Draguns

On 8/2/2023 at 5:38 AM, JimiRose said:

It absolutely does when you see a band in a stadium. In a club or amphitheatre no pyro is required. it's all about the up close and personal and being at one with the band, When you are 3 miles back with 80k people watching ants on a stage for £150 per ticket, you bring pyro, you bring fireworks you bring confetti. Especially when you once did, because as someone who has seem GnR 17 times, it is massively noticeable without.

As much as certain fans like to put GnR on this pedestal of being 'real hardcore music, all about music' etc that isn't really true. GnR were the theatrics, the practically fancy dress of Axl n Slash, the stage antics, the 80s era nostalgia where everyone thinks of fireworks and big hair.  Along with Kiss, Crue. Yes we know they were more than that musically and meaning wise compared to those bands, but not as big as you think. They're not the clash, they're an 80s rock band, Give us a show. 

Live and let die, paradise city and november rain are the big ones that were great with pyro. Other songs had them but didnt always add to the experience, but was fun to watch nonetheless. 

I know that you have been mentioning pyro in this thread. It seems like pyro isn't used as much as it was before. I have seen Metallica 4 times prior to last night. They have always used a lot of pyro including in 2017. Last night, they only used it for Fuel. They kept it mostly at a minimum  Maybe tomorrow night, it'll be different, but last night they didn't used much pyro. 

On 8/4/2023 at 9:08 AM, Mansin Humanity said:

yeah, coming from upper manhattan. agree that if you're in NJ going in isn't that bad but either way wherever you're coming from you're gonna have a bad time at at least one point

Ah ok. My childhood friend, his son, my brother, and I went to the Metallica concert last night. We drove early, which wasn't a problem. Leaving the stadium, though, was a nightmare. It was worse than it usually is. We saw attendants just standing around and not directing any traffic whatsoever. 

11 hours ago, Mansin Humanity said:

i'm going to metallica twice at metlife and (probably) not guns bc metlife is a tremendous pain in the ass to get to and metallica, unlike guns, has offered me and the general public real reasons to schlep out there

edit: if gnr was at msg i'd be there, because that's a 15 minute train ride with no transfers vs. closer to 90 minutes with 2 transfers. they aren't going to overcome a relatively samey show (yes i know the setlist has been tweaked) AND the metlife thing. if only one was true it'd be different and i can't imagine i'm the only one in that boat

Are you coming from NYC? If you live in NJ, getting to MetLife isn't that bad. Exiting MetLife, though, is what I find to be a big pain in the ass due to driving. 

19 minutes ago, felixGNR said:

Interesting! I don't know how both news websites got 40,000+. There has to be a reason as to why it was stated. Nevertheless, you have to keep in mind that Covid was still around and the GNR concert was the first event at MetLife Stadium after reopening. 

7 hours ago, RONIN said:

That's why I said "imho", just my humble opinion. I was also referring mostly to the breakup years which has diminished GnR's impact in America. GnR's pop culture exposure from 1996-2016 is minimal compared to Metallica and Nirvana. I don't think that's a controversial statement. Axl himself did not want to promote the old band's legacy during those years. Metallica and Dave Grohl were everywhere during those years unlike Axl. Again, I don't think I'm being controversial by saying that GnR was considered a joke in America before Slash came back. If you don't believe me, here's a clip of Corey Taylor talking about going to a nu guns show and the crowd jeering as soon as he mentions GnR. People respected the old band but most downplayed their legacy here....because nu guns had tainted the whole thing. It's only after the reunion that the narrative started to slowly change. Helped in no small part by far better press coverage than the wilderness years. Thor and Jumanji came out after the reunion. We're talking about the post-breakup years - 20 solid years where Axl and Slash were not on speaking terms and suing each other over various things.

Slash (a.k.a. Saul Hudson), McKagan and Rose again have their names on a legal document, only this time their union is adversarial: the two members of Velvet Revolver are suing Axl for at least $1 million, according to "Celebrity Justice."

In the suit, Rose is accused of rejecting requests to use old Guns N' Roses songs in major motion pictures even though he lacks controlling interest in the material. Slash and McKagan added that they weren't consulted when their ex-bandmate nixed lucrative offers from the makers of "We Were Soldiers," "Death to Smoochy," "Old School" and "Just Married."

