saber_

You're only setting yourself up for disappointment.

He tuned his guitar like that on purpose to make Axl sound better. It's brilliant actually.

What a disappointment. How was Axl's speech?

He literally said like two sentences. Something like "I thank all the lineups, especially the current. Thanks so much" It was literally that short.

He thanked the previous lineups and the current lineup. He didn't say "especially the current lineup." Don't try to spin it.

Babe I'm gonna leave you november rain.

DJ's guitar is not sounding right on the opening of SCOM.

Axl's speech was the highlight for me. What he said there was very meaningful, I hope you all caught it.

Chinese Democracy 4life!

WTF just happened in the middle of Joan Jett's song?

This guy doesn't deserve to wear that Faith No More shirt.

Ok does anyone have a count of how many people have the same haircut as DJ at this thing?

Tony Hawk is a GnR fan. He called Axl "an aloof legend" and hopes to run into him.

The event starts in a little less than 2 hours.

No, it starts in about 34 minutes.

You're wrong but ok. 8 PM Pacific.

You might want to check VH1's site. It says 7pm pacific. Whoops.

Edit: semantics over the word "event." For me the "event" is the stream and since Guns n Roses members will be on camera, interviewed, as they're going inside to the show, I consider the pre-show an "event." I'll take my lumps on this one.

The event starts in a little less than 2 hours.

No, it starts in about 34 minutes.

I honestly don't think Axl really cares what the crowd expect of him. The night is honouring him - not the GNR catalogue, not the GNR legacy - so he can essentially do what he wants (which he would anyway).

It's not like they're going to riot if the band play Better; and it's not like Better is a downspirited song. It's very in line with the tempo of the 'hits'.

Bullseye. Axl does what he wants. It shouldn't be a difficult concept to grasp.

Axl's legacy is the Gn'R catalog. It isn't like he's being given a humanitarian award like Bono.

That's all well and good, I'm just saying that Axl himself will play whatever he wants, and knowing Axl as we do, that could very well include a Chinese Democracy song. S'all I'm sayin. Where does it say he has to only play the hits?

I honestly don't think Axl really cares what the crowd expect of him. The night is honouring him - not the GNR catalogue, not the GNR legacy - so he can essentially do what he wants (which he would anyway).

It's not like they're going to riot if the band play Better; and it's not like Better is a downspirited song. It's very in line with the tempo of the 'hits'.

Bullseye. Axl does what he wants. It shouldn't be a difficult concept to grasp.

Can we place wagers on whether Axl incorporates a Chinese Democracy song into the set?

Money in escrow!

Nice screen name, Zabrak. I'm probably the only one who gets it, haha.

As far as books, I recommend The Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer. It's excellent. You can basically open it up to any page and study whatever you find.

As for stuff to practice, one thing that's odd but will help a lot is to only play with your ring and pinky fingers (again, as something to practice). Work on slides, bends, runs, trilling, hammer ons/offs, barring two strings with each finger, and basically mixing intervals together, linking those intervals together, shit like that- only playing with your 3rd and 4th fingers. Higher up the fretboard, you can play 5ths and minor 3rds and other stuff. Seems weird, but it will pay dividends when you go back to using all four fingers.

Duff will not come back and be Axl's employee.

Duff will not come back and continue to play the same godamned setlist night after night. He is not down with the eternity tour.

I'm sure Axl sees some parallels with Dio, as far as RJD's time in Black Sabbath. At one point in time, Axl was trying to rebuild GnR with a markedly different sound and beloved members long gone. Similarly, Dio and Black Sabbath had to do sorta the same thing after Ozzy's departure. I know it's not quite the same, but you get the point.

Well apparently you're talking about notoriety and being a "household name." I guess it wasn't clear that your criteria involved so many things that have nothing to do with the actual playing itself. I was talking about actual skill sets and technique and theory. And you seem to be repeatedly forgetting (all that 420 action interferes with learning and memory) that the whole reason I brought up Vai's message board is because those are major Vai fans posting on there. And like I said, they gave Bucket a lot of respect and credibility as a guitarist. They compared and contrasting the techniques, playing styles, and theory used by the two guitarists, and seemed to think Bucket was in Vai's league for the most part. But I guess they're all wrong because it's a message board, right?

Axl's rants are dumb.

What don't you like about them? They're entertaining, full of passion, sometimes profound, sometimes random, sometimes epic, sometimes funny.

They're never profound. Ever. And even if they were, I'll take a band that can actually produce good music (of which GNR has only done a limited amount) over some stupid gimmick speech any day. I found the rants, riots and drama cool when I was a kid. But it's just lame now.

So is the only reason you're "into" Guns N' Roses because Robin Finck played in the band?

The only parallel I can think of is Zappa had Steve Vai in his band, and Axl had Buckethead in his band.

Vai is one of the few guitarists who can touch Bucket in terms of overall skill set.

Bucket is good, but he is no Vai....

Sometimes you Bucket fans get a little carried away.

Maybe I didn't phrase that quite right: Vai is one of the few guitarists who can do what Bucket can do; that's what I meant. Sorry it wasn't clear. Bucket, likewise, has a rare skillset and is capable of performing much of Vai's compositions. I used to post on Vai's message board a lot and Bucket was the topic of many detailed discussions and analyses by guitarists who know more than you do. No offense.

Wow I had no idea I was in the presence of such a discusion forum legend. Detailed analyses huh? I wish I was around for such a round table discusion, I am sure I would have learned a great number of things. I feel so much more enlitened now, thank you and cheers.

Well I know i'm not quite as legendary as the guy who impresses 13 year olds on xbox live with the number "420" in his screen name, but all I was trying to convey was that on Vai's own official site, Buckethead got quite a bit of respect and his playing was often discussed and dissected by the uber Vai fans who post there, many of them advanced guitarists.

Wow again, you resort to name calling based upon my screen name? You sure are cool!!! I love all the assumptions you make about me when you don't know a single thing about me. You really are a class act. BTW anyone that uses the word "uber" should be castrated just to for the sake of humanity.

Oh I see, so when you participated in the 4/20 thread, you were just posing? Got it. I apologize for the name calling and classless behavior.

Back to the discussion:

Bucket is in Vai's league. You haven't offered any argument to refute that, other than you think I'm wrong. I've offered the argument that I've seen highly detailed comparisons by advanced guitarists on Vai's own message board; discussions where they pore over technique and theory, and compare and contrast the songs.

P.S. Anyone with "420" in his screen name should be castrated for the sake of humanity.

Well at least you're honest, Mister "Slash is God."

I'm still waiting for the explanation as to why it's okay for some "fans" to say horrid, disrespectful, evil shit about Axl. No one seems to want to tackle that one.