Gnrcane

Did Izzy ever sing it live?

I disagree. The turmoil going on in Axl's life added to the artistic output that was on the UYI albums. For instance, we'd never have gotten the epic masterpiece Estranged if Axl wasn't going through a bunch of shit at the time he wrote it. Just a little nitpick to your hypothetical story, if Axl's mom said something like you suggested she would have called Axl "Billy or William." He didn't become "Axl" until it would have been way too late to stop the childhood abuse.

Nobody outside of super fans would notice the drummer is different if Frank didn't have a darker complexion than Steven and Matt. Probably half the audience at any show thinks Richard has been there since the 80s and don't know Izzy's name.

I think you are onto something. The times I've seen them in Florida, Axl always sounds above average for the time period. Lord knows it's humid here!

I saw too much of Axl in the biker shorts days!

There's exactly one person on stage that I would like to witness have a wardrobe malfunction and it definitely isn't Slash! Note: This is coming from a straight male.

If an artist's goal is to make a good living off of their art they have to make compromises. If they just want to make art to express themselves they can do whatever they want. If buying a ton of records and continuing to pay to go see concerts is the sign of being treated poorly by a fan base then I guess Taylor Swift is a victim of abuse compared to Axl! How has the fanbase treated him poorly (other than some complaining about his voice at 54-61 years old on the internet).

Not going overboard singing with vocal chord shredding rasp on the UYI tour to save his voice for the future. Going back and listening to some of those shows and then listening to the UYI recordings reminds me that he didn't rasp at nearly the level of the live performances on the recording. On the albums he sung with rasp. In a lot of the live performances he rasped in a way that somewhat followed the notes to sing.

I saw this at hard rock Hollywood. I assume they started putting down carpets so Axl wouldn't slip easily. I have no idea why it needs to be vacuumed after the opening act. They used cordless Dyson vacuums in FL also.

Also a little ironic since I don't think there are Duff vocals on the studio recording.

What time stamp? I didn't catch that.

Obviously we all know that none of the concert footage was from performing Perhaps, however, I still find it funny that, at 2:56 in the video, you can clearly read the Rocket Queen lyrics on the teleprompters. And, at 3:13 is YCBM.

The lyrics to OIAM are offensive but that doesn't make them awful from an artistic point of view. They portrayed the thoughts of a "small town white boy" going to a big city in the late 1970s/early 1980s. I don't know where you are from or how old you are but, somebody growing up in a small town in rural Indiana in the 1960s and 1970s would not have come into contact with very many people, if any, who weren't straight and white. There wasn't any internet so the only exposure to other cultures that somebody would get is maybe a little from watching TV shows, depending on the shows they watched. "Artists" use those offensive words in various works all the time and don't get criticized the way Axl did. The "n word" appears in many works of fiction from the 70s and 80s. It is for sure in Stephen King's "The Stand" being spoken by white characters. IIRC correctly, Daryl's racist brother in "The Walking Dead" used the word on TV in the first season and that was over 20 years after the release of OIAM. What I'm trying to say is that, from the standpoint of telling as story and portraying the thoughts of the character to the listener, the lyrics of OIAM are excellent. That doesn't mean that I think racial slurs are appropriate to use in songs but their use doesn't automatically make me hate the song. I mean, if Axl would have found different words to describe black men hassling and intimidating people in inner city bus stops would it really have made a difference. As far as the "gay F word," that was a pretty common term used back then and wasn't looked at in the way it is now. It was used as an insult all the time by other kids when I was in the 10-15 year old range back in the 80s.

I don't think they are hiding his vocals, I think when he sings weaker they raise the level so it is audible. Then when he goes from weak to strong suddenly it is way too loud. This happens when he switches from falsetto to baritone during the end of Coma all the time. I wonder if somebody with knowledge of live audio equipment can determine what he fiddles with when he turns knobs on his IEM box? Is it just an adjustment in what he hears or is it an adjustment to his mic? I noticed watching a recent video of Aerosmith performing Dream On that Steven Tyler does the same kind of fiddling in the middle of the song.

They should definitely not do that. PC has the right energy and celebratory mood for the closer. Plus, having the last lyric be "take me home" kind of fits the end before Axl's "thank you, good night."

One other thing I remembered about Axl's good mood and joking. When he introduced Slash, after the last "on the guitar," he mimed with his hands like he was pulling a rope loop to open a curtain. On his way off of the stage he was smiling and nodding at somebody on the side and doing the same motion.

Since I became a fan the first time I heard AFD in 1987 when I was 12 at my friend's house, I guess I understand all of the jokes.

He'd make a lot more money touring. He obviously gets fulfillment out of releasing new music and, at 74 and not exactly a picture of health, probably isn't keen on touring.

I'm sure Axl is vocally capable of recording in a studio. He can record one line at a time and do multiple takes. He can take a week to record one song to not strain his voice if he needs to. Truly new songs could be written to not require any parts of his range that he struggles with also. My opinion (which I'm sure Axl is paying close attention to) is that they should release the rest of the CD era stuff and then write and record one final kick ass album with Axl and Slash both contributing to the songwriting. Ideally, get Izzy involved as a writer. Bring everything full circle and leave a legacy of very few but incredible albums. Afterwards, go back on tour for as long as they want to do it but don't do any kind of announced farewell tour. Leave it open ended and one day don't tour anymore and the last show will end up being THE last show but nobody would have known at the time.

With the current state of the music industry, there isn't much financial incentive to release new music but not tour. That was an option in the 80s and 90s but not now.

I didn't attend this show but agree that Absurd is great as a live song. It's not something I want to listen to at home but it just works live. It seems they've moved Melissa's mic up in the mix. Her vocals were much more noticeable Friday night than any of the prior reunion shows I've been to. I used to barely hear her in person or in videos. I went back and watched the version of Down on the Farm that they did at Farm Aid in 1990 and I actually think I prefer Axl's current vocal treatment of it. Civil War, not so much!

I don't think I'd ever go see GnR at a festival or anywhere with a curfew. For me, part of the experience is the 3+ hour show. I definitely was glad to see Reckless Life a few days ago.

As a comparison, I went back and looked at the setlist from when I saw them 12/31/91: Welcome to the Jungle Mr. Brownstone Live and Let Die Attitude (Duff) Nightrain Bad Obsession Double Talkin' Jive Civil War It's So Easy Patience Rocket Queen November Rain You Could Be Mine Sweet Child o' Mine Don't Cry Move to the City Knockin' on Heaven's Door Estranged Paradise City (somehow timed for the double time part to coincide with midnight) I much prefer the modern day 20 minute RQ to the endless Sorum drum solo from the UYI tour!

I think it was, "Oh, and, a, by the way, I wasn't wrong, I'm just saying. It's a song, at the time we thought, perhaps. No, nah, I just wasn't." I heard the "I'm just saying" and "at the time we thought" very clearly live.

Personally I think it would be better just to have Melissa and Duff provide the backing vocals. Listening live, the Axl backing track really stands out and I was thinking "what the hell is that" when listening in person. I know Axl can't possibly sing those lines and the "all alone" lines. I just don't see why it is necessary to have more than Duff and Melissa.