What's your unpopular GN'R opinion?

[Sydney Fan]

6 hours ago, allwaystired said:

Ramones t-shirts seemed to be the first that brought in that whole "wear a band t-shirt even though you never listen to the band" thing a few years ago. Now it';s everywhere. 

My low point was going to see GNR a few years back, having a drink beforehand and noticing the woman next to me had a GNR shirt one. I sad "oh, looking forward to the concert?" and she looked at me blankly, asked me what I meant. I said "the concert? Tonight?" and pointed at her shirt. She said "ah right. I don't know anything about them. Are they playing a concert somewhere then?" That opened my eyes a bit! 

You can buy band shirts in any shitty high-street chain store now. It's almost embarrassing wearing them as a fan, rather than something to be proud of. 

If that had been me i would have asked her why wear the shirt if you dont know the band. Or at least quizzed and asked her what her favourite song was. Its really sad. Because it was so hard way back when to find a particular bands shirt you got a band shirt at the concert, hard to find record stores or mail order.

Edited April 24, 2019 by Sydney Fan

[Stro]

Lmao @ being an adult and giving a shit if someone wearing a band shirt is a real fan or not

[bt88]

12 hours ago, Sydney Fan said:

If that had been me i would have asked her why wear the shirt if you dont know the band. Or at least quizzed and asked her what her favourite song was. Its really sad. Because it was so hard way back when to find a particular bands shirt you got a band shirt at the concert, hard to find record stores or mail order.

I think its pretty sad to quiz someone on their shirt, to be honest. Who cares. Its like when guys who like video games or star wars quiz girls who say they like those things. 

This social media/FOMO culture youre describing may be right, but remember it may be whats sparking reunions in the first place. Not that specifically, but notice how every band who you never thought would get back together is reuniting (except for REM). My Bloody Valentine, Outkast, Smashing Pumpkins, Dead and Co (not a true reunion of course but that isnt possible), etc. The culture is ripe for reunions. People are going to a lot of concerts these days, more so than in the past, and part of it has to do with streaming I think. Younger fans can find more older music so theyre more apt to go see them. There are many things you could criticize current culture for but I will say I think the current state of the industry is good for big acts.  

Edited April 24, 2019 by bt88

[allwaystired]

7 hours ago, Stro said:

Lmao @ being an adult and giving a shit if someone wearing a band shirt is a real fan or not

Lmao @ being an adult and being happy to have lost that teenage passion to the point where you mock others who give a shit about a band they love. 

[allwaystired]

28 minutes ago, bt88 said:

I think its pretty sad to quiz someone on their shirt, to be honest. Who cares. Its like when guys who like video games or star wars quiz girls who say they like those things. 

This social media/FOMO culture youre describing may be right, but remember it may be whats sparking reunions in the first place. Not that specifically, but notice how every band who you never thought would get back together is reuniting (except for REM). My Bloody Valentine, Outkast, Smashing Pumpkins, Dead and Co (not a true reunion of course but that isnt possible), etc. The culture is ripe for reunions. People are going to a lot of concerts these days, more so than in the past, and part of it has to do with streaming I think. Younger fans can find more older music so theyre more apt to go see them. There are many things you could criticize current culture for but I will say I think the current state of the industry is good for big acts.  

I'd say it's good for big, old acts. It's pretty horrific for young/new bands trying to make any sort of impact. We could do with a hell of a lot less reunions of old acts and a heck of a lot more new music in my view. 

Attendance at these gigs might be up, but it's harder than ever to get people to go out and see new music. That's not a healthy place for an industry to be. 

[allwaystired]

13 hours ago, Sydney Fan said:

If that had been me i would have asked her why wear the shirt if you dont know the band. Or at least quizzed and asked her what her favourite song was. Its really sad. Because it was so hard way back when to find a particular bands shirt you got a band shirt at the concert, hard to find record stores or mail order.

Ah, I didn't want to do that- I was just totally confused by her being in a bar next to a venue GNR were playing in, wearing a GNR shirt and having no idea or care they were playing! It's just a shirt she picked up while buying her groceries to her - which is my point really. As you said before, that musical identity, or tribalism, seems to have been lost in rock music. I'd argue it might well still be there in pop and maybe other genres. 

[bt88]

43 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

I'd say it's good for big, old acts. It's pretty horrific for young/new bands trying to make any sort of impact. We could do with a hell of a lot less reunions of old acts and a heck of a lot more new music in my view. 

Attendance at these gigs might be up, but it's harder than ever to get people to go out and see new music. That's not a healthy place for an industry to be. 

