SilverMachine

I think lots of us on here - with good reason - think that this has the potential for being an absolute clusterfuck for the band.

It's as high profile as a gig gets these days, there's going to be an enormous amount of scrutiny with the TV broadcast and they're up against a lot of media and public hostility to them playing, with lots of preconceived ideas about what the band was and is now.

One look at the comments on social media greeting the line-up announcement will tell you all that.

But....

This is also a massive opportunity for the band where they really could define a new part of their legacy and win people over.

If Axl has a good night and the rest of the stars align, it could go down as a classic Guns 'n' Roses moment.

I'm willing them on to go smash it.

On the original Guardian article, Queens of the Stone Age are listed, but they're not on the official poster for some reason.

Just now, SilverMachine said:

On the original Guardian article, Queens of the Stone Age are listed, but they're not on the official poster for some reason.

And now QoTSA have been removed from the Guardian article.

Still can't quite believe its happening, but happening it is:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/mar/03/arctic-monkeys-guns-n-roses-elton-john-all-male-glastonbury-headliners-a-pipeline-problem-says-emily-eavis

Sounds like the slot became available because of Taylor Swift pulling out.

Will be a lot of scrutiny the band now for sure, both in terms of Axl's performance, and how they're somehow headlining a "right-on" music festival.

Quite a rock orientated line up this year which is a bit of a surprise - Guns, Manic Street Preachers, Queens of The Stone Age and Royal Blood are all on the line up.

Looks like the Dublin date has been lobbed off. 

It's worth noting that all tickets for Glastonbury have all already sold out. The crowd are always  supportive no matter the headliner, but Guns won't be playing to their own crowd here which kind of makes it unique in itself and will mean they'll have to pull out the stops (and likely play a "hits" based set).

5 minutes ago, ChristmasFnatic said:

Locomotive, Coma, Bad Obsession, Bad Apples, Human Being will be played and they will remove all CD songs and covers(even KOHD).

It's going to be a mainstream crowd so its Greatest Hits all the way I'd say, with the strong likelihood of special guests (we should have a sweepstake on here as to who will turn up - my money's on Ron Wood and Dave Grohl with an outside bet on Brian May. Wouldn't be surprised if Axl does a guest spot with Elton the following day as well).

Here's a thought, I actually think them playing Glastonbury increases the chances of a new album appearing this year.

I do understand why people might not be aware of Glastonbury or realise its scope and scale - there's plenty of good reason.

The festival actively avoided heavy rock / metal which was seen as the preserve of Donnigton / Monsters of Rock / Download.

That approach has certainly softened since the late nineties where you began to start to seeing the likes of the Deftones and Foo Fighters slipping onto the bill. Things really started changing with Metallica headlining in 2014.

It just wasn't seen as a rockers festival up until recently and wouldn't be on your average metal head's radar.

6 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

Haha! 

That genuinely made me chuckle! 

And, despite the snark, I'd say every word of that statement is accurate!

I'll put it one final way - if they are indeed headlining the Pyramid Stage I would argue this gig will have more bearing on their legacy than their appearance at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. 

More eyes will be on it.

49 minutes ago, EvanG said:

There are so many huge festivals in the world, especially in Europe. Should it be so surprising that someone at the other side of the world hasn’t heard about all of them? Maybe Glastonbury is a big deal in the UK, but the world is bigger than the UK.

Just for clarity, I'm not in the UK.

History:

Glastonbury, alongside Roskilde is essentially the event that ushered in the era of the three-day festival.

Coachella, Bonaroo, Electric Daisy Carnival, Burning Man, Governors Ball etc are all direct descendants - Lollapalooza was set up by Perry Farrell after attending Glastonbury in the early nineties as there wasn't anything comparable in the States at that time.

Scale: Only the Rio carnival matches it for convergence of people and crew. There's 210,000 paid customers at Glastonbury and in excess of 20,000 staff and performers.

Industry scope:
The entire worldwide festival calendar to some extent is based on it annual lineup - headline acts tend to base their production around their Glastonbury show and then scale it down. The festival also hires out its logistics and rigging to other festivals around Europe and even the US now.

Prestige: Glastonbury famously doesn't pay anything near industry rates for acts - headline bands pretty much play it for kudos /raised profile etc. Most headline acts will make a loss after production costs are taken into account. 

Its one of the reasons why its something of a surprise to see Guns and Roses play this gig and I have to say its kind of encouraging - the main criticism of the band right now is that the reunion has been one extended cash grab - playing Glastonbury is obviously an Axl decision - its a means of ensuring Guns are placed in the pantheon of the "big bands".

Look at who has headlined since the nineties: Bowie, McCartney, Springsteen, Rolling Stones, The Who, Neil Young, Metallica- basically the elite of the heritage acts that are still standing. U2 even did it and they don't do festivals (they basically took their entire touring production - it took four years to plan).

I know it doesn't get broadcast in the States, but its influence and recognition makes it the biggest musical event in the western world calendar only behind (I'm not shitting you), Eurovision.

