OTHAFA

God, whether you like Slash or not, he couldn't look anymore like a fucking Hero at this thing. Lucky him.

How so....for...showing up and paying $3000 to attend?

No, because he ends up being the face of GNR whether people like it or not. He ends up being the most recognizable and comes off as an all around nice guy. He didn't do anything, that just happened. Good for him IMO.

The face of GNR to the boring faceless masses who don't matter. Axl's real fans and the real GNR fans know who represents the band and what the band is all about.

LOL. I bet you're one of those "real" fans, huh? How super for you.

If axl played with the old lineup it would discredit the new band and any material they plan on releasing. One night of reunion would dump all the ahit he's been working on. Plus. It's the rock hall of fame. It really has very little to do with the fans.

LOL.

BTW - Axl is such an incredible dickhead for doing this literally days before the ceremony when people have already bought tickets and arranged travel pans in anticipation of seeing him.

He was never confirmed as showing up. Why would he be at fault for people spending cash and time on their own outrageous self made fantasy?

This was announced MONTHS ago and as those months went by, there was never a peep from Axl about not showing up, so it's logical to assume that he was, in fact, going to show up. I mean, unless you hear anything to the contrary, you pretty much have to assume that. It's really quite simple - people understandably had to make plans for tickets/travel/hotel, etc. because, well, that's just not something you can do in a couple of days at the snap of a finger, you know?

there was never a peep from Axl about not showing up

it's logical to assume that he was, in fact, going to show up

Haha, you know you're talking about Axl Rose here, right? Axl Rose! Haha!

I know, but still, you'd expect some common courtesy. He know full well that fans had to make travel arrangements, take days off of work, etc.

BTW - Axl is such an incredible dickhead for doing this literally days before the ceremony when people have already bought tickets and arranged travel pans in anticipation of seeing him.

He was never confirmed as showing up. Why would he be at fault for people spending cash and time on their own outrageous self made fantasy?

This was announced MONTHS ago and as those months went by, there was never a peep from Axl about not showing up, so it's logical to assume that he was, in fact, going to show up. I mean, unless you hear anything to the contrary, you pretty much have to assume that. It's really quite simple - people understandably had to make plans for tickets/travel/hotel, etc. because, well, that's just not something you can do in a couple of days at the snap of a finger, you know?

Typical Axl Rose letter -- Make vague references to others trying to take advantage of him for personal gain? Check. Make more vague references to all the wrongs that have been done to you over the years by, uh, well just about everybody you've ever come in contact with? Check. Take subtle shots at ex-band members? Check. Take veiled shots at the press for supposedly trying to twist Axl's words? Check.

Fuck, man. It's one night. Walk on stage, speak for a minute or two, walk off stage and never look at Slash again. That's all you had to do, Axl, but you couldn't. I'm sure it's for "reasons we'll never understand" but maybe it's time to either make us understand, or shut up and go away.

BTW - Axl is such an incredible dickhead for doing this literally days before the ceremony when people have already bought tickets and arranged travel pans in anticipation of seeing him.

I'd just like to state that I've said from day one that Robin is a sloppy guitar player with no stage presence. I'm no flip-flopper.

Ashba is no great shakes, but he's better for this band than Finck.

It seems to me like everyone is trying to put off thinking/talking about this as long as they can. Maybe they're waiting for someone else to make the first move, or maybe they just don't want to have to deal with it until they absolutely have to.

Ashba > Finck

To be fair, if you haven't seen Axl since the 90s and you saw him for the first time now, it would be kind of shocking. It's less of a big deal for those of us who have seen him every step of the way over the last 6 years.

Still, retarded article. He looks a lot better now than he did from 2002-2006 with the stupid braids.

I like his '06 look.

06 was better, because he at least dressed like a normal human being and his face looked like it had recovered from...whatever he had done to it, but the current look is the best since the old days, IMO.

To be fair, if you haven't seen Axl since the 90s and you saw him for the first time now, it would be kind of shocking. It's less of a big deal for those of us who have seen him every step of the way over the last 6 years.

Still, retarded article. He looks a lot better now than he did from 2002-2006 with the stupid braids.