The suit also claims Rose killed negotiations with the producers of "Black Hawk Down," who wanted to use "Welcome to the Jungle" in their movie. He allegedly had wanted to re-record the track with the new members of GN'R he had hired so Slash and McKagan wouldn't receive any licensing payment.

https://www.mtv.com/news/nqetns/axl-rose-sued-by-ex-guns-n-roses-bandmates

 

 

Nice to see you moving the goal post. You didn't even brought up the years. Nirvana wasn't relevant by the late 2000s. It was more the Foo fighters. Metallica had St. Anger and was still feeling the fallout from Napster. Plethora of people didn't like Metallica as a result at that time period.  People were still intrigued by GNR  in the 2000s.  I don't agree that Buckethead should have been in GNR, but he did piqued a lot of people's interest. Additionally, CD had leaked and was played a lot on Myspace. They had been somewhat relevant.  Furthermore VR had help keep the GNR name in modern day culture at that time. 

You can't be moving goal posts  and bring up 

17 hours ago, felixGNR said:

who are you gonna believe?  Pollstar or some random  news website, actually the actual number was 35k.

their failure selling tickets  nothing to do with covid  imo ( by February 2020 the summer 2020 tour was on sale for 3 months)

Metlife sold like 25% by then.

I'm comparing stadium acts. the 2021 show was also 5 years since the last time GNR  played Metlife.

Bruce Springsteen  is also playing 3 dates.

Metallica is playing 2  dates.

Beyonce played 2 dates.

Ed Sheeran played 2 dates

a korean band/ latin singer are playing 2 dates each.

 

GNR is not an Stadium act at least on the USA.

Can you please post the stats from Pollstar? I cannot access the data from there since you need a subscription. Additionally, the link I posted was from Asbury Press, which is a NJ paper. NJ.com also stated 40,000+ As someone who works for a financial news and and information company, it has been my experience that most numbers are accurate from articles. Additionally, there can be a discrepancy between what Polar has and other data providers depending on methodology. 

Again, you are naming bands or music artists that haven't played in years in the area. GNR last played in the area in 2017 prior to the 2021 concert. They had shows at MSG and Prudential Center. 

Lastly, you easily disregard Covid for 2021. I went to Giant games that year. It wasn't full capacity even for Giants games. There were empty seats. People were still scared about COVID.  

12 hours ago, felixGNR said:

but that's a fact.

 

they went from playing Metlife stadium (2016 2 shows over 100k tickets sold)

 

to play the same venue to 37k ( 2021 1 show)

 

Swift just played 3 sold out shows ( could have played 10 shows if she wants it.)

 

 

 

now the Metlife show would hit 30k if lucky. ( tons of give away i guess) 

You are wrong. It was 40,000+ fans https://www.app.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/08/06/guns-n-roses-metlife-stadium-east-rutherford-biz-markie-setlist/5505026001/


Additionally, you intentionally left out that we were still in lockdown at the time and that Governor Murphy made an announcement in late May that venues would start to reopen in NJ. Furthermore,  the GNR  concert was the first concert at MetLife since the pandemic started.  People were still apprehensive in going out. Considering that this was the first show since the pandemic began, the numbers were pretty solid.

Lastly, you brought up Taylor Swift. Of course the demand for her was going to skyrocket since the last time she  played at MetLife Stadium was 5 years ago. Her genre is pop, which  seems to be more popular. You can't compare GNR to Swift as a result if these facts.   

19 hours ago, RONIN said:

GnR is a band that is not relevant to anyone under 45 in North America. I even wonder sometimes how relevant they are to the GenX crowd (their bread and butter base). The 40+ crowd are busy and picky about what they devote their limited time to. GnR is offering nothing new - these tours are the very definition of a cynical cash grab. There is nothing new to hook someone as a repeat customer. It also needs to be said that GnR literally fell off the map here since '94 and missed their last chance to be relevant (circa 2006). So you have a decade too late reunion, a largely irrelevant brand, a divisive singer with rapidly diminishing vocal power, and a band that is only 3/5 reunited. Everything post-2017 is going to be a case of been there done that. The short catalogue and lack of new material doesn't help either.  I'm amazed they're still able to fill arenas currently in NA. Testament to what they built from 87-94.

