Axl is still The MAN

[Guest Apollo]

(This isn't a typical review, as it's been done 100 times already. Just my overall thoughts on the new band, after seeing them perform.)

I saw them in 2002 and a couple nights ago at Universal Studios. And let me tell you, the band is 100 times better now!!!!

Those of you that continually rip the new band apart, say there is no chemistry, that the band is just hired guns in it for the money, that Axl has "lost it" . . . . you've obviously haven't seen the new band perform live, or you can't get past the old band breaking up.

Axl's voice was spot on the entire show. It cracked a couple times during the end of Patience - but then he nailed the rest of the song. Axl's voice has WAY more range now than he did in 2002 - not even close. Hitting long high notes, deep growls, classic Axl sounds. Axl was on top of his game. I was impressed.

I didn't care much for Robin after the 2002 show, but Tuesday night he showed that he is the back-bone of the band. Axl may be the heart and soul, but Robin continues to improve and is the "man" now. True, Slash can never be replaced. But Finck is doing as good of job as anybody good. In 2002 he was sloppy, un-enthusiastic and seemed out of place. Today, he was all over the stage, great solos and it maybe superficual - but now he looks like a member of a hard rock band instead of like in 2002 where he looked like an industrial goth player.

Another thing I was impressed with was Axl's chipper mood. Several odd events happened that could have brought an explosion from the sometimes hostile singer, and each time Axl laughed or shrugged them off.

During the Nov rain pyros, the drums actually caught on fire, drawing stage help out to put the fire out. Axl started off with "that's a new one" which evolved into several jokes and cracking Axl up a couple different times. The funniest being when Izzy came out and started playing "Smoke on the Water" and Axl laughing and saying "You mean Smoke on the Drummer."

You've heard about Izzy being late! I thought "oh shit, this is it" after he introduced Izzy and nothing happened. Axl just laughed and said "welcome to my world" and then started playing. Later he asked again if Izzy was there and said that he probably borrowed his car again and left "obviously an inside joke." The old Axl would hve been pissed and when Izzy did show up, would have said "Never mind, you made me look like an idiot already." But instead he was laughing and brought him out - 30 minutes later than originally expected. Izzy looked great. Older for sure - but like he's in great condition.

Bubbles from trailer park boys came out, and Axl seemed to have a good time with him. Saying that they met him recently and that once you become friends with the strange guy, he always seems to be around and never goes away.

When Axl was introducing the band, he says "Mr Tommy Stintson. Tommy, time for your bass solo." Then three seconds later he says "OK. On drums ...." It was pretty funny, even Tommy laughed. At the end of the show when everybody took off, Tommy left his bass on stage. Axl actually picked up the bass off the stage and said "Where's Tommy? Somebody go throw this at him." Laughing as he said it.

The show was LONG. They started on time - 11:45, which was about 20 minutes after Sebastain left the stage. I think they played for almost 2 1/2 hours. All the normal songs. Plus Down On The Farm, Patience, Rocket Queen, Think About You, Used to Love Her.

At the end of the show, Axl showed his only anger by kicking a guy out of the pit - which turned out to be a security guard who was letting a fight go on. The cool thing about the closing was after Parad City and the "thank you, good night" Axl and the entire band actually came back on stage for a couple minutes, once again Axl thanked the crowd, said what a good time he had, told us to drive home safely. He seemed to really appreciate the crowd's response.

Other notes:

Helmet sucked. The first couple songs were interesting. But then after 30 minutes of them, EVERY song sounds pretty much the same.

Suicide girls were OK. I "get" why they are there. Axl wants to put on a show - not just a concert. Strippers- obviously - go together with rock and roll. The girls weren't that hot though.

Lots of little kids at the show. I'm talking 7-8 year olds. Which is a little odd, as there is lots of girls flashing and lots of swearing at rock shows. I'm not sure I'd bring my 7 year old to see that quite yet.

Sebastian was awesome. I saw Skid Row open for Bon Jovi way back in 1989 or 1990, and he still has as much energy as he did back then. The guy maybe a duechebag in real life, but he knows how to work the stage. His new ballad is pretty cool, it would have been a HUGE hit in the late 80's. Check it out with an open mind. It's just as good as any of those old popular rock ballads like Every Rose and I remember you or any winger or warrant love song.

TOO MANY SOLOS in the GnR show. Ya, it gives the guys some individual time to shine, but the show started at 8:15 and lasted until after 2 AM. Three guitar solos and a piano solo were a little much. Dizzy's piano solo was pretty cool. But THREE guitar solos really does cut into the energy of the show. Bumblefoot is a ripper, no doubt. Intermingling Dont Cry in the middle of Eruption was cool. Fortus's solo was decent. Finck's was mellow and soulful. All three of them were cool. But just tooooo many, considering what a long show it was.

