06/03/18 - Berlin, Germany - Olympiastadion

[ludurigan]

11 minutes ago, AFGnR said:

Review

https://www.rollingstone.de/kritik-guns-nroses-live-in-berlin-leider-geil-also-richtig-geil-1507909/

ROUGH GOOGLE TRANSLATOR TRANSLATION

Guns N'Roses live in Berlin - unfortunately cool, so: really cool

They come over like Viper Room millionaires, but also in 2018, Guns N' Roses remember that they were once the biggest rock band ever. Criticism, videos, photos and setlist from the concert in Berlin

From the edge of the grandstand you have a good view of the backstage corridor behind the stage of the Berlin Olympic Stadium. What happens ten minutes before the appearance of Guns N'Roses would be too good, but too terribly wrong to be true. The band members and their entourage run towards the stage, Slash can already be seen from afar on the hat, the giant Duff McKagan on his treebeard-like knorrigkeit. But then they do not go up the stairs, but wait behind the stage - and nothing happens. A felt eternity. Because probably one is missing.

Finally, the same way a darkened Mercedes sedan drove up. She dismisses a - not visible - passenger. Anyway, Guns N'Roses seem to be ready and the show can begin.

Whether Axl Rose was in the car and got an extra sausage, maybe because footpaths are so exhausting, is not known. But that would be a great idea. Because GN'R were loved, precisely because their singer was whimsical and megalomaniacally like no other in his weddings 1987 to 1993 in rock music.

It starts with "It's so Easy" and "Mr. Brownstone "are power demonstrations from an era when Hardrock was cooler than today. The band plays them immaculately. For such openings stadium concerts are made. Duff plays the Hornet intro, and the first waves in the audience slosh, almost all the way back. Guns N'Roses would play their whole 1987 "Appetite for Destruction" album!

But even in the early nineties GN'R still provided for the most-discussed concerts. There were demolitions of the sets, violent eruptions of the musicians and also violent outbursts of the fans. The dismantled rooms. A rose who, if he felt like it, came on stage two and a half hours late and sang sitting almost all the time. The "Use Your Illusion" tour from 1991 to 1993 was a spectacle. There was no certainty as to what to expect.

This is different with the "Not In This Lifetime" tour, also because Guns N'Roses is more than ever a business venture. They know that they may not be able to release a joint studio album, regardless of the fact that they only make money with performances today. Since the beginning of the current concert tour there was not a single excitement. Shows are taking place. Rose is as punctual as Phil Collins. The revenue is gigantic, GN'R lead rankings.

The gigs are well promoted: The stadium camera captures not only bassist Duff McKagan, but behind him permanently, well positioned, the deer antler banner of a liquor manufacturer. A bitter irony, the man is a dry alcoholic, according to legend, he was once exploded because of the bingeing almost the pancreas. Yes, it explodes. After all, the duffing camera often also shows its embroidered with stickers bass, which adorns for two years, the "Love Symbol" of Prince. Idols where you do not expect them.

In any case, as McKagan has been doing since 2016, lead guitarist Slash looks as if in the empty snakepit era of his career, he had been waiting for nothing but the reunion. His Gibson still gives the otherwise rather upbeat musician that elegance that you can not learn no matter how long you practice in front of the mirror. Rose companion Richard Fortus, no less masterly, but may also take over some solos of his famous colleague.

Slash plays, the hype of the third "godfather" movie of 1990 stuck to him then, as earlier "Godfather Theme" Nino Rotas on the guitar. There is a 1990s mafia block in the set, because Axl Rose later intones the coda of "Layla", that hit by Derek and the Dominos that not a few associate with "GoodFellas" these days. The song was recorded in the Scorsese movie during a montage showing wicked murder victims of the mob.

Guns N'Roses: Axl practiced his voice

As a musician, Axl Rose has the most catching up to do. Occasional croaking, broken heights, sometimes he holds the microphone in the audience so that he does not have to sing himself. But it's not at all a comparison to the meaningless Gunners years between 1994 and 2016, when Rose, documented in countless fail videos of how his own karaoke singer performed, pained his ears.

His training is certainly based on the commitment as lead singer of AC / DC, which he started two years ago. He could not do what he wanted. He was not the boss, but Angus Young. And AC / DC is a band with a long tradition and a harder fanbase. Rose 's new power and discipline we probably have to thank for this job.

