GN'R Unveils New Songs at New Year's Show

ByABC News
January 5, 2001, 7:21 PM

January 2 -- Axl Rose kept Guns N' Roses fans waiting for eight years after the band's last album and when diehard fans showed up for the New Year's Eve comeback show at the Las Vegas House of Blues, they had to wait a few hours more. Perhaps Rose should have opened the show with "Patience."

But when the new lineup of Guns N' Roses started playing at 3:30 a.m., the crowd was blasted with the 1988 top 10 hit "Welcome to the Jungle," followed by a crowd-pleasing mix of hits peppered with songs from the upcoming Chinese Democracy.

Rumors have swirled for years over who the new members of Guns N' Roses will be for this show, Rose was backed by an all-star cast that included lead guitarists Robin Finck (formerly of Nine Inch Nails) and the eccentric Buckethead; former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson; former Primus drummer Bryan Mantia; and longtime GN'R contributor Dizzy Reed on keyboards.

After the show, fan sites were flooded with postings about the performance, for which tickets were hard to come by. According to postings, the band played numerous hits such as "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Mr. Brownstone" but they also unveiled five new songs: "The Blues," "Chinese Democracy," "Oklahoma," "Oh My God" (from the 1999 End of Days soundtrack), and "Silk Worms."

According to the Los Angeles Times, the crowd began chanting "Welcome back!" during a pause in the show. Rose smiled and said, "Now you're embarrassing me."

Next up for the band is a trip to South America for a February performance at the Rock in Rio festival.