GNR 8 Years ago today, GNR returns at Hammerstein

[Russel Nash]

I remember there was some question whether or not Axl was going to bring back the bandana that night, and NOBODY on the forums knew for sure who the new guitarist was until he took the stage..there were John 5, Izzy, and even Buckethead rumors flying all over the place..Great times!

There was some guy who was sayin that the new guy was Ron Thal before the show. Nobody knew who was Ron Thal.

Lucky guess or insider?

Robin improved the solo, and I can't recall him ever "messing" up on the riff. Care to post an example?

he was messing the solo, but i love it. I always fucking love his take on that solo.

[Evil Ernie]

Axl was a beast in 2006, I wish that he'd have kept that look and (of course) kept in the great shape that he was in.

[BangoSkank]

All I want is for this era to come back. I can't imagine how great this would've been with Buckethead. The real mystery sort of occurs after this tour ended and nothing happened for 2 years or so.

[Russel Nash]

All I want is for this era to come back. I can't imagine how great this would've been with Buckethead. The real mystery sort of occurs after this tour ended and nothing happened for 2 years or so.

nothing darker like 2002-2004.

[Amir]

You can see Robin and Richard are all over each other and completely brush off Bumble. There's a couple of times where Bumble tries to jam with Robin and he just walks off :/

That YCBM... While it's clean for the most part, the rasp and fucking VENOM on the breakdown is unbelievable.

This show reminds me why Axl is my favourite frontman of all time. Usually think an angry Axl performs best but he looks pretty happy here and he's on fire. I guess part of it was the desire to release the album at last, he thought it'd be out in 2006.

[Crash Diet]

If anyone's still got that "Welcome to the Bumble" video, I'd appreciate if it were uploaded. I can't find it on youtube.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x52vrq_welcome-to-the-bumble-guns-n-roses_music

[Amir]

From HTGTH notes on the following show:

"Axl said he had completely lost his voice Saturday, everything was gone, but Sebastian Bach pointed him to a vocal and throat expert and that it saved the day."

I had a mate who did an interview with Bach at Hellfest in 2012, and Bach said that he introduced Axl to Don Lawrence, but that after a while Axl stopped seeing him because it "made him sick" (not sure exactly what Bach said as my friend is French and I had to interpret his notes in English as best I could). Dunno when Axl stopped seeing him, maybe around 2007 or so?

[Estranged Reality]

i think if he'd never resurfaced like that, and had kept the goth look, people today wouldn't really want him back.

bullshit

nah, it's true dude. people ganged up on the dude just as bad as they gang up on ashba, and people hated his 'stage moves' (the whole orgasmic bendy thing he does, which of course now people love). if you go back through the archive and look at threads from '02 - '06 you'll see this.

[RussTCB]

i think if he'd never resurfaced like that, and had kept the goth look, people today wouldn't really want him back.

bullshit

nah, it's true dude. people ganged up on the dude just as bad as they gang up on ashba, and people hated his 'stage moves' (the whole orgasmic bendy thing he does, which of course now people love). if you go back through the archive and look at threads from '02 - '06 you'll see this.

VERY true. I used to get completely bashed all across every forum for even suggesting that I liked Robin.

[Estranged Reality]

i think if he'd never resurfaced like that, and had kept the goth look, people today wouldn't really want him back.

bullshit

nah, it's true dude. people ganged up on the dude just as bad as they gang up on ashba, and people hated his 'stage moves' (the whole orgasmic bendy thing he does, which of course now people love). if you go back through the archive and look at threads from '02 - '06 you'll see this.

VERY true. I used to get completely bashed all across every forum for even suggesting that I liked Robin.

i started to like him around the time he left, which tends to be how this whole thing goes with GN'R and new members. :/ I also wasn't initially sold on Bucket tbh. But you gain a greater appreciation for things in retrospect.

I just hope i'm not standing here ten years from now saying that about Ashba. no offense to him of course. but...yeah.

[sweetness]

8 years ago? damn

[Broskirose]

i think if he'd never resurfaced like that, and had kept the goth look, people today wouldn't really want him back.

bullshit

nah, it's true dude. people ganged up on the dude just as bad as they gang up on ashba, and people hated his 'stage moves' (the whole orgasmic bendy thing he does, which of course now people love). if you go back through the archive and look at threads from '02 - '06 you'll see this.

no, i know that people were bashing him back then. i just don't think people wouldn't appreciate him now if not for the fact that he changed his hairstyle.

[sweetness]

Biggest difference between Finck and Ashba; when Ashba gets shit-canned nobody is ever going to miss him

Edited May 12, 2014 by sweetness

[highvoltage]

i think if he'd never resurfaced like that, and had kept the goth look, people today wouldn't really want him back.

bullshit

nah, it's true dude. people ganged up on the dude just as bad as they gang up on ashba, and people hated his 'stage moves' (the whole orgasmic bendy thing he does, which of course now people love). if you go back through the archive and look at threads from '02 - '06 you'll see this.

no, i know that people were bashing him back then. i just don't think people wouldn't appreciate him now if not for the fact that he changed his hairstyle.

GN'R fans are a fickle bunch. Sorry Broski, but Robin was disliked near-universally here until he changed his style. The Robin bashing was just as bad as the DJ bashing at points.

Once he changed his hair and clothes, people found it easier to focus on his playing.

[Broskirose]

i think if he'd never resurfaced like that, and had kept the goth look, people today wouldn't really want him back.

bullshit

nah, it's true dude. people ganged up on the dude just as bad as they gang up on ashba, and people hated his 'stage moves' (the whole orgasmic bendy thing he does, which of course now people love). if you go back through the archive and look at threads from '02 - '06 you'll see this.

no, i know that people were bashing him back then. i just don't think people wouldn't appreciate him now if not for the fact that he changed his hairstyle.

