The Use Your Illusion Tour was a concert tour by Guns N' Roses which ran from May 24, 1991 to July 17, 1993. It was not only the band's longest tour, but one of the longest concert tours in rock history, consisting of 192 shows in 27 countries.
I have written posts on this blog regarding Gun N' Roses. When I was researching the longest tours in rock history "Use Your Illusion" always showed up at the top of the list. There are many twists and turns on the tour from Izzy Stradlin leaving the band - to the crowd riot in St. Louis. You can read all the details below. The DVD of the tour is available and you can download all the music from the album(s). I have included a couple of videos of "Sweet Child o Mine" live and "Welcome to the Jungle" live from the Use Your Illusion Tour. My Favorite the Theme from the Godfather! Guns 'N Roses experienced the highest popularity and level of greatness, which made them legends starting in 1987-1993 of which not many bands have ever achieved. During that time Guns N' Roses had the longest running tour in Rock history '91-'93. - Kenny Leibow
Use Your Illusion I is the third studio album by the American rock band Guns N’ Roses. It was the first of two albums released in conjunction with the “Use Your Illusion Tour” the other being “Use Your Illusion II”. The two are thus sometimes considered a double album. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts, selling 685,000 copies in its first week, behind Use Your Illusion II's first week sales of 770,000. Use Your Illusion I has sold 5,502,000 units in the U.S. as of 2010, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Each of the Use Your Illusion albums have been certified 7× Platinum by the RIAA. It was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1992.
The album has recently received critical acclaim again in 2011, being featured on Triple M Radio's Life-Changing Album series in Australia, with the station playing numerous tracks with commentary.
Sweet Child o Mine Live
Theme from the Godfather
Welcome to the Jungle Live
Guns N' Roses has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, including shipments of 45 million in the United States. The band's 1987 major label debut album, Appetite for Destruction, has sold in excess of 28 million copies worldwide and reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 and is also the highest selling debut album of all time in the US. In addition, the album charted three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Sweet Child o' Mine" which reached No. 1. Appetite was followed by the eight-song album G N' R Lies in 1988. The 1991 albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II debuted on the two highest spots on the Billboard 200 and have sold a combined 14 million copies in the United StatesUse Your Illusion Tour
The Use Your Illusion World Tour program included a guitar solo from Slash based on The Godfather theme, a piano-driven cover of "It's Alright" by Black Sabbath and an extended jam on the classic rock-inspired "Move to the City" where they showcased the ensemble of musicians assembled for the tour.[38]
Many of the successful performances during the tour were equally matched, and often overshadowed, in the press by riots, late starts and outspoken rants by Rose. While the band's previous drug and alcohol issues were seemingly under control, Axl was often agitated by lax security, sound problems and unwanted filming or recording of the performances. He also used the time in-between songs to fire off political statements or retorts against music critics or celebrity rivals.
On July 2, 1991, at the Riverport Amphitheater in Maryland Heights, Missouri, just outside of St. Louis, during a performance of "Rocket Queen", Rose noticed that a fan was filming the show with a camera. He asked the venue's security to take away the camera, and after a few seconds decided to take it himself, jumping into the audience and tackling the fan. He had a heated confrontation with the fan before physically assaulting him. After being pulled out of the audience by members of the crew, Rose said, "Well, thanks to the lame-ass security, I'm going home!", threw his microphone to the ground and stormed off stage. The angry crowd began to riot and dozens of people were injured. Footage was captured byRobert John, who was documenting the entire tour. Rose was wanted by the police for inciting the riot, but police were unable to arrest him until almost a year later, as the band went overseas to continue the tour. Charges were filed against Rose, but a judge ruled that he did not directly incite the riot. In his defense, Rose stated that the Guns N' Roses security team had made four separate requests to the venue's security staff to remove the camera, all of which were ignored, and that other members of the band had reported being hit by bottles launched from the audience, while the security staff was refusing to enforce a drinking limit.[39] Consequently, Use Your Illusion's artwork featured a hidden message amidst the Thank You section of the liner notes: "Fuck You, St. Louis!"
Rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin abruptly quit the band on November 7, 1991, after a repeat of the St. Louis incident nearly unfolded during a concert in Germany.[40] Stradlin cited a combination of Rose's personal behavior (Rose frequently delayed the start of shows by hours at a time) and his mismanagement of the band[40] and difficulties being around Slash, Sorum, and McKagan, due to his new-found sobriety and their continuing alcohol and substance addictions.[41] Axl Rose originally wanted Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro to replace Stradlin, but Stradlin was eventually replaced by Los Angeles-based guitarist Gilby Clarke, whom Slash credited for saving the band. During many shows throughout the tour, Rose introduced Clarke to the audience, and Slash and Clarke would then play "Wild Horses", a Rolling Stones cover. In late 1991, Rose added a touring ensemble to the band which included a horns section and several background vocalists despite the rest of the band's refusal. Izzy Stradlin has since produced eleven solo albums,[42] more work than any other single member of Guns N' Roses had produced.
In 1992, the band appeared at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, performing a three-song set. Slash later performed "Tie Your Mother Down" with the remaining members of Queenand Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott, while Axl Rose performed "We Will Rock You" and sang a duet with Elton John on "Bohemian Rhapsody". Their personal set included "Paradise City" and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". When they returned to the US for the second leg of the Use Your Illusion Tour, Queen guitarist Brian May opened the shows with a band that included Cozy Powell on drums. Axl had originally wanted the grunge band (and labelmates) Nirvana to open their Use Your Illusion Tour, but frontman Kurt Cobain refused. Cobain also made some negative comments[citation needed] about Guns N' Roses, which infuriated Rose, and started off one of his biggest feuds, other than the ones with his band-mates.
Later in the year, they went on the Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour, with American Metal band Metallica. During a show in August 1992 at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, Metallica frontman James Hetfield suffered severe burns after stepping too close to a pyrotechnics blast. Metallica was forced to cancel the second hour of the show, but promised to return to the city for another performance. After a long delay, during which the audience became increasingly restless, Guns N' Roses took the stage. However, the shortened time between sets did not allow for adequate tuning of stage monitors, resulting in members of G N' R not being able to hear themselves. In addition, Rose claimed that his throat hurt,[43]causing the band to leave the stage early. The cancellation led to another riot by audience members, reminiscent of the St. Louis riot, that had occurred one year earlier. Rioters overturned cars, smashed windows, looted local stores and set fires. Local authorities were barely able to bring the mob under control. This can be seen on video in A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica. On MTV's rockumentary about Metallica, the band spoke about this tour and how they learned from Guns N' Roses what not to do.
The historic tour ended in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 17, 1993. The tour set attendance records and lasted for 28 months, in which 194 shows were played. The show in Buenos Aires marked the last time that Slash, as well as newcomers Sorum and Clarke, would play a live show with Rose. At the tour's conclusion, Rose would fire Clarke without consulting anyone, claiming he was only a "hired hand"
Sources:
Phmeier Trade Lists info: http://phmeiertradeinfo.blogspot.com/
Answer Party: http://answerparty.com/
Widipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/
Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame: http://rockhall.com/
Sources:
Phmeier Trade Lists info: http://phmeiertradeinfo.blogspot.com/
Answer Party: http://answerparty.com/
Widipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/
Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame: http://rockhall.com/
