Use Your Delusion II

April 8th in Vegas is my favorite.  Missed the beginning, but here is my video:

I apologize in advance if I'm repeating anything already said in the previous 62 pages, but here are my thoughts:

1) This Izzy feud is a great example if why the band doesn't do interviews.  Axl attempting to side step a sensitive topic (imperfectly, but somewhat respectfully) leads to THIS.

2) This tour has exceeded my expectations in almost every way possible.  However, I can'tell help but be a little bummed that we were so close to seeing the Appetite lineup in Vegas and it didn'the happen because of unfortunate circumstances (Adler injury) and money (Izzy).

3)  It's really hard for me to pick a side on this issue.  BOTH sides are guilty about making it about money - without more details, it's impossible to say who is being more unreasonable.  It's just really sad that right now could be the last opportunity for a full reunion to happen, and it's not because these rich guys can't decide specifically how much richer it should make each of them.

I'll also add that Better was incredible and, in my opinion, it's been one of the worst songs for Axl so far on this tour.  This I Love was pretty much vocal perfection.  The ending of Coma looked like it was a breeze.  What the hell got into him last night?

Finally watching some vids from last night....holy shit, Axl was on fire.  You guys weren't exaggerating.  After all these years, I still can't believe Slash and Duff are back AND Axl is delivering some of his best vocals in the last 20 years.  Never thought this could happen after seeing the last 5 years of Axl.

9 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

What about the people who cannot attend because they have been priced out?

There were plenty of "cheap" seats available for those who just wanted to be there.   From what I saw (mostly following the 2nd Chicago show), the cheap seats sold well and the really good seats sold well.  The middle of the floor and the lower bowl were priced as if they are really good seats and they just aren't.  Those prices should have been lowered, and consequently, that's where they had to move all the people who bought the cheapest tickets.

16 hours ago, RussTCB said:

This.

Tickets should have been $40 - $150 which would have sold every city and the second dates out in a heartbeat. I think the tour is a success overall, but it could have been HUGE if it was priced right.

If they sold out shows by reducing ticket prices by about 30%, the total revenue would be less than if they sell 80-90% of tickets at the current prices.  Just sayin...

No complaints here.  Awesome show.

3 minutes ago, GNR3312 said:

Axls and Slashes in the crowd. 

No upper bowl closure for this one!

12 minutes ago, Original said:

I said it before- should have been Chicago (one night), Dallas (one night) and Met Life (2 nights) as far as stadiums. Then massive arena tour.  

Even though these shows aren't sellouts, they are still huge crowds and the numbers are probably looking fine.  For Chicago, selling out just the A sections on the floor is about $750k (without even factoring in the more expensive VIP packages).  Night 2 looks bad, but they don't need to tear down and setup the stage again or travel.  Unfortunately, they don't get to print anymore shirts that say "SOLD OUT" across all the tour dates...

1 hour ago, sanity_lost said:

I've never paid to attention to ticket sales before. I am starting to find this stuff interesting.

I had checked the KC seating chart during the weekend right before the DC concert and there were still a lot of empty seats all over the place. Like half a row here, a few seats in a row there. Stuff like that. When DC closed off their top level I wondered if they'd close off the top level KC as well and if it would be as messy reseating all of those people. Then when the seating chart was posted on the KC thread with most of the seats filled  it surprised me. I was in a little disbelief that, that many tickets suddenly sold in only a handful of days before the show. I didn't automatically guess they were closing the top levels because they still showed some seats available up there. Which I guess kind of makes sense in hindsight. Might as well. If you get a few impulse buyers for the cheap seats then you can move them down as well.

I have also found the Ticketmaster games to be interesting.  Watching tickets appear, disappear, and appear again; price changes; VIP seats converted to regular seats; Travelzoo deals; section closings; etc.  However, it is maddening to buy seats for $250 a pop and see a bunch of better seats appear several weeks later.

56 minutes ago, axlinkafayette said:

Man, that 2nd Chicago show looks like there are seats available everywhere

I just looked at the seating chart and noticed huge blocks of tickets on the floor have disappeared today in Sections B2-4.  I'm pretty sure they didn't actually sell - either TM is back to withholding more tickets temporarily, or those are going to giveaways or some other deal.

17 minutes ago, emybdc said:

Marc told me the same thing when I met with him back in April. He said he didn't know for sure cause he hadn't taked to Izzy in a long time, but from what he knows about Izzy, he believes he wanted to be a full time member and get the same as Slash and Duff. Apparently, that offer wans't on the table. Putting these pieces of information together, I believe that's what really happened with Izzy.

I have mixed emotions about this one.  If Izzy wanted in full time, I'm obviously disappointed they couldn't work it out.  However, Axl would have to be a heartless bastard to kick Fortus out of the band right before their biggest tour in 23 years.  When you work closely with someone for that long, you typically build a relationship beyond professional loyalty.  I personally couldn't do someone dirty like that.

Reading all the negative comments about the show last night made me think I was in store for some dreadful videos.  Then I watched a few and Axl didn't sound all that much different to me than he did in the first few shows.  Is it possible that so many people had great things to say about the Detroit and Washington D.C. shows that expectations rose to a level where a letdown was inevitable for some people?

Example: I keep reading how Slash has been improving on his "This I love solo" each show, but I watched my own video from 4/8 and I felt like it was better/tighter that night than some of the recent shows.  The progression of discussion in here was generally:

Slash's version of this solo could be epic -> Eh, too much noodling, This I Love still sucks, he should have played the original version -> Slash's This I Love solo keeps getting better -> This song is one of the highlights now because of Slash

I think we're all crazy...

