Guns N' Roses: Live at Farm Aid 1990 - 'Civil War' & 'Down on the Farm' (Steven Adler Last Concert)

FLASHBACK: Guns N' Roses perform "Civil War" and "Down on the Farm" live at Farm Aid 1990. Watch Steven Adler's final concert performance with the band above.

Guns N’ Roses were in full meltdown mode when they arrived at Farm Aid on April 7th, 1990. The group hadn’t played a gig since opening up a few shows for the Rolling Stones the previous October, and drummer Steven Adler’s addiction to heroin and cocaine was spiraling out of control. The band had been working on the hugely ambitious Use Your Illusion albums since January, but progress was slow and they were extremely frustrated by Adler’s diminished drum skills.

G N' R hoped playing a huge high profile gig like Farm Aid on live TV might motivate Adler to clean up, but from the moment they got onstage they realized they were in trouble. “Steven took a run up to the drum riser, which is a pretty big platform that’s hard to miss, and took flight,” Slash wrote in his memoir. “I assume he was planning on landing next to his kit, but his depth perception and reflexes were clearly impaired, so he ended up landing about four feet short.”

Making matters worse, Adler had absolutely no idea what songs they were going to do. They had a ton of hits by this point, but Axl opted to debut the Use Your Illusion epic “Civil War” and cover “Down on the Farm” by the U.K. Subs. Adler had never played “Civil War” with Axl, and he didn’t even know the U.K. Subs song. Duff was forced to clap his hands onstage to show him the tempo.

Farm Aid was the last time Adler played with Guns N’ Roses. They attempted to record “Civil War” with him for a tribute album benefitting Romanian orphans a short while later, but his playing had reached a new low. After countless botched attempts (some claim it was as many as 30), producer Mike Clink was forced to cut-and-paste the drum track together from multiple takes. It was the last straw, and they ultimately booted Adler out of the band, kicking off a long, bitter legal battle.

- Rolling Stone

Credits: @NostalgicRock

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[WhiteLightning]

Last time the original appetite lineup played together.

[maxisins]

Originals Guns'N Roses. Just the best.

[pablobomgiorno]

Band name: Guns N' Roses
Date: April 7th, 1990

Vocals: Axl Rose
Lead Guitar: Slash
Rhythm Guitar: Izzy Stradlin
Bass: Duff Mckagan
Drums: Steven Adler

00:00 Civil War
08:12 Down on the Farm

[RyanConnell]

This wasn't the last time Adler played with Guns N' Roses. He joined them for a few songs a few times in 2016.

[EricFansher]

I remember watching this when it happened. You knew something was going on. Slash's tempo is all over the place here. Steve wasn't all to blame.

[richievitanaquino]

Nice to see the classic lineup playing this song

[Hoover]

Steven is amazing. Shame this was the last time we had the 5 together.

[tonyneff]

I feel like if Steven is so happy then, why didn’t they just level with him about his addictions? Instead of berating him about it, maybe try a different way to make him stay? But hey, I’m not them.

[carlianesousasilva]

Mesmo caindo de cara no chao , sem saber a musica Steven brilhou como o grande músico que ele é. E fez muito mais bonito que Axl.
Manteve a classe e se saiu bem ❤️🔥

[weqe]

This is so good. The first song that is.

[Laelaps_]

Awesome vid, I've been looking for this performance, thanks! And I'm not a musician, so I can't really pick up on these things, but can someone tell me if Steve was making a lot of mistakes or something? Cause i know that's why they said they kicked him out and all...

[austincooper]

Find it really hard to believe that Steven didn’t know Down On The Farm cause he played it like the record.

[manuelolivaparrado]

steve adler se porto como siempre como un gran baterista y axl rose como siempre como un capullo prepotente.

[gustavojavierfernandez]

Todos moviendo el culo al ritmo de Steven... The Best batería

[BonJoviLiveConcerts]

Can you explain to me, why your Guns N' Roses videos are also getting commented in different language as Spanish and Portuguese, i cant understand all the comments but they commented an different language as Spanish and Portuguese, Pls speak English should've been easier for you understand, i'm sorry

[dondamon]

Why oh why did axl start wearing bicycle shorts?? Ruined the band!