Meatheads

Chicago:  With Nightrain passcode - no GA or floor level offered.  Top 2 price ranges - no available.  No 100 level either.  Was 200-400 levels.

Bought LALD VIP, Sect A4 Row 12 for $500 each.  I can live with that.

I have that shirt from the show - The bandanna/ CD starts now. Was at the show. XL shirt(unworn) plus show ticket stub. Not looking to unload them yet but maybe one day.

Some sold on ebay several years ago over $100 for the shirt.

Most of the music probably isn't GNR, well, I at least I hope it isnt. Just those first couple seconds with the scream.

Good game BTW, commercials disappointing.

Didn't see this posted yet, but watch the 1:00 Battleship Movie long trailer that aired last night at the Super Bowl. About 30 seconds in, when the title "Begins at Sea" flashes, a song plays that has a WTTJ type Axl scream, but isn't Jungle. Some parts of the music could be GNR. Definitely Axl. Also an "oww, oww" later on that is blended w/ guitars that Chi Dem sound to it.

Any coincidence Battleship is an advertiser on this site...?

I still have the can that is sealed, with the lid, with the t-shirt and CD inside.

I emailed Troccoli about it (and a few other people) to try and find out more info quite a ways back. Nobody seems to have a photo of the actual contents. Definitely a shirt/cloth item, and a hard item like a cd case in there.

Still dont want to open it though...

Looks identical to the ones that have nothing in them.

Well- it is in the top 100 on Amazon, apparently more than a few fans out there.

outta here.

Ok, I love Axl as much as the next bu did you really expect ads and shit? Like do you expect best buy to fully stock and promote this cd because a guy who hasnt done anything (in the public eye) for over a decade sings on 3 songs? It ain'y gunna hapen. Now when he finally puts his out, carrying that gnr name along with it, it will be promoted in every ad, magazine and radio station you can think of, but untill then...

Expect, no- hope yes. Promote- no.. Stock-yes. BB stocks ALOT of shitty bands and artists. They stock BEATALLICA for christ sake, and that new crap 2 disc GNR/LA Guns tribute.

Bottom line it's not there because he's on a crap label. He chose a crap label because either 1) that's all he could get, or 2) his royalty percentage or ownership of the music are greater with these guys. Downside of that is their distribution sucks. Perris/Spitfire would have had better distribution than Mergovian or whatever this label is.

You could always join the 21st century and get it on iTunes. Got it the morning of release, no worries. So I don't have the shitty booklet - big fuckin' deal.

21st century hasn't been that impressive so far, I'll stick with the CD. CD's still sound better that MP3's in any format. It's not just about the booklet.

It's at some best buy's- in California. In Illinois (which come on, Chicago isn't exactly a small town) it isn't available. Not that I expect much from a best buy employee, but everyone I asked immediately thought of the Johann Sebastain Bach. Doh!

I'll probably download it as well, but I still prefer to have the actual CD.

What I'm looking for is the same song, two different live recordings. One from "Stick it Live" and the other from "Eternal Live". If anyone has them, please help me out.

A8R

I'll trade you the Eternal Live one for the most recent leak of Better (from Feb 2007, with the layered vocals/chorus at the end). Can email you it tonight if you want. Just reply. I have most of the Slaughter discs, but not Stick it Live.

Next time you decide to record promote a record that takes 3 years to eventually get released on some dinky label, you may want to make sure you have distribution to get it into local stores. 3 Best Buys, 2 circuit citys, 1 target and 1 Borders all in the metro Chicago area- none of which are stocking your record. Brilliant! Independent stores are few and far between anymore. And this is the busiest shopping weekend of the year!!!

Sadly, it also shows us that Axl doesn't have the pull any more. I figured we'd see ads in the paper last week for the release of Angel Down from BB or CC, especially with the Axl name dropping going on. Not a mention of it at any store. Somebody at corporate might have thought that it would be requested at the store level since he's involved with the record-Guess not.

All your interviews & promotion don't do much with no product on the shelves. What a disappointment. "Sales Down" may be a better title. I'm really looking forward to the getting this as I'm a big fan of SB, I'm not looking forward to hunting it down during the worst weekend to be shopping. Guess Amazon will have to do and I'll have to wait another week to get it. Pain in the ass.

I've had the TSL100 for about 8 years, was a good versatile amp, especially if you play with no or light distortion. I've changed the tubes and played with the bias a bit which does alter the sound and requires more work, patience and money than a SS amp. The DSL does have a different sound, some prefer- use your own ears and try them both out- BTW- the VPR switch is killer- great tone at low volumes.

That being said, I just got the JCM800 reissue a few months ago and I havent touched the TSL since then. It is so god damn loud. I rarely play it past 2 or 3 and that's in a 1000 sqft basement on a half stack. TSL needs to be on about 6 to hit the same level. It's pretty much a 1 trick amp, but get a decent pedat or 2 and it's a great metal/rock amp. Check out the 800 before you go with the DLS (although the 800 is around $2000 new and DSL around $1200, may need to save up a bit.

Though I will say that the boots of the 01/01/01 show are of low quality and in no way were as cool as being there live, I would still disagree that the performance was their best of that time period. Axl's voice was great, but the band was a bit off. They had some major technical difficulties during which the Blues got scrapped.

What do you mean Blues got scrapped? Plus, for a first ever live show and only a few rehersals with Axl, the band sounded awesome-all things considered.

Makketrue- can you upload Silkworms from that show? Good sound quality from the boots you have, I've only had the older ones that sounded crappy. I was at that show and Silkworms was probably the best new song played, but you had to be there to see it. Boots w/o video haven't done it justice.

What was great about the show was that the band/Axl kept the newer songs simple and fairly stripped down. This concert had a raw feel to it, which was cool.

The record still isn't done

They are in financial trouble

They are in renegotiations with the record company

There is trouble with promotional ideas

Tey needed 9 months to do 3 days of work

They cancelled the tour again

They have no manager

They have legal problems that are so bad they can't even say they have legal problems.

Maybe we'll see the CD in 3 months (not in 2 weeks or the previous 8 as we hoped)

Axls words are not really to be trusted (I'd like to, but just can't anymore)

What the hell are you so happy about?

Yes, it was nice to hear from him, but the news really isn't that good. I was actually disappointed iafter reading the letter.

Download it if you want but here's what you'll be missing.

He's led us on for almost 10 years now about this record (I've been there since 87). I don't need anymore excitement from GNR, I just want to hear the CD, bootleg or original. I've had enough with the tours, the personnel changes, the silence, the management, the drama of everthing GNR since 2001. Either way I'll be very happy to listen to it, and still be extremely relevied when I have the official release in my hands.

If you want the experience, good for you dude. To each his own, I'm cool with that.

Of course I'll buy the album. I've bought over 80 official GNR cd's. I own almost no bootlegs. The record industry loves me. I believe in being able to hear before you buy- makes the artist put out something worth paying 12 bucks for, or at minumum, buying a used copy for 7.

Fact is, I'll probably but 2-3 copies when it comes out.

Just want to hear something new, like most of us here. Been following for a long time and need some love from Axl.

BTW- I don't have much confidence yet in the March date, this is all just hypothetical at this point as far as the intent of my post. Honestly, I don't trust what Axl says about the record anymore. Too many issues and excuses. It is JUST a record after all, not rocket science.

When the leaks come out, we know the official release will be soon to follow, as the CD will then be out of Axl's hands and into those of the record company.

"It takes approximately 8 weeks for an album to hit the shelves once it has been turned in to the record company."

That means that the CD will be turned in around Jan 9th to the record company for the March 6th date, and will be leaked onto the internet within the week. Once it's handed over, it's out of the protective vault Axl keeps it in. New music by mid January? I'm up for that.

[in the case of GN'R, they are underpromoted and really mismanaging things. With a solid album, a catchy single, and a truckload of promotion, I think that even the new band could sell out a stadium.

So could Ricky Martin

Use common sense here folks and quit making fucking excuses for Axl. He is a professional musician with 20+ years of experience. Using a professional sound set up with experienced pople on the board. Endosements up the ass and money to go along with it to get the best possible set up that any musician could hope for. And everyone wants to blame the equipment? Get real. Axl's set up and issues are of his own doing. He purposely does not want his iffy voice very audible in the mix, because he knows his voice isn't that consistent anymore. The limiters, compressors and/or pitch correctors cause his voice to cut out. You would think, that if he really cared, he would have fixed this a long time ago. Just listen to ANY soundboard recording where his voice is abnormally loud. He is out of tune, weak, and not even "singing" even in his owh special way. Burrying it in the mix hides all of his vocal flaws.

Yes there is some sort of filter or effect on his voice- it was present at the Chicago show. I have my a full set of equipment, mics, PA etc, so I do have a clue what I'm talking about and what I heard at the show.

Bach sounded fine during GNR and his own set. Why didn't he have problems?

Axls set-up had been like this since 2001 and his voice has never cut through the mix well. It's not that hard to turn the fader up a bit to bring it through. Definitely not so complicated that it can't be solved after 5 years of touring with the same setup.

Vocals are probably the easiest part of the mix.

Quit making excuses for Axl concert after conert, year after year. He will sound awesome on the CD, but live he's inconsistent, and he knows this damn well. There is no other reasonable explanation for the poor vocal sound that has stuck with him for 5 years.

Read the rest of the concert revirews from now to eternity... same issues different show. At best his voice just cuts through the mix, but is never the dominant feature of the song.

Other bummer about the show-

No Down on the Farm or Beautiful solo. Fortus played something else that was familiar sounding, but not as good as the Beautiful duet.

Now Milwaukee's cancelled-at least it'll give him an extra day to work on the CD...haha.

cracks...beginning...to...show...again....

It's not a wig.

It's his own hair in dreadlocks. Not the best look for him either.

Keeping it short; the show was a bit disappointing. This was my 4th "Chinese Democracy" concert and easily the least memorable.

The sound was ok. Axl's voice came through pretty well. The band sounded good, but nothing great.

There are 2 big problems with the show:

1) Now I agree- the solos, interludes and the middle section of the set suck the energy out of the place. Nobody knows the new stuff and all the songs get the polite applause at the end. You could see that people were bored at this show. Very little movement in the crowd. Much of the upper deck sat throughout the entire show. (I was on the floor about 20 "rows" back and looked around this show at the crowd to see their reactions etc). At one point a girl net to me goes "not another slow song" as they started Patience- and she was right, the momentum of the 1st 4 songs takes a long absence and hopefully retuenrd about 2 hrs later at the end.

It wasn't sold out, but a good showing.

2) These 11:30 starts on a Monday night after a long Thanksgiving weekend is hopefully what is to blame for much of the lack of energy at the venue on the crowds part. I left during Nightrain as I'd rather beat the traffic than hang out for amy more songs- I'd seen enough for one night-so I'm guilty of it too. Unfortunately-so had a lot of people. There were alot of empty seats/spacr on the floor and lower level by 1:30am.

--Oh yeah, they quit selling alcohol during Bach's set, so I was totally sober- which isn't the best way to enjoy a concert.

On a positive note- Frank was cool. He didn't play every song note for note, but his "mistakes"/additions (extra cymbal or kick drum) made some of the songs more lively-good job dude.

Axl, I love the music, but this is actually getting old. I won't make plans to see them live again unless they do lots of new stuff or throw in much more of the Illusion tracks. As for the predictability of the show "I think we've seen that movie too.." Axl.

Finally, GNR played a great show from beginning to end with no glitches. Sound mix was near perfect. Axl was audible (but still low in the mix) but his vocals were very good. The band played the new songs and were tight-they "know" how to play these songs live and Axl knew the words and kept in tune, all signs of good things to come.

I saw GNR on 010101 and 02-Chicago as well as 4 times in the 90's. They have never been this tight and I finally believe that this incarnation of GNR could surpass the old GNR. Yeah, it's blasphemy, but this band has grown over the past 5 years and I hope the world gives the new band a fair chance to be on top again.

All 3 guitarists were dead on and entertaining. As in Europe, they look like a fucking rock band and have the chops to back it up. Best GNR show I've ever been to...so far. I thought Bucket would be missed, and I wasn't sold on Bumble- but Bumble will prove to be the better fit overall for this band.

Only complaint- Joint should be louder- too many venues aren't cranking up the volume anymore. But I guess that's what I have Manowar for.

It didn't sell out. I bought my ticket at the Joint at 8:35 about 30 minutes before the door opened and they still had plenty left. Plenty of standing room during the show as well. Good showing, but not completely sold out- but not surprising at $161 per ticket with taxes/fees etc included

Funny how it happens when they release their new "20 Years Greatest Hits" CD on Tuesday. Lame way to get attention Bret.