I totally agree that its awful to be a young up and coming musician right now. You have to keep doing it purely for the love of the game and hope it breaks. Esp if youre a metal band where youll never get TOO big. 

Globally, overall concert revenue is up but you wonder if thats all being sucked up by the big tours. Youre prob right that if you wanna go see like, I dunno, The Sword, Big Business and Intronaut on a tuesday night, gonna be a pretty dead show overall. The niche, fractured nature of the industry is good for discovery for users and labels, but not for bands. Not yet anyway.  

[allwaystired]

12 minutes ago, bt88 said:

I totally agree that its awful to be a young up and coming musician right now. You have to keep doing it purely for the love of the game and hope it breaks. Esp if youre a metal band where youll never get TOO big. 

Globally, overall concert revenue is up but you wonder if thats all being sucked up by the big tours. Youre prob right that if you wanna go see like, I dunno, The Sword, Big Business and Intronaut on a tuesday night, gonna be a pretty dead show overall. The niche, fractured nature of the industry is good for discovery for users and labels, but not for bands. Not yet anyway.  

Yeah I think that revenue figure is totally screwed by the MASSIVE hike in prices that has gone on at the highest levels. I'm constantly shocked by some of the prices I see....then a more shocking price comes along. It seems an absolute race to charge as much as possible for an increasingly small amount of acts. In short - the small amount of rich seem to be getting richer, the poor poorer. That's unsustainable in the long-run though, absolutely. These big, old acts can't go on forever, and when you look at things like who is playing the big shows, and especially the headliners of festivals, it's hard to see where those events and venues will be in, say, 5-10 years. It very much feels like we're in the last days of something, in terms of live music, and the industry isn't thinking at all about the future. 

[Stro]

3 hours ago, allwaystired said:

Lmao @ being an adult and being happy to have lost that teenage passion to the point where you mock others who give a shit about a band they love. 

It's a fucking t shirt, get a grip nerd

[allwaystired]

41 minutes ago, Stro said:

It's a fucking t shirt, get a grip nerd

Thanks for your input. Very adult. 

[Stro]

41 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

Thanks for your input. Very adult. 

Not giving a shit about someone's t-shirt is definitely more adult than getting pissy because someone is wearing a shirt but isn't a REAL fan. That's literally the behavior of an annoying 15 year old. 

[Gordon Comstock]

28 minutes ago, Stro said:

Not giving a shit about someone's t-shirt is definitely more adult than getting pissy because someone is wearing a shirt but isn't a REAL fan. That's literally the behavior of an annoying 15 year old. 

 

It's surprising that this forum has a "store" but has never sold a "GNR Educator™" t-shirt. It's more accurate than the Hooray for tolerance meme.

Edited April 25, 2019 by Gordon Comstock

[Sydney Fan]

7 hours ago, bt88 said:

I think its pretty sad to quiz someone on their shirt, to be honest. Who cares. Its like when guys who like video games or star wars quiz girls who say they like those things. 

This social media/FOMO culture youre describing may be right, but remember it may be whats sparking reunions in the first place. Not that specifically, but notice how every band who you never thought would get back together is reuniting (except for REM). My Bloody Valentine, Outkast, Smashing Pumpkins, Dead and Co (not a true reunion of course but that isnt possible), etc. The culture is ripe for reunions. People are going to a lot of concerts these days, more so than in the past, and part of it has to do with streaming I think. Younger fans can find more older music so theyre more apt to go see them. There are many things you could criticize current culture for but I will say I think the current state of the industry is good for big acts.  

This social media/FOMO culture youre describing may be right, but remember it may be whats sparking reunions in the first place. 

For the big dinosaur acts such as kiss, and definetly the eagles, social media has helped them tremendously.Its unfortunate someone like roger waters can sell more tickets than iggy pop. I feel sorry for the young bands that really have to se social media extensively. Street music magazines are becoming less and less.  I think social media has played some part but the 70s bands,  they are just huge that when tickets go on sale they are gone in less than a day. Alot is being fuelled by baby boomers and to a lesser extent genx and y depending on the economy in each country.

Once the eagles, stones, kiss, iron maiden, metallica, slayer all  retire what hard rock bands will be able to sell out arenas and stadiums and take that mantle?.

