Guns N' Roses Review

H-Town is Paradise City for Guns N' Roses, but the night belongs to Slash

In many ways, the night belonged to Slash, pictured here at left in file photo. The guitarist, sporting his signature top hat and sunglasses, dropped a number of impressive solos throughout the set.

Photo courtesy of Guns N' Roses

“Do you know where the fuck you are? You’re in the jungle, baby. And you’re gonna die!”

A threatening statement to be sure, but one that was met with cheers from the almost sold-out crowd at the Houston stop of Guns N’ Roses Not In This Lifetime tour Friday night.

Sure, the band played “Welcome to the Jungle” fourth in their 25-song, two-and-a-half hour set, but opening songs “It’s So Easy,” “Mr. Brownstone,” and “Chinese Democracy” didn’t engage the crowd in the same way as the familiar opening riff to “Jungle.”

For those in the crowd — mostly 35 to 50 — songs like “Jungle,” “Sweet Child of Mine,” and set closer “Paradise City” provided part of the soundtrack of their collective adolescence. For those fans, Guns N’ Roses harkens back to a time when CDs came with parental warning stickers and a rock band from Los Angeles could seem legitimately dangerous.

With the band's debut album Appetite for Destruction set to turn 30 next year, those days are gone, but the music still resonates.

As promised by tour production manager Dale "Opie" Skjerseth during a media preview on Thursday, the stage had been designed to "present the band." Two giant video screens on either side of the stage spotlighted different performers throughout the night, and three center screens alternated between showing the band and a series of graphics matched to the song. And, yes, there was “a lot of pyro” boomed throughout the set.

Overall, the band turned in an impressive, high energy performance that utilized the multi-level stage well. Lead singer Axl Rose, bassist Duff McKagan, and guitarist Slash moved from the center stage to two side stages and elevated platforms in the rear of the center stage. Maybe Rose and Slash didn’t stand very close to each other more than a couple of times, but they don’t have to be buddy-buddy to deliver the thunderous spectacle the crowd expected.

Rose’s voice displayed power and range throughout the set as he held notes on tracks ranging from “Estranged” to “The Seeker.” Ever the showman, he even swapped T-shirts throughout the set, mixing in a few jackets (white alligator for “November Rain,” a weird, fringy western thing for “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”).

In many ways, the night belonged to Slash. The guitarist, sporting his signature top hat and sunglasses (and the same shirt throughout, natch) dropped a number of impressive solos throughout the set. Highlights included long intro and outro solos for “Rocket Queen,” a solo performance of the Love Theme from The Godfather, and busting out a double-necked guitar for “Civil War.” The cameras provided numerous close-ups of the guitarist's hands as he wrung every note out of his instrument.

McKagan got his own opportunity to shine when he took over lead vocals a cover of the Misfits’ song “Attitude” while wearing a shirt with the image of Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister.

The setlist followed the one played two nights before in Arlington pretty closely, but the band mixed in “Catcher in the Rye” and “Don’t Cry” into the encore. Shortly thereafter, the final notes of “Paradise City” mingled with the last explosions, and it was time to go home. Judging by the cheers echoing off NRG Stadium’s ramps as people headed to the parking lot, just about everybody had a great time.

Setlist (via setlist.fm):

It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
Double Talkin' Jive
Estranged
Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
Rocket Queen
You Could Be Mine
Attitude (Misfits cover)
This I Love
Civil War
Coma
Love Theme from the Godfather
Sweet Child O' Mine
Better
Out Ta Get Me
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd cover)
November Rain
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan cover)
Nightrain

Encore:
Catcher in the Rye
Don't Cry
The Seeker (The Who cover)
Paradise City

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Movie Review

Fun visuals can't save The Magic Faraway Tree's meager plot

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, and Billie Gadson in The Magic Faraway Tree.

With kids and families always on the hunt for entertainment, it’s typically a safe bet for a movie studio to offer up something new, even if it is a film based on an old property. The Magic Faraway Tree, based on a series of books that started in the 1930s, is a very old property, one that its filmmakers have tried to liven up with a few stars, a lot of whimsy, and a boatload of CGI.

The Thompson family, led by stay-at-home dad Tim (Andrew Garfield) and breadwinner mom Polly (Claire Foy), are forced to move to a rundown country home when Polly gets laid off. The kids — Joe (Phoenix Laroche), Fran (Billie Gadson), and Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) — are used to the perks of city life like wifi and electricity, and each of them rebels in their own way to their new lot in life.

Fran, enticed by a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan), is the first to venture out of the house, making her way to a magic tree that transports her to a world full of strange characters like Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), and more. Her adventures there not only broaden the world she thought she knew, but may be the key to helping her ailing family.

Directed by Ben Gregor and written by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Wonka), the film is a pleasant enough lark, but it fails to fully capture the imagination. The five-member family has a lot going on, from an initially-mute Fran to a domestic situation that raises more questions than it answers. The film tries to incorporate an anti-technology message through Tim’s hatred of a smart refrigerator (voiced by Judi Dench!) and the kids' addictions to devices, but it’s quickly shed in favor of other options.

Once Fran makes it to the Magic Faraway Tree, there’s a nice shift in the storytelling, but it’s unclear what the ultimate goal is. It’s a good idea to have Fran, the youngest of the children, convince her older, more cynical siblings about the virtues of the magic world, but the conflict in the real world doesn’t seem to rise to the level needed for the escape the tree provides.

There also seems to be a missing link in the storytelling for viewers to understand the importance of the fantastical characters. The visuals of seeing Moonface and his crescent moon-shaped hair, a man with a suit full of banging pots, and more are fun for a while, but not enough to carry the whole film. A last-minute revelation feels like it was something that should have been disclosed much earlier to help strengthen the emotions of the story.

A two-time Oscar nominee, Garfield is making his first foray into family movies (if you don’t count playing Spider-Man), and while he does a good job, he doesn’t make the best fit for the semi-goofy role. The same goes for the Emmy-winning Foy, who isn’t given much of anything to do. The movie puts the story on the shoulders of the three child actors, and while each of them acquit themselves well, none of them are so outstanding as to be noteworthy.

With nearly 90-year-old source material, The Magic Faraway Tree needed to be something truly special to stand out in the 21st century movie world. Unfortunately, it features a mostly forgettable story that features some fun visuals, a couple of cute kids, and not much else.

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The Magic Faraway Tree is now playing in theaters.

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