Production Army Precedes Guns N' Roses At Soldier Field
(CBS) -- The stage is being set at Soldier Field for the Chicago stop in a rock tour fans said they thought they'd never see: the lineup that made Guns N' Roses famous.
Front man and Lafayette (Ind.) native W. Axl Rose, guitarist Slash and the rest of the band's early 1990s lineup will take the stage Friday and Sunday night to sold-out crowds. They are backed by a 200-member production crew that is assembling everything from the stage to the sound systems and pyrotechnics.
Little-known fact: The stage fans will see Guns N' Roses use here is not the same as the one fans will see in Cincinnati. There are four versions of the stage, each taking36 hours to assemble and seven to tear down.
Production Manager Dale Skjerseth worked the band's signature "Use Your Illusion" tour in the '90s and said this show is bigger, with liberal use of video and pyrotechnics.
WBBM's Bob Roberts
Guns N' Roses' equipment fills 20 semi-tractor-trailer trucks.
Skjerseth says discussions relative to the staging of the concerts began in January, after a series of meetings with Rose, other band members and stage designers. The tour kicked off in April, but was mothballed for several weeks while Rose performed with AC/DC and is now moving across the continent.
He says members of the band – as well known for their bickering as for their music -- are playing better than ever. They are actually getting along.
"In the end, they're businessmen," he said.
