06/18/22 - Prague, CZ - Letnany Airport

[mystery]

Axl with that cutoff, button down shirt is straight up 2006 to the point I wonder if he had it lying around in his closet. He looks great and just dressing different on stage adds a lot to this current tour not just being lumped in with the past 6 years. It'd be really cool if he wore different things as callbacks to different eras in Guns history.

[Tom2112]

53 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

Another show that gets a bad review from local media.

 

https://www.idnes.cz/kultura/hudba/guns-n-roses-axl-rose-slash-koncert-letnany.A220618_225117_hudba_jgo

(I used google translate for this)

REVIEWS: The Guns N’ Roses concert dragged the bottom of the falsely whining Axl

Going to a Guns N' Roses concert is like a lottery bet. You can rely on instrumental performances, but when it comes to the voice condition of frontman Axl Rose, we can only be surprised how he will do.

And it didn't work out in Letňany. Rumors of Axl's poor form had been going on for some time before the Prague concert, accompanied by recordings of performances at the Rock Sweden festival, in which Axl's desperate attempt at singing provoked an incredulous shaking of his head at best.

In Prague it was wall to wall. At times, Rose's singing was perfectly fine, at times his ears ached and he looked forward to being overwhelmed by the guitar solo. Or keyboard, bass, whatever. Just to stop the suffering. "I wanna hear you scream!" Axl shouted at Welcome To The Jungle. "We wanna hear you singing!" He called in response. Because this is exactly the stone he plowed almost exemplary.

What is true is that the duo duo Slash and Richard Fortus acted absolutely sovereignly, that Duff McKagan once again proved to be a great bass player, whose relaxed yet emphatic playing, in favor of the overall sound, forms an essential part of the unmistakable sound of Guns N’ Roses. Drummer Frank Ferrer, the reliably working keyboard section Dizzy Reed (the Prague concert fell on his birthday) and Melissa Reese also tried.

All their skill and effort was to culminate the moment the frontman grabs the microphone and spins his second-famous vocal circular saw. But there was little left of her. Here and there, Axl screamed as he had before, but more often he stumbled in an effort to at least consistently intonate, and he was often completely false and out.

Perhaps the worst was the songs from the (?) Last album Chinese Democracy. The title bar just whizzed around, Better Axl walled up completely, and Street Of Dreams didn't turn out much better. It was touching to watch the singer be out and Duff McKagan and Melissa Reese doing their best vocals to make sure it wasn't a complete fiasco.

One well-sung song - Dylan's Knockin 'On Heaven's Door - turned out quite acceptably - had two setbacks: Sweet Child O'Mine or November Rain, in which the vocals dropped out in places.

This has long been part of the Guns N’ Roses concert. As well as the fact that the performance, thanks to frequent several-minute breaks between songs, doesn't go down much. The fact that the band somehow doesn't deal much with the creation of new material, is confused about a possible new record and relies entirely on nostalgia after the times when the opulent two-album set Use Your Illusion reigned supreme for the charts.

On the other hand, the songs from him, and of course from his debut Appetite For Destruction, are so strong that you just like to succumb to them again, even though you prefer to play a studio vocal line in your head instead of the principal's desperate whining. And that even the devout Chinese Democracy brought some really strong songs that don't have to worry about the notorious and many times played hits.

Being a Guns N’ Roses fan is a full-time chore. One has to clarify a lot of things, regret a lot and tolerate a lot to enjoy the rock circus one hundred percent. In the end, the most pleasant finding for a person who likes to listen to them but doesn't live in a band from morning till night was that the concert started for a minute precisely and there was no tiring waiting for the master to finally get down to the plebs.

 

Well I wasn't there, but from what I've heard from recordings it was better than this. 

I do agree that in general Axls vocal is way, way too low at the beginning of the sets being drowned out by the band, it's not until mid way through the first half of the set where his vocal is raised a bit... personally I think this is deliberate, but I also think it's BS that almost every GNR show I've seen has had this same issue. 

