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On 7/3/2018 at 12:54 PM, MrMojo said:

Great performance, this is what the concerts need nowadays, just a bit more visible emotion on this level.

IRS is one of my favorite Chinese tracks. A lot of power to that song. One of the true "Guns N' Roses" sounding tracks. It would be embarrassing to have a dying mickey mouse version of it though. 

Every show I attended seemed pretty close to full. Granted, I live in NYC so that isn't a good gauge. Major markets are always gonna fare pretty well for concerts. I think they struggled with the smaller markets. 

I sing myself, so I understand the changes in the human voice - because my voice definitely doesn't have the power at 35 that it had at 25. So I get not being able to push it too much. Some of the vocals on the songs are nothing short of embarrassing at this point. I'm sure it's probably frustrating to Axl to not be able to sing the way he used to. That probably factored into the reclusiveness a bit in the early 00's. You have to figure there is some sort of pride that goes into being a performer, and there have been a lot of times where Axl has not delivered a representative product. 

I'm not buying the "this is the way he sings by choice" excuse... I just don't think he has it in him to do certain songs justice anymore.

In 2006 he looked like a man on a mission. I'm sure he heard the criticism about how he looked, his weight, his hair, his voice during the Rio, and MTV appearances and everything around that time. He came out in 2006 sounding like he wasn't fucking around. While a lot of people still weren't accepting of the "new" band, Axl was on fire. I had some good times during that era. 

18 hours ago, Ratam said:

Great look.

Robin looked badass that era too. I was glad he did away with that goth NIN look in '06. They came out in '06 looking like a band instead of a jumbled up clusterfuck of individual musicians. I was never the biggest Finck fan, but the band was pretty tight in that area. 

Just now, Stoymatic said:

2002 because Axl looked like a straight G!!!!

Can't hate on the Raiders jerseys. As a Raider fan myself, I dug the "ROSE" Raiders jersey he was rockin' for a while, or the Jerry Rice one he had... I didn't mind the jerseys. I'm a sports guy myself. I could dig that. 

Don't forget this hot mess. 

2006, mostly based on the fact that he looked healthy and sounded the most like Axl Rose. 

I don't get much into how he "looks," as I'm a straight man who really has little to no interest in how he looks except for his health. The braided ponytail helmet/wig that he was wearing was a bit ridiculous, but I remember being at those four Hammerstein Ballroom shows, and my man came out spittin' fire. 

His vocals were at a post-93 high point at that time. He's had his ups and downs, but those shows were straight up money in the bank. Worth every penny. A reunion at that point in time would have been insane in terms of quality of product. 

26 minutes ago, T-Minus said:

Ashba plays like a 15 year old bedroom guitarist that has played for about 4 years.  His woeful vibrato terribly pitched string bends and awful tone are absolutely unforgiveable for a pro.

He did a lot of the material more justice than Finck. Finck's November Rain solos were just unforgivable. It's night and day comparing any of these guys to Slash, not that it really needs to be said. 

Ashba was a cool dude. He and Ron were always good with the fans - but it's great that the material is played the right way in this Mickey Mouse fronted GNR. 

No hate on Ashba as a guy, or as a musician - but also no interest in Ashba instrumentals, tbh. 

4 minutes ago, MildlyArtistic said:

Hopefully not. Enough bloody covers as it is.

It's a bit much already. Maybe opting out of Wichita Lineman or BHS for a Pantera song... or maybe so a quick riff or two as an intro of a song.

Maybe the opening riffs to "walk" as a lead in to chinese democracy would work pretty cool.

Already too much cover material. 

3 minutes ago, Bluefish18 said:

Will we get a Pantera song for Vinnie?

 

Do you really want to hear mickey mouse singing "Walk" or something? Sounds good on paper, but I don't think Axl can pull it off. Let's face it - this is what Axl is now, he's pushing 60. The voice isn't magically coming back. Gotta take it for what it is. 