In the larger scheme of things (imho), Axl self-destructing during the crucial period of the mid-90's allowed Metallica and Nirvana to rewrite the era's narrative and supplant GnR's place as the preeminent rock/metal band of that era. Rose being an extremely divisive figure cemented all of that as a de facto thing. That means less PR fluff pieces on Vh1, less inclusions in 90's spotify playlists, less chances to be featured in hit movies, etc. Less relevance in pop culture for the past 20+ yrs. The culture and people moved on from GnR. All of that is reflected in the ticket sales. Metallica and Nirvana are peers from their era who are relevant in a way that GnR will never be I think. GnR's "reunion" has rejuvenated the brand in a major way, and they're giving it their all on tour which helps but the incompetent management, greed, and refusal to release either old or new material is really hurting the momentum and legacy I think.

I have to challenge this thinking here.  GNR's music was heavily featured in the last Thor movie. GNR's songs have been in other movies shows and video games. Captain Marvel dressed as Axl when she was younger.  I think this is a bit too much BS to say that Nirvana and Metallica are more relevant than GNR.  Additionally,  VH1 did a GNR special when the old band didn't even exist. Lastly, I see GNR in plenty of playlists on Spotify. No offense but I find your post to be a bunch of BS. 

1 hour ago, allwaystired said:

Yeah but that's secondary market prices. 

As a comparison, here in the UK.....

The top price ticket for the Taylor Swift tour (not counting VIP bundles, which didn't actually get you better seats anyway) was £187. 

The top price GC price for GNR in Glasgow was £175- £200. Standing tickets outside of this were £90. In London the prices for GNR were considerably higher, with GC around the £250 mark. 

Taylor Swift actively chose not to get involved in the shameless 'variable pricing' Ticketmaster nonsense that Springsteen greedily decided he wanted to so his prices went bonkers. Of note though is that Springsteen tickets were available for peanuts later on as many of his fans didn't play ball and voted with their feet. 

That GNR tickets are more expensive than Taylor Swift ones in the UK is absolutely bonkers, considering the show she is touring. 

But as as to the posters original point- perhaps music in America isn't so utterly consumed with nostalgia as it is in Europe? 

It did surprise me greatly that the GNR tour sold as well as it did this time....but even more surprising to me was that no-one knew the music, something that was reported here from gigs in many different countries. That's possibly the weirdest bit, seeing how high the prices are. 

It's difficult to see how people won't be panicking behind the scenes with this American shows though. The band get paid regardless, but someone, somewhere has to be losing money based on some of the sales people have been posting. 

I see it as a positive though. It means something has to change, one way or another. 

Good luck trying to pay face value for Taylor Swift tickets here in the States. That's just not happening and not realistic. Additionally, Springsteen tickets did not go down when he played MSG, UBS Arena (in Brooklyn) and the Prudential Center. 
 

6 hours ago, Powderfinger said:

Over saturation and over familiarity? 

They’ve toured pretty consistently in NA over the last 20 years or so and  
since 1991 at least a third of the current set has been played every night. It’s been 30 years of mostly the same old songs with not much new material released.
 

There’s too many options for concerts this summer than to (over) spend on one GnR ticket. If it’s an option between a show you’ve seen maybe 4 times in the last 7 years that’s mostly the same again why would you buy that ticket over 2-3 tickets for bands you haven’t seen for the same money.

NA is really only two countries at the end of the day. Both huge countries, but I think GnR have oversaturated both at this point.

If you think that a person overspends on GNR, try looking at tickets for Taylor Swift or Bruce. Even Beyonce charged tickets that were over a grand this past weekend. I do agree with you on your other point that there are too many options this year.

7 hours ago, Karice said:

My God, $1,000-2,000 for Beyonce, Bruce, and Taylor? 🧐😵‍💫 What in the actual fuck? 😵‍💫 🧐And people are complaining about paying $375 to see Guns N'Roses? 😵‍💫🧐

I'm going to see Metallica next weekend and GNR on August 15. For both artists, I paid $180.  For the GNR show, I could have gotten tickets for $130, but my friend wanted a lower section. The people who are complaining are the ones that are picking  the most expensive seats at any concert, which is floor, and want them for cheap. That's not how the market for concerts work nowadays.  I also don't think people do their research and see how much some artists charge along with their performance  time.  GNR plays for 3+ hours. That's a lot. It's not like the RHCP who play for 90 minutes and charge $300 for upper level seats.  In the most expensive market in the United States (NJ/NYC metro area), both Metallica and GNR were priced on the average of what concert tickets are nowadays.  