Axl still isn't great on Jungle or NV, but I thought he was pretty decent on SCOM. I mean you have to cut a guy singing songs 30+ years later a little slack and not expect to hear the same piss and vingar in his voice, he is 60 and he's still singing in the same key. To my ears I heard very little where Axl was singing flat or off pitch. Seemed like a bit of a hit piece, but there was also some truths too. Surprised a critical reviewer like this didn't mention all the soloing in between actual songs and wasted time... that's the true killer of the GNR show. 

[Tom2112]

11 minutes ago, mystery said:

Axl with that cutoff, button down shirt is straight up 2006 to the point I wonder if he had it lying around in his closet. He looks great and just dressing different on stage adds a lot to this current tour not just being lumped in with the past 6 years. It'd be really cool if he wore different things as callbacks to different eras in Guns history.

Bring back the chaps🤣

[Draguns]

6 hours ago, Jaygnr said:

Anyone else worried by the body language on SOD by Slash ans Duff...this whole thing coming to an end after this tour maybe? 

Or am i reading too much into 1 performance

I'm not but I will say that Duff's facial expression was interesting when the camera went to him during Slash's solo. It didn't look like Duff was too happy. Axl was smiling at Slash. Slash was busy doing his thing as usual. 

[mystery]

3 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

Bring back the chaps🤣

He need to rock the Axl Rose Converse again.

[Tom2112]

Just now, mystery said:

He need to rock the Axl Rose Converse again.

GNR management need to make them available for all of us super nerds. How cool we would look walking around in Axl converse😄

[themadcaplaughs]

20 hours ago, RussTCB said:

Doesn't mean the song isn't about him. It just means they finally played it. 

That's a very Pele-ish response  

On a serious note, cool to see "Street of Dreams" played. Having just listened, it sounds like Axl singing it on an average night in 2012. Slash disappointed me. As other have said, Richard coming in completely saved it. I thought of every song on Chinese Democracy, this was one he could really sink his teeth into. I can't say it's bad, per se, but it sounds like what a guitar student was play if his or her teacher said "play your own solo over this song." Hopefully, if it gets played more, Slash can improve upon it. 

Like I said in another thread, I do not think it is a case of Slash "disrespecting" or "sleepwalking" through the Chinese Democracy songs. I just think the solos on that album (Robin's in particular) seem to be outside Slash's skill set of playing (a skill set of which he as an absolute master and genius). In my opinion, for Slash to really "nail" the Chinese Democracy solos, he'd have to rethink his approach to guitar a little bit, and I just don't think he will do that at this point in his career; same way Joe Perry, Angus Young, or insert whatever guitar hero here will not be changing their style substantially. 

Edited June 19, 2022 by themadcaplaughs

[DTJ80]

27 minutes ago, draguns88 said:

I'm not but I will say that Duff's facial expression was interesting when the camera went to him during Slash's solo. It didn't look like Duff was too happy. Axl was smiling at Slash. Slash was busy doing his thing as usual. 

As the most chill person in the band (or the main 3) I can’t even think what he would be annoyed about? Probably just ‘locked in’ trying to doing a good job on the tune.

[LA_0013]

4 hours ago, Dean said:

Rock In Rio III had a few of my favourite ever performances, particularly November Rain. Amazing.

Yep. Also opened with Jungle and prob one of the best intro screams 

[Draguns]

32 minutes ago, DTJ80 said:

As the most chill person in the band (or the main 3) I can’t even think what he would be annoyed about? Probably just ‘locked in’ trying to doing a good job on the tune.

Maybe but his look wasn't really too happy.  I'm not sure if it was annoyance.  I don't think it was. The camera shot, though, just seemed like he wasn't happy.

[Politania]

2 hours ago, jamillos said:

Don't take this medium seriously, please. If you wanna see a pro review, read this:

https://www.novinky.cz/kultura/clanek/recenze-guns-nroses-jsou-v-dobre-kondici-prestali-se-ale-vyvijet-40400542

I love these photos

[Ratam]

2 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

Bring back the chaps🤣

Bring back the former Axl's Hairdresser....

[sl4yer]

55 minutes ago, Politania said:

I love these photos

They look stunning and Axl looks amazing for his age. I’m so happy for him. In 2019 and 2020 he was looking overweight and unhealthy. Now he looks slim, he’s energetic and he even looked good in the vest and in see-through t-shirt which he wore during SCOM.

