downzy

Here's my review of the show.

First off, never have I heard Axl sing so well. The man is a legend possessed. I've seen this band play 10 times since 2002 and tonight was easily his best vocally. How he doesn't blow out his vocal chords is beyond me. And other than the silly technical difficulty at the very end of Paradise City I have to give hats off to the sound guys for mixing his vocals properly. There were times where I felt like he was pitch perfect to what we hear on the albums, especially the new ones. His vocals on 'Sorry' were spot on.

The highlight of the night for me was defintely TWAT. Thanks GNR for playing this amazing song; I finally got to hear it live and it didn't disappoint. I was somewhat surprised that Axl abridged the ending; starting singing just as Bumblefoot was playing the really sweet part of the solo. Not sure if this was done or purpose or Axl presumed it was his time to sing (this actually happened a few times tonight; either Axl or the rest of the band botched the beginning of Mr. Brownstone - no big deal however). But yeah, Axl's screaming vocals at the end of TWAT were fucking unreal. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. My buddy was blown away; he was expecting Axl a la 2002 MTV Music awards and was ecstatic about how great he sounded, especially in TWAT. And I had no idea how TIL would come off live; I was really nervous for this song. But thankfully the song is even better live than it is recorded. I haven't heard any of the bootlegs yet so I was pleasantly pleased with how well this song comes off live. Axl, again, sounded fantastic.

Rocket Queen was phenomenal; it just seemed like the band was firing on all cylinders at this point. Standout guitar solos were Bumblefoot's and DJ Ashba's. My seat was 10 rows up from stage left (Ashba's side) so there were a few moments where I got to rock out with Ashba; got my first pump/pointing reciprocated by DJ so that was pretty cool. One thing that made me laugh was when DJ noticed that a guy sitting in the front row had yet to get off his chair. He walked over, stared down at the dude, stopped playing and folded his arms. Basically saying, "I'm not playing until you get off you're ass." Sure enough the dude was up and fist pumping in no time.

As for the drawbacks; nothing major EXCEPT FOR SECURITY. Probably the worst case of security overkill I have ever seen. I get that you don't want people taking pictures, but when you're telling people to stop texting it gets a little ridiculous. I got a flashlight pointed in my face while I texted my friend where we were going to meet after the show. They then went after a 16 year old girl who sending a text behind me. I told the security to fuck off and to be reasonable. They said that since phones could be used as a camera that we weren't even allowed to open them. Absolute bullshit. If anyone in the GNR camp is reading this please have someone talk to security so this overkill stops 'cause it completely ruins the mood. If I'm holding my phone up to take pictures, say whatever the fuck you want, but if I've got down and I'm pushing fucking buttons, I'm pretty sure I'm NOT taking a damn photo. In terms of band drawbacks, guess a little disappointed no Patience, but not a huge deal. Also really think Dizzy should rethink his piano solo. Not necessarily saying that a piano solo is a bad thing, but have it something recognizable. I have no idea what he was playing and really didn't do much for me. Also thought of all the newer songs, 'Scraped' seemed the most flat and not received as well as some of the other newer songs.

All in all, a damn fine show. Axl definitely seemed in good spirits and the band looked like they were having a great time. Too bad the security seemed hell bent on not letting anyone else enjoy themselves. Super cool: Baz watched the whole show 10 rows in front of me. And he was rocking out like he was GNR's biggest fan. That guy is too awesome. I'm so glad Axl and co. brough Baz back to open.

Looking forward to London tonight. I'll post a review like this when I get back.

Cheers,

Andrew

Mentioned this over at HTGTH but i thought I'd bring it up here.

My seats were on stage left (DJ's side), 15 rows back and I noticed Baz 12 rows in front of me watching the whole show. He was rocking out throughout the entire performance. It was pretty cool. Say what you want about him, he's the genuine deal.

Great show last night, looking forward to tonight's show in London!

Cheers,

Andrew

I'm in the same boat, I'm seeing three shows (Hamilton, London and Toronto) and I really want to hear TWAT more than anything. I've seen this band 10 times since 2002 so while I still love hearing SOD or Madagascar, I'd glad pass those up for songs I've never heard live before. I can kind of understand them reverting back to the 2006 setlist to some of the Canadian stops that didn't have in 2006, but for Toronto at least i'm hoping they give the city a bit of a change up for the show.