I think they've gradually added enough fresh stuff as time has gone by where this shouldn't really be that big of a talking point. It was a bit frustrating/disappointing in the 00-02 era where we missed out on glaring omissions like Don't Cry and Estranged, but I think as time has gone by, leading into the "reunion," we're getting close to 30 song sets. This leg around, they added Shadow of Your Love and Slither, which are two decent additions. 
 

Makes sense. I have never sung in a band, but when I sing karaoke I kinda feel dopey standing there during a minute long solo with nothing to do. So that kinda makes a whole lot of sense. 

2 hours ago, TheGeneral said:

So Meeghan and I both wonder why Axl is never introduced.

Joe Perry usually introduces Steven Tyler during the Aerosmith band intro.

How 'lit' would it be if Slash did the same thing with Axl?

Does Axl Rose really need an introduction? Granted - does Slash really either? 

Probably more a sign of humility from Axl as opposed to an implied egomaniacal move. I get the sense that Axl really doesn't like the spotlight much. 

I'm inclined to believe Madagascar was one of the floating around "working title" songs. Maybe "Seven" since it does have samples from the film "Seven" in the solo. 

Who knows at this point? There were so many rumors floating around, only those behind the scenes know what was real or not. 

Pat Smear is god. 

New music supersedes all. The 00-08 years were enjoyable because there were some new songs played live, leaked, and eventually leading to Chinese... This era seems a bit on the tired side already, because there is nothing really new. The closest thing to exciting we've gotten were Shadow and Slither - which are good additions, but would like to see what these guys could come up with nowadays.

Any deviation or change from the norm would be welcome though.

Christ, all you hear is "rasp" and "mickey" maybe they should just change the name of the band to Rasp N' Mickey. 

I take it a lot of fans will never be happy. 

I had some awesome times with the various incarnations of the new lineup - saw them 13 times total in the tri-state area. Including Vegas 01, all four hammerstein shows, roseland, terminal 5, webster hall, a bunch at MSG/Jersey.

That being said, I'm not longing for those lineups back. They'll always have a place in my heart, but let the past be the past. Hopefully it makes for a better future. 

I think I miss Axl's "rants" the most. I'm sure he's quiet in recent days for his reasons - and that's cool, but I miss the days where he'd go on a tangent about something.  It added an unpredictable element to the shows. 

Axl seems to sound a whole lot better in smaller venues. Just an observation.

I was at this one with my brother, I thought it was a good show back then, and I still do. As glad as I am that most of the original members are back in the fold, I will never hate on the "New" guys - they were doing their job, provided some good music and some good memories. I had a great time at some of those pre-reunion shows. The 2006 era was great, Axl's voice was in tip top shape. 

Why are so many people concerned about Axl's "shape," lol? I understand the voice, it's part of the product you're paying for. These past few decades have seen him go through his 40's and 50's - nearing 60 now. I'd like to see what kind of physical shape y'all are in come those ages. He was looking pretty trim in the 2006 Bumblefoot era, but what was best about those shows - starting with the Hammerstein shows in NYC, was his voice was on point. 

He's nearing 60. His voice isn't gonna magically get better all of a sudden. 

The "vault" from this era always appealed to me more than the Appetite Era, such as the stuff released in the box set. Yeah, I will always have varying interest in everything GNR related, but the mystery that the Chinese era was shrouded in was always intriguing. We always heard titles thrown around like "Atlas Shrugged" and "The General" among others, with not much to show for it. There must be a ton of stuff from this era, featuring numerous musicians that is probably killer. I'd probably sooner drop a grand on a box set featuring rarities, demos and various chinese era stuff. No disrespect to Slash, Duff or the "original" band, but a deeper glimpse down the rabbit hole of the Chinese era would be worth that kind of money. 

The rawer versions of all of the Chinese tracks seem to be better. I love the record - but if I had one complaint, it's the overproduction. Too many layers, too much going on. The songwriting and lyrics were a strong point on Chinese. The added layers and effects took away from strong songwriting. 

This is a killer track. It's very haunting, sounds like something out of a horror film or something. Very "Michael Myers" in the keyboard track. The vocals are sick. Raw, emotional... terrific version.

I don't love "This I Love" as a live song. It is almost a down point of the live shows, not really digging it.