I really had a great time at this show. This was my 9th GNR show going back to 2010!
I said the same thing in 2021, but you really don’t notice vocal issues in person much. I’m not saying YouTube magically makes things sound bad, it’s just when you have the live mix, natural reverb, volume, etc, it all makes for a completely acceptable (and beyond) performance. They really are still a force to be reckoned with live. You get your money’s worth with live GNR and there are few stadium/arena legacy hard rock bands that perform on this level in terms of energy and show length.
Axl- Overall, Axl did a killer job imo. Sometimes he would do the “mush voice” (where the rasp and high pitched notes come through live and he hits the notes, but the words aren’t very clear), but he was really giving it his all. It’s incredible the dude can still hit some of the notes he does with the power required. A good example was the end of Anything Goes, holy cow was I impressed. There were lots of great vocal moments in a live setting. He had a superb energy, was relatively talkative, and probably looked the best I’ve seen him going back to 2010. It’s wild he can still perform at this level at his age. The vocals may not be 2016, but that is okay. He gets MVP of the night for me
Slash- There isn’t much to say about Slash that I haven’t been saying since forever. The dude kills it, live. For all the bitching about shredding or whatever, it doesn’t matter at all live. Slash belongs in GNR. The end. I loved the 3 NuGNR shows I saw and cherish those memories, but it’s just a massive need to have Slash up there in his rightful place. He’s basically another frontman. Killer tone, last night. He changed up the second Estranged solo, again, but it was really cool in the rain. I actually loved his TiL solo, too. When they started the song, I was bracing for a mess based on all the “SlAsH SuCkS oN TiL” posts over the years (I always thought it was great in 2016, then it got meh), and I haven’t heard newer versions. It was one of the best solos of the night, he made his guitar scream. Perhaps solo was pretty cool, live. I liked it with the added power and saturation of being live and with that rig. He had a tiny flub at the start of the NR solo and maybe SCOM (or slightly out of tune), but other than that, flawless.
Rest of the band- Duff is Duff. TV Eye was cool, and I dig the Stooges. They are wisely utilizing backing vocals a lot more this tour. I think it’s smart to do to help Axl out. Axl is very much still singing all his parts, and the added Melissa and Duff vocals help fill the sound and help Axl. New vocal arrangements freshen up some tunes like Civil War imo. As a guitar nerd, Fortus’ tone is absolutely amazing and he is such a good compliment to Slash. They use him just enough imo, and his RQ and KoHD solos are great (another duet like WYWH would be neat). Frank sounded fine. Drum tone was not tinny or overpowering. Dizzy played piano. Tempos are also still at the proper level like in 2021. The band is very tight.
Setlist- Fuck yeah. 6 songs (not including covers) that I’ve never gotten before- Bad Obsession, Pretty Tied Up, Reckless Life, Perhaps, Hard Skool, and Anything Goes. The first half of the show was super exciting for me because of the deep cuts and new songs. After following this band religiously since 2006 or 2007, it was surreal getting Hard Skool and Perhaps. I really dug HS live, in particular. The classic songs all killed, too. Harmonica on BO, I love PTU, and the vocals on Reckless and AG were a treat. I would have been stoked if they played TWAT or Locomotive, but I really can’t complain with the setlist (maybe a new opener like Nightrain, but that’s whatever). This refresh was so needed. Dusted off deep cut classic songs AND new songs, it is what we have been wanting for years and years. They even changed RQ a bit and it sounded excellent.
My one big setlist complaint is fucking Silkworms. As soon as they did Absurd it killed the energy for me briefly. As a novelty, it was goofy in 2021, but man this song sucks and it sucks live. Hearing Axl shout those garbage lyrics in full clarity and repeating them 3 times is a total miss. The guitars were changed live and were cool, but it still is awful. Other than that, I enjoyed every song.
One of my favorites of the night was shockingly Slither. I never thought Axl sounded great on Slither, and he probably didn’t last night- but the monsoon rain started coming right during Slither and it was magic. It carried into Jungle and made everything super memorable.
Misc- Saw them with a really good college friend I don’t get to see much. She was exhausted and doesn’t know GNR but she toughed it out so we could hang. She left early cause she was tired from work, but she was really impressed with the band. Met another old friend after which all made for a great night . Both were college friends and they remember my peak GNR obsession in 2009 and 2010.
It’s always fun to see GNR in another city, and the Boston crowd killed my native Detroit crowd. Maybe it was the rain, but the energy in Fenway was electric. Sound and seats were also fantastic. All the horror stories of Fenway didn’t pan out for me. I loved the venue. Great to be in such a historical ball park
Overall, fucking killer show. I had fun in 2021, but this was a better show on every level. Fresh setlist, new songs, great performance and energy. What a great night, so glad the stars aligned and I got to see them this tour
Edit- I forgot! I caught the second half of The Pretenders and dug their set! Great opener choice this tour
