Use Your Illusion Tour
| Use Your Illusion Tour | |
|---|---|
| tape | Guns n 'Roses |
| Beginning | May 24, 1991 |
| The End | 17th July 1993 |
| Number of legs | 8th |
| Countries visited | 31 |
| Number of concerts | 192 |
The Use Your Illusion Tour (also Uyi tour ) was a concert tour of the US hard rock - band Guns n 'Roses , which lasted from 24 May 1991 to 17 July 1993rd For the band it was the biggest tour of their career up until then, they were later entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest tour. In addition to success and fame, the tour also brought the band some negative headlines: Reasons included massive concert delays, tirades of hate from singer Axl Rose and a provoked unrest that led to a street battle .
overview
The tour was started on the occasion of the eponymous albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II and began on May 24, 1991, even before the albums were released. The tour was the career highlight of G n 'R, which they have not been able to repeat until now. In the 90s the band had a fan base of about seven million followers and achieved very high sales of the UYI albums worldwide .
Some of the video and audio material recorded on the tour was later marketed:
- Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II as video and DVD with recording of the complete concert on February 22, 1992 in Tokyo ( Japan ).
- The live CD Live Era: '87 -'93 (released 1999) contains some recordings made during the tour.
- A documentary film called The Perfect Crime was also planned , which the band should show during the tour, with recordings about the band in addition to the concerts themselves. After the tour, nothing ever indicated that such a film would be released.
- The footage was also used in some music videos , including the You Could Be Mine and Estranged videos .
The band's demeanor and demeanor during the tour generated a number of negative headlines in the press, including Spin , Kerrang , Circus Magazine and Hit Parader . Axl Rose's antipathy for journalists who viewed him negatively is also evident in the song Get in the Ring .
Notable events
- On July 2, 1991, at a show in St. Louis , Missouri , also known as the Riverport Riot , Axl Rose was upset by a spectator who illegally took photos during the concert. He asked the security guards to intervene. Since they did not comply with his request, he jumped off the stage himself to take the camera from the photographer. Back on stage, he berated the security guards with the words "Well, thanks to the lameass security, I'm going home", threw the microphone on the floor and left the stage - the band followed him. This sparked a riot that not only led to riots at the concert itself, but later spread throughout the city. About 60 people were injured and many parts of the band's equipment and furnishings were destroyed.
- On April 13 and 14, 1992, two concerts had to be canceled due to an arrest warrant for the incidents in St. Louis.
- On April 20, 1992, the band took part in the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at London's Wembley Stadium . Here they played Paradise City and Knockin 'On Heaven's Door , in honor of Freddie Mercury, who died in November 1991 . However, since Axl Rose previously attracted attention through homophobic statements, those responsible were initially unsure whether the audience would accept Rose as an act, especially since Mercury himself was homosexual; they even went so far as to hire the Scorpions as a substitute in case the audience whistled the provocative Rose off the stage. Ultimately, the performance was cheered; Rose and Slash also appeared with other singers such as Elton John and Joe Elliot .
- A second uprising occurred during the August 8, 1992 concert at a show in Montreal ( Québec ). The concert-goers were already quite tense due to the fact that Metallica , who co-headlined parts of the tour and performed before Guns n 'Roses, had to end their show early because James Hetfield suffered a burn from the pyro effects . Axl also broke off the concert early because he was not satisfied with the sound quality and allegedly had some problems with his voice. Again violent clashes broke out.
Technology and numbers
Even if today's tours by bands like Bon Jovi , U2 , The Rolling Stones or Kiss surpass the Use-Your-Illusion tour in terms of stage equipment or show effects , the tour was considered one of the largest and most complex at the time.
The stage
The stage was designed jointly by Phil Ealy and the band. The dimensions of the stage were approximately 65 meters wide, 25 meters deep and 25 meters high (200 × 80 × 75 feet ). 900 headlights were used. It took three days to set up the stage and system, and dismantling was completed in one day. For this reason, three complete stages and systems were used in Europe - one for the current concert, while two more have already been set up for the following concerts.
crew
A total of over 80 crew members accompanied the band on the tour. Performance magazine named the crew "Crew of the Year 1991". The approximate composition:
- Management,
- 6 carpenters,
- 12 people for catering ,
- 3 coordinators,
- 1 electricity technician,
- 6 film crews,
- 60 roadies for setting up the stage.
The musical instruments
Slash traveled with 13 guitars including some Les Paul . Duff McKagan got by with two Fender bass guitars , Gilby Clarke had a few Gibson guitars. A piano also accompanied the tour, which Axl Rose needed for the song November Rain and the accompanying intro song. Around 60 microphones were used at each concert .
More facts and figures
A total of eight tour buses were used, five of them for their own band including crew, three for the support bands. Eleven trucks were used in Europe. 200 loudspeakers (Electro-Voice MT4) were used at the concerts. All the technology and electronic systems required around 250,000 watts . Two power generators were used to ensure the power supply . During the song Welcome to the Jungle , two giant inflatable monsters were used as a "special effect". Four people were required to activate the monster for the show.
The audience could also follow what was happening on stage on three video screens. Two on each side (5 × 8 meters) and one in the middle (5 × 5 meters). During the European tour, Paul Becher took over the direction.
Tour schedule
The tour was divided into eight sections, so-called legs :
| From | To | place | Leg name |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 1991 | April 9, 1992 | USA and Europe | "Get in the Ring Motherfucker" |
| May 16, 1992 | 2nd July 1992 | Europe | |
| 17th July 1992 | October 6, 1992 | United States | |
| November 25, 1992 | December 13, 1992 | South America | |
| January 12, 1993 | February 6, 1993 | Japan / Far East | |
| February 23, 1993 | April 27, 1993 | United States | "Skin n 'Bones" |
| May 22, 1993 | July 13, 1993 | Europe | "Get in the Ring Motherfucker - Round II" |
| July 16, 1993 | 17th July 1993 | Argentina |
Countries visited
Web links
- detailed information with tour diary ( Memento from September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive )