Eric's Ottawa review

[eRomano]

Just got in.. still tired from the previous concert in Toronto.

Here's a quick review:

You'll find the setlist here.

GREAT concert! GREAT sound! Great crowd.

SOUND:

The sound was WAY louder than the Toronto concert. Just as a rock concert should be.

The image in the left and right monitors were still blurry.

Axl seemd in a good mood, his voice was superb. He was so energetic!

I would say the venue was more than 80% full. Great crowd.

We got a very good WTTJ intro scream tonight I was quite happy about that!

I'll add (again) to this post later today as I am out of time and need to leave for Quebec.

[Nick85]

Cool, Thanks Eric!!! Glad you had a great time!

[fallingred85]

Just got back from the show, stealing from your post....sorry eric.....amazing show nonetheless!! I threw my bandana at the stage as soon as PC was starting, axl grabbed it and gave it a little twirl around his finger, haha....Lost my Mind!!!! Crowd was awesome, couple tustles in the pit but other then that a sweet time altogether! If you haven't already gone to see them I strongly suggest you make the investment...you won't be disappointed! rock1

[Slash's armpit]

The band definetly sounded awsome. When WTTJ kicked in I can't remember a time when I felt so pchyed. However, by the time they started playing it was nearly 12:00 and when it was over I was tired as hell. A friend of mine fell asleep during Paradise until the pyros (man, were they intense) got to him. I know Axl has a reputation for his late arrivals, but by the time he arrived me and my friends felt so drained. We're under the drinking age so we didn't have anything to keep us going.

Sebastian Bach was such a great and colourful character. I enjoyed his performance so much compared to those other two shity ones. Suicide Girls felt like an amatuer act. Don't get me started on the other band, they were terrible and brought the whole show down. Seb was just a great and humble guy. He and his band really gave it their all and they're what elavated the show after two abysmal performances.

Overall it was great and I had a really fun time. Axl was a complete jerk as usual and his band pulled off an amazing show.

[eRomano]

As usual I wasn't there for the opening acts.

I stocked up on beer shortly before 10:30PM as this was the closing time to buy alcohol (I always ask as soon as I arrive at a venue, no, I'm not an alccoholic, but I do like to drink beer during a concert. Yes I finished my 3 beers before GNR went on). Some venues stop selling alcohol really really early.

Cigarettes kept me going too.. but at this venue smoking cigarettes in the washroom was a big no-no as I saw many people getting tickets for doing so. So I went outside this time. Now this should not be a problem tomorrow at the Quebec City concert as smoking is often tolerated (cigarette smoking that is) in the washrooms and the legal drinking age here is often only a suggestion. (proceed at your own risk).

If your bandana was red, then I saw it and I think that everyone else did too.

There was lots of security at this venue, I'd say more than usual.

I don't understand what you mean about Axl being a complete jerk though. I don't think he was at all, on the contrary, he smiled more, etc.

[rylz]

who says axl was a jerk??

[Graeme]

As usual I wasn't there for the opening acts.

I stocked up on beer shortly before 10:30PM as this was the closing time to buy alcohol (I always ask as soon as I arrive at a venue, no, I'm not an alccoholic, but I do like to drink beer during a concert. Yes I finished my 3 beers before GNR went on). Some venues stop selling alcohol really really early.

Cigarettes kept me going too.. but at this venue smoking cigarettes in the washroom was a big no-no as I saw many people getting tickets for doing so. So I went outside this time. Now this should not be a problem tomorrow at the Quebec City concert as smoking is often tolerated (cigarette smoking that is) in the washrooms and the legal drinking age here is often only a suggestion. (proceed at your own risk).

If your bandana was red, then I saw it and I think that everyone else did too.

There was lots of security at this venue, I'd say more than usual.

I don't understand what you mean about Axl being a complete jerk though. I don't think he was at all, on the contrary, he smiled more, etc.

I think he was being sarcastic, Axl hasn't been a jerk very much over the past year at gigs, i think he was pointing out that the public perception of Axl still remains a Jerk, but if they went to the shows they'd see otherwise.

[Zint]

The sound was WAY louder than the Toronto concert. Just as a rock concert should be.

Glad to hear they turned the volume up..I was close to the stage in Toronto and had earplugs in but I noticed it was REALLY cutting out the audio.I took them out and noticed the sound wasn't really blaring at all.

So I kept them out (regretted it during the concussion bombs though).

Toronto wasn't loud enough...as a rock concert should be...agreed!

[RJ88]

did the trailer park boys show up again?

[Slash's armpit]

As usual I wasn't there for the opening acts.

I stocked up on beer shortly before 10:30PM as this was the closing time to buy alcohol (I always ask as soon as I arrive at a venue, no, I'm not an alccoholic, but I do like to drink beer during a concert. Yes I finished my 3 beers before GNR went on). Some venues stop selling alcohol really really early.

Cigarettes kept me going too.. but at this venue smoking cigarettes in the washroom was a big no-no as I saw many people getting tickets for doing so. So I went outside this time. Now this should not be a problem tomorrow at the Quebec City concert as smoking is often tolerated (cigarette smoking that is) in the washrooms and the legal drinking age here is often only a suggestion. (proceed at your own risk).

If your bandana was red, then I saw it and I think that everyone else did too.

There was lots of security at this venue, I'd say more than usual.

I don't understand what you mean about Axl being a complete jerk though. I don't think he was at all, on the contrary, he smiled more, etc.

He was being cocky. For example, at the end of My Michelle all Seb could do was praise Axl and Axl just had this stupid grin on his face. He really thought he was the center of the universe. There were also other situations where the guy presented himself as less then humble. And you can't forget that they started at 12:00. I agree though, he smiled often and it was nice of him to introduce his band all together at the end.

Edited November 18, 2006 by Slash's armpit

[seanm]

did the trailer park boys show up again?

Yep. Once during Bach, and once before the encore.

Just got back from the show, stealing from your post....sorry eric.....amazing show nonetheless!! I threw my bandana at the stage as soon as PC was starting, axl grabbed it and gave it a little twirl around his finger, haha....Lost my Mind!!!!

Nice.

Hey, were you the dark-haired guy in gen admission with the red bandana and sunglasses?

[Jackyl042]

We got caught by that awfull 10h30 alcool curfue.... Man, right after Bach, we go to get a beer and CLOSED.... What is this !!! Man, I cant imagine it will be like this in Quebec tonight.....

The vocal mix was off last night...I was 25-30 feet from the stage and Axl's voice was often lost in the band... It was better on low tempo number or the new songs where nobody was singing along... To bad for this cause it was a good show...even if the crow was sleeping past 1 am....and was silent !! The atmosphere was pretty lame at that point....and the solos did not help.... It should kick ass in Quebec on a Saturday night !!!

To bad I cant go tonight....and I can relate with the long drive home to Montreal Eric.... however, 140KM and we we're home pretty quick...except the daughter was up at 7h30 !!!

[jesse bee]

jesse bee's review...

Just to give you some background...I have been a big fan since the early 90s and I have followed the forum since early 2000. I saw gnr in TO in 2002 and loved it, even thought I recognized that it wasn't as good as it should have been.

I brought my wife, my best friend, my kid sister, one of my wife's best friends and...strangely enough, one of my high school students. I am a teacher and I got one of my students hooked on gnr so he came to the concert with us. Sounds kind of weird and/or creepy but he fit right in. I am the biggest gnr fan of the bunch, but my kid sister and my student were pretty psyched. By which I mean we were mental. My wife said she would kill me herself if I asked her even once more "Do you know where you are?".

The suicide girls were LAME. I like naked girls as much as any normal man, but they made me wonder if maybe I turned gay. I have never been so unturned on by nakedness in my life. They had no talent (except the hoola hoop girl), they couldn't dance any better than me, and they woudn't know sexy if it hit them in the face. It isn't that they were trashy, I like trashy. They were just no good.

Sebastian Bach was amazing. Some of his songs were absolutely garbage. Eighties horrid thrash shite, but that man (born in peterborough, like me!) is a true showman. Seems like a nice guy too. Obviously 18 and life and youth gone wild were big hits and everyone was jumping and singing. Not many opening acts could match that. The trailer park boys came out midway through his set and, very surprisingly, almost stole the show. Bubbles played some nice guitar for Rush's Closer to the heart and also some other song that I couldn't understand but got the crowd going freaking wild. They cheered more for the TPB than I could have thought possible, almost as much as for GNR.

So, the main event.

Gnr onstage at midnight. WTF. Hey I didn't need to go to work the next day.

wttj

Easy

Brownstone

Live and let die

Finck solo

SCOM

YCBM

KOHD

Better

Piano jam

Blues

Band intro

singing happy birthday for 4tus

4tus solo

Out to get me

Piano noodling

November rain

BBF solo (oh canada and don't cry)

My michelle (with baz)

Used to love her

Patience

Nightrain

Encore (intro by TPB)

IRS

Madagascar

Paradise city

Over at 2:15

So, you know what? The show was awesome. I loved it. Standouts were YCBM, KOHD, NR, Used to love her, Patience and the entire encore (especially madagascar).

The crowd was into it, although lets me honest there was some serious momentum loss at times and near the end there were lots of sleepy people, but that isn't gnr's fault. It is hard to maintain excitement for 7 hours.

Axl was in a good mood although he didn't say much. Intro the new songs!!! Please!

The band was tight as fuck. No one who saw the concert could think otherwise.

