Your favorite show

[ZoSoRose]

Well, we could have very well just entered another era of silence (hopefully not though!) and the useless threads will surely start rolling in full force.

Here's a fun one,

Describe your single favorite GNR show that you have attended. Maybe give a quick recap/review

When was it?

What made it special?

What songs were played?

What lineup was it?

etc etc etc

And I guess if you haven't seen GNR or thought one of these was better, it can be the best GNR related show you've been to, so that includes Slash, VR, Loaded, Bucket, Gilby, Steven etc

For me it was this past February at the Fillmore Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

I was psyched when they announced the UCAP tour but my excitement was quickly shot down when I saw the closest show to me was Chicago. The timing also made it so I could not travel down to see it. It has always been my dream to see my favorite band in a small venue for the intimate, and almost raw and club- like feeling you get with small gigs. They really are more personal, not that arena and stadium gigs aren't all cool. Anyways, I was super bummed so you can imagine I was psyched when they miraculously announced a Detroit show at one of my favorite venues. I managed to get GA tickets and skip the line passes for my friend (this was our 3rd GNR gig and my gf who had never seen GNR).http://www.mygnrforum.com/public/style_images/MYGNRFORUM-3-1-2/rte_icons/email.png

The day of the show arrived so we headed down to the city at around 6 pm. We arrived at the venue a little early to wait in line and to meet up with Ron outside the venue, which was simply awesome. He came out with his practice guitar and let me jam on it for a it and played some bits of songs like TWAT, OMG, and Catcher. He joked around a lot and told us a bunch of stories and signed a ticket of mine and a copy of ChiDem I brought. After talking some more and taking pictures he went back into the theater to prepare so we were then directed to the side and were about the second group of people in line. Over the course of the next hour or so the fast pass line quickly became huge and the regular line which formed across the street was pretty big. A little after 9 they let us in the venue and we made a B line straight for the railing. We managed to score 3 spots on the left side almost by the center. It was awesome since the barricade was actually tiny and the stage was an arms-length away, they were literally perfect spots.

The opening band, Sponge came on and I actually really enjoyed them. They played for only about 20 minutes and did like 4 songs. Their only hit, Plowed was extended a tad bit too much though. They left the stage and the waiting game began. Contrary to what many have said, I thought security was really nice. We actually talked with a few of them about bands they've seen and GNR and such. I do have to say that once the show started they were all business and perhaps over- strict, but I thought they were cool dudes just doing their jobs. The theater quickly packed and we were worried since security said Axl was still at the hotel. That combined with his meh performance in Chicago the day before (still a cool looking show though) and his tweet that day saying he was "sick as a dog" made me worried their may be a no- show. To our surprise though the house lights went down after only about an hour and the gig began.

I won't go into specifics about each song, but the gig blew the other 2 GNR gigs I've been to out of the water. In fact, it blew every gig I've ever been to out of the water. Axl sounded great and was in the best mood I have seen him in. He was very talkative and was really into interacting with the crowd. The band was on fire and nailed every song and the setlist was the best I've seen. I was really grateful to get Civil War this time around seeing as they unveiled it only a few days after the last Detroit show in 2011. I have never been so close to a band, even at other GA and front row shows I've been to. I shook Axl's hand a few times, DJ gave me his pick after his solo in Estranged (my favorite song), Bumble threw me his pick after Estranged but I didn't catch it so he kept throwing me picks until I caught one lol, and Richard kept throwing me a bunch of picks in a row and for some reason I failed at catching them so I gave him a "no more" gesture. He laughed and kept doing it though until I caught one which I then gave to my friend, I must have looked like an idiot haha. I also caught a one of Frank's drumsticks when DJ threw it during Madagascar. There were tons of other cool moments too like holding DJ up during SCOM, playing Ron's Vigier, and basically witnessing my favorite band perform literally a foot away.The only downside was the exclusion of November Rain's outro (I later found out it was because one of Axl's piano keys broke or something), but since I had seen it performed twice before, it didn't phase me at all. Finally at the end of his solo in Paradise City, Richard threw me his Jazz III pick. And after the show ended, I got one of his signature picks as well.

All in all, it was pretty much a dream of a show. The setlist contained pretty much everything, Axl and the band sounded amazing, we were really close, and to my pleasant surprise, the crowd was great. I was worried going into it that the crowd would suck since I have had pretty dangerous situations at a GA GNR and other GA shows. Sure, it was a little hard to here Axl sometimes and they skipped the end of NR, but that kind of made the show feel more raw. That may sound stupid, but it really kicked ass. On top of it all, my gf was also blown away. She knows im obsessed with GNR but her only experience before the show was watching RIO 2011 with me Glad she got to see GNR actually kicks ass live.

Sorry that was such a mouthful! I never properly reviewed the show anyways lol. What are your favorite gigs?

Edited July 30, 2012 by ZoSoRose

[arnold layne]

tl;dr

[bumblecool]

Great Story man

[ZoSoRose]

Great Story man

or was it a cool story, bro?

thanks though

[Mastodonny]

1988, Danville, IL, everything off of AFD plus KOHD, the 5 that matter, 1st real rock show, nuff said.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Mastodonny

[NachoLZ]

Chile 2011, First time Riff Raff played, 2nd time Estranged, 1st Estranged+November Rain+Dont Cry ever live since 93 and Axl in a very good mood, Tommy Stinson Birthday sing along lol, in Paradise City Axl weared everything the crowd was trowing to him

[deadender]

Glasgow 2006 - ask anyone who was there.