Again, love him or hate him, Baz coming out during My Michelle puts a LOT of energy back into the show.

Baz showed his Axl side by kicking a guy out of the concert EARLY into his set. It was actually sort of funny. I don't know what the guy did, but Baz called him a cocksucker and told him to enjoy the rest of the show in the parking lot.

I guess thats about it. I was impressed with Axl and the new band. They sounded great. The show was awesome. Axl was in a great mood and seemed to appreciate the energy of the crowd.

Oh yea. The new songs. Better got the best response and sounded great live. IRS the second best response and sounded cool live, though the lyrics to the main chorus sounds a bit cheesy live (that sort of surprised me). The Blues, Madagascar and Chinese Democracy did not receive that great of responses. I guess the biggest dissapointment for me was that the new songs didn't receive the same response as any of the old songs. Axl sang Chinese Democracy in a really deep voice - which I thought sounded cool.

Edited December 26, 2006 by Apollo

[Gallagher Rose]

Finally a good and well written review!Thank you!

[Gunzen]

Dude, you make way to much sense to post here. If you dont feel that the band is a "cover band" then you shouldnt post here.

I am kidding of course, but many people on this forum will disagree because, well i dont know why, but you are spot on, they are a great band, and they are definitely thier own band, not a cover. I listen to those songs from 2002 and cant believe how much better Axl sounds, but you will still hear "bring back bucket" etc and for the life of me I dont know why? Does rock and roll need more nunchucks? Lock Dancing? I own 4 buckethead solo albums with Colma being my favorite, but he didnt fit the band then, and he wouldnt now.

Anyway, I am glad you had a great time, and are you talking about the Oakland show? Cause I did see alot of kids there too.

[SterileEyes]

Hey, he said the solos take up way too much time.

You know what that means, Mr. Original Poster - all the cupcakes who can't spell are gonna come say 'your retarded' and tell you to take your Slash-loving ass elsewhere. They'll probably say something about how if you didn't like the show you should get a life and not spend your money on something you hate.

I'm just calling it now.

Great review, I was at the other two shows (17th and 20th, not the 19th) and I agree with pretty much everything you said. I have to admit, The Blues, Madagascar, and CD all grew on me since I last heard them in September at Inland Invasion. You're right that the crowd response was lukewarm though.

There's a reason for that - 90% of the audience hasn't heard a thing about the new songs, and Axl isn't bothering to introduce the songs before they are played. Perhaps there's a reason for that, but yeah, most people stare at each other and ask 'what is this?' rather than paying attention to something they don't know. It's human nature.

You should have seen Axl take the spill down the stairs during Live and Let Die on night 3...it was so perfectly timed. 'But if this ever-changing world in which we liii*Axl tumbles down stairs* in...makes you hahahhahaha and cryhahahahahahaha'. I can't wait for the YouTube link.

Cheers, Happy Holidays, and thanks for the good honest review!

[M_B]

When Axl was introducing the band, he says "Mr Tommy Stintson. Tommy, time for your bass solo." Then three seconds later he says "OK. On drums ...." It was pretty funny, even Tommy laughed. At the end of the show when everybody took off, Tommy left his bass on stage. Axl actually picked up the bass off the stage and said "Where's Tommy? Somebody go throw this at him." Laughing as he said it.

awesome.

good review, and yeah...robin IS the man!

[Patience 4 Axl]

Cool review Apollo.

Glad you had such a good time!

[rockstar81]

Robin is good, he is better than bumblefoot but not as good as Richard (who is the best).

About Richard, look at that pic... amazing!

Edited December 24, 2006 by rockstar81

[angel of music]

When Axl was introducing the band, he says "Mr Tommy Stintson. Tommy, time for your bass solo." Then three seconds later he says "OK. On drums ...." It was pretty funny, even Tommy laughed. At the end of the show when everybody took off, Tommy left his bass on stage. Axl actually picked up the bass off the stage and said "Where's Tommy? Somebody go throw this at him." Laughing as he said it.

awesome.

good review, and yeah...robin IS the man!

hahaa that's amazing, taking the piss of the pigeons of shit metal words?

and the solo joke should have been with Pitman lol

[Let And Let Live]

Axl's voice was spot on the entire show. It cracked a couple times during the end of Patience - but then he nailed the rest of the song. Axl's voice has WAY more range now than he did in 2002 - not even close. Hitting long high notes, deep growls, classic Axl sounds. Axl was on top of his game. I was impressed.

