cbgnr

This show was specifically designed for "Vegas" and Hard Rock Residency, which is why you see "vegas style" and higher production value, ie pole dancers, lifts, intense visuals, etc, opposed to the typical touring shows and clearly this type of production lends itself most to film in 3D, which few have seemed to mention. This is the show that Axl wanted to capture on film in 3D, so he got his wish.. Clearly they are having fun and not taking themselves so seriously...It's VEGAS !

Looks and sounds great.Thanks.Really looking forward to Estranged and the Chinese material from this show.

Just watched it.Very Nice!This seems like it will sound alot better then the last official release.Looking forward.

Guns N’ Roses memorable Abu Dhabi show

For a band led by a singer who is notoriously late for concerts, it was a welcome sign of great things to come when Guns N’ Roses, and indeed Axl Rose, appeared, rather promptly, on stage at du Arena at 9.13pm on Thursday night.

We can forgive them those 13 minutes as they rewarded our patience with two and half hours of high-energy rock n’ roll. The line-up of members was the same as the last time they toured in Abu Dhabi in December 2010, but this time the show sounded even better for their long-term collaboration.

As the guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal told The National earlier in the week: “We’ve become like a family.” The band was gelled, tight and put on a memorable show. Every bit of it came across as genuine, even Rose himself, who laughed, smiled, danced, strutted and spun his way through the set with a few well-timed and good-natured microphone stand tosses.

For a man who is famously aloof and rarely does appearances outside of concerts, Rose’s outgoing on-stage personality – and multitude of hat and sunglasses costume changes – impressed. No lip synching from this guy – a physical performer, he ran himself breathless at times – yet Rose hit the right notes all the time, every time, proving he can still snarl, scream and roar.

The 28-song set kicked off with the title track and first song on the band’s latest album, Chinese Democracy, released in 2008.

Then a non-stop flurry of best-known hits and fan favourites, including Welcome to the Jungle, Mr Brownstone, Better and Rocket Queen, as well as the guitar-soaked Estranged, which wasn’t on the set list in 2010, came along before the guitarist Richard Fortus deftly delivered a stunning guitar solo.

The band’s cover of Wings’ Live and Let Die, last performed at the same venue by its original artist, Paul McCartney, in 2011, with jaw-dropping fireworks atop the du Arena, featured similarly timed pyrotechnics from behind the stage, giving the band the chance to pay tribute to McCartney without trumping his memorable performance. Continuing with classic rock covers, the keyboardist Dizzy Reed’s solo was a piano version of Led Zeppelin’s No Quarter.

The guitarist Dj Ashba connected with the crowd, perched on high, prompting for responses and encouraging sing-alongs. An absolutely original performer in a lead-guitar position that arguably replaces original member Slash, Ashba delivered his personal style and sound on most songs, including his solo, the self-composed Mi Amor.

It’s fair to say that Ashba respected the best-known Guns N’ Roses solos by playing what the fans wanted to hear the way they wanted to hear them, including on the anthemic ballad Sweet Child O’ Mine. Rose took a turn on the piano for a cover of Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall, which seamlessly segued into the epic November Rain.

The band performed a cover of Thal’s own song, Objectify, featuring the guitarist on lead vocals before Rose returned for the Use Your Illusion-era ballad Don’t Cry. Switching gears, Rose, Ashba, Fortus, Thal and the bassist Tommy Stinson continuously crossed paths on the stage, sprinting from side to side to rouse the crowd to sing along to the band’s famous cover of the Bob Dylan classic Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. The band ended the set with Nightrain before returning for an encore with the classic acoustic Patience, a cover of The Who’s The Seeker and topping off the show with the crowd favourite, Paradise City.

Now, 26 years after the band’s debut album Appetite for Destruction was released, the songs still sound fresh. Songs that were originally recorded by five musicians sound even better performed by eight. Rose has assembled a face-lifted Guns N’ Roses with what comes across as a “more the merrier” mentality.

This century’s GN’R’s sound is deeper with three guitarists and two keyboardists, including Chris Pitman, and rounded out by powerhouse drummer Frank Ferrer. Each member brings the best of his personal influences to the stage to create an eclectic sound tied together by Rose’s familiar vocals. These are reasons why, nearly three decades on, Guns N’ Roses still fills stadiums.

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/music/guns-n-roses-memorable-abu-dhabi-show

Show after show the band keeps digging themselves a deeper hole to get out of.I guess they should have taken the daily advice offered by the Mommys Basement Management Team and Friends INC.

I do think that it seems like there is more optimism now than there were the last few years.

There is.It seems to be one of the most positive times in the history of GNR including the old days,but some can't or don't want to see it.

stfu warchild

"one of the most positive times in the history of GNR",anyone?

denial is part of mental illness,WC.

Mental illness.Funny.What do you call the people that spend their free time trolling a website?Normal I guess.

I do think that it seems like there is more optimism now than there were the last few years.

There is.It seems to be one of the most positive times in the history of GNR including the old days,but some can't or don't want to see it.

