Saltzy

12 hours ago, Creed said:

yeah, money heal wounds...

its that and its disgusting. thats why i lost interest in many pro sports, too.

Bang.

None of this is about the music or the love of playing in front of their fans.

GNR is a brand now.  A product.  It's fucking Starbucks.

It is 1000% about making money and that is IT.  Period.  Done. 

The actual brand they are closest to if you are a watch person is Rolex.  They both have a 'Fuck you.  We don't need your business, you worthless piece of garbage.  If you don't want to buy it don't, there are a million behind you that will.  Have a nice day!  Again, fuck you.' attitude about how they operate.

The difference is that Rolex still is what they always have been.  Incredibly well made, high resale value, still cool and badass, etc. etc. 

I was MORE than OK with Axl treating me like the piece of garbage I am when he was actually 'Axl fucking Rose'.   They came out at 11:30 or midnight, played until 2AM, kicked ass and called it a night.  If anything I liked it.  It was sawdust and sweat and rock and roll and shit.  It's one of the primary reasons I fell in love with this band.  Axl Rose's complete lack of giving a fuck about anything was intoxicating to me.

Now, it's fucking Disneyland.  None of these performances are real.  They sit in separate dressing rooms before the shows with their own people, take the stage together, grab their checks and walk off into separate limos.  

I would bet that Axl and Slash don't say a single word to each other the entire day of any shows.  It's all just a big stage production of again, "Come see Axl, Slash, and Duff play all your childhood GNR favorites!"

Maybe that is fine and good enough for some of you, but it sure as fuck isn't for me.

Quick side tangent.  I was at the bar outside the venue by the sports book like an hour before the show Saturday and was bullshitting with the guys next to me.  Turns out they were friends/roommates with members of Dirty Honey, the opening act.

One of my 1st questions/comments was 'Wow, it must be incredible for a new unheard of band to be able to meet and spend some time with rock icons, huh?'

I should have known the response before I even heard it, but in the least surprising answer ever they told me, 'Oh, yeah.  They don't get to meet GNR. They were just told when/where to show up and given a few tickets for their friends.'

I mean, not even being willing to meet your fucking opening act?    Seriously?

Give me a break.  That has nothing to do with being old.

It just means you think you are better than everyone else and are a ruthless cockface. 

16 minutes ago, lame ass security said:

I totally understand what you're saying and I get it.  But you said "taking the stage at midnight fucked up on booze and drugs that represented young angst."  They simply aren't those guys anymore and they're certainly not young, relatively speaking. It would be disingenuous and sad for them to pretend to be.  Father time is undefeated.

Not to derail this thread, but there are still plenty of bands that might be older than they used to be but stick to some level of legitimacy of what they once were.  Again, Pearl Jam is one.  Yeah, Eddie is not swinging from the light fixtures anymore, but he still drinks 2 bottles of wine every show and more importantly, is SOOOO into every show.  It's not an act.  It's not to rake in as much cash as he possibly can.  He legitimately fucking LOVES IT, and everyone can see that and reacts to it.  It's why they have a cult like following of fans that follow them everywhere they go.

It's not the age.  It's the obvious lack of giving a fuck.  It's the blatant level of there is zero chance we would would be doing this if we weren't getting paid a bazillion dollars to do so.  It's the show being a completely scripted 'get em in, squeeze em for every fucking nickel we can get out of em, you should feel honored we even play for you losers, get em out' nature of these shows that has finally gotten me to this level of frustration with this band.

10 minutes ago, RONIN said:

It looks cheesy/cringe since he's no longer the wildman he was back in the 80's and 90's. Hell even '02 Axl could pull that off. Not now. I agree with whoever said that their concerts are starting to feel broadway show-esque. 

Ya, that was me.

Also, even if it's always been the case (and I would need some kind of proof of that, as it's hard for me to imagine some jackass back stage at The Troubadour or Whiskey A Go Go picking up the mic stand when he tossed it back in 1987), at least that was organic and unplanned.

I had a seat with a good overall view of the entire stage on Saturday, and it hit me for the 1st time on this tour just HOW scripted these whole shows are.

Every movement that everyone makes the entire show is completely choreographed.  Nothing is random.  Everything that happens from the second that the 1st note of It's So Easy is played to the mic toss at the end of Paradise City is planned and scripted.

Coming from a band that used to take the stage at midnight fucked up on booze and drugs that represented young angst and grit, that fucking sucks.

It is the literal antithesis of what they are supposed to be.