Here's hoping anyway. Regardless I'm sure i'll have an awesome time; always do.

Cheers,

Andrew

Who knows, I just have a hard time Axl would be cool with anyone speaking for him, especially considering what transpired a month ago concerning the first press release about the airport incident.

Cheers,

Andrew

Sorry, it was the Armadillo Texas Grill that we all met up at. It was a good spot, played lots of GNR that night.

Cheers,

Andrew

Got my floor ticket!

Think we'll do another get together like in 2006? Last time we met was at the Loose Moose I think.

Cheers,

Well this will be my 2nd time seeing gnr but I have never traveled out of the country to see them. I live in the states in pa. ? Is for anyone who has been to that arena is there street parking or lot parking or how does that work. I notice on ticketmaster for some of the shows there was parking tickets what's that mean? And do u need a passport to get into canada? Any info would be helpful

The show is taking place at the Air Canada Centre (but referred to as the ACC around here). It's located in downtown Toronto, a ten minute walk from the CN Tower. You'll most likely take the QEW Highway into the city which drives right by the ACC. There will be parking all around the venue. There is street parking on Front street but can be hard to find, though generally it's free after 9:00 pm. The parking lots right besides the ACC are generally fairly expensive for events ($20 and up), so if you want something cheaper look for parking along Front street (google map it). The ACC is a five minute walk south from Front Street. There are a lot of decent sports bars and restaurants along Front street if you want to get here a little early and enjoy yourself before the show. I think in 2006 we had a fan get together at the Loose Moose on Front.

As for needing a passport, you won't need one to get into Canada, but will need one to get back into the US. So yeah, be sure to bring it along if you want to get home. I did hear there is some sort of "enhanced" drivers license available in some US states that permit travel over the border, but as a Canadian citizen I don't know much about that.

Hope this helps and if you have any other questions send me a message.

Cheers,

Andrew

Okay, am I the only one who is still slightly skeptical about these shows?? I know it's pretty much official, but still, I tend to not buy into anything GNR related until I hear it directly from Axl, and of course, he's said nothing.The website hasn't been updated.Ugh.Has anybody had any confirmation from Bumble,Dizzy, Eric, Jarmo ... Anyone?? And yes, I know Ticketmaster has all of these dates listed, but then again, I still have 4 ununsed Gnr concert tickets from Ipay One Center '2006.And who could forget Doug Goldstein booking a tour Axl wasn't even aware of.Man, it's tough being a Guns fan.

I hear what you're saying, but considering every news organization in the country has reported about the Canadian tour, it would be a little silly if GNR just didn't bother to shoot down a rumor of such magnitude. Remember it was only a day or two that we heard through official sources (Beta) that the India show was bogus.

There was something reported that more dates were being finalized and when everything was done there would be something official from the band.

And the show cancellations of 2002 and 2006 were quickly posted by promoters and ticket agencies. I seriously doubt ticketmaster is going to sell tickets for something that isn't contractually binding.

UPDATE: According to this article (http://www.livedaily.com/news/20444.html), there was a press release issued by the band:

"The Canadian shows are part of the "Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy World Tour," according to a press release issued by the band."

Cheers,

Andrew

Whoever asked which shows in Ontario to check out:

London

Hamilton

Ottawa

Toronto

in that order. Toronto crowds suck (and that's my home town crowd). They get too many shows (spoiled), and you get a lot of non-fans showing up who got tickets through some promotion or other. They have a serious reputation for lame crowds for concerts and sports.

London is home to Western (University) so you can get a pretty crazy crowd. It's pretty fucking nasty there in winter (unless you're from up north/out west) and there's not really fuck all happening other than this show most likely 2002 there was nuts, including some crazy guy running through the rafters and a lot of screaming in the streets after the show.

Hamilton gets a good crowd - it's kinda a rock/punk/metal town. Industrial area.

Ottawa's average I suppose. Good crowds, kinda a quiet town. The arena is in the burbs, not in Ottawa itself, so look for a bus or have transportation for after the show.