I said that before but I’m really glad he’s taking care of himself and is in great shape.

[Axeli]

Axl looks ripped. Wtf!!

Edited June 19, 2022 by Axeli

[darkside259]

axl looks BADASSSSS

[jekylhyde]

3 hours ago, draguns88 said:

Maybe but his look wasn't really too happy.  I'm not sure if it was annoyance.  I don't think it was. The camera shot, though, just seemed like he wasn't happy.

To me it looked like he was counting and/or listening to the drums and trying to just play the song and listening for changes. Nothing weird in my opinion.

[Gordon Comstock]

4 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

Well I wasn't there, but from what I've heard from recordings it was better than this. 

I do agree that in general Axls vocal is way, way too low at the beginning of the sets being drowned out by the band, it's not until mid way through the first half of the set where his vocal is raised a bit... personally I think this is deliberate, but I also think it's BS that almost every GNR show I've seen has had this same issue. 

Axl still isn't great on Jungle or NV, but I thought he was pretty decent on SCOM. I mean you have to cut a guy singing songs 30+ years later a little slack and not expect to hear the same piss and vingar in his voice, he is 60 and he's still singing in the same key. To my ears I heard very little where Axl was singing flat or off pitch. Seemed like a bit of a hit piece, but there was also some truths too. Surprised a critical reviewer like this didn't mention all the soloing in between actual songs and wasted time... that's the true killer of the GNR show. 

 

It's not a good review but it doesn't seem like a hit piece. This tour has gotten mixed reviews at best. Axl went viral on tiktok the other day, not for a good reason: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMNYPQJc9/?k=1

Tbh it seems like Axl turned 60 and everyone here started using that as the new excuse for his weak vocals. Nobody expects a 2010 level performance but he could obviously be performing more songs in his natural voice. The excitement around the reunion has faded it's not surprising that the reviews are becoming more negative. They're dangerously close to Crue or Bon Jovi meme territory.

[HollyWoodRose84]

10 hours ago, AlterL said:

Dude you're giving Slash to little credit, we know what this guy is capable, and 5his just wasn't it, no emotion, no melody, no nothing just random noodling for the sake of noodling. Made me miss Ron and Bucket.

You must have missed my post after this. I said that what Slash is doing isn’t necessarily a good thing. 

[6lake sa66ath]

50 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

It's not a good review but it doesn't seem like a hit piece. This tour has gotten mixed reviews at best. Axl went viral on tiktok the other day, not for a good reason: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMNYPQJc9/?k=1

Tbh it seems like Axl turned 60 and everyone here started using that as the new excuse for his weak vocals. Nobody expects a 2010 level performance but he could obviously be performing more songs in his natural voice. The excitement around the reunion has faded it's not surprising that the reviews are becoming more negative. They're dangerously close to Crue or Bon Jovi meme territory.

Ouch. 

[alfierose]

12 hours ago, jamillos said:

He looks great in all these photos. 

[Powderfinger]

7 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

Another show that gets a bad review from local media.

 

https://www.idnes.cz/kultura/hudba/guns-n-roses-axl-rose-slash-koncert-letnany.A220618_225117_hudba_jgo

(I used google translate for this)

REVIEWS: The Guns N’ Roses concert dragged the bottom of the falsely whining Axl

Going to a Guns N' Roses concert is like a lottery bet. You can rely on instrumental performances, but when it comes to the voice condition of frontman Axl Rose, we can only be surprised how he will do.

And it didn't work out in Letňany. Rumors of Axl's poor form had been going on for some time before the Prague concert, accompanied by recordings of performances at the Rock Sweden festival, in which Axl's desperate attempt at singing provoked an incredulous shaking of his head at best.

In Prague it was wall to wall. At times, Rose's singing was perfectly fine, at times his ears ached and he looked forward to being overwhelmed by the guitar solo. Or keyboard, bass, whatever. Just to stop the suffering. "I wanna hear you scream!" Axl shouted at Welcome To The Jungle. "We wanna hear you singing!" He called in response. Because this is exactly the stone he plowed almost exemplary.