I didn't care much for Robin after the 2002 show, but Tuesday night he showed that he is the back-bone of the band. Axl may be the heart and soul, but Robin continues to improve and is the "man" now. True, Slash can never be replaced. But Finck is doing as good of job as anybody good. In 2002 he was sloppy, un-enthusiastic and seemed out of place. Today, he was all over the stage, great solos and it maybe superficual - but now he looks like a member of a hard rock band instead of like in 2002 where he looked like an industrial goth player.

Totally agree with you, his range is amazing, i think "The Blues" is an awesome song live and the high notes from Axl are unbelievable!

And again Robin in 2002 did not fit in - now he looks cool - i hate that goth look he had before, no place for that in Gn'R!

nice read.

[Pegasus]

Axl's voice was spot on the entire show. It cracked a couple times during the end of Patience - but then he nailed the rest of the song. Axl's voice has WAY more range now than he did in 2002 - not even close. Hitting long high notes, deep growls, classic Axl sounds. Axl was on top of his game. I was impressed.

I didn't care much for Robin after the 2002 show, but Tuesday night he showed that he is the back-bone of the band. Axl may be the heart and soul, but Robin continues to improve and is the "man" now. True, Slash can never be replaced. But Finck is doing as good of job as anybody good. In 2002 he was sloppy, un-enthusiastic and seemed out of place. Today, he was all over the stage, great solos and it maybe superficual - but now he looks like a member of a hard rock band instead of like in 2002 where he looked like an industrial goth player.

Totally agree with you, his range is amazing, i think "The Blues" is an awesome song live and the high notes from Axl are unbelievable!

And again Robin in 2002 did not fit in - now he looks cool - i hate that goth look he had before, no place for that in Gn'R!

nice read.

Robins skullet was fantastic.

[Guest Apollo]

Oh yea. It was weird how Axl runs off stage all the time in the middle of songs. Twice I could see him stop on the side of the stage, where he'd hug a lady for 10-15 seconds, and then run back on stage. I couldn't see what he did the other times.

And Sebastian stopped his show once when a really friggin hot blond about 3 people back from the front of the stage took her shirt off and said he couldn't concentrate on the music with such nice t*ts in the crowd. At the end of his show, he brought her up and another smoking blond up on stage and let them flash the entire crowd some more.

Edited December 24, 2006 by Apollo

[Guest Apollo]

Dude, you make way to much sense to post here. If you dont feel that the band is a "cover band" then you shouldnt post here.

I am kidding of course, but many people on this forum will disagree because, well i dont know why, but you are spot on, they are a great band, and they are definitely thier own band, not a cover. I listen to those songs from 2002 and cant believe how much better Axl sounds, but you will still hear "bring back bucket" etc and for the life of me I dont know why? Does rock and roll need more nunchucks? Lock Dancing? I own 4 buckethead solo albums with Colma being my favorite, but he didnt fit the band then, and he wouldnt now.

Anyway, I am glad you had a great time, and are you talking about the Oakland show? Cause I did see alot of kids there too.

Thanks!

I was at the 2nd Universal Theatre show.

[sleeping stone]

Thanks Apollo for this review.

Good reviews are finally surfacing!

[Leigh-Rok!]

Finally a good and well written review!Thank you!

Absolutely.

Apollo's always been a top poster.

[November_rain]

When Axl was introducing the band, he says "Mr Tommy Stintson. Tommy, time for your bass solo." Then three seconds later he says "OK. On drums ...." It was pretty funny, even Tommy laughed. At the end of the show when everybody took off, Tommy left his bass on stage. Axl actually picked up the bass off the stage and said "Where's Tommy? Somebody go throw this at him." Laughing as he said it.

He was obviously joking about the people who complain that there are too many solos and about the Pigeons of shit metal story .

Nice review Apollo.Very well written.

[Son Of A Gun]

In reference to your "Bucket, Bumble, Bubbles", are you trying to say Axl's next guitarist will be michael jackson's monkey

[War Of The Roses]

awesome review,

nice neutral topic

[Guest Apollo]

Thanks Snatcher, Leigh, November, Sleeping, Let and Let for your nice comments.

Instead of just disecting each song - I tried to give a little more overall vibe of what happened.

[Leigh-Rok!]

Thanks Snatcher, Leigh, November, Sleeping, Let and Let for your nice comments.

Instead of just disecting each song - I tried to give a little more overall vibe of what happened.

Long may it continue.