I completely agree. London was awesome and I'm really hoping to go again somehow. Right now money is tight as hell, don't even have enough for one ticket, let alone the three shows I want to go to (Toronto, Hamilton, and London). London should be the top choice of anyone who's coming from outside of Ontario, especially our American friends. It's such a bigger party town. Hamilton is Canada's Pittsburgh, blue-collar steel town that has a huge appetite for rock. Toronto use to be a good concert crowd twenty years ago, but everything became too commercialized and ticket prices are too high for the degenerates that bring the chaos to shows like these,

I will say that I'm curious whether Hamilton and London will eat into Toronto sales. In '02 you had the novelty of it being GNR's first show in almost ten years, and Toronto and London were your only options. London sold out and Toronto was pretty close. In '06 you only had the one show in Toronto, so a large percentage of people from all over the golden horseshoe drove to see the show. This time around, you've got three shows very close to each other. I don't see a lot from Hamilton, St. Catharines or upstate NY coming to Toronto like they did in '06. They'll most likely go to the Hamilton show.

We'll see, though I'm still fairly optimistic. (Truth be told, out of my own selfishness I'm hoping that sales are a little slow so I can maybe snag a ticket to Hamilton and London later when I have some money, but hey, I wish the band success as well).

Cheers,

Andrew

Do other bands play this many dates in Canada? I'm in Australia so have no idea about such things.

Generally it's not the norm. Pearl Jam did it a few years ago, touring across Canada playing large and small cities (still can't believe they played Kitchener). Touring Canada isn't great for margins, you only have 33 million people in a country that's second in land mass to Russia. Putting it another way, there are almost as many people in the state of California as there are in the entire country. I'm in a small band and it makes no financial sense for us to tour our own country due to transportation costs. There are only five cities in Canada with over a million people; without sponsorship or playing to large venues you're basically paying to play.

I suppose with GNR they figure there's more of an appetite right now for their music in Canada than in the US. The last time around in '06 every show save for a couple (Toronto and Ottawa I think being the lone hold-outs, mind you, they were very close to selling out) were sell-outs. This is contrary to the softer demand in some of the smaller US markets. However, it will be interesting to see the response in Ontario this time around since they're playing three shows within an hour and a half from each other (Toronto, Hamilton, London). In '06 I can imagine that Toronto sold well due to demand from places like Hamilton and London. Now that they have their own shows, I wonder if there's enough demand to cover three shows. I hope so, but we'll see.

Cheers,

Andrew

Going to try to make Hamilton, London, and Toronto! Maybe Ottawa too. 3 shows would be pretty f'n awesome! I work till 8pm the night of the Toronto show, will probably get there around 9pm, which means I'll be there early.

Just curious, it looks like the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton is huge (18,000). Hamilton is only 60 miles from London, ON, and basically a suburb of Toronto. I want to possibly go to this show and the London show, but don't want to buy tickets for a show that will be sparsely attended or possibly canceled. Can anyone who lives in this area provide some info--is this normal for bands to book all three places, and sell well? Is Hamilton independent enough from Toronto, that the show will be able to sell well on it's own? Will Hamilton draw many fans from Buffalo, and that is why they are booking this date? Any info is appreciated.

http://www.mygnrforu...0entry2525906

Copps holds 18000+ for rock shows, it is far enough away from Toronto and with over 5 million people within 100 miles it is a huge market, Britney Spears just sold out a show here easily, GNR will sell out fast, it is normal for the bands to book it like this any fans that could not get in Toronto show come here and Buffalo fans would rather go here than Toronto because it is closer. GNR will be selling out in Hamilton for sure dude, I live in Hamilton BTW it is a strong music scene here, VR played to a packed house here as well...

Gunsguy

OK good to hear! So, even if it's not sold out, it will have good attendance? Let me ask this--I know the John Labatt Centre in London is a great place for a show. Which place has better accoustics--Copps or Air Canada Centre in Toronto?

Well I saw Bryan Adams at Massey Hall this summer, and Leonard Cohen maybe a year and a half ago that the Sony Centre. These were pretty much acoustic shows in a theatre, not full blown rock shows. As such, they both sounded phenomenal.