They are a novelty act now, and that is when I personally exit stage left.

5 minutes ago, Gunsdrummer63 said:

I wouldn’t mind seeing them again only saw them once but missed shadow and slither. Locomotive is my dream to hear live. I’m extremely jealous

Uhh...yeah. So am I, of the people at the show in freaking Oklahoma that got to see it.

That was basically the cherry on the shit sandwich for me.

These fuckers play the one song I wanna hear more than any others (outside of Bad Obsession and One in A Million, not cause I am a terrible person BTW, just cause witnessing it would be the most amazing concert moment ever) at show a month before playing in Vegas, and then proceed to not play it again.

Infuriating to me.

I lost my mind when I realized it wasn't gonna be played Saturday night.  That was LITERALLY all I wanted to hear.

BTW, I think my favorite microcosm of what this band once was and what they have become now is watching Axl throw the mic stand with 'fire and rage', only to watch some pathetic lackey run over from behind the stage and set it back up for him....X's like 5 or 6 times per show he does it.

It's just such a perfect analogy of how this band has become nothing more than a novelty act of what they used to be.

It's just sad at this point.

I honestly hope they wrap it up, take the bazillion dollars they made on this tour, and never play again.

It's what needs to happen at this point.

1 minute ago, tsinindy said:

I am fairly certain (and also too lazy to look) that you said pretty much this exact same thing a couple years ago.  If not, how or why it took you this long to come to these conclusions is beyond me as this was all fairly obvious from the beginning of the whole Re-Grouping or whatever you wanna call it. 

 

AND, anybody who wants to call BS on that...remember the original plan was basically Coachella only (pure money grab) not a full blown tour. 

You are not wrong.

Cognitive dissonance I guess.

It's just so hard to find true north with this fucking band.  For years all I (we) wanted was a tour....any tour, and we got that with Bumblefoot and Buckethead and whatever and that was cool.  Then the DJ Ashba era, which was also cool, but not really "Guns N' Roses".  

Then the big 3 get back together which is clearly what I (we) all wanted, and the 1st 2 shows in Vegas a few years ago were fucking magic.  That was definitely the highlight for me.

Few more local shows (Metlife and Prudential Center) of the same show and the air started to let out of the balloon.

I was hoping this show on Saturday got me going again, but it did the exact opposite.  I actually found myself bored as fuck the second half of the show on Saturday, which saddens me as these shows used to be one of the things that got my juices going more than anything, but it's pretty clear those days are over for me now.

Going to see Pearl Jam still gets me going every time, and I am just gonna focus on seeing every show they play around the planet until either they stop touring or I also lose the excitement of seeing them.

I would club a baby seal to hear Bad Obsession.

Fuck, I would kill a kitten just to hear Move to the City or some shit at this point.

21 minutes ago, lame ass security said:

Man, you knew what their setlist was and that they never deviated from it and yet you decided to shell out 500 bucks.  That's all on you.  Did you think they were miraculously going to change the entire setlist because you were at the show?

I'm not sure I cared before this show. But something about this one was just very 'straw that broke the camel's back' for me.

I think it was the combo of a $500 ticket, paying more attention to the stage handlers buzzing around in this completely choreographed way like they do at Broadway plays which I never really watched before, and the fact that they played Locomotive at a show in fucking Oklahoma, but not Vegas where people flew in from all over and spent crazy amounts of money for.

They are a novelty act now, which I think became crystal clear to me about 1/2 way through this show for me.  They are 'Axl, Slash, and Duff playing all your childhood favorites!' and not a rock and roll band playing for their more hardore fans.

It's their prerogative if that is what they want to do, but unless anything changes in terms of new music or what the show is, I am personally done.

Going to see GNR is like banging a stripper.  Fucking glorious the 1st few times, and then very quickly it turns into same ol, same ol boring wham, bam, thank you ma'am.

At this point I can't even get off anymore. 

They need to drop the whole notion that these are traditional "concerts" and be honest that they are 100% pre-scripted choreographed Broadway play-esque stage shows.  If they did that I would be OK with what they have done on this tour.

Example, while I was seething that I paid like $500 to see the exact same fucking show I have seen like 5 times on this stupid tour (sans hearing Dead Horse, which was cool) the guy next to me was freaking out that he was hearing Axl and Slash play his favorite songs live for the 1st time.

Clearly....CLEARLY that is the crowd that they are selling themselves to, and they give a fuck about repeat customers looking for anything new.

This band sucks.

The end.

