Guns N Roses - In The Empire Of The Sun Live (2016)

Guns N Roses Appetite for Destruction Tour, performed across four continents to promote the band s debut album released in July 1987, was undertaken over a 16-month period during which the group served as opening act for The Cult, Mötley Crüe, Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden and Aerosmith, as well as headline shows of their own. It was the only tour by Guns N Roses for which the classic lineup of Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler performed together, aside from opening four shows in LA at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for The Rolling Stones in October 1989 The tour kicked off in the UK, the month before the release of Appetite, with Guns performing three nights at London s notorious Marquee Club. They returned to the US shortly after, and began their North American leg of the tour in Halifax, Nova Scotia, followed by another four nights in Canada. The tour, with its highs and lows, included a horrific incident back in England in August 88 at The Monsters of Rock Festival, when two fans were trampled to death during Guns N Roses set. During the final month of the tour, in December 1988, the band travelled to Japan for the final Pacific Leg of the tour, and on 4th December performed at the Nakano Sun Plaza Hall in Tokyo. This CD contains the entire show recorded that night for broadcast, in front of an oriental crowd, to whom, at one juncture, Axl directs a query as to the crowd s somewhat restrained reaction, not appearing to fully appreciate the cultural difference between audiences in the East and the West. The show however is a dynamic and powerful performance that, for a band who had played almost every night for the best part of a year and a half, is quite a staggering achievement and remains testament to the early promise of Guns N Roses. It is just a shame, albeit an understandable one, that Guns N Roses would never recapture the magic that was witnessed on this legendary tour.