The ACC was damn loud for GN'R in 2006 and good luck really hearing things clearly. With a full blown rock show in a closed in building I've simply come to the conclusion that this is just the way it goes. I'm bringing earplugs this time around, I think that will be my acoustic enhancement, plus it may save my hearing. Or maybe I'll just wear my earphones instead. If Copps is the bigger place then I'd guess the concert will sound better there, but it's not like the difference will be night and day.

Thank you for the response. Any other opinions, of people who have seen bands at the ACC or Copps? I have always thought the smaller arenas had a better sound than the huge ice rinks, where the sound fades and gets muddied???

Your first choice should be the Labatt Centre in London; my bet is it will be the best show of the three. Second would be Copps Coliseum as the audience itself will be much better. I'm from Toronto and I'll tell you that Toronto audiences are lame for the most part, especially for really big bands. I would say that the ACC is a bit bigger than Copps. Moreover, while I can't speak to the sound quality of Copps (last show I saw there was Metallica in '96), the ACC isn't the greatest. Though if you've never been to Toronto, this is a good excuse to go as I don't think anyone would visit Hamilton or London for scenery or things to see. Toronto can be a fun town, nowhere near Montreal, but definitely worth checking out once.

Hope this helps...

Cheers,

Andrew

Chinese Democracy World Tour 2010 on 25 Jan 2010

segunda-feira, 19 de outubro de 2009 16:08

Location: John Labatt Centre

Chinese Democracy World Tour 2010 on 27 Jan 2010

sábado, 17 de outubro de 2009 10:24

Location: Centre Bell

These are the shows that I'd love to attend. now my cheapest flight from Iceland would land in Montreal the 24th.. so does anyone know if there's a bus I could take to London and then back to get to see the smallest and the biggest show of the leg?

Yeah, you want to look at Greyhound bus lines. You'll most likely take a bus from Montreal to Toronto, and then another one from Toronto to London (Toronto is on the way). I'd be afraid to wager a guess, but you'll likely pay at least $100 Canadian for return. Another option is the train which is far more convenient, but a bit pricier. And finally, you can check out airfare... Check out Porter Airlines as they service smaller airports. I'll bet you could get a direct flight from Montreal to London. As a drive it will likely be 7 hours, by plane it's about 100 minutes or so.

Cheers,

Andrew

Ticketmaster has been updated to include the Toronto and Hamilton shows.

For more info, go to: http://www.ticketmaster.ca/Guns-N-Roses-tickets/artist/735218

Cheers,

Andrew

Yeah, the London show in '02 was amazing. Still remembering standing front row singing along to what was then known as "The Blues" when Axl looked down, saw me singing and gave me a nod (I was the only one there who knew the song at the time).

Cheers,

Andrew

No you were not. I was right behind you.

ACE

No way dude, I have that memory ingrained in my head. You never forget when your childhood hero acknowledges you, it was awesome. And I've got to ask, why were you looking at me rather than the show?

Cheers,

Andrew

As a Toronto Maple Leafs fan (at least I try to be, they're just awful this year), I couldn't be happier with the choice of GNR playing at the Bell Centre. Please, if a riot does break out, does as much damage as possible

I kid of course, but yeah, since I'm suppose to hate the Habs, I wouldn't be too upset if shit went down.

That said, I'd love to be at this concert 'cause you know Axl will have a few things to say about what went down oh so many years ago (think it was 93, or was it 92? - too lazy to look it up).

The only thing as a person likely to see the show in Toronto can look forward to is Axl teasing how quiet and lame the audience is like he did in '06 (and rightfully so).

Cheers,

Andrew

Am I only one who's noticed the irony/sheer stupidity in the title of this thread?

So far, it's just you...

I see the 15k arenas selling out, but the 21k bell centre is a long shot.

Hope I'm wrong though.

They will b e lucky to sell 8k10k a show. Most shows will be half full to 3/4 full unless they drop another album.

lol. They sold out Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Quebec City, and Halifax in 2006 with NO ALBUM.

They sold out London in 2002 with no album even CLOSE.

What makes you think, with an actual CD, in January/February (when us frozen Canucks need some entertainment) that there's going to be that much of an issue?

Keep in mind the capacity shown is for hockey games, not end stage concerts.