Honestly? I hate to say it. The one thing that makes gnr so amazing was also the one thing that brought them down a bit last night: Axl's voice. Last night it was not so good. I want to lie. I wanted so badly for him to kick my ass but his voice is pretty tired. Obviously he has been touring heavily and he has sounded better at previous shows that I have seen online etc...but... By Better his voice was so thin and weak that he could only sing loudly and clearly at the times when it was really necessary. He also sang well during the slower songs. The crowd sang so much it was almost irrelevant about his voice. But really, axl should be able to be heard above a crowd, right?

Axl did give it everything he had and as my best friend said, he made sure that he pulled his voice out when he needed it. For songs like NR and Used to love her and patience and the whole encore he sounded pretty good again. But no where near his 90s self.

Still, not to be a downer, it was great and although the middle to last half lagged at times, the encore brought us back to our feet.

Maybe the best part of the night was me realizing that irs and madagascar were future classics. Better will rock in the studio and so will the blues (but live they were a bit weak). I was looking forward to new songs almost more than the old ones. The audience seemed to like them also. Even after hearing the new songs so many times they still sounded fresh. Chinese Democracy is going to live up to the hype.

Pluses: gnr! GNR! GNFNR! some songs that lived up to all the hype. irs, madagascar!!! Pyro! Knowinng that the new album (whenever it arrives) will be SENSATIONAL. I have no doubts at all. Axl (he may be untalkative and misleading and can't sing like he used to, but he still rocks hard.)

Minuses: Knowing that axl's voice is kind of toasted and that it probably won't get better. The solos (I know its been said before...) and the corresponding loss of momentum.

Wow, that was long and rambling, sorry! I guess I didn't get enough sleep, my 16 month old woke us up at 6:30. Aargh!

Bottom line, if you have a chance, go see them.

[minty01]

anyone know the name of the very first band that played.

the second was.. the suicide girls, then sebastian bach with the trailer park boys.

What was the very first?

[seanm]

anyone know the name of the very first band that played.

the second was.. the suicide girls, then sebastian bach with the trailer park boys.

What was the very first?

Die Mannequin.

[seanm]

I'll add some quick thoughts...

- I know Axl doesn't want to do the "here's something from the new album" schtick, but he needs to. People want to hear the new stuff, but they don't know what it is. For all most people know, "Better" or "The Blues" could be an old b-side or even a cover. Heck, some of the people there probably thought "Out to Get Me" or even "Nightrain" were new.

- I really like The Blues, but it's really poorly placed in the show. I'm sorry, but when you pull out the baby grand and have Dizzy do a solo, everyone is waiting for November Rain. People had their lighters ready and everything. When they realized they weren't going to get it, they're going to be disappointed even if what they do get is a great new song.

- The solos... well, let me just add a "me too" to what everyone else is saying.

- Funny moment during Ron's "O Canada" solo... it's not exactly a note-for-note version, so it takes a while to figure out what he's playing. That resulted in a crowd response along the lines of "Oh shit, another solo, let's sit down... Shit, that's the national anthem, let's stand back up!"

- Bach is awesome... that guy is just a pro's pro. I'm not even a fan of the music and he still won me over. We didn't even both going in for Suicide Girls, but those around us said they were awful.

- The opening guitar tease for Jungle, followed by "Do you know where the fuck you are???" and the whole stage lighting up is one of the great concert moments you'll ever see. Maybe it's all the diva stuff in the past and the late arrivals, etc., but seeing Axl on stage for the first time is still a "Holy shit, he's really here" moment.

- Madagascar was a nice surprise. Cool background video for it too.

- When Axl said "good night Ottawa" after Nighttrain, a few hundred people got up and left. Have these people ever been to a concert before? Are they driving home thinking "That's weird, they didn't do Paradise City"?

- When Axl threw his mic into the stands at the end, it landed about two rows in front of us. Some big guy took it right in the face, then some girl scooped it up while he was still staggered. Rough end to the show for that guy.

[Allen8R]

Just got back from the show, stealing from your post....sorry eric.....amazing show nonetheless!! I threw my bandana at the stage as soon as PC was starting, axl grabbed it and gave it a little twirl around his finger, haha....Lost my Mind!!!! Crowd was awesome, couple tustles in the pit but other then that a sweet time altogether! If you haven't already gone to see them I strongly suggest you make the investment...you won't be disappointed! rock1

I saw that (like a shithawk) hahahaha, I was hoping he would put it on!

This show was infuckingcredible! amazing setlist, triple oncore, trailer park boys. I have to say all the songs were great, but that was the BEST version of IRS I have ever head. MAN they nailed that song like a carpenter!!!

A8R

[zepsun]

I heard axl gave out merchandise at the end of the show from the stage...is this true?..

[seanm]

I heard axl gave out merchandise at the end of the show from the stage...is this true?..

Not that I noticed, although the drummer did pass out drumsticks and Axl chucked his mic into the crowd.