If so, what should I expect?
Is that tired old showgirl, Axl Rose, still pulling her prima donna act, or is she actually punctual during these lean times?
I know he completely skipped out on the first show of the tour. How good he’s been at subsequent ones I’m not sure of.
Haven’t seen them, but a reviewer said it was good, but a bit like watching a GnR cover band. Much of the band has been replaced, notibly Slash, and they now have Tommy Stinson from The Replacements on bass, and Buckethead on guitar.
Apparently he was only forty five minutes late for the show in Toronto…and they said the show left the audience satisfied for the most part.
LolaCocaCola, I already told you about this back in the summer. There must be a thread lying around with my review of the show that I saw in London.
It was one of the most enjoyable shows I’ve ever seen. However I gather that Guns’n’Roses are rather like the French rugby team. They can be absolutely stunning, but some days they just forget how to catch a ball.
I hope that they’re on a good day when you see them. Rock on!
Now I get up about whenever,
I used to get up on time…
Cool, Zorro!
Any opening acts?
As a warm-up band we had Weezer, who played a really good 45 minute set, but it was tough for them, as everyone was there to see the Guns. Then Mr Rose had us waiting around for an hour, but what do you expect? Professionalism? Only when he can be bothered.
Now Alice Cooper however, he’s a consumate professional showman. That was better than the Guns!
See GnR? Nope. There was a riot.
Last time I tried to see GnR was in the 90s. Had a riot then too.
I went last night, in Boston.
Great show, but my god, Axl is still an asshole. CKY, or CYK, or somesuch, opened at 7:30, right on time. I didn’t see them, but I’ve heard they’re not bad. I got in around 8:30, and waited till 9. Then Mixmaster Mike came on (of Beastie Boys fame). He’s good at what he does. But what he does, frankly, sucks. His dad is going to be mad at him for ruining plenty of good vinyl records. He was more or less booed off the stage at 9:45. Then we waited an HOUR for Axl to appear, while we were treated to the camera panning around the arena for the whole time, trying to get women to flash the arena. It was quite successful.
Then Axl came on at 10:45, with his accompanyment. Absolutely ROCKED. They opened with Welcome to the Jungle, and just went up from there. Amazing show, and they played till about 12:45. He hasn’t lost it, although, Slash would have been nice. Oh well. Maybe someday they’ll reunite for the bajillions of dollars that such a tour would bring in. I’m not holding my breath.
Basically, be prepared for a late night. But it’s well worth it.
I think the only way to see G&R would be to go back in time to 1988 or so.
Axl now, I’ve read, has a psychic or Feng Shui guru or somesuch (Okay, I more skimmed than read) that checks the “energies” of each venue, and if he doesn’t like it, they won’t perform.
I hate it when musicians become rock stars.
"Much of the band has been replaced"
Make that all of the band! Rose is the only remaining original member. If Slash were still there I would still consider them Gn’R. Although they did sound ok on the MTV Awards.
The only time I saw them was way back in ‘88 when they were still just an opening act! (for Aerosmith). Their only hit at that time was ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ which I absoutely hated so I didn’t even bother watching or really listening to them!
They have been awesome so far…don’t listen to what critics or negative people have to say… they are playing great! my friend has given me some great reviews… here is one if you want to check it out.
I’m looking forward to seeing them in LA!
Review:
For all the bad that has been said about the Detroit show, the
Pittsburgh show was the complete opposite. This was an amazing show. I
really didn’t think Axl’s voice could hold up all show, but it did. He
was holding notes longer during certain songs (especially Live and Let
Die) than he did 10 years ago. I don’t know how this guy does it.
Security checks were HORRIBLE. I was going to buy a decent tape
recorder and tape it to my leg to bootleg this show, but figured they would find
it. The guy didn’t even pat me down, he just told me to go. They were
doing this to most people so there should definitely be some bootlegs
out there.
