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8 Years ago today, GNR returns at Hammerstein


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I was there, among the lucky couple of thousand. We got to see the live debuts of IRS, There Was A Time, and Better. It was Bumble's first show, and Axl seemed in good spirits, including an onstage embrace with Tommy. Things were happening and the future looked so bright...

  1. (Live premiere)
  2. (Wings cover)
  3. (Bob Dylan cover)
  4. (Live premiere)
  5. (Live premiere)
  6. Encore:
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What. A. Fucking. Beast.

21st Century Old-School Rock Star.

This would definitely be in my Top 5 shows where I wish I'd been there, along with Ritz '88, Buenos Aires '93, and 01-01-01 (just because of the mystique). Live debuts of Better, IRS, TWAT...

I'd pay $100 for an officially released pro-shot.

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I was there for that first night

FUCK YOU :lol:

Did anyone know what Axl even looked like before the show? Was anybody expecting rasp? Nobody even knew who Bumblefoot was, right?

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i remember being in high school at the time, about to graduate, and all i cared about was staying up all night to read the live setlist updates and getting like 2 hrs of sleep and having to go to class the following days. :lol:

people are all infatuated with robin now, but back then he was the DJ Ashba of GN'R. During 2002 people HATED him and his 'goth/emo' look. So maybe some people who are newer here won't remember, but when he took the stage that night in '06, rocking the homeless man look, people were instantly loving the fact that he looked more like a rock n' roll dude and less like a Marilyn Manson reject. he won over a lot of people back then, and i think if he'd never resurfaced like that, and had kept the goth look, people today wouldn't really want him back.


I was there for that first night

FUCK YOU :lol:

Did anyone know what Axl even looked like before the show? Was anybody expecting rasp? Nobody even knew who Bumblefoot was, right?

no one knew what he looked like. he had managed to stay off the radar. nobody really expected rasp but i remember someone at the show sent a 16 second clip of WTTJ and it was shitty quality and you could barely hear it, but you could tell some of the rasp was back.

then the BIG clip that made a lot of commotion was the short clip of Axl leaning on Robin singing Rocket Queen's outro. People went nuts for it. Hold on, I'll go find it.


that's the clip that changed a lot of people's minds.

i do remember before any videos linked and word hit the forum that the new guitarist's name was Bumblefoot, people were going crazy making fun of him. Dead Flower posted a picture of him from when he was a bit more overweight mocking him. But i think once he ditched the bumble bee guitar and started going by Ron Thal, people cared less.

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Just noticed the lyrics in Better are different on one line:

"the twist of fate, a change of heart [could it be?] my imagination" instead of "a twist of fate, a change of heart, cures my infatuation".

Wonder if the lyrics were like that in a demo, like the "Now you know me better" bit.

Also just noticed all the lyrics sites have it as "twist of faith", but the expression is "twist of fate" and that's what it's always sounded like to me, so I'll go with that.

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I was there for that first night

FUCK YOU :lol:

Did anyone know what Axl even looked like before the show? Was anybody expecting rasp? Nobody even knew who Bumblefoot was, right?

Right. Nobody knew what to expect from look or sound. No one was certain Ron was the new guitarist either. The last I'd personally seen or heard from Axl up til that night was him throwing the mic in Detroit and walking out on the show during Patience. Up til that point, the show changed my mind on what I view as "Guns N' Roses" though, so Hammerstein was me giving it one more try. I was blown the fuck away and it fueled several more years of my desire to follow the band.