Around the 8:25 mark is nice.

inb4 Roth sucks comments because he criticized Axl disguising his current venture as "Guns N' Roses"

Now he's an enemy.

This is truly devastating news.Roth has a massive worldwide following and is quite capable of unleashing a massive public opinion backlash that could lead to cancelled shows because of low ticket sales.And a lil late but "Roth Really does Suck".I feel better now.

So how long is it since they played the exact same show in South America?

I was at São Paulo 2010 show, so, for me it's 3 years. And if this get confirmed, i will love to hear Estranged, Don't Cry, The Seeker, Used to Love Her, New Dizzy, DJ and Fortus solos, Objectify or Glad to Be Here and maybe Civil War and Catcher in the Rye

So we have here the possibility of 11 performances that could be different from the last concert you attended in person three years ago based on the recent setlists.Not bad.

When you consider all the effort he has to put into a full show on a consistent tour verses the lax schedule he could make for himself recording vocals over a period of months it's totally possible for Axl to pull off studio magic. Look how awesome Angel Down came out and that was just one day on New Years Day.

Plus consider how many times Axl has lost and regained his rasp. He re-recorded AFD SCOM with full rasp, Live Era Parts, Lost it in 2001-2002, Regained it in 2006, Did it on Angel Down, Did it in 2009-2010 and lost it again. Then he regained it at one UCAP show and then lost it again.

With actually giving a damn Axl is completely capable.

Hasn't he been singing Jungle with rasp at every single show with the exception of a line or two in the last few years?So isn't it a obvious sign of choice of singing style for the most part, and not a case of losing and regaining his voice from one song to another? Imo the early 2000's may have been the only time he may have not been able to pull it off.Just a guess though.

Ali refuses to watch Tokyo '92 out of deep philosophical convictions: "Who knows, maybe the recording isnt how it really sounded!" chirps Ali. lol

Based on my experiences with people who have seen these vids, you need to be a pretty big gnr fan to like Tokyo 92.

His ventures may not appeal to people here, but he's remarkably successful.

Just out of curiosity, and not trying to be rude or sarcastic, but how do you know that? Honest question, as I don't know how one finds out that information. I wouldn't know if his side businesses made a million dollars last year or if he is pulling in $1,000 a month off of them.

So when you say he's remarkably successful in terms of his clothing line, car sales, etc - how do you know that, and what kind of numbers are you talking about?

Thanks.

What If he would have said Ashba seems to be remarkably successful?Would that be alright?

I've seen gnr live twice,the last time in 2010 and would go again if the oppurtunity arises. I also enjoy videos from concerts that someone has posted on youtube that they have personally recorded possibly thousands of miles away, usually in another country, in my house etc. that I never would have seen in the first place.If or when they add something new to the setlist in some other city,province,state,country etc. I hope someone records it, and I can find the time in my busy schedule to log on and watch it.

You're deaf.

Really,what are the big mistakes he makes? At what part does he botch the solo and drive off the cliff?Just out of curiousity.

Listened to the DC solo by Ashba and it sounds just like the album to my ears.Sound quality is not great in the vid.Not sure if I'm missing something or I'm deaf, but sometimes I see the thumbsdown to Ashba solos and I play the video and I honestly don't know what the problem was.Some CD songs he changes up a bit,but on the older material he has the closest to the original sound out of the three guitarists.

Why wouldn't he be using a cane on stage then?

Why wouldn't he be using a cane on stage then?

I have know idea.I would guess he doesn't want to be up on stage with a cane for various reasons.

No one's asked him why he has the cane. People keep talking about him gaining weight, no one's figured out he stopped doing aerobics because he's got a hip or knee problem?

That's the same leg he had a leg cast on during the UYI tour (bet he thinks it was Slash's fault). His legs must have all sorts of breaks and fractures from the years of jumping and landing hard. Wasn't one of his hotel pseudonyms "Steve Austin"?

You might have a point. I'm not convinced the cane is just for show. My Dad has been a semi professional squash and tennis player most of his life and his knees are screwed now, he's a fair bit older than Axl but everything is a downward trajectory.

People I've met who use canes use them for a reason.I highly doubt its a fashion accessory. Axl not moving around as much on stage.Isn't the cane kinda a clue?

Axl sounds great.

Am I the only one that doesn't like DJ Ashba's intro to welcome to the jungle?

No. I don't like it either.

I just don't like the attitude that accompanies it, like he f'n wrote it or something. He hypes it, Slash would just fucking play it

Correct me if I'm wrong,but weren't you very impressed with Ashba's performance on the o2 leak. You said something like" taking the whole band on his shoulders".Was that to do with his stage performance?Or was it for some other reason?

He sound like he sounded through the 2012 tour. His voice is not embedded in the music in that jungle version like it is on other versions on youtube and reveals his short breathtakes and other half cheating tricks he always use. The rasp is not gone but the "crisp" in the sound (around 7-9kHz) is low and thats where the rasp lies. I can promise you that once we have another jungle version uploaded you will hear the difference.

Lolfail mate......the first verse....and chorus until shananan Knees.......

I'm just afraid one of these days it's gonna be the whole song like the first verse...