The prices for GNR tickets here in the United States are on average. It's not bad at all. Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Brice Springsteen tickets were about $1,000-$2,000 at MetLife Stadium.  I think there are two issues as to why GNR has not sold out MetLife Stadium. First is the fact that it's on a Tuesday night in August. People are either working or on vacation.  I don't get why they scheduled a concert in the second biggest market on a Tuesday night. It should have been scheduled on August 11. They scheduled Hershey Park on August 11. The dates should have been switched. I have a feeling, though, it has to do with the supply chain logistics of Metallica having 2 shows next weekend at MetLife Stadium. 

This brings up my second point. Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Metallica, and Bruce Springsteen have not played at MetLife Stadium in years.  I think with people unsure of where the economy was going earlier this year, they chose bands and music artists who haven't appeared in a long time. I think it just got too crowded for GNR due to the economy and  having a concert here  2 years ago. I think a fall tour would have been better at either a stadium or arena.  There's not as much going on concert wise in the fall.  

On 7/23/2023 at 5:40 PM, vloors said:

You failed right there being 31 years old so probably have no idea. Extreme were huge in the early 90s selling more than 10 million records. Being on the freddy mercury tribute. Had lots of radio play with other songs like Hole Hearted, get the funk out and yes more than words. 

Nuno is a highly regarded technical guitar player and alot of players consider him up there amongst EVH capabilities. More people know Nuno then who richard is (barely anyone even at the gnr shows).

Saying that he should have just owned up and said he worded it wrong instead if being defensive. He came off very immature.

Personally I also see them both as sell outs playing for Rihanna.

I grew up around that time period. I wouldn't say they were huge. They were a one hit wonder with More Than Words. Other than that Extreme wasn't that big back then. 

1 hour ago, HollyWoodRose84 said:

It’s easy to understand. 99% of them earn their money from hard work and don’t appreciate others profiting off of they’re hard work by doing absolutely nothing. People don’t go to venues to see the venue. They go to the venue to see the artist. The venue makes money off the artists performing there. Artists have been getting screwed by promoters, producers, managers and ticket agencies since the beginning. There’s nothing wrong with an artist asking for profits from whatever is being sold at the venue due to them being there in the first place. You can blame the promoters for tickets costing in come cases thousands of dollars a seat. They are doing everything they can to exploit popular acts and make as much money off of them as possible. 

That’s great. Ask him if he would like my Zelle information. 

Hahahaha

11 hours ago, LandOla said:

Hello Google worker

Not a Google worker. My employer was the former mayor of NYC. 

3 hours ago, Nintari said:

As someone who's very interested in psychology, it's always puzzling to me how millionaires can be so hung up on money. I mean, I'm well aware that my pathology is unique, and that there are many things at play here but... how? If I woke up tomorrow with Axl's bank account, I can one-hundred-percent guarantee the last thing in the world I would care about is making money. Actually, I'd probably click my heels and start searching for ways to give large portions of it away to those who really need it.

Well my boss gives  his money away. He's much richer than  Axl, though. In fact, he's the 7th richest person in the world. 

My opinion is that there will be more touring and probably some new songs release. For me, I'll see them if they are in the NJ/NYC area and how my parents are doing if GNR comes back in 2025 or beyond that. I'm seeing GNR for the 9th time in August at MetLife. I'm just going to enjoy it and not worry about 2024 and beyond!

4 hours ago, HollyWoodRose84 said:

Still say nothing will debut until they hit the States. My guess at Metlife 

I agree with you. MetLife Stadium  is  the second biggest media market in the United States so it makes sense. 

There is a bit of a difference from what I noticed. When GNR was at MetLife Stadium 2 years ago, I wanted a  GNR shirt that  had NY Giants colors on it with a football. The shirt was sold out in my size so I had to get the AFD cross GNR shirt. I then bought the GNR/NY Giants shirt through the tour truck merchandise website.  The shirt I bought at MetLife is definitely a higher quality than the one from the tour truck website. I mostly wear the GNR/NY Giants shirt, though, since I want to keep the other  for a long time. 

5 minutes ago, Ratam said:

Album or not album, then Happy Birthday to you! ☺

Thank you! 

3 hours ago, SAU3R said:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuUy3_Ipj76/?igshid=Y2I2MzMwZWM3ZA==
 

that’s probably the big news 

Well if tomorrow they announce new music that'll be a great birthday gift to me. 

This has to be one of the best performances  by them since 2016. 

I hope this gets a physical release!