On July 15, 2017, "Guns N 'Roses" took the stage for the third time in "HaYarkon Park" in Tel Aviv, and this time it was already a completely positive experience with one of the most amazing performances ever seen in Israel, which even broke a record number of viewers in one show in Israel - 61,000.
It was a particularly hot Saturday, and we're not just talking about the weather. The gates of "HaYarkon Park" opened in the late noon and from the heavy heat that prevailed there, it seemed that these were the gates of hell. This was the last in the band's European tour "Not in this Lifetime" and Guns members chose to end this "lag" of the tour in the "Holy Land", and it was not just an ending, it was an "atomic explosion".
The band took the stage as planned at exactly 20:02 and for three consecutive hours poured on us in a continuous shelling "cluster bombs" in the form of the best "hits", along with cover versions of "Wings", "AC/DC", "Soundgarden", "The Who", "Pink Floyd" and more.
The change from the controversial performance in 1993 could be felt from the moment the band took the stage. It happened with miraculous accuracy, without delays and judging the show just from that, it seems that Slash, Duff McKagan, and especially Axl Rose have matured far beyond the 24 years since they shared the same stage in Israel.
It was a crazy and electrifying experience, from the video art, through the fireworks and pyrotechnics to the crazy energies that the band released to the audience and which brought back to the stage just like in a "Ping Pong" game.
The setlist was just perfect. The band exploded on stage already from the opening track with "It's So Easy", through "Mr.Brownstone" and "Welcome to the Jungle", with a slight pause on the way to play "Chinese Democracy", which just proved to everyone that we are indeed witnessing a "reunion", When Slash and Duff perform, for the first (and not the last) time that evening, material from the album of the same name, which could easily have been crowned as Axl Rose's solo album.
(Photo: Datathistle.com)
With the exception of "Patience", we got almost all of "Guns" "hits". Slash, Duff, Axl, Dizzy Reed, Frank Ferrer, Richard Fortus, and keyboardist Melissa Reese did not stop for a moment, and beyond the songs already portrayed above, we were bombarded with "You Could Be Mine", "Sweet Child o 'Mine", "Nightrain", "My Michelle" and of course "Don't Cry" whose place was absent from the controversial 1993 show, thus closing their "open account" with the audience, 24 years after it was opened.
But it certainly did not end there, we were privileged to witness epic songs of this amazing band including: "Estranged", "November Rain", "Civil War" and "Coma" which is considered the band's longest song, lasting over 10 minutes.
During the show, there were some special and exciting moments, including the mesmerizing performance of "The Godfather" theme, the homage to "AC/DC" which until recently was Axel's band, and the accompaniment to Duff McKagan performing "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" and "Attitude", a cover of "Misfits" from the album "The Spaghetti Incident" and of course the rendition of the song "Black Hole Sun" in memory of Chris Cornell who committed suicide about two months earlier.
And this was the setlist of the historic evening:
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Chinese Democracy
Double Talkin' Jive
Better
Estranged
Live and Let Die (Wings)
Rocket Queen
Whole Lotta Rosie (AC/DC)
You Could Be Mine
Attitude (Misfits) (with "You Can't Put Your Arms)
This I Love
Civil War (with "Voodoo Child" outro)
Yesterdays
Coma
Slash Guitar Solo (with "Johnny B. Goode" snippet)
Speak Softly Love (Love Theme From The Godfather)
Sweet Child o' Mine
Used to Love Her
My Michelle
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd)
November Rain (with "Layla" piano exit intro)
Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden)
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (with "Only Women Bleed" intro)
Nightrain
Sorry
Don't Cry
The Seeker (The Who)
Paradise City
* You Know My Name (Chris Cornell)