6 minutes ago, axlinkafayette said:

If you think this show was less than full...wait till you see Sunday's crowd in chicago, i'll be there, but there won't be more than 20K

I'll be there too - A3 Row 7.  I'm guessing they remove some of the rear floor sections and move those people up - in addition to closing the upper bowl.  Whatever...I'm sure it will be a great show, and it's still impressive to me that they sold that many tickets at those prices, with promotion shortcomings, and with a fairly weak opener.  If they sold 70K between both shows, that's still the equivalent of about 4 United Center sellouts, right?

2 minutes ago, davhern said:

So if the rule is not to wear a t-shirt of the band you're going to see to a concert, what if I wear my VR 2004 tour t-shirt? 

Doesn't this rule go out the window for GNR?  I mean, it's been 23 years since the last real tour.  

I'm either wearing my Las Vegas shirt or I'm putting on whatever I buy at the Chicago show.  I don't care if I'm uncool.

2 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

It is just nostalgia though. I've said it before but it is like Buffalo Bill's Wild West; people went to see this sorry spectacle to see the dying embers of America's Wild West before its key participants (the one's who survived its battles) were dead, poor old Sitting Bull, once proud warrior, paraded around the world like a mannequin, people gawping at him. People just go to see these things - same with the Stones - so they can say, ''I saw ___'' before all the participants die off. It is music as a museum piece, as exhibit. You get bummed up the arse on ticket prices. Get a signed VIP laminated lithograph for your wall. Get bummed up the arse on t-shirts. All this expensive tat I suppose will help you relive the memory. You see the hits. Come home. It is a vacuous exercise. There is no creativity or spontaneity there.

Compare it to somebody like Springsteen, Neil Young or Dylan, people who release new albums, change their setlists constantly, and play new material. 

Do you not remember a time when Rose was a songwriter? That was a nice time. Do you not remember the time he promised three albums? Heck, Slash released three albums in three years!

I honestly wouldn't see this charade.

I does feel like a nostalgia tour right now, for the most part.  I'm not a musician, but I imagine it took Slash and Duff some time to relearn some of the old songs and get comfortable playing with the new band members.  Additionally, they reworked some of the Chinese Democracy songs with new solos by Slash, which is pseudo-new music in my view.  I think it's too much to expect that they would have been working on new music and had it ready to roll out in front of an audience by now, especially with the expectations involved.  I'm going to enjoy this tour for what it is right now and worry about new music later.

2 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

I just didn't think it would be like this. There is no album out!! Why are they touring?

I understand where you're coming from.  I think they are touring for one of the following two reasons:

1) Cash Grab - They saw the window closing to make a ton of money off of a reunion, so they swallowed their pride and made it happen in the name of $$$.

2) After 20 years of never reaching GNR levels of greatness individually, they genuinely regretted what happened and wanted to relive being in one of the greatest bands of all time.  A tour gives them a chance to do that, new music or not.  It might be the last hurrah and closure for everyone (Axl, Slash, and Duff, but also all of us), or maybe they're here to stay and will bring us a new album in the near future.

I'm betting on #2, and I doubt any of them know for sure what will happen after this tour.  They might be testing the waters to see how the world responds, how they get along with each other on the road, and if they are inspired to write new music that lives up to GNR standards.  Whatever the reasons, there was no chance in hell I was going to miss it.

1 hour ago, DieselDaisy said:

Do they really need to charge such exorbitant prices and sell loads of tat, and could they not write a couple of new songs rather than cashing in on the past?

I never thought Guns would end up like this.

I actually don't mind the ticket prices being what they are (for the most part).  If you just want to be there, you can get a ticket in the $40s, which isn't bad at all.  If they priced the good seats a lot lower, they would have sold much faster, but more of those tickets would have been immediately listed on Stubhub, etc.  I'd rather see my money go to the band rather than scalpers and ticket brokers.

That being said, if they tour again a couple years, I won't be buying more $250+ tickets - even if there is new music.  

On 6/28/2016 at 9:25 PM, Use Your Delusion II said:

The light colored seats on the map

Alt Nation appears to be using my screen grabs....

http://www.alternativenation.net/are-guns-n-roses-stadium-shows-selling-out/

10 minutes ago, scooby845 said:

well ok then.. still dont get why you had to cancel your GnR concert just cause your friends backed out..why not go alone?

Oh, I'm still going.  I just meant that I ran out of people willing to pay face ($270) or close to it for my extra ticket.  I gave a steep discount to a friend who really wanted to go but didn't have that much cash to blow on GNR - sold it to him for $95.

22 minutes ago, scooby845 said:

so you're 33 years old and judging people cause of their taste in music (Coldplay)?? Well...way to go..

I'm only joking - I don't mind if you (or anyone else) like Coldplay.  I think I even own one of their first albums.  

1 minute ago, Braxon Raine said:

I noticed something on my facebook feed... less than a year ago maybe 5-6 of my friends "liked" GNR.  I checked the other day.  It's up to 16.  Beginnings of world dominance?

I can't say the same, but 38 people did "like" my profile pic of my wife and I dressed as Axl and Slash for Halloween in 2008 (posted this April).  I hope I helped sell at least one Not in This Lifetime Tour ticket with that free advertisement.

26 minutes ago, scooby845 said:

I know you're all gonna start hating cause you;re sensitive to this stuff - but how is it possible that Coldplay can sell out two Soldier Fields and Metlifes and REUNITED GnR cannot? I know they play 10 stadiums in US while GnR 25 but every one of Coldplay's is completely sold out... take a look at Ticketmaster the seconds Soldier Field date...

I am 33.  Of my 504 Facebook friends, 23 "like" Coldplay and a paltry 4 "like" GNR, which makes me very, very sad.  I practically had to give away a 7th row, dead center ticket to the July 3rd show after a few friends backed out.

I know 504 people is a small sample size...and it might just be proof that I am friends with a bunch of losers.