I was driving this afternoon and had the radio tuned to Triple M. They are marking the 25th anniversary of Guns 'n Roses epic concert at Eastern Creek as part of their world tour.
I remember, as a young bloke at the time, that G 'n R fever pretty much took over Sydney. In excess of seventy thousand people went to the show (including myself) and the atmosphere was amazing.
My recollection is a bit hazy (I consumed ALOT of weed on the day - as did the majority of the other punters if I recall correctly) but one image that does stick in my mind was the sea of people clapping along to the iconic opening riff/drum beat of Paradise City.
I've never been a huge Gunners fan - I only have their best of CD - but they were amazing musos and they certainly took over the world for a while there. I see them as like a bridge between the glam rock of the 80's and the grunge of the 90's. They were like a dirty version of Bon Jovi.
And their music has stood the test of time. Many have judged the riff in Sweet Child 'o Mine as the greatest ever and a number of their songs always poll well in "greatest ever" polls. Axl is a douche but he has a great voice, Slash is a great guitarist and Duff is a great bassist. Their original drummer (whose name escapes me) was awesome as well.
It was an epic show - possibly the last of the HUGE rock shows - something the kids of today don't get to witness.
Brings back lots of great memories and just thought I'd mention it for anyone else out there who might remember it. Where the feck did the last 25 years go? :)
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I was just to the right of the far right tower in that photo,but I have mixed feelings about the gig.
It was the gig that turned me off outdoor festivals forever .We took public transport.Big mistake.There were queues to get a bus there from the train station at Doonside,to get in,for the dunnies and for the refreshments.$5 for at bottle of water in 1990s prices.
Rose Tattoo and Skid Row blew Guns n Roses off the stage.The gunners were headliners but were so mediocre after the daylong wait,that I just wanted the day to end.It was stinking hot,by the afternoon I was sunburned and short tempered after running out of smokes and queuing for 20 minutes,with d*ckheads pushing in for some water,only to finally get served only to be told,"sorry mate,we ran out".
I don't know why G n R were so late in starting,but the crowd got restless and rowdy.Idiots were starting grass fires and punching on.After the longest ,never-ending song(after the interminable ending of "Hey Jude" ,3 repeats of Nah,nah,nah nah-nah-nah naahh,is plenty) November Rain,we got the pleasure of waiting for hours to get a bus back to Doonside Station only to see a solid wall of punters waiting to get a train.FAAARRRKK!!!!
As you can probably tell,I did not have a good time.If I had left after Skid Row finished,it would have been a concert to rival 1985's Iron Maiden World Slavery Tour (still my benchmark gig,followed by Black Sabbath 2013 and Glenn Hughes last year).But all that discomfort just to hear some over-rated posers killed the experience for me.As sunsequent releases have proved Appetite For Destruction was a fluke and GnR's later work was an exercise in peddling average,cliched mediocre rock,only to be overtaken in the mediocrity stakes by the arrival of the sh*tty grunge era,with the two most over-rated bands that have ever existed Pearl Jam and Nirvana! The late 90s did throw up some good bands like Collective Soul but the 90s grunge era killed music .
great memories Kram! - Always remember your first eh? mine was Black Sabbath in '74 at the old Sydney Stadium. Ozzie was at the peak of his powers, & I remember it going for 3 hours or so. only downer was some dipstick threw a full can at the stage during 'Changes'. so they stopped singing. a slow song but was one of my faves!
Thought Rose Tattoo were awesome
Remember seeing so many people pass out from severe exhaustion. Drugs everywhere too.
Anyone remember the drama after, drink sellers were caught out sellng tap water in cups.
Yep i was there. Would've been 17 going on 18. Just finished my last year of school. Great day! My recollection is also sketchy but I do believe Skid Row put on a better performance that day than GnR. I was smahed by the time Axl took to the stage. The prick made us wait an eternity too! I was smack bang in the middle of that middle tower and the one on the right. 25 years ago wow! I feel like a pensioner!
I was there too. And your right Skid Row smashed the gunners. It was called the get in the ring tour and the fuckers never sang the song. My best memories of the day was the human pyramid and the fires every one started because gunners took for ever to get on stage.
Yes, the human pyramids. Coming back to me now. And the fact he didnt sing that song and everyone was let down, had totally forgotten that too. Im a shandy off alzheimers i reckon. God my memory has deteriorated! Reading all these posts has triggered my memory of this day. I do remember walking through the gates ripped off my tits and getting the pat down by security My mate told the security dude that it wasn't a rifle he could feel when he was getting patted down. We all lost our shit! Even the security guy.
Didn’t go myself, had to work and play cricket...my brother went and he said it was one of the best shows he went too. I seem to recall it was a warm day....
Loved skid row ' I remember you' and gunners ' don't cry' ballads lol
didnt go to this but went to Bon jovi at eastern creek and we had a mini cyclone . Got bruised by hail with no wgere to go !!
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