PUKKELPOP BELGIUM
FAN REVIEWS

08/24/2002

08/25/2002 XNIKKI6X

Source: 2 Thousand Intentions Forum

It's now 2 o' clock in the afternoon, i just woke up. went to bed at 6 this morning. i've been through three days of pure hell at the festival. the rain kept pouring down, the camping site was the worst mess i've ever seen. there were several times i toyed with the idea of going home early, but there was no way i was gonna miss out on GNR after waiting 9 years. So i dragged my tired and messy ass through miles and miles of mud to get to the main stage.

I went upfront just before Suede took the stage. I managed to get to the 20th or so row. I looked around and saw a sea of GNR shirts. It gave me an amazing feeling. There was this guy selling tourshirts from the last leg of the skin n' bones tour back in 1993 ( the one with the bad apples graphic ). As a result, tons of people were wearing that shirt, in addition to the sea of new CD shirts they were selling at the festival site.

Suede must have gotten the worst response they ever had. There was only a handful people getting into their show, the rest were GNR fans. Between songs we kept chanting GUNS N' ROSES, it must have been hell for those guys. They're not that bad a band, but it jusn't wasn't the time and place to see them. When they left before the encore, every one yelled for the headliner. They came out anyway to do two more songs, which was a bit much, my back was already hurting and their music was getting on my nerves. Then finally they cleared the stage and the army of GNR roadies came on.

The stage was way too small for this band. The setup was smaller than what we saw in Rio, there were no televisions or any other props. Brain and the keyboards were on risers, and there was an inpromptu dressing room for Axl next to Pitman. At this point, i couldn't get nearer to the stage, there were some big guys in front of me. I was right in front of Robin, at a reasonable distance. By the time they were supposed to go on, the stage was about ready. It looked great, way better than all the other bands' set up, more professional and all. Brain's drums are amazing. Robin's roadie seemed to have the most work, he kept on coming back up and testing guitars, replacing pedals, ... i couldn't really see much of the other end of the stage, Axl huge TV monitors were in the way.

Obviously, at the time they were supposed to go on, there was no Axl. People began getting really irritated, chanting loudly, booing and whistling. They drove me mad, new kid crybabies who don't get it. Axl's always late, what's the problem. It's fuckin' GNR tradition. Some people around me were obviously drunk and ignorant. They were laughing at Axl, his hair, his new band, ... morons. After waiting for almost two hours i felt like kicking their heads in (really).

My back really hurt like hell, i felt like @#%$, my friend had to go back to the back of the crowd, he starting feeling sick. One guy next to me just fainted, security had to drag him out. People were really getting nervous, looking around, not knowing what was going to happen, unsure whether the band would even show up. I could see Robin and then Tommy behind the back drop, only a handfull of people besides me realised they were band members, which was pretty funny. I knew they would be on shortly.

Then the lights went out. A roar went through the whole audience. I looked back and saw a mass of people, probably the biggest crowd i've ever seen. The lights from the PA were amazing, shining over the crowd and lighting up all these nervous and impatient faces. The intro from the Exorcist started, i screamed along with it, people around me just stared at me , for knowing the words. Axl came on in the dark, followed by the whole and. Robin started off 'Jungle', my heartbeat doubled. Axl was wearing the same jersey as in the previous shows, and he only changed once, for the second half of the show he wore a white one instead of a black one. He had the same braids and a bandana of a different color. He looked amazing. After all the bullshit on the boards, i finally saw it with my own eyes. He's changed, he looks a tiny bit older, he's really muscled and he looked really confident.

All the people who were booing just minutes before were now just awestruck at the sight of the best band in the world. I could just see their jaws drop to the floor as they stared in amazement. It seemed like none of them actually believed GNR is still alive. Thousands of people were now jumping and singing alone like crazy.

They went straight into 'It's so easy' and 'Brownstone'. Axl didn't say much during the show, he did some funny voices but that's about it. The whole thing reminded me a lot of the European leg of the Skin n' bones tour, not much talk, a few jokes, predictable setlist, .... 'Think about you' and 'YCBM' followed. I really missed 'Oh my god', i hope they're not planning on never playing it again. 'SCOM' started another huge roar. It was at this point that i realised how fuckin' tight the new band is. They're fuckin' hard and extremely talented. They rocked the @#%$ out of me, and i'm not exagerating. This is one band you have to experience live, it's bigger than words. They played so much better than they did in Rio and HOB. Robin is an amazing guitar player, his solo's were a lot better and he plays with so much passion. Buckethead was far away for me, but he's indescribable. This is a phenomenon people ! Robin is good, but this guy is from outer space. What he can do with a guitar is crazy. I felt so happy about seeing these talented guys playing together in the one band that matters most to me.

People were really amazed by the sight of these new guys. It was obvious that 99% of them had never heard of or seen any of these guys, which makes me question all the bullshit on the boards. 99% of the record buying public is not aware of what has happened over the last three years in the world of GNR. These people are dying to get CD. All the bashing and all the endless discussions on the boards are irrelevant in the end. That's what i realised when I was there, seeing GNR with my own eyes, and seeing the reaction of the people.

The show went on with 'KHOD', a rocking 'Out ta get me' early on in the set, but boy was this song hard. It rocked the @#%$ out of me. I never understood why they played this song with the new line-up, but live this song blew me away. So much power ! 'Madagascar' and 'Rhyad' and 'Chinese democracy' followed. Damn the new songs are so good and powerfull live. They blow away the earlier recordings. I was happy they played 'Ryad', the song is great, and the sound was superb. People around me were amazed again because i sang along to the new songs. There's so many people out there that haven't heard any of them. I felt kinda sorry for them, but proud.

Buckethead had a solo spot again. I was dying to see this. He did the Nun-Chuck thing and the robot-like dancing which brought a huge, happy smile to my face. He played the Star Wars theme and the Disney tune, which amazed and entertained the crowd beyond belief. People couldn't believe what they were seeing. His second solo spot was during the second half of the show, and featured 'Chicken Binge' which amazed the crowd even more. Buckethead came, saw and conquered Belgium in a second.

'November rain', 'The blues' and 'Patience' were up next. I had no problem with three slower songs in a row, as was discussed in a previous review. The crowd went crazy on the hits, and was extremely silent during 'The blues, silent in a good 'i don't know what to say' kinda way.

The setlist was really predictable, i felt kinda sad about this beforehand, but when you're actually there, you don't care, you're happy with every song you hear. 'Rocket queen' followed. How cool is the new guy ??? he just blows away Paul !!! He's so intense and he looks great !!! He reminded me so much of Izzy it wasn't funny anymore ! Up next were 'My Michelle' and 'Nighttrain'. Good to hear 'My Michelle' again, for a minute i thought they might have dropped that one too. This ended the main set. They came back out quickly for the encore. Robin did some beautiful and emotional acoustic soloing and then they went straight into 'Paradise City'. The finale was beyond words, confetti was pumped into the crowd, there were fireworks and every was jumping around like crazy.

I left straight after the song ended. I knew the show was over, obviously. ( 99% of the crowd were expecting more i guess, since they just stood there waiting. I had to go through miles and miles of mud again to get to the car. It was three o'clock in the morning when we left. It felt good to be home again, in my own bed.

I know this is a cliché, and everyone says the same thing, but this was truly the best show i've ever seen in my life. This show reminded me why this was/is the best band in the world. I waited for nine years, and i'm proud as hell for sticking it out, and not turning my back on Axl. They're back, there's no doubt about that anymore. They will rule the waves again. No one will be spared...

08/25/2002 KENTUCKY FRIED