Guns N' Roses February 23, 1993 Frank Irwin Center Austin, TX, United States Skin N' Bones Tour
Disc 1: 01) Intro (1:28) 02) Welcome To The Jungle (5:26) 03) Garden Of Eden (3:05) 04) It's So Easy (3:41) 05) Attitude (2:03) 06) Axl Speech #1 (2:48) 07) Double Talkin' Jive (6:30) 08) Axl Speech #2 (0:38) 09) The Garden (6:04) 10) Live And Let Die (4:16) 11) So Fine (4:12) 12) Axl Speech #3 (2:56) 13) You Ain't The First (2:51) 14) You're Crazy (5:40) 15) Used To Love Her (4:24) 16) Patience (6:42) 17) Knockin' On Heaven's Door (8:04)
Disc 2: 01) Piano Intro (1:27) 02) November Rain (11:31) 03) Dead Horse (6:38) 04) Drum Solo (2:33) 05) You Could Be Mine + Slash Solo (6:53) 06) Blues Jam (3:43) 07) Sweet Child O' Mine (7:46) 08) Slash Speech / Axl Speech #4 (2:12) 09) Nice Boys (3:45) 10) Paradise City (6:34) 11) Outro (incl. "LUPO THE BUTCHER") (4:18)
Taping Location: SEC 38, ROW 3, Seat 2)
Guns N' Roses Frank Erwin Center February 23, 1993 Austin, Texas
The opening night of the Skin N' Bones tour in Austin, Texas on February 23rd, 1993 holds a very special place in my heart. Deep in the Heart Of Texas, Guns N' Roses delivered one of the best concerts I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
I was 15 years old at the time of the February 23rd, 1993 Guns show in Austin, TX. Growing up on the Texas/Mexico border, I never imagined that I would ever have the opportunity to see my favorite band of all time, Guns N' F**kin' Roses. Thanks to my compassionate mom, I was able to see GNR not once, but twice, on the epic Use Your Illusion World Tour. Mom knew how much the band meant to me. She was kind enough to take me on road trips to see Guns N' Roses at the Astrodome in Houston during the Metallica tour on September 4th, 1992, as well as on February 23rd, 1993 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin.
Out of the two shows, the stripped down Austin Skin N' Bones performance was in a league of its own. Seeing Guns without the deadweight circus act composed of background singers, horn section, and additional keyboard player, was something special which I will always remember...
The live debut of Garden of Eden, and The Garden, as well as the extremely loose feel of the Austin show, make this particular performance shine. The 30 minute acoustic set, as well as rare live renditions of deep cuts make the Austin gig stand out from the later Skin N' Bones shows, especially the formulaic European summer of 1993 performances which were heavily bootlegged.
From the way that Axl, Slash, Duff, Matt, Gilby, and, Dizzy, blew Texas away on that warm winter night, I could sense they enjoyed performing, probably as much as I did absorbing their explosive exhibition of no holds barred rock and sensitive acoustic ballads.
Speaking of the mid-show acoustic performance, I was quite surprised that the band brought out a couch, grand piano, and topless waitresses, for their "unplugged" set. I did not expect an intimate acoustic set from Guns after the 2+ hour stadium rock spectacular which I'd witnessed in Houston six months prior.
Even a Domino's Pizza man made his way onstage to present the band with a special delivery. I do remember that the pizza box was thrown into the first row of the audience. I was always curious as to what may have been in that box.
The Domino's pizza box wasn't the only thing that made its way from the stage into the audience. During Knockin' on Heaven's Door, Axl made an appearance in the back of the venue for some good ol' fashioned audience participation. How Axl managed to appear in the back of the venue, out of thin air, without being mobbed, I will never know. Perhaps the Erwin Center has a secret entrance?
Watching Axl make his debut on guitar during the intro to Dead Horse was unexpected. At the conclusion of the song Slash announced "Axl Rose on guitar!", and Duff put his arm around Axl to congratulate him.
The only unfortunate personal experience I had at the Austin concert was the nosebleed which occurred during Slash's blues jam right before Sweet Child O' Mine. I recall blood trickling out of my left nostril and down my throat and thinking "OH GOD, NOT NOW!!" As a teen, I suffered from chronic nosebleeds during the winter season. Sitting in the "nosebleeds", near the top of the Erwin Center, I wasn't caught off guard by my bloody nose. Thankfully, I was given some tissue paper by my mom, and was able to contain the mess until after the gig. I remember being pressured to go to the bathroom before the encores, but I refused to leave my seat and enjoyed the rest of the show with blood soaked hands and a bloodied face. Sure, the nosebleed was an inconvenience, but this was Rock N' Roll!
Near the very end of Paradise City, as Axl was running towards the front of the stage, in a split-second, my instincts told me that I would never have a chance to see GNR in their prime again, as the end was near. Unfortunately, my instincts were right...
In case you were wondering, my mom who once *LOATHED* Guns N' Roses in the late 80's, was won over at the Houston & Austin Illusion Era gigs that we experienced, and is now a huge GNR fan!
2023 Update: 30 years later, and the Austin '93 Guns N' Roses concert was the hands down BEST concert I have EVER seen, and I have been to hundreds of shows since 1993! If anyone from GNR Inc. or Team Brazil is reading this, I would HAPPILY spend $1000 (yes, one THOUSAND U.S. dollars) on an official Austin '93 BD/DVD9/2CD release. Sure, I would not expect Ritz '91 HD quality from a 30 year old house show feed, but as long as the Austin '93 video quality was as good as the Oklahoma City '92 Pro-Shot, I would be happy. What are your thoughts @fernando ??
Fun fact: I remember the Austin '93 tickets costing ONLY $22.50 plus a $3.50 service fee, which is unbelievable, when you consider how much concert tickets cost these days.
Sadly, the Frank Erwin Center is scheduled for demolition this year. In addition to GNR, I also caught AC/DC, Journey, Tom Petty, and many other shows over the years as a resident of Austin, at the Erwin Center. This iconic Austin landmark will be missed...
I was going to write a new article on the GNR Austin '93 show. However, I am very busy in my personal life and my memories of the Austin show have faded, so I simply added to my 2005 review of this legendary gig...
There is a nice Limulus remastered recording of the Austin show that was captured by Chris Milazzo and shared years ago. Ask any of the well known GNR live recording traders (OUTSIDE OF THIS FORUM), and they should have a link to share. 😉
rockphantom August 20th, 2005/February 23rd, 2023
; flac fingerprint file generated by Trader's Little Helper ; generated on February 24, 2010, at 18:18:19
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2 CDs Chris M. / Rockphantom Audience Chris M. Sonic Studios [DSM6] -> DAR100 Master DAT(32) > Sony 59ES > HHB CDR-850 via digital coax > CDR>EAC[secure] > flac[Level 8] FLAC 70:59 & 57:29 min. A