Guns N'Roses, of course, look like Viper Room millionaires, fully tattooed, hung with a number of chains, and Axl Rose, 56, also dances his standard hip-like snake - the serpentine uphill snake - not as supple as it did 30 years ago , He is now moving in the hooligan stamping step, and the thinned hair is draped as if he were wearing it over a taut face mask. Speaking of Viper Room: So much L.A. was not up to date in Berlin, on Monday the Hollywood Vampires will appear, the band of Alice Cooper, Joe Perry (Aerosmith) and Viper Room founder Johnny Depp.

It's a wonderful nostalgia show. Also in the audience. For a long time, there were not many Guns N 'Roses shirts left, like the color red-yellow and the band name in that famous font, which is fast googled, called Corvinus Skyline. Even the opening band Manic Street Preachers commemorates the ancient times. Their greatest hits set of ten songs is the focus of the 1992 Generation Terrorists debut, whose guitar solos sound like tributes to the heroes: "Motorcycle Emptyness" and of course "Slash N'Burn", which is already worshiped in the Wearing title and cow bell.
 

As a live band, Guns N'Roses are best compared to Led Zeppelin. Both of them do not even have that many songs, but they are then neatly stretched by solos. It all started with the Gunners on the "Use Your Illusion" tour, and even in 2018 an Axl sometimes appears like the guest star at his own gig, which sometimes disappears from the stage on the left, sometimes right through the curtain and Slash das Done. Too bad that the concerts are still shorter than the last US performances, "Do not Cry", especially "You Could Be Mine" are missing here very much.

"Use Your Illusion," not "Appetite for Destruction," included pomp, such as "Estranged," a complex song composed of about eight stanzas, which could also be choruses, interrupted by about six guitar solos. "When you're talking to yourself", Rose sings, "And nobody's home", at the end of the gigantic song he even bows to the audience. As if he was an opera singer. Such a music was created in 1991, and it has not existed since then.

Guns N'Roses used to have an announcer, he came on stage and shouted this sentence: "You wanted the best. Well they did not make it! So here's what you get. From Hollywood. Guns. N. Roses! "Maybe that was a mockery of other bands that promise a lot but can not keep it - you wanted the best, but they did not manage that.

Guns N'Roses are like this today: They do not do anything new, they do not succeed in anything new. But once they did the best, at least in hard rock. And remember, they can do that pretty well.

[Nosaj Thing]

Haven't seen anything but Slither so far.  Atrocious rendition of the song by Axl, vocally speaking it was a horrendous performance but damn, hats off to him for finally covering a Velvet Revolver song - that's something I never thought would be possible.  Not even when the reunion happened.

Axl is a different person now.  He's found peace.

[ludurigan]

5 minutes ago, LA_0013 said:

Memo to band: 

Get your act together, shit is now getting serious. Ludurigan has made a point to never listen to GNR again until you become GNR again

🤔

oh what a fun post!

its just too bad that you misread my post!

and twisted my words!

i said I wont listen to THIS BAND ever again until THIS BAND becomes Guns n Roses again

which will likely never happen

as we all know

but go ahead make fun twisting my words!

its so fun doing that!

 

[Tyler Drama]

Any videos of This I Love?

[t-p-d-a]

4 minutes ago, Tyler Drama said:

Any videos of This I Love?

I saw no person near by me who filmed on that song..

[Gnrcane]

5 hours ago, ludurigan said:

i have no idea but it definitely looks like axl REALLY didnt want to sing it

not only that, but it also looks like he made a huge effort to sing it in the most horrible way possible

seriously this is unbelievable

using the words of the GNA manager, is Axl -- and everyone around him -- so CLUELESS that they dont realise how this nonsense sounds?

If Axl didn't want to sing it, they wouldn't have done it.  I can't imagine Slash and Duff saying "sing Slither or we're not doing another leg."

[ludurigan]

1 minute ago, Gnrcane said:

If Axl didn't want to sing it, they wouldn't have done it.  I can't imagine Slash and Duff saying "sing Slither or we're not doing another leg."

of course

[Blackstar]

51 minutes ago, ludurigan said:

other songs of the show?

i made a point to never listen to GNR songs played by this band until this band becomes GNR again

Then why do you care so much about Slither?

[ludurigan]

7 hours ago, RussTCB said:

Second, I do find it funny that you can immediately tell who has any interest in having an honest discussion and who just wants to get a reaction. 