I loved how about 10 kids immediately began to mosh during the start of
the show. There is always the bodybuilder on steriods who takes his
shirt off and wants to hurt someone. All the other fans sort of looked
at them and got the message across that this isn’t what GNR is about. I
never understood moshing…I just felt it was something entertaining,
yet dumb to do while a bad performance was happening. Thankfully, GNR
is entertaining enough for people to just watch and go crazy.
CKY really ruined it for themselves when one of their guitarists tried
to get the crowd to hate him. This made no sense to me and made what
seems to be a decent band come off bad.
Mix Master Mike either really, really cool and entertaining or rather
boring. He’s weird as an opener but the new generation of Guns N Roses
fans will love this type of thing. The old gunners really seemed to
dislike it. I loved the parts that played Rob Zombie, Rage Against The
Machine, etc. but other parts really dragged. A Nelly song should NEVER
be played at a GNR show.
MMM ended around 9:30. From this point GNR cameras would scan the crowd
looking for girls to flash. Many went for it.including two girls that
decided to make out briefly. During this time I headed to the back and
a bunch of people were saying how they hate Axl and he’ll never show up.
One guy yelled how he was leaving soon if he didn’t show up.so I
started talking to him. His last GNR show was San Diego 10 years ago. He didn’t
know too much about the new band and never heard the songs. He said if
they didn’t show at 10:30 he was leaving.
Hopefully he stayed till 10:47 when GNR finally came on.or else he
missed one hell of a show. I noticed many people getting very upset
about Axl, saying how they hated him. That there lies the beauty of Axl
Rose. One minute an arena filled with people hate his guts.then he
shows up and transforms into the greatest guy in the world.
The show kicked off to a great and flawless start with Jungle, It’s So
Easy, and Brownstone. One song right after another, no breaks. Axl was
wearing a Jerome Bettis home jersey, white shoes, and black silky
ADIDAS pants. Live and Let Die was UNREAL. How he held the screams that long
is beyond me. During this song I felt the need to yell out, “HE’S BACK.”
At this point the place was rocking and it put a smile on my face to see
people just getting off to the whole experience.
Things slowed down with Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door. We all know Axl’s
voice has changed from 10 years ago, but the voice he has now makes for
a much smoother version of the song.
Axl then dedicated Think About You to all the girls in the audience who
flashed the crowd. Another note to keep in mind is how Axl was running
around like a wild man but still managed to sing fine without seeming
out of breath. A powerful version of You Could Be Mine followed.
Then Robin played his intro to Sweet Child and everyone went crazy as
you’d expect. People can say, Slash this, Slash that.and I loved Slash
but Robin does it just as well.
Somewhere around this point Axl switched to a Mario Lemieux jersey and
said something to the effect of, "I know you people are gamblers (I
remember reading about a Pittsburgh show years ago where he said “I
don’t know much about Pittsburgh except I lost a lot of money because
of the Steelers).did you really think I was gonna show up?”
Out Ta Get Me Played and then Axl said how people aren’t happy about
them not playing new songs but tonight would be more of a nostalgia
night. However, he wanted to play a new song.Madagascar. I think this
is the best new song, really strong. If you want to get looks from people,
as if to say, “you are a sick freak” make sure to sing the lyrics to
Madagascar. All of us have heard the new songs since the RIR 3 show,
and tend to not realize how hardly anyone has heard the new songs. I wonder
how much of a percent of the audience has heard those songs, I bet very
little. People didn’t seem real sure how to take it, but by the end dug
it. More of a reception for this song than the other new ones because
of the MTV Video Awards exposure.
Axl then asked for a piano, he joked around playing one intro, then
played some sweet intro into November Rain. Not sure what that second
intro was, but if it’s the beginning of a new song, he has something.
There might be nothing better than when Axl is on singing November
Rain, and tonight he was on. The fire effects are a great effect.
Everyone was digging the Buckethead solo. Some people find him weird,
and he is but he can play. He played the same songs he has been playing
on the tour, Star Wars, Pirates Life For Me, etc. Very entertaining and
he seems to be getting a cult following.