Edited April 25, 2019 by Sydney Fan

[jose_gnr]

Matt sorum is the best drummer of gnr

Prostitute is a masterpiece

I dont like so much Bad Obsession ... for  me is the worst of USYI  I 

Ferrer is a nice guy

[WhazUp]

17 hours ago, Stro said:

Lmao @ being an adult and giving a shit if someone wearing a band shirt is a real fan or not

Even high-school me was over that whole thing lol

Reminds me of the time I was back in high school and wore a Misfits shirt, a girl came up to me and started quizzing me with a "I bet you don't even know the band" vibe asking me my favorite songs from them.  

After knowing what they were doing and me ranting about how Michael Graves was great in his own way apart from Danzig, blah blah they were like "oh you actually do know something about the band, wanna hang out with us?"   I said "no thanks" and walked away, cause the last thing in the world I wanted to do was waste lunch hour hanging out with a bunch of assholes 

Edited April 25, 2019 by WhazUp

[allwaystired]

11 hours ago, Stro said:

Not giving a shit about someone's t-shirt is definitely more adult than getting pissy because someone is wearing a shirt but isn't a REAL fan. That's literally the behavior of an annoying 15 year old. 

Thanks. We'll all bear in mind what we should and shouldn't give a shit about in future. 

Edited April 25, 2019 by allwaystired

[allwaystired]

5 hours ago, WhazUp said:

Even high-school me was over that whole thing lol

Reminds me of the time I was back in high school and wore a Misfits shirt, a girl came up to me and started quizzing me with a "I bet you don't even know the band" vibe asking me my favorite songs from them.  

After knowing what they were doing and me ranting about how Michael Graves was great in his own way apart from Danzig, blah blah they were like "oh you actually do know something about the band, wanna hang out with us?"   I said "no thanks" and walked away, cause the last thing in the world I wanted to do was waste lunch hour hanging out with a bunch of assholes 

This is sort of missing the point though - the conversation was about what has lead to the point of remove that sees people paying $200 or so to see a show of a band they only like one or two songs by, and how that is a relatively new thing in terms of the industry. We were saying that another odd modern thing is people wearing t-shirts of bands they have absolutely no interest in, and how strange that is. That didn't used to happen before...and yes, you've always had the musical snobs, but they're something different. I had plenty of incidents such as yours back in school myself! 

 

 

[Stro]

I think it's just you, actually

[Live Like a Suicide]

As far as shirts go, i don't really mind people wearing shirts of bands they don't know too well. Bands like Guns N' Roses and The Rolling Stones are huge brands in and of themselves. They have become, more or less, reflections of culture. I remember when the reunion happened, every fifth person seemed like they were wearing GN'R merch. There's something satisfying about Guns being one of the biggest bands in the world again, which is reflected by the amount of advertising they get on people's shirts. Even if people aren't huge fans, it made me happy to see the band be recognised as one of the greats again.

Edited April 26, 2019 by Live Like a Suicide

[allwaystired]

1 hour ago, Live Like a Suicide said:

As far as shirts go, i don't really mind people wearing shirts of bands they don't know too well. Bands like Guns N' Roses and The Rolling Stones are huge brands in and of themselves. They have become, more or less, reflections of culture. I remember when the reunion happened, every fifth person seemed like they were wearing GN'R merch. There's something satisfying about Guns being one of the biggest bands in the world again, which is reflected by the amount of advertising they get on people's shirts. Even if people aren't huge fans, it made me happy to see the band be recognised as one of the greats again.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there: it's the turning from 'bands' to 'brands' that is a modern thing. Some people seem more comfortable with it than others. 

[RussTCB]

21 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

I think you've hit the nail on the head there: it's the turning from 'bands' to 'brands' that is a modern thing. Some people seem more comfortable with it than others. 

I actually watched a documentary on that the other night. It was on Amazon Prime, so I gave it a whirl. Really interesting stuff overall. 

[allwaystired]

10 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

I actually watched a documentary on that the other night. It was on Amazon Prime, so I gave it a whirl. Really interesting stuff overall. 

What's it called? I'd be interested to see it for sure. 

[RussTCB]

52 minutes ago, allwaystired said:

What's it called? I'd be interested to see it for sure. 

Meant to include that, it's just called Band Vs Brand:

 

[-W.A.R-]

Im not a snob, but I do think you should be somewhat familiar with the band.

For example you should atleast know who Kurt Cobain is if you're wearing a Nirvana shirt

[Fourteenbeers]

13 minutes ago, -W.A.R- said:

Im not a snob, but I do think you should be somewhat familiar with the band.

For example you should atleast know who Kurt Cobain is if you're wearing a Nirvana shirt

I don't care if people want to wear a shirt of a band/artist they know nothing about. It makes them look clueless, but so what?  

This, however is another story: 

Edited April 26, 2019 by Fourteenbeers