Going to throw a spanner in the works here - Guns might be all but confirmed for the Saturday, but my hunch is that they're not going to be a headline act - at least not on the Pyramid Stage.

Working on the basis that Arctic Monkeys will be confirmed as a headliner, and that Elton John already has been for the Sunday, I really can't see Guns being the third - they wouldn't pick two heritage acts to top the bill.

On top of this, Glastonbury has been going out of its way to have a bigger representation of women on its line up for the past few years - I can't see them not having one female headliner on the Pyramid - and that's before you take into account the strong rumours of Taylor Swift being named in the coming weeks.

My hunch is that Guns will headline the Other Stage.

Finally, for anyone who hasn't heard of Glastonbury or regards it as just another gig, I have to ask the question, are you actually even into music?

If Guns do actually get a Pyramid Stage headline spot then its probably the most high profile gig of their career.

I'd still be hopeful for more UK dates (and an Ireland one) being announced in the coming weeks.

Have mentioned before that I spoke to a crew member after the Marlay Park show that was adamant they were already booked up to play Dublin again in 2023.

That said, Hyde Park aside, they've missed what has now become a traditional key selling period for stadium gig concert tickets in the UK (the run up to Christmas).

Beginning to wonder if this run of European dates will primarily focus on festival dates.

Crew I spoke to at Marlay Park in the summer all knew they would be back for at least one Dublin show with G'n'R in summer 2023, wasn't sure of the venue.

Just tuned in - Absurd sounded really good - Axl's singing it a bit different - best I've heard him for a while.

Think I’ve said this before, but they really should have made more of the Ritz 91 video - it’s pretty special. 

The bits I've seen of the Ritz, my abiding thought is that with Izzy on stage they still look like a proper band up there - a gang.

There's footage of Don't Cry at The Ritz doing the rounds on a certain popular video streaming site.

It really is quite something.

Mix of arenas and festivals for next year’s Euro run was what I was told after Dublin and would make sense.

You don’t do Glastonbury for money - it’s one for kudos and, intriguingly, exposure. If they do it then it suggests they will have something to sell perhaps beyond the UYI box set.  

Brave move if they do it, as, as others have mentioned, it puts them under the sort of scrutiny of a large live TV audience that will be a million miles from the partisan crowds that they’re used to.

One to keep an eye on - friend is a former producer on Jools Holland and apparently they’re trying hard to book them for an appearance for their summer run of shows  - they came incredibly close to agreeing and appearing on the programme back in 2006.

1 hour ago, StrangerInThisTown said:

Baffling? It's deliberately included there to milk the fans who only want the Bluray so they will have to buy the entire boxset to be able to get it. You can't charge that amount for a seperate release, which will come later down the line anyway.

Only saw the above post after posting my comment.

A box set by its very nature is a small run. A Blu-Ray / digital release for a feature length film has far more scope for a bigger margin (if money is the objective). Furthermore, an exclusive release with a streaming partner like a Netflix or Apple - which I'm convinced they could have secured with this footage, could have also pulled in bigger bucks and gathered a great deal of new interest in the band.

I really feel like they're under selling this.

Having now watched the video (its been a busy day), I'm left wondering why they haven't made a bigger deal of the concert film.

This footage is golden and looks strong enough to have been a proper standalone release rather than just an added extra in a box set.

Dare I say it, but a limited cinema release would likely have been a success. 

4 hours ago, saint_seiya_aka_buckethead said:

the camera man also filmed the Nirvana Live at the Paramount concert. All 16mm footage!

It was the first thing I thought of when I saw the clip - you can see such a similarity in the colours. 16mm is so evocative.

I didn't expect any unreleased songs bar Ain't Going Down and the unused Spaghetti Incident tracks - having released two double albums at the time I'd be surprised if there was anything left over of note. (I have a vague recollection of a Slash interview around the time of release  saying that they'd basically used up their reserve of songs and next time out they would have to start from scratch).

All hope of an Atmos or surround mix ended when Steven Wilson revealed his attempt had been canned - would be interested to know why it got tossed as it seems like plenty of work went into it.

What I did think would be made available would be alternate mixes such as the fabled Clearmountain attempt as well as demos and outakes. Does seem a big oversight, but maybe points to other stuff one day being released.

Reading between the lines, as a few folk have suggested, it looks like the November Rain 2022 version is just the synth strings replaced by a real orchestra with a more modern mix - don't think any of the original band member parts will have been re-recorded. 

Pretty strange choice for the first released track - the guitars in the intro are all over the shop as are Axl's delivery throughout. Guess having it warts and all is to be applauded and marks a real contrast to the overdubbed Live Era approach.

Decent timepiece - it does very much sound like a band still trying to work how to play a new song live which would have been the case back in May 91. Interesting hearing Izzy also using wah with Slash for the riff, and Axl's acknowledgement that he's injured his leg at the end of the song.