MildlyArtistic

He seems like a nice enough guy, but my least favourite is probably DJ Ashba for being the physical manifestation of the word 'cringe'. Everything that man does comes across as trying too hard.

The money-grubbing nostalgia tour singlehandedly saved Guns N Roses from remaining an irrelevant punchline and redeemed them massively in the public eye. For the band's legacy, it was absolutely the right move.

My hot take is that I wish the band would actually try to make an album or just retire. Axl sounds horrible live nowadays and has done since late 2017. I used to believe that he still had some in the tank, but nowadays when he rasps it's some horrible gurgling rasp that sounds incredibly forced. I think the rasp is mostly gone for good.

I'm not sure I'd want to see AXL/DC again, given Axl's vocal decline in recent years. Hearing Guns play Back In Black last year was hard enough compared to how it sounded in 2016.

Pretty much every other band or artist I like has had a more productive studio output since Chinese Democracy. At least Billy Joel has the decency to tell his fans that he's not got any new music on the way.

It's genuinely incredible how slow things move in GNR land. In the time since Chinese Democracy, the Foo Fighters have put out five albums, one studio EP, several live and B-side digital EPs, lost a drummer, held two big tribute concerts for said drummer, then continued touring. Even Metallica, who have slowed down their studio output considerably, have put out two studio albums and two live albums in that time. Guns should at least stop pretending to care about studio albums and just be honest that they're a nostalgia touring act now.

Gotta say, after listening to clips from this show, I have no idea where people are getting the "best Axl performance of the tour" and "Axl sounding great" from. He sounds pretty much the same as he has at other shows this year. The one high point was that he didn't struggle too badly during Coma for a change.

Most people at GNR gigs really couldn't care less about CD songs or CD leftovers. The crowd goes mild when those songs get played live.

I don't think anybody seriously believes that to be the case

Axl really doesn't sound great on Hard Skool. Also not entirely sure why Frank is drumming at Mach 5 for this song.

I think the turning point for me being able to care was the MCU shows getting released. It now takes substantially more effort to keep up with MCU releases. It doesn't help that the films have been on a real decline after Endgame (I enjoyed Shang-Chi and No Way Home though)

I quite enjoyed the film. My only big gripe was that Indiana seemed to just be along for the ride for most of the movie and didn't really drive the plot much at all. Admittedly the same can be said for Raiders, since the same events would've played out had Indy not been there, but I feel like he should've had a little more to do in his final movie. I didn't mind PWB's character too much overall, although I wasn't too fond of her basically taking charge of the entire second act. I do wish the action sequences were a bit less CGI-heavy. CGI Harrison Ford jumping between CGI Tuk-Tuks doesn't quite have the same impact as practical stuntwork. Although I did enjoy the de-aged intro sequence at the start. Overall, I liked it more than Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, but it doesn't really compare to the original trilogy. The Last Crusade is the perfect ending to the trilogy, but Dial Of Destiny is a pleasant extra serving in my opinion.

Dial Of Destiny was tracking to really underperform before release from respectable industry outlets and journalists. Barbie is tracking for a pretty big opening. The Barbenheimer meme has become a legitimate cultural event with a lot of people online, plus the film has been really smartly marketed.

Hell yes

I could bitch endlessly about various aspects of modern GNR, but goddamn, I just love seeing the band members looking so happy. Axl in particular seems to be doing really good in recent years, but especially so on this tour leg.

The last time GNR made a sensible decision regarding the release and promotion of GNR studio material, I was still swimming in my dad's nuts. They didn't bother to put in the effort to promote Absurd or Hard Skool. No reason to believe they'll start now.

I feel like the way he dressed when he made guest appearances at Carrie Underwood's shows was pretty cool. The man looks pretty good in a suit jacket/suit vest.

Since TB basically function as some weird family cult formed around Axl, I have a funny mental image of them locking leakers away in some Scientology-esque torture dungeon

It's quite amusing that I can't hear any of the instruments, but will get Axl's piercing Mickey voice every so often

I just hate the way he goes for his lower voice on the last word of every line in the verses. Not just Hard Skool he does it with, but very noticeable in videos of them performing it at this gig.

As somebody who used to be a massive Marilyn Manson fan (have found it pretty hard to listen to his music since the allegations a few years back), it really seems like the 'Guns, God, and Government' tour was the last tour where he put on a good performance live. Check out the Toronto 2000 concert where he's genuinely fantastic: Every tour after that, he became a doped-up clown, as Trent Reznor famously called him. (I'd also like to add Nine Inch Nails in 2022 as one of the best shows I've ever seen)

Best concert I ever went to? Probably David Gilmour's last concert in 2016. Absolutely incredible show. Either that or the 6-hour madness that was the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert in London. Worst? Lauryn Hill at Glastonbury 2019. Came on late (as is normal for her) and played through all her songs at double speed

After seeing Guns N Roses for a second time at BST Hyde Park last Friday, I'm off to BST Hyde Park again this Friday to see Billy Joel for a second time! Billy Joel ruled when I saw him in 2019, so I can't wait. Then I've only got three shows left this year: Tim Minchin, Death Note: The Musical, and Blink-182. And then only one show next year, since my wife and I are expecting our first child in December. Luckily the wife agreed that we can let the mother-in-law babysit so we can see the Foo Fighters

I fully agree with you there. I really dig the first half of Hardwired and then am so-so on the rest besides SOTB. 72 Seasons comes across as very "generic modern Metallica" to me. It feels extremely uninspired, especially with Kirk deciding to improvise every solo instead of crafting them to perfection like he used to. So you have a pretty generic album with some generic noodling solos.

Can't say I'd be too broken up if Kat is no longer working with GNR. She's never really taken any photos that somebody else couldn't have done better. Not to mention the way she made almost every damn photo black-and-white.