That first verse was kind of scary actually. Jungle he always nails so when he starts it off like that it worries me for how his vocals are going to hold up in the future. He sounded fine on the rest of the song though.

Havn't we all figured out by now that he turns on the rasp whenever he wants to by watching videos?So that would mean he sang that first verse clean purposely.Opening scream raspy,first verse clean, and then back to the old rasp again for the rest of the song. I wouldn't worry about it to much.

Ok im not one to bitch about setlists especially shows I did not attend but does anyone else think the setlists are shit so far in Australia?

What in particular do you think is shit? I haven't really examined the setlists, but they look about the same as what we've been getting for the past decade, plus or minus a song here and there. What's bothering you all of a sudden?

Is cbgnr mistaking volcano for a cupcake h8ter? I certainly hope so.

No obviously not.I was talking about how quickly people jump to conclusions over things.I have no idea why they didn't play CW or SOD or if they will again,but others have already figured it out and posted it so we will all know,which is nice.

One positive thing GNR has going for them for years now is their 3 hour spectacles. It's not so much the song selection but the lenght of the show. Based on the setlist this was not a three hour show?

I was refering to the posts that gave reasons for gnr not performing Civil war and Street of Dreams and the assumption that they will not play them again because they didn't play the songs for the first couple of shows,when really how would anyone know this.Sorry for the confusion,I should have directly replyed.

Ok im not one to bitch about setlists especially shows I did not attend but does anyone else think the setlists are shit so far in Australia?

What in particular do you think is shit? I haven't really examined the setlists, but they look about the same as what we've been getting for the past decade, plus or minus a song here and there. What's bothering you all of a sudden?

Is cbgnr mistaking volcano for a cupcake h8ter? I certainly hope so.

No obviously not.I was talking about how quickly people jump to conclusions over things.I have no idea why they didn't play CW or SOD or if they will again,but others have already figured it out and posted it so we will all know,which is nice.

So they didn't play two particular songs in the first couple shows and that means they must have stopped playing them for good for reasons people in the thread will explain.

bon jovi sucks post-2000 but that's a very brave thing to do.

The funny thing is that i've spent all day reading Dry County, the main Jovi board and it makes this place seem like a beacon of positivity towards Axl! I mean that seriously. With the exception of a few people who dislike Axl and New GNR altogether, most of the criticism here comes from people like me who LOVE Axl and want him to succeed on his own terms. On the Jovi board, at least 60% of the fans outright dislike Jon as a person because he's apparently such a dickhead ( not a dick like Axl, just a regular douche). They are absolutely brutalising everything Jon has written in the last 13 years and his attempts to turn Jovi into a serious songwriting band and garner critical acclaim like Springsteen, Waits, Cohen etc and they are trashing his now motionless live performances where he stands at his mic stand all night playing the journeyman and singing all recent middle-of-the-road storytelling songs with his shot-to-pieces voice whilst Richie skulks in the shadows, barely allowed to eek out a rock solo.

I just find it ironic that as recently as 2010, Axl was still arguably the most ferocious, virile rock frontman on the planet but he's done nothing with that except tour the hits whilst Jon's voice is erroded as he's putting 100% into his new material.

I posted the Jungle Rock Am Ring vid on the Jovi board and some of them were like 'Axl Rose is a prick but fuck me that's amazing, as a fan of Jon o'm jealous.'

What about Queen sets? Please educate me! And as I said, i'm not for a minute saying Jovi are great or whatever just...what I said.

Message boards are filled with all the people who know what everyone else should be doing.

This 2010 romantic facination is completely blown out of proportion and getting worse.

It's just natural as it was such an outstanding year for Axl and his band. And as the years go by...it'll probably be even more talked about and considered nuGn'R golden year.

Why were bad reviews more common then?And as you can probably remember alot of people who are now on the 2010 merrygoround were critisising just as much then about vocals.Yes there are some shows that can be better then others,but just for example based on the vids from the last show in Austrailia I would take the performances of NR and SC over the performances in 2010 that I've heard, but I do prefer Paradise city from 2010. Songs like CD,jungle,ISE,Brownstone,Nightrain,Patience,Heaven's door, SOD ie.are virtually identical from both periods.

This 2010 romantic facination is completely blown out of proportion and getting worse.

I think Axl is entitled to sing how he pleases just as people are entitled to like or not like it and attend the shows or not based on it.

It would help however if he was to address the situation regarding his voice in an interview as knowing the reasons why would go some way in helping people accept it (or not). As with everything GNR it is the uncertainty that fuels speculation and discord. Part of me can only assume that the guns camp enjoy this negative attention in some way because they don't do much to alleviate it.

You know the thing is Axl and gnr have been receiving more positive press in the past couple years for their performances then ever.I'm not saying Axl doesn't have bad nights,but he gets way more positive reviews now for his live singing then the old days. The negative attention is mostly on messages boards by a small number of people posting their opinions over and over and over again. This is a tiny percentage of the overall fanbase.Why address it?Guaranteed most of those fans went home from the Austrailia gig happy,which means much more than anything posted here or anywhere else.