Rock still sells in Canada; GNR went triple platinum here, and it's absolutely awesome that the band is doing a Canadian tour. I'm guessing they sell out half the shows and at least do well the other half. I still know people who rave about the London show in '02 and Winnipeg in '06.

Yeah, the London show in '02 was amazing. Still remembering standing front row singing along to what was then known as "The Blues" when Axl looked down, saw me singing and gave me a nod (I was the only one there who knew the song at the time).

Dude, if you think GNR has a tough time selling 8k in Canada, you're obviously not from Canada. There wasn't a single show that wasn't either sold out or close to it. Everything but Ontario sold out, and I was at the Toronto and Ottawa shows in 06, they were as close to sellouts as you could get (maybe a few hundred seats in arenas that hold close to 20k). In Canada, Chinese Democracy actually went #1 on the charts and went gold the first week of release.

Perhaps there's a reason why Canada is getting such a tour.

Cheers,

Andrew

Why dont they play Peterborough Ontario?,Axl could bring Bas with him......its not that far from the big T.O. ,anyway that would be good.....cottage country could get in some snowmobiling....

Yeah, 'cause couldn't you see them playing an arena that only holds 4000 people? Oshawa maybe, but Peterborough, um, no. They're not Spinal Tap circa 1982.

Cheers,

Andrew

Can someone PM me the password? I was kinda screwed over last time and had to buy ebay tickets instead...

I don't think anyone has a pre-sale password just yet. Plus it's I'm betting it's going to be venue specific, but I could be wrong.

Seriously, if you want the password, just make sure you're signed up at livenation.com

That's how I got my pre-sale password last time.

Cheers,

Andrew

Anyone else going to these shows going to try and avoid setlists of the Asian shows in hopes of seeing the show fresh?

I think this time around I want to intake the experience without knowing what song follows what. Now they may use the same setlist as the last two tours, but I'm hoping they change it up a bit.

I want some suspense this time around. Anyone else?

Cheers,

Andrew

How big are those venues?

they are all arenas anywhere from 10,000 to 17,000

Most are in the 16-18k capacity. I know that the ACC in Toronto and Bell Centre in Montreal holds close to 20k for hockey games, I imagine it's not far off from that.

There are smaller venues like Pepsi Colosseum in Quebec City (15k) and the John Labatt Centre (10k) where I saw my favourite shows. To be honest, the smaller the venue has been the better show. Toronto wasn't that great mostly due to Toronto be a lame place to see anything and Axl likes Toronto so much he takes his time getting to the stage, which doesn't go over well with the business crowd who have to be up at 7:00 to work.

Cheers,

Andrew

will we get the special password?

You might if you sign up to Livenation.com...

Doubt we'll see one forum specific like in 2006.

Also, keep in mind that pre-sale tickets are generally pretty aweful, unless you can get GA. Actually, the best seats are usually released the week before the show.

Cheers,

Andrew

Now showing five concerts on Ticketmaster (Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina)

http://www.ticketmaster.ca/Guns-N-Roses-tickets/artist/735218

Cheers,

Andrew

It's interesting how Montreal got a show but British Columbia got left out in the cold. Mind you, perhaps that has more to do with the Olympics than anything else.

Cheers,

Andrew

Figured I'd make one thread with all things GNR/Canada related. There are a lot of regional threads but figured we could use one thread to discuss the tour as a whole.

Here are the announced dates:

Canadian Chinese Democracy World Tour

January

13 - Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre

16 - Calgary, AB - Pengrowth Saddledome

17 - Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place

19 - Saskatoon, SK - Credit Union Centre

20 - Regina, SK - Brandt Centre

24 - Hamilton, ON - Copps Coliseum

25 - London, ON - John Labatt Centre

27 - Montreal, PQ - Bell Centre

28 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre

31 - Ottawa, ON - Scotiabank Place

February

1 - Quebec City, PQ - Colisee Pepsi

3 - Moncton, NB - Moncton Coliseum

4 - Halifax, NS - Metro Centre

SOURCE: http://www.bravewords.com/news/124382

TICKETMASTER: http://www.ticketmaster.ca/Guns-N-Roses-tickets/artist/735218

As a fellow Canadian, I couldn't be happier. 2010 is going to kick ass!

Now I just need to find the money to go!

Cheers,

Andrew