Next was Rocket Queen, followed by The Blues. Dizzy played piano for
The Blues. Axl stood on top of the piano for the closing of the song. I
think this song contains the best lyrics out of the new songs.the last
verse of the song is something everyone has felt at least once in their
life.
Due to the Detroit incident, I was worried that the show would end with
Patience. Thankfully it didn’t, on this night they played it the way it
should be played.
Around this time Axl mentioned how he was at a restaurant and this girl
seemed excited to see him. First she wanted an autograph, then he ate,
she wanted a picture, than after she wanted to talk him again. “Then
she began to rip me a new @#%$.” Axl asked her where she heard things she
was saying and she said, “I read them on the Internet.” Really funny
stuff. Maybe she asked him about THIS I LOVE which seems to be a
subject and a burning question that will never die. Anyway, Axl said how the
Internet is a great tool and even he learns things going on in his band
on there. “I’ll read something, then call someone and they’ll say ‘I
didn’t know that’ and then add, 'oh yeah, I did hear about that.”
Chinese Democracy rocked and the fire effects made it even more
impressive. A teen sitting behind me said “if he can sing like this on
a record, he’s gonna sell a lot of @#%$ records again.” The guy he was
with responded…this guy can sing his ass off." They were both
right.and anyone who says “Axl is too old, out of shape, etc.” Has no idea what
they are talking about.I’m sure he’s proving it in other cities like he
proved it in Pittsburgh, he’s for real and so is the rest of the band.
I can’t stress enough what they proved tonight.
Nightrain played, leading into the encore of Robin and Paradise City.
Before Paradise City Axl was waving a Terrible Towel, which is a
legendary item dealing with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Axl sure knows all
the tricks. Paradise City had the smoke, fireworks, confetti, etc.
I’m probably forgetting certain things but it’s late.someone else will
fill in what I missed. Bottom line is this, GNR is back. The crowd was
filled with fans whose GNR shirts were a little tighter than when they
bought them 10 years ago and new fans. People were into it. The older
people sat at times, which is a bummer, but that happens. Going to this
concert and getting off on it…and looking around and seeing people my
age, who weren’t old enough to experience the Use Your Illusion tour
but discovered GNR on their own.will make you feel very, very happy. We are
all very lucky that this is happening around the country…don’t miss
out, and take a friend. Axl Rose has done what few have done in the
past. He captured one generation and is on the right track to not only
recapture them but also capture a whole new generation, with the help
of an excellent, tight band.
One final comment. I was seated in a way so that I could see the
backstage area too. Well, at one point I saw Axl go back there (in the
middle of a song) and he saw this older lady sitting on the steps. Not
sure who the older lady was but Axl had a big smile on his face and
jokingly acted like he was going to kick her down the steps. This
wasn’t for show, he’s a happy man.
Axl once wrote, “I want to get to a place mentally where I can say,
‘Hey, this is me, capture it,’ and I’m not there yet. I’m trying to get
myself healthy.” Axl Rose is finally there, he’s healthy.
Thats a big negative Hail Ants. The keyboard player is still with Axl and Gun’s. Can’t remember his name because I hate rock keyboardists, but it is the original.
He’s called Dizzy Reed.
Chief’s review pretty much echoes what I saw in London. Except that it doesn’t appear that Axl Rose dropped his trousers for a whole song in Pittsburgh because it was too hot.
Now, does anyone have any news whatsoever on when they’re going to release this bloody Chinese Democracy* album? Or the Catcher in the Rye single? I don’t know if it’s as big a thing in the US as it is here, but the race for who will have the No 1 single at Christmas is a yearly ritual here, and it would be a great thing if G’n’R were in the running, because otherwise we’re going to spend the coming month listening to bloody Popstars, Will Young, and all those tosspots.
However, Dizzy wasn’t technically an “original” member- wasn’t he brought in after Appetite and Lies for the Use Your Illusions?
As for the album, they dont have a date yet, but it should be out in the next few months according to interviews with Dizzy Reed. He also said that all that is left is the mixing basically.
oh and Dizzy joined the band in 1990, but he was friends with them since the early days and was supposed to join earlier.