GN'R fans are a fickle bunch. Sorry Broski, but Robin was disliked near-universally here until he changed his style. The Robin bashing was just as bad as the DJ bashing at points.

Once he changed his hair and clothes, people found it easier to focus on his playing.

yeah, i get that. but people continued to dislike him after that as well. a lot only changed their opinion after he left the band. and i think that even if he kept the same kind of look from 2002, people would still come to appreciate him later.

the 06 look was definitely more accessible than the skullet. i'll give you that.

[Amir]

It's almost the reverse with DJ: he was more tolerable when he had the plaid '90s rocker look, then from 2011 he went full Ashbaswag. I swear he's messing up on guitar a lot more these days as well.

[Patience 4 Axl]

8 years ago? damn

Crazy to think about it. Gearing up for those shows was one of the few highlights of being a fan of that band. Good times.

[highvoltage]

Yeah, i get that. but people continued to dislike him after that as well. a lot only changed their opinion after he left the band. and i think that even if he kept the same kind of look from 2002, people would still come to appreciate him later.

the 06 look was definitely more accessible than the skullet. i'll give you that.

I don't know. People had 3-4 years where all they could do was watch/listen to shows from 2002, and Robin's standing didn't improve one bit over that period. His playing was pretty unpopular too, people used to accuse him of being sloppy as often as they accuse DJ of the same thing.

A lot of people still disliked him after he changed his look, but by the end of the 2007 tour (and a few legendary shows) people weren't bashing him anywhere near as much. It took him changing his style for people to start listening though.

He wasn't really loved widely by people until they got DJ Ashba as a replacement, if I'm honest.

[Broskirose]

Yeah, i get that. but people continued to dislike him after that as well. a lot only changed their opinion after he left the band. and i think that even if he kept the same kind of look from 2002, people would still come to appreciate him later.

the 06 look was definitely more accessible than the skullet. i'll give you that.

I don't know. People had 3-4 years where all they could do was watch/listen to shows from 2002, and Robin's standing didn't improve one bit over that period. His playing was pretty unpopular too, people used to accuse him of being sloppy as often as they accuse DJ of the same thing.

A lot of people still disliked him after he changed his look, but by the end of the 2007 tour (and a few legendary shows) people weren't bashing him anywhere near as much. It took him changing his style for people to start listening though.

He wasn't really loved widely by people until they got DJ Ashba as a replacement, if I'm honest.

Yeah, DJ being so bad definitely helped him gain more appreciation. I think 2010/2011 was probably the biggest time for Finck converts.

[Gordon Comstock]

If anyone's still got that "Welcome to the Bumble" video, I'd appreciate if it were uploaded. I can't find it on youtube.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x52vrq_welcome-to-the-bumble-guns-n-roses_music

Thanks!

[Abstractv3]

Still have my ticket stub, was an absolutely incredible night.

[liers]

I wish we still had that Axl.

I liked 2001 and 2002 Axl, I liked the 2001/2002 band, but a lot of people had a hard time with it because it looked more like a band about to drop a hardcore rap album than a rock band. Axl's 2006 look was great, Robin and Bumblefoot went good together, Axl's voice was great, it was probably Axl's prime.

Imagine, had CD dropped in 2006, we'd likely have more albums by now, Robin would still be in the band, and Axl would probably still have the cornrows as opposed to hiding behind an array of hats.

i think if he'd never resurfaced like that, and had kept the goth look, people today wouldn't really want him back.

bullshit

nah, it's true dude. people ganged up on the dude just as bad as they gang up on ashba, and people hated his 'stage moves' (the whole orgasmic bendy thing he does, which of course now people love). if you go back through the archive and look at threads from '02 - '06 you'll see this.

It worked with Axl's jerseys and buckethead. Robins outfit fit in with the lineup in 2002. He would've stuck out like a sore thumb come 2006 though.

[T-Minus]

Oh how i miss those days. Bring back Robin!

[uzeurilluzion]

Best concert I've ever been to! First time seeing Axl on May 12! Drove all the way to NYC!

The place exploded when Jungle came on and the intensity didn't let down til about the fourth or fifth song!

Even meeting mygnr members was fun in NYC. I forget what the place was called where we met but then I ventured off to another bar close to the gig and it was just full of GNR fans! It was all GNR songs and it was fun talking to fellow fans, and I'm talking knowledgeable fans!

The whole day was amazing!!

I was just to the left of Axl about 3rd row!

It was my first GNR concert so I didn't realize that I had hit my peak! The other 8 concerts did not compare! Energy was incredible in that place!!

I also went to the third show. It was great too but I was up in the balcony cuz my gf at the time wanted to sit! I actually had to trade my floors. It was great as well but nothing tops that first night!

I don't know why people bashed his 06 look. I never understood it. He had a really cool look. Perfect actually for his age, he was in great shape and it showed in his voice.

It seems obvious that getting in shape directly correlates with how well his voice is for obvious reasons.

I'm actually surprised that a perfectionist like Axl wouldn't put that effort to get in shape to get his voice back on track for his performances. He's so well known for wanting to put on the best show he can so its a bit surprising to me.

Edited May 13, 2014 by uzeurilluzion

[Broskirose]

Pretty cool that people are coming out of the woodwork to talk about this show here.

I was into GNR back then, but I was just listening to the old stuff. Wasn't really following the then-current band. I do remember reading posts from around that time a year back or so. Must've been a hell of a night.