Here's a fun fact about how stupid/excited I was:

As we all learned that night, Robin's look changed drastically since 2002. That 2002 show in Detroit really made a Robin fan out of me, so it would've taken a lot for me to not like the new guy since I was really looking forward to Robin anyway. So out comes this dude looking like Rock Star Jesus, but moving like Robin. I leaned over to my buddy halfway through Jungle and yelled "I had no idea there were TWO new guitarists, but whoever that guy is, that fucker needs to stop making fun of Robin's moves!!" Then when Axl introduced Robin after Better I was like "I see. I'm a fucking moron"

:lol:

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Single best rock show I've ever attended. Waited in line from 8am till the doors opened and was up against the rail. The energy and atmosphere at that show was something that I'd never and have not since ever experienced. Also attended the final show of that string of warmup dates as well. Was awesome to see Izzy but still didn't top the first show. I remember buying tickets to all four shows and then selling what I has left on ebay which paid for both of the concerts and then some lol. It was truly the hottest ticket in town at the time.

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I was there for that first night

FUCK YOU :lol:

Did anyone know what Axl even looked like before the show? Was anybody expecting rasp? Nobody even knew who Bumblefoot was, right?

Right. Nobody knew what to expect from look or sound. No one was certain Ron was the new guitarist either. The last I'd personally seen or heard from Axl up til that night was him throwing the mic in Detroit and walking out on the show during Patience. Up til that point, the show changed my mind on what I view as "Guns N' Roses" though, so Hammerstein was me giving it one more try. I was blown the fuck away and it fueled several more years of my desire to follow the band.

Here's a fun fact about how stupid/excited I was:

As we all learned that night, Robin's look changed drastically since 2002. That 2002 show in Detroit really made a Robin fan out of me, so it would've taken a lot for me to not like the new guy since I was really looking forward to Robin anyway. So out comes this dude looking like Rock Star Jesus, but moving like Robin. I leaned over to my buddy halfway through Jungle and yelled "I had no idea there were TWO new guitarists, but whoever that guy is, that fucker needs to stop making fun of Robin's moves!!" Then when Axl introduced Robin after Better I was like "I see. I'm a fucking moron"

:lol:

I remember that night on the boards, everyone was thinking that Robin was Bumblefoot for some reason. Also i remember that everyone was saying that John 5 was Bucket replacement. Any way, was a great confusion for us and the first clips sounded like recorded with a potato, fun times.

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Everybody KNEW how was Axl's look. He had plently of photos months before the show, he had an interview with Rolling Stones and etc.

About BBF, people knew him because of the 2004 fight with Merck Mercuriadis.

Yea, dunno why people are saying they didn't know how he looked, these were published in Rolling Stone in January 2006:

axl_rose_2006.jpg

WAR_Jan13_2006_003.jpg

I wasn't posting on the forums at the time but I was reading. It was exciting as hell checking the show threads for these shows!

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i think if he'd never resurfaced like that, and had kept the goth look, people today wouldn't really want him back.

bullshit

Got to agree, Robin took an unreal amount of abuse before 2006. It didn't help that he was the first guy to follow Slash and more than once mangled the Sweet Child riff and solo.

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Everybody KNEW how was Axl's look. He had plently of photos months before the show, he had an interview with Rolling Stones and etc.

About BBF, people knew him because of the 2004 fight with Merck Mercuriadis.

Yea, dunno why people are saying they didn't know how he looked, these were published in Rolling Stone in January 2006:

axl_rose_2006.jpg

WAR_Jan13_2006_003.jpg

I wasn't posting on the forums at the time but I was reading. It was exciting as hell checking the show threads for these shows!

My point was that with Axl, you never know. Just because he looked like that in January, didn't mean he was going to look like that in May. As for Ron, there was nothing even remotely definite saying he was going to be the guy.

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I remember there was some question whether or not Axl was going to bring back the bandana that night, and NOBODY on the forums knew for sure who the new guitarist was until he took the stage..there were John 5, Izzy, and even Buckethead rumors flying all over the place..Great times!

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i think if he'd never resurfaced like that, and had kept the goth look, people today wouldn't really want him back.

bullshit

Got to agree, Robin took an unreal amount of abuse before 2006. It didn't help that he was the first guy to follow Slash and more than once mangled the Sweet Child riff and solo.

Robin improved the solo, and I can't recall him ever "messing" up on the riff. Care to post an example?

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