Axl Rose and Slash from Guns N’ Roses at Glastonbury Festival 2023.
Photo: Getty Images, Harry Durrant. All rights reserved.
Guns N’ Roses’ performance at the Glastonbury Festival was not well received by everyone. Much UK media panned the band’s gig, who finished as headliners on Saturday night 24th June. As might be expected, the Californians didn’t let the criticism sit down and fired back on Twitter.
Guns N’ Roses at Glastonbury plagued by sound problems
The British tabloids were not stingy with bad marks for the Americans, whose headlining position was already a thorn in Noel Gallagher’s side. Music critic Neil McCormick of “The Telegraph” titled his concert review “Welcome to the Mumble” – a reference to the GN’R hit “Welcome to the Jungle”. Even harsher was Mark Beaumont of The Independent, who called the rock group one of the worst Glastonbury headliners of all time. Axl Rose’s distinctive vocal style was also Beaumont’s goal.
As might be expected, the Guns members didn’t want to take the negative publicity lightly. On Twitter, the two writers tagged them next to a line of lyrics from their song “Chinese Democracy” to express their disinterest in the reviews.
However, the negative reactions were not limited to the press. Viewers who watched the gig on TV complained about the poor sound quality on social media. Guns N’ Roses management blamed the BBC and dismissed criticism of the band. The positive highlight of the evening was the performance of “Paradise City”, for which Axl Rose brought Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl on stage.
Guns N’ Roses are currently on their world tour, which kicked off in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.