20 minutes of rare pro-shot footage of Guns N’ Roses in 1992 has appeared online

In the Summer of 1992, Guns N’ Roses – who appear on the cover of the new issue of Classic Rock – were in the middle of their mammoth Use Your Illusion Tour. It had kicked off in early 1991 with a pair of shows in Rio de Janeiro, and wouldn’t wrap up until mid 1993.

September 2 found the band playing for 48,000 fans at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, midway through a 26-date schedule that found Guns N’ Roses playing stadiums with Metallica. And now the opening 20 minutes from that show have surfaced online.

The footage, which contains a few audio glitches in the opening moments, begins with the band’s intro tape, a 1991 oldies-style mashup of GN’R’s Welcome To The Jungle and The Lion Sleeps Tonight sung by LA comedy band Big Daddy. Then it’s into the performance, which begins with the real version of Welcome to The Jungle and proceeds with Mr. Brownstone, It’s so Easy and Live and Let Die. 

The footage reportedly comes from a clip the band gave to local TV stations to use during their reports of the show, and it shows that the band were still capable of real fire onstage, despite the departure of Izzy Stradlin, who had left less than a year earlier, and despite the expanded line-up (we count 13 musicians onstage for Live And Let Die).

There’s also a fantastic highlight, during It’s So Easy, when a pair of panties tossed from the crowd land on Axl’s mic and are flipped into his face just as he screams the iconic «Fuck Off!» line. It’s a magnificent moment.

After the show, police reported that 200 people had been treated for minor injuries, with four more arrested on minor offences, but city officials were otherwise delighted.

It could have been much worse: During Metallica’s previous date in Orlando fans had ripped up $38,000 worth of seats at the Orlando Arena, while violence had erupted in Montreal a month before the Citrus Bowl show, on the night that Guns N’ Roses fans rioted and James Hetfield caught fire.

Not everyone was happy, though, with the Orlando Sentinel managing to locate one discontented fan. “I’m not into this crap,” said 26-year-old Martha Conley, before the show had even started. “Everybody is already wasted.»

Guns N’ Roses’ world tour begins on June 5. Full dates below.