I would pay $5k to sit in the worst seat in the house to hear random selection from the Spaghetti Incident.

Do it!

1 minute ago, Powderfinger said:

Is the atmosphere that bad?

Yes.

GNR is a goddamn broadway play.

Just fucking play ANYTHING from the other half of the catalog for fucks sakee.

Play Chinese Democracy front to back, drop the mic, and call it a night.

I don't care.

Anything different.

Congrats Axl.  You've monetized your shit to the absolute highest degree possible and told any real fans to fuck off.

Same shit again.

My whole row is either empty or sitting on their asses.

Fuck this band.

I'm done.

So, I just bought 2 VIP tickets for this show for $550, total.

Not exactly sure how that is remotely possible.

Also going.

Think I got the last 3 'cheap' tickets on TM when they went on sale.

Can't wait...

My buddies and I are going to the Saturday night Vegas show.

I refuse to live in a world where the 'original' GNR is playing 2 night 4,000 person Friday/Saturday night Vegas show and not go to at least one of them.

Goddamn it.

I wish they just limited this thing to like 500 or 1,000 of them.

That I would have at least considered dropping whatever the final price is gonna be on.

If it is anywhere close to the $650 being thrown around and there are thousands and thousands made there is a 0% chance they will sell them out.  Certainly anytime soon at least.

This reaks of people unloading opened up, 'slightly used' sets on ebay for like 1/2 the original price within a year from now. 

2 minutes ago, username said:

Agreed. GnR is generally terrible at handling itself and releases. But credit where credit is due - the way they handled Troubadour was amazing and I think this in itself is generally well-done too. 

Pearl Jam also has the thing where you can buy digital soundboard live recordings of concerts through a website after going to shows right? I know Metallica and The Black Crowes do that too. I'm going to my first Pearl Jam show this summer and I'd love to get a soundboard recording of that for a few bucks. I think that whole thing is brilliant Springsteen does it too. Great way to treat the fans. 

Yeah.  Every single show.  They also have never played the same set list twice ever, whereas I could basically blindly sing backup for GnR at this point I know 'the show' so well.  I mean, don't get me wrong.  I love 'the show', but how many fucking times can you see 'the show' before it starts to get tired already.  It's like banging a super model for 25 years.  Still pretty great, but after the 7,000th time it starts to become difficult to get excited about.

In general, the 10 Club is simply incredible.  They reserve the best seats for all their members and do everything they can to get as many of them into each show as possible.  Scalping is completely verboten, incredibly hard to even do, and if you try and get caught they revoke the tickets, kick you out as a member, and will never sell you another ticket to any show ever again.

Again, musically it's hard for me to decide who is #1 and who is #2, but as far as how they run their whole operation it's honestly laughable how much better Pearl Jam is.

3 minutes ago, username said:

I disagree. In fact I think this marketing campaign is pretty brilliant. I have 2 issues though. 

1. For a normal band that has released an album in the past 2 or even 5 years, this would make sense. However, because GnR releases are less common than bigfoot sightings you'd sort of expect this to be for a new album rather than a re-issue. That's a classic case of GnR being it's own worst enemy. If they actually had put out an album recently, people would all agree this is brilliant. Now they're divided. 

2. The product itself and it's pricing. It's not just a GnR thing. Recently Pink Floyd did it too. I think 600+ is absolutely ridiculous. I'm wondering what the "regular" releases will be and how they'll be priced. So I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now. But for a release this widely marketed, you need a more accessable product at a more accessable price. 

Not to continue referencing Pearl Jam here, but I would basically give a kidney for Eddie to lock himself in a room with Axl and be like, "Dude.  Dude.  There is a right way to do this and a wrong way to do this.  Why are you guys fucking addicted to doing it the wrong way?"

I like both bands equally when it comes to the music, but watching how each one operates their business over the course of like 25 years has been fucking spectacular to witness.

I don't even have an issue with the product itself.  It actually looks pretty badass, and any die hard fan would obviously love to have one.

What I have an issue with is setting up a dedicated website with a fucking countdown clock and way markers you need to active GPS on your phone for and shit to follow.... all for a fucking box set.

This band KILLED it with how they handled the Troubadour show.  Having a super secret location you needed to be at to score insanely limited tickets to their 1st show back together at a small club they cut their teeth in, and handing out limited edition collectors versions of the tickets to the crowd as they stood in line to get in.  Fucking badass.  I couldn't have loved that any more.

Outside of the Vegas shows afterwards, which were also amazing, I basically loathe how this band has handled everything since.