What is true is that the duo duo Slash and Richard Fortus acted absolutely sovereignly, that Duff McKagan once again proved to be a great bass player, whose relaxed yet emphatic playing, in favor of the overall sound, forms an essential part of the unmistakable sound of Guns N’ Roses. Drummer Frank Ferrer, the reliably working keyboard section Dizzy Reed (the Prague concert fell on his birthday) and Melissa Reese also tried.

All their skill and effort was to culminate the moment the frontman grabs the microphone and spins his second-famous vocal circular saw. But there was little left of her. Here and there, Axl screamed as he had before, but more often he stumbled in an effort to at least consistently intonate, and he was often completely false and out.

Perhaps the worst was the songs from the (?) Last album Chinese Democracy. The title bar just whizzed around, Better Axl walled up completely, and Street Of Dreams didn't turn out much better. It was touching to watch the singer be out and Duff McKagan and Melissa Reese doing their best vocals to make sure it wasn't a complete fiasco.

One well-sung song - Dylan's Knockin 'On Heaven's Door - turned out quite acceptably - had two setbacks: Sweet Child O'Mine or November Rain, in which the vocals dropped out in places.

This has long been part of the Guns N’ Roses concert. As well as the fact that the performance, thanks to frequent several-minute breaks between songs, doesn't go down much. The fact that the band somehow doesn't deal much with the creation of new material, is confused about a possible new record and relies entirely on nostalgia after the times when the opulent two-album set Use Your Illusion reigned supreme for the charts.

On the other hand, the songs from him, and of course from his debut Appetite For Destruction, are so strong that you just like to succumb to them again, even though you prefer to play a studio vocal line in your head instead of the principal's desperate whining. And that even the devout Chinese Democracy brought some really strong songs that don't have to worry about the notorious and many times played hits.

Being a Guns N’ Roses fan is a full-time chore. One has to clarify a lot of things, regret a lot and tolerate a lot to enjoy the rock circus one hundred percent. In the end, the most pleasant finding for a person who likes to listen to them but doesn't live in a band from morning till night was that the concert started for a minute precisely and there was no tiring waiting for the master to finally get down to the plebs.

 

Once there was this rock n roll band rolling on the streets, Time went by and it became a joke, they just found $584.2 million that someone forgot. Reviews like this just push the morons over the brink. 

[kleber]

Looks like Lisbon might be Axl best performance so far even screw it on Coma. 

 

 

[Draguns]

I think this is the first time that there was an Axl mini  rant. I miss that about him. I used to like the rants. 

2 hours ago, jekylhyde said:

To me it looked like he was counting and/or listening to the drums and trying to just play the song and listening for changes. Nothing weird in my opinion.

It could very well be that he was listening to the drums. I just noticed the facial expression. I didn't think it was weird or annoyance. I just thought he didn't look happy at that moment the camera was on him.

[Tom2112]

2 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

It's not a good review but it doesn't seem like a hit piece. This tour has gotten mixed reviews at best. Axl went viral on tiktok the other day, not for a good reason: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMNYPQJc9/?k=1

Tbh it seems like Axl turned 60 and everyone here started using that as the new excuse for his weak vocals. Nobody expects a 2010 level performance but he could obviously be performing more songs in his natural voice. The excitement around the reunion has faded it's not surprising that the reviews are becoming more negative. They're dangerously close to Crue or Bon Jovi meme territory.

Oh I'm not saying 'this is as good as it can be' there's definitely room for improvement and when he's singing his most famous songs poorly, of course he is going to be way more exposed to the casual listener. I think he's improving though, the last few performances of SCOM haven't made me want to reach for a knife an Van Gogh myself😄 positives! 

My point was more like if you go see Metallica and they play Hit the lights you can't be upset that Hetfield doesn't sing like 18/19yr old anymore, you do lose some of the youthfulness with age... well besides the handful of exceptions. I think as bad as Axl can be he's almost always better than both BJ and Crue... but it's not miles better.

[HollyWoodRose84]

2 hours ago, alfierose said:

He looks great in all these photos. 

Agreed. More frontal transplant work done which I mentioned when he first cut his hair. Takes a few years to grow in.