Most reasonable people are saying Slither sounded OK but Axl has room for improvement. Still cool that he sang it in the first place. 

Then you have the others going on as if it's the worst thing to ever happen in the history of vocal performances. 

did you actually listened to slither?

seriously, axl sounded worse than myles kennedy

 

6 hours ago, paulor666 said:

Fucking hell...

Axl is a grown man who has 30+ years of rock n' roll behind him, is in one of  - if not the - greatest rock n' roll bands of all time and is AXL FUCKING ROSE - he is not a 7 year old returning to play his first match for his soccer team after spraining his ankle....

He doesn't need to be treated with kid gloves!

A long break of what?! He wasn't down the fucking mines - he was arsing around not giving a flying fuck about GNR and generally just not giving a shit..

 

 

 

yep

Edited June 4, 2018 by ludurigan

[Requiem16]

43 minutes ago, t-p-d-a said:

a professional vocalist who forgets his words or can't hit high notes at the moment, he can let the crowd sing these parts.

but Axl never let the crowd participate, only KOHD and WTTJ "i wanna hear your scream"

For example Jon Bon Jovi can not hit the high note on Livin On A Prayer but he knows his voice so he let the crowd sing with the help of Keayboarder David Bryan. And that's make a vocalist professional. Yes humans are getting older but you must learn your voice over and over.

For me, Axl Rose is not a professional vocalist and not a live singer.. It's just a human who damage his voice

Man, nice point! And i don`t know if it worth to participate show in Moscow or save my money? 

[ludurigan]

1 minute ago, Blackstar said:

Then why do you care so much about Slither?

how would i not care?

Axl singing slither?

wow, let me listen to that, NOW!

too bad it sounded horrible

===

i always want to listen to axl singing new songs

i still think he can be a great singer -- when he wants, as he has proven with ACDC

to me it looks like he doesnt want to sing slither AT ALL

[t-p-d-a]

10 minutes ago, Requiem16 said:

Man, nice point! And i don`t know if it worth to participate show in Moscow or save my money? 

go.. maybe its the last time you have a chance to see Guns N' Roses live. There is big chance that his voice is getting better. It was the first gig.

[bigpoop]

1 hour ago, AFGnR said:

 

Whether Axl Rose was in the car and got an extra sausage, maybe because footpaths are so exhausting, is not known. 

 

 

This is the greatest sentence. 

[ludurigan]

5 hours ago, Blackstar said:

I listened to Slither after reading some comments here, and it wasn't as bad as I expected based on those comments. I think it'll get better at the next shows. For starters, the "heys" should be left to Duff. Or, even better, they should be omitted. They were unnecessary and cringy in the original VR song anyway, imo.

I can't believe that there are people who say that Axl "wasn't into it" etc. and overlook that he chose to sing it in the first place.

if you are familiar with the power struggles that happen in a band situation, you should know that sometimes some members "push" the other members to do stuff they don't want to do -- at all

guns n roses is full of those examples that have been very well narrated over the years

as most other bands, if not ALL bands

when a singer is pushed/forced to sing a song that he doesn't want to sing, he may react by fucking with the song -- singing it so bad that no one will ever want to do the song again.

===

talking specifically about GNA and slither, i have zero info, so i can only speculate

but given the sad vocal performance of slither, i would say its fair to assume that axl didn't want to sing it -- at all

he may have felt somewhat cornered to sing it by the other guys and decided to fuck with the song as a way to say "this is what you get for pushing me to play this shit"

again, pure speculation, but who knows?

[Padme]

1 hour ago, marlingrl03 said:

There were technical problems. There is even a petition online to Livenation to give people their money back because so many people left early cause the sound was atrocious. Everyone seems to ignore that there were monitor and sound issues galore here.  Go to twitter or Guns Facebook page and you will see it all there.

I don't understand. There were not technical problems the day before the show.  The reason for sound checks is to fix possible tecnical problems. Even during the show, if there were problems, technitians job is to fix them rather quickly 

[Requiem16]

7 minutes ago, t-p-d-a said:

go.. maybe its the last time you have a chance to see Guns N' Roses live. There is big chance that his voice is getting better. It was the first gig.

Thanks, dude!

