Guns N' Roses sparks fan frenzy with impromptu concert on April Fools Day

The buzz electrified fans across Los Angeles.

Rumors had trickled onto social media that three of the original members of Guns N’ Roses would reunite for a small, impromptu show somewhere in Hollywood, where it all started for the band and later, where its members’ own appetite for self-destruction became rock legend lore.

Where would they perform, fans wondered? Would it be on the roof of a former record store on the Sunset Strip? How about at the Hollywood Palladium?

At 10 a.m. Friday, Guns N’ Roses broke the news with a last-minute aouncement on their website that the band would hold a special performance later in the evening at the Troubadour, the very place where it all began for singer Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, and bassist Duff McKagan. The news sent a flurry of hardcore fans down to the former Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard, where the first 250 people in line got the chance to pluck down $10 for tickets to an up-close-and-personal concert.

“I’m so excited. This is so historical,” said a breathless Margott Hinostroza, a civil engineer from Cerritos. The 40-year-old woman held an armful of memorabilia with Guns N’ Roses logos, including a sign, T-shirts and hoodies that she had bought from a nearby vendor.

Hinostroza said she lined up for tickets at 11:30 Thursday night because she had seen some talk on fansites that wristbands would be given out there. She was right. On Friday at noon, she was the 20th person in line to get a wristband for the concert, which would be her 30th one. Hinostroza has been a fan of the band since she was a 10-year-old living in Peru, translating “Welcome to the Jungle,” from English to Spanish.

“The music, the lyrics the way Axl coects with the audience,” Hinostroza said of why she’s followed Guns N’ Roses for so long. “Axl’s words are truthful.”

Ever since Guns N’ Roses aounced they’d kick off a mini reunion tour next week in Las Vegas and had plaed a reunion performance at Coachella, fans have clung to the hope that the band would add more shows. Their patience was rewarded when Guns N’ Roses aounced more dates on Friday that included Detroit, Atlanta, New Orleans and San Diego later this summer.

That the three original members would play together is historical, fans say because of all the ups and downs the group endured since it signed with Geffen Records back in 1986. Along with rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin and drummer Steven Adler, the band produced “Appetite for Destruction” in 1987 that became the best-selling debut album of all time with tracks like “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” “Paradise City,” and “Welcome to the Jungle.” The band produced seven albums all together, but drugs, alcohol and disagreements led to their split in the mid-1990s.

Advertisement

Any talk of a reunion since then had been described by Rose as “not in this lifetime.” On Friday, those exact words were printed on the marquee of the Troubadour down on Santa Monica Boulevard and it’s the name of their American tour.

Those who didn’t get tickets to Friday’s show took a tour inside the old Tower Records store, now an outpost for guitar giant Gibson Brands. Inside, a special exhibit dedicated to Guns N’ Roses had been put up, and Los Angeles residents Nathan Campbell and friend Vanessa Garcia visited it.

Both thought news of the last-minute concert was some kind of April Fools’ joke. Then they got to Sunset Boulevard, saw line of hundreds of fans, and knew it was real.

Though neither got tickets, the exhibit was “a great way to let us down easily,” Garcia, 29, said with a smile. “It was like being inside their concert.”

Campbell, 26, said he didn’t mind losing out on tickets. He just wanted to be back at the old Tower Records site, where Guns N’ Roses fans could soak up the music, wear leather and headbands with no shame.

“I liked everything about it,” Campbell said about the exhibit and of being with other fans on the parking lot of the old Tower Records.

“It’s a real L.A. way to celebrate a real L.A. band,” he added.