To my mind it is perfection and couldnt have been improved. Each verse gets more and more dramatic until it almost stops in the middle then cranks up again until the end which is just unbelievably great.

When I listen to it, it feels like it ends so quickly. It doesn't feel like five minutes has gone by, much less 10. It ends and I'm like, "Shit, it's over already?!"

Not the "greatest" (that would be Sweet Child or Jungle, I think), but it's definitely my favorite.

I'm saying greatest strictly from a creative/artistic point of view, unless that's what you meant also. I just think both Axl and Slash were at their peak creatively with this song.

Axl and Slash at their best. I wonder how long this song was in the works? I don't think either one of them will ever be able to make something that even touches this song ever again. What a masterpiece.

The last two minutes of the song always gives me chills. rock2

I'm home from the show. Can't remember the setlist but if you look at the Miami Fillmore show, they played the exact same songs except the order a few songs were changed. One example was Shackler's Revenge was played between Civil War and KOHD. But yeah, all the songs were the same. We left before the encore because my lady friend was passing out and I was tired of holding her up, so I don't know what was played in the encore.

Few notes from the VIP Balcony:

- Didn't see Charlie Sheen. If he was there, he wasn't in VIP. The entire VIP seating section was annoyingly reserved for what I believe to be a gigantic group of people associated with Fernando. A bunch of young 20-somethings, women barely dressed. Just about everyone drunk before the show started and they all took FREQUENT trips to the bathroom throughout the show. For what? I dare not speculate. I only saw Fernando (or who I believe to be Fernando, could be wrong) near the end of the show when he went up to talk to a few people.

- Nikki Sixx showed up with Ashba while the opening band was playing. Sixx disappeared before GNR came on, probably went backstage. Aside from that, biiggest celebrity sightings in VIP were....wait for it...Simon Rex and the lead singer from Puddle of Mudd (if it wasn't him, it was his twin brother. Dude looked EXACTLY LIKE HIM. I could be wrong though, but if that was the Puddle of Mudd dude, he's is looking a bit haggard these days). Yeah, not exactly A-listers.

- Axl made a joke about how he put a sign on his hotel room door that said "Don't bother, I'm already disturbed" or something like that. Couldn't quite make it out. Also, he said "fucking" a lot tonight. He introduced everyone like...DJ FUCKING Ashba, Ron FUCKING Thal, Frank FUCKING Ferrar, and joked after the introductions that everyone's middle name tonight was "fucking".

- Stop bitching about new songs. Almost nobody at the shows wants to hear them. This I Love and Sorry couldn't have possibly been met with anymore silence than they were. Even songs that they've been playing since 06 (Street of Dreams) just don't garner that much of a reaction. People want to hear the old songs and Axl seems much more comfortable singing those.

- The band was OK, not as good as I've heard them in the past, but they all look like they're having fun. That's been the case at every Nu-GNR show I've been too. I think DJ Ashba has been a great addition for band chemistry. He seems to get along really well with the guys (BTW, he did make a couple of appearances in the VIP Balcony, once before the show and once during Dizzy's solo to talk to his girlfriend or whoever).

- Despite that, I can say with some certainty after seeing Slash perform it twice and Nu-GNR perform it twice, that Slash's band absolutely destroys Nu-GNR when it comes to playing Civil War.

- People really started filing out after November Rain. By the end of Nighttrain, a big chunk of the back of the floor was empty and people were just scattered about. Can't blame them. GNR didn't take the stage until about 12:30. Ridiculous.

Nothing kills a crowd quite like Sorry! Show has been awesome otherwise.

Opening band finished around 11:10

Opening band hasn't gone on yet. At this rate Axl may not hit the stage until 1!

What time are you guys getting there? I figure, opening band comes on at 9, gets off at 10. Axl gets on at..midnight? Can I plan on having dinner at 9 and being there by 10:30-11?

I have a question for the people who think Axl playing with the original band would somehow hurt Nu GNR.

My question is, how the fuck could it make Nu GNR look any worse than they already do? Newsflash to anyone who doesn't venture outside GNR forums - THE CURRENT INCARNATION OF GUNS N' ROSES IS A COMPLETE FUCKING JOKE TO THE AVERAGE MUSIC FAN. Not only do most people not know who anyone in the band is (despite the fact that this group, in one form or another, has been together for a decade now), but they don't CARE to know. They look at Ashba and think "Oh look, Axl got someone who wears a hat like Slash!"

If original GNR never plays a song together again, that won't change the fact that this current group will never, ever, ever, ever be accepted as "Guns N' Roses". They just won't. I mean, what do you all honestly think the chances are that this group ever releases an album as GNR? Axl is fucking 50 years old. It took the 30 year old version of himself 14 years to release his last album. You really expect the next one anytime before he hits 60?

So yeah, this idea that Axl getting up and playing one fucking song with Slash/Izzy/Duff would tarnish the pristine public image of the current group is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. Hell, Ashba has already said he would love it. I'm sure the rest of the group feels the same way. A tour with the original group is never happening. These guys in the band now probably know that. They're not going to lose any sleep if Axl gets up and sings on SCOM and Nightrain.

Thanks for all the tips everyone. Right before canceling my Craigslist transaction, I decided to go on Live Nation and give it one last crack at the VIP tix...and what do you know? They had a fuckin' pair available. After showing them sold out since they went on sale..just my luck I guess.

Thanks again.. cheers!

Thanks for all the tips everyone. Right before canceling my Craigslist transaction, I decided to go on Live Nation and give it one last crack at the VIP tix...and what do you know? They had a fuckin' pair available. After showing them sold out since they went on sale..just my luck I guess.

Thanks again.. cheers!

It's hard to trust the printed out tickets - who's to say they haven't just made multiple copies of the same ticket? I know people who have been burned by this before.

I haven't heard of anybody checking IDs for the printed tickets but I know they did if you got the VIP tickets.

They definitely check ID's for the VIP tickets? Damn...those are the ones I was going to buy. They're sold out on Livenation too so even if I wanted to get them "legitimately" now I can't.

Yes, your ID has to match for the VIP tickets. It looks like they still have some available on the GN'R website though?

Are you referring to these? http://gunsnroses.com/events/90021

I think it's a VIP package, but still for general admission, which I believe still just puts you on the floor. The tickets I was possibly going to buy are for the VIP Balcony of the Hollywood Palladium. I was going to pay face value though ($144)..$250 is just too expensive.

It's hard to trust the printed out tickets - who's to say they haven't just made multiple copies of the same ticket? I know people who have been burned by this before.

I haven't heard of anybody checking IDs for the printed tickets but I know they did if you got the VIP tickets.

They definitely check ID's for the VIP tickets? Damn...those are the ones I was going to buy. They're sold out on Livenation too so even if I wanted to get them "legitimately" now I can't.

Yes, your ID has to match for the VIP tickets. It looks like they still have some available on the GN'R website though?

BTW, thanks for the info. Are you 100% sure of this? I want to make sure before I cancel the tickets. Were you in a VIP section or something?

It's hard to trust the printed out tickets - who's to say they haven't just made multiple copies of the same ticket? I know people who have been burned by this before.

I haven't heard of anybody checking IDs for the printed tickets but I know they did if you got the VIP tickets.

They definitely check ID's for the VIP tickets? Damn...those are the ones I was going to buy. They're sold out on Livenation too so even if I wanted to get them "legitimately" now I can't. Are you sure they were checking to match it up with the ticket rather than like checking to make sure the person is 21?

LiveNation has been bitches about these tickets, at the Chicago show what they did was scan the ticket and if the info that popped up didn't match your ID, then you were not allowed into the event. Basically it's LiveNation cutting scalpers out and trying to monopolize the market. So keep that in mind. I would hate for you to buy a ticket from craigslist and not get into the show because of a bunch of bullshit like that.

Shiiiit thanks for the info man. Anyone else experienced this?? Can they even legally do that? Like what if someone got the tickets as a birthday gift?

Yeah, that's what I was looking for. Thanks. You didn't print those out online right? I'm more wary of the online printout tickets being fake than those kind.