[Blackstar]

8 minutes ago, ludurigan said:

talking specifically about GNA and slither, i have zero info, so i can only speculate

but given the sad vocal performance of slither, i would say its fair to assume that axl didn't want to sing it -- at all

he may have felt somewhat cornered to sing it by the other guys and decided to fuck with the song as a way to say "this is what you get for pushing me to play this shit"

again, pure speculation, but who knows?

And unfounded speculation, because Axl didn't sing Black Hole Sun well the first time either, and that was clearly a song he wanted to sing. He didn't even sing Whole Lotta Rosie very well at some of the GnR shows. And most of all, he hasn't sung his own CD songs well a lot of times.

Edited June 4, 2018 by Blackstar

[ludurigan]

1 minute ago, Blackstar said:

And unfounded speculation, because Axl didn't sing Black Hole Sun well the first time either, and that was clearly as song he wanted to sing. He didn't even sing Whole Lotta Rosie very well at some of the GnR shows.

thats true, he sang other songs like shit!

[ludurigan]

2 hours ago, RONIN said:

I can't really fault the guy here despite the less than stellar performance. Axl gets major kudos for singing Slither and trying his best to soldier on despite his vocal issues. Looks like he showed some heart at this gig which is a rarity for the redhead.

there is a review above that points in that direction

hopefully you guys are correct

[stanleyjp]

8 hours ago, 80309561 said:

mickey was over the NA AC/DC gigs it was brutal and today in berlin sounds good compared NA Tour with AC/DC i know i seen it in person 5 times and it was 10 times to many.

Wrong.

[MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle]

3 hours ago, ludurigan said:

i am not sure he is paying (or showing) any respect to slash and duff by singing their song like that

 

Well, maybe I'm not the best judge since I don't like Slither anyway, so it's no big deal to me.  Can't understand the reverence some people seem to have for the song, but that's personal taste for you.  

What is a big deal to me is that he sang a VR song in the first place.  

Axl did the right thing by his bandmates and that matters because it shows progress.  Who would have predicted, even six months ago, that Axl would show that kind of consideration, or be that open minded?  It also suggests there's genuine harmony, if not actual friendship between the three, which also matters as it's nice to know that something other than money motivates these guys.  

So I don't really care at this point how good or bad he sounded on Slither for the first show.  Slash sounded awful for the CD songs for a really long time actually, before he went on to sound great, so I'm fully expecting Axl to improve on Slither.

 

[RQRQ]

4 hours ago, Tom-Ass said:

Fucking kills me!! Gn'R were one of the best rock bands of all time.. To have some of these clowns in the band is indeed really sad. 

Did you see the videos? Everyone was in the stands sitting with their arms crossed.  

I only saw from the POV of the person filming on periscope. Some of the comments on Instagram aren't very good but we're all good at being armchair critics. I think with guns now, unless you are the kind of die hard fan who is willing to turn up to Axl and co opening an envelope or feel the need to see multiple shows each tour, the probability of being disappointed in some way is quite high.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE guns but I'm kind of over it now. I've seen them many, many times over the years in all of heir line-ups from the early 90s to last year and much like my dead grandma would like to remember them how they were not how they are now 😂

[stanleyjp]

3 hours ago, GNRfanJen said:

Question about YCBM: so was this intentionally dropped from the setlist from the start and will be for the rest of the shows? Or was this a mid-show decision by Axl to cut it for this show because he knew his voice was fucked? I'm still unclear on that 

I think Axl changed something after TIL. I guess the plan was to play about one hour more, but do to problems with his voice and the sound they dropped YCBM, Coma, Out Ta Get Me/Michelle, SOYL, some of the encores... don't know ofc, but I think so.

[MaskingApathy]

I don't think Frank was that bad on slither; yeah he played the quiet part a little differently with the toms but otherwise he more or less nailed it. To me it sounds almost like Duff is taking over the melody in the chorus and Axl is trying to do some kind of high harmony but Caram didn't balance the levels of the vocals properly. Idk I guess we'll see if he tries singing it differently or not.

It's interesting to note that during that song the video graphics are exclusively Slash's top hat girl on the Marshall cabinet, like a whole wall of them behind the ramp and even on the stage right cabinet screens. I think that sends a pretty strong message that that song is meant to be some sort of Slash feature.

[LA_0013]

If anyone said to me 5 years ago Axl, Slash and Duff would tour together I would’ve thought they were mad.

If they added that they’d also play a VR song I’d have thought they’d completely lost the plot