09/03/23 - Toronto, CAN - Rogers Stadium

[kanecrescente]

2 hours ago, Powerage5 said:

Finally can settle down and write out my thoughts on the show properly. 

Spent the holiday weekend up in Canada with my girlfriend, and I managed to convince her we should go see GN'R while we were in Toronto. She knows some of the songs casually, but wouldn't go so far as saying she's a fan so I was happy she was willing to fit that into our schedule. I wanted to see them again this year after seeing one atrocious show in 2021, and one much better, but fairly tame show. The setlists have been quite good - a number of songs I'd never seen live most grabbed my attention, but also Axl sounding better (Or at least more confident) from the bits and pieces I've heard. Add on the fact that they released Perhaps, and I was really itching to catch a gig again. 

I'm not a fan of Rogers one bit - it's congested, the facilities aren't that great, and the sound is atrocious. Last night was no exception on any of those fronts, but the band more than made up for it. The sound was seriously bad where we sat (In the lower level on Slash's side, straight in line with the side PA's maybe 40 feet away?) - there were times I couldn't hear anything at all except Duff and Axl, and I barely heard Richard all night unless he was playing a solo. But I knew what I was getting myself into at Rogers, and I can't specifically complain about that - it's just the nature of large, cavernous indoor stadiums. 

The setlist surpassed my expectations, even with a rough idea of what I'd get. None of the songs reintroduced to the set this year got dropped, first time seeing Hard Skool and Perhaps live, and on top of that we got Maddy, TWAT, and Coma all in the same set - what more could I ask for? Out of 30 songs, eight were new ones to me, and two more I haven't seen in the NITL era yet. Standout songs for me last night - Bad Obsession, Hard Skool (Just the idea that I'm seeing them play Checkmate live after all these years still blows my mind), Pretty Tied Up, Down On The Farm, Civil War, There Was A Time. It was pretty wild to see Reckless Life and Anything Goes from a sheer wow-factor point of view (Never expected either of those), but I'm also fine if I never see either again. 

In terms of performance and effort from the band, there's not much I can critique. Does Axl sound absolutely perfect? No, of course not. Some songs sound better than others, but it's so clear he's at least putting in the effort and I feel like that's all you can really ask. TWAT for example was pretty rough through the verses, but he was going for it on the outro and that's fantastic to see. Slash was probably the best I've seen him since the reunion. I've been quite vocally critical of my thoughts on his takes on the CD songs especially, but fair play to him TWAT was absolutely sublime. He maintained the contours of the solos, some of the key licks, but also put his own spin on them - that's all I've wanted of him playing CD songs. The rest of his playing was top notch also, but his takes on the CD songs stood out to me more than anything. The rest of the band was in fine form as always, not a whole lot of comments to make. 

The other big thing that stands out to me is just how lean this show felt. Yeah it was 3 hours 10 minutes, but it didn't feel bloated one bit - no endless solo spots, no rehearsed jam sessions, the only random cover was Wichita (Which I personally love), and not even much talking from Axl. KOHD even felt a lot better than normal, and RQ was the only moment in the show that felt like it dragged on for me. Other than the rapid-fire hour and 40 minute set I saw at Governors Ball in 2013, this was the most concise and tight show I've ever seen from GN'R. This was a well oiled machine like I'm just not used to seeing from them. 

All of that considered, the real highlight of the day for me was meeting up with @James Bond - it's been years since we've seen each other. Thoroughly enjoyed meeting up to hit some breweries, spend the afternoon together, and go to the gig together. It's always great to have good company for a gig and it really added to the atmosphere of what was already a fantastic evening. It was certainly one of my most enjoyable GN'R shows, probably my favorite all around since the UCAP show at The Ritz. 

Great review, glad you feel the same as I do regarding this show! I was also on Slash's side, maybe the issues were specific to there

[PaoloLA]

I guess maybe where anyone was seated. Where I was. Side stage. Lower level 200 and the sound was great…. For me. 
obviously if the show was at Scotia Bank, it would have been louder and tighter.

[DSTK]

7 hours ago, ajyoli said:

They did in 2017 twice after coming in 2016. That’s 3 times in a year

It isn't 2017 

[Gibbo]

 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Gibbo

[6lake sa66ath]

18 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

Seems like the litho had the correct spelling, really weird that the tour truck shirts would have a typo...

 

 

The black & white and salmon tees on there are without the typo for some reason.

[Spoon87]

2 hours ago, Gibbo said:

 

To me that's the version of Madagascar I always wished for, just a kick ass solo instead of the spoken word montage. One of my absolute favourites on CD. Pretty impressive, thanks for that! 

[Sweersa]

Tag for later.

Years ago, didn't Axl say they wouldn't have released the song if they didn't have permission to use the MLK bit?

[Rovim]

15 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

Tag for later.

Years ago, didn't Axl say they wouldn't have released the song if they didn't have permission to use the MLK bit?

yes, I believe it was said that he