for more.

The Live Concert (Headliner):
Guns N' Roses had a big stage set-up with ramps and a few large screens so crowd members in the back could see what was going on up on stage. The lights went out and G&R took to the stage and opened up with "Nightrain" and the crowd was in a frenzy immediately. G&R have many die-hard fans who live and die by their music and there was plenty of them at this show. "Mr. Brownstone" was played next and G&R was really delivering the rock-n-roll gospel on this night. Cathy and I were up and jamming to every tune, Axl and Slash were moving all around the stage and performing like madmen. "Double Talkin' Jive" and "Dust & Bones" came next and G&R just could not sound any better (Matt Sorum was really pounding the drums but good). Slash is just a wizard with the guitar and always looks super cool with that top hat on. Axl requested that the crowd shout "Get In The Ring!" over and over again as it was being recorded for the new album (this chanting was used in the song by the same name on the 'Use Your Illusion II' album, cool stuff). All of the songs got a big response that night so I will name some of the real memorable jams - "Welcome To The Jungle", "November Rain" (first time I ever heard that song and it's one of my all-time favorites), "Patience", "Live And Let Die" (Paul McCartney cover, lots of stage pyrotechnics during this tune), "Bad Time (Intro)/Sweet Child O' Mine", "Only Women Bleed (Intro)/Knockin' On Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover), "It's So Easy", "Estranged" and ended the evening with "Paradise City" (that was the last encore). I have to mention Slash's guitar solo which was AMAZING and he incorporated the "Godfather Theme" into it (very cool). G&R performed for about two hours and fifteen minutes and everyone (including Cathy and I) loved the show. This was G&R when they were at their absolute best - before most of Axl's craziness and all the band turmoil and break-ups. Guns N' Roses was the biggest band in the world at this time and on this night they proved it.

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