allwaystired

You know the CD only has 6 songs on? Guess it would be too 'generous' of them to actually fill up the disc.

First night of the tour so the chances of it being good aren't great!

It's only a smaller arena though -18,000 capacity. That and the fact they haven't played in Abu Dhabi much (think the only time on NITL was that really bad one at the Grand Prix) mean it probably isn't that surprising.

Highly possible too. One or the other really isn't it? I'm leaning towards radio silence, but your scenario I can see playing out for sure.

My speculation is that the cost of hiring an otherwise unused stadium is probably not that different to an Arena, so even if they play to a half empty one they'll still make money.

In terms of them saying new music was on the way?

I think after this tour, and the general lack of interest in it, GNR might just slip away. At least for a number of years. There won't be the demand for them to tour after this, so I think we'll just go to radio silence for years. I don't think there's any plan or scheme now. Perhaps in five years or so they'll tour again, but I can't see any big 'farewell tour' or anything like that. Slash and Duff will keep busy, we'll have the occasional sighting of Axl out somewhere and that will be it.

The shape of it is so weird- it looks more like a towel!

So if you were in the fanclub you already had it anyway? Very poor. But then I wouldn't expect anything more from Nightrain.

Definitely. They've been terrible for fans and are probably terrible for artists too.

Yeah the latter point is very fair. Who knows? I like what The Cure are doing on their US tour. They seem to have had enough of it all. I think we accept greed a bit too readily- we take it as granted that people need to make a million or so a night, which is outrageous when you think how most fans are living.

Oh I'm not really talking about GNR here....as they haven't actually flogged themselves off to adverts yet (speculation was that may happen after their demise so we shouldn't beat them for something they haven't actually done!). More the concept of it. There's a reason people like Cobain, Hendrix, Lennon etc are so well respected. The music, obviously.....but it's more than that. Imagine if Cobain had cropped up telling us about the joys of buying Coca Cola or taking a cruise? His legacy would be VERY different. No one is deriding musicians for being successful here. But is there criticism of high ticket prices and high merch prices? Absolutely. Everywhere on here and doubtless on lots of other forums. Personally I think there is a huge problem with greed in the upper levels of the music industry, which seems to come at the expense of new and younger artists. I'm afraid no-one can really convince me otherwise on that one. I'm totally onboard with people making money- I mean, hell, I don't stream anything on principle, and buy any album I want as I believe strongly in bands making money. But I'm not onboard with gigs costing hundreds because very rich people want a few more digits on the end of their pay cheque. People will always cite 'supply and demand' and stuff, but I'd just love to live in a world where things weren't based solely on money and rich people thought 'well, perhaps I don't need to make quite so much cash, and some of these people who don't have as much as I do might like a break and see us play'. Yeah I'm probably naive, but you know, fuck it. That's what I believe.

Well that's a total misreading of what I said. At no point did I mention that 'money is a sin' or that a product is 'worthless' because it is advertised. Put simply - when you're already stinking rich, I find it pretty embarrassing that you'd be happy to do stuff that compromises the integrity you tried to build up in the past and contradicts previous principles in pursuit of even more money. I think the kids used to call it 'selling out'. And let's not pretend that people don't laugh at wealthy celebrities advertising tat anymore. It's just sad is all. Nothing personal, nothing deep.

I wouldn't say I take it personally..... it's just a bit sad when you think about what they were and what they used to be like. I think that about anybody and anything doing naff stuff purely for money that they don't need. I despise greed, on any level....but we live in greedy, selfish times.

That's so fucking weird- this morning I was going through some CDs and found this for the first time in years! I honestly wouldn't rule that out.

Yep, same. Don't get me wrong- I'd rather the merch was good, the live shows were decent and they weren't used to flog insurance products.....but if they release music that stuff doesn't matter that much to me.

I tend to be of that view too. I'm convinced we'll have to have the GNR name being used in really, really, sad and embarrassing ways.....but I think it's more likely than not we might get some sort of musical releases, which is all we really want.

I have no idea why so little is being done to generate any excitement for this tour. Starts in a week and no-one seems to care, from management to promoters down to band members, who just a week or so ago are busy promoting their solo stuff!

I can imagine money will be largely made via GNR songs being used to sell anything and everything- any crap advert you can imagine may feature their music. Other than that, yeah, there will be loads of terrible merch, but there's piles and piles of that crap already. No idea who buys any of that stuff though- I wouldn't be seen dead in most of those hoodies and t-shirts they make now. In terms of credibility though- is there actually much more damage that can be done to GNR? After fly GNAIR, miniature baseball bats, toy cars and laundry bags I don't think there is.

Nostalgia I think. Surely that's the draw now? Even if people say "to go and have a good time"- the reasons for that have to be nostalgia, as they're just playing old songs ot as well as they used to. Without moving themselves on, what else is there? Foo Fighters aren't a nostalgia act, GNR are. That's about what it boils down to really.

If you genuinely think Axl Rose and Carrie Underwood are going to rewrite and record One In A Million I worry for you! That's about as likely as Slash taking his trousers down on stage at Glastonbury and having 'I quit' written on his arse.

Not much love for Foo Fighters here! I'm surprised actually. Decent enough band, some great tunes in their catalogue. I know around here we prefer our bands idle and coasting on the past, but Foo Fighters aren't so bad, surely?!

Sounds like a few factors all kicking in at once then. I didn't know that Geffen had released a press release saying they weren't funding it anymore. What a weird scenario!

I thought it was a matter of fact that the label pulled the plug due to spiralling costs? Didn't Axl even say this at one point? I could be wrong here, but was sure I remember that was the case.

Wasn't it more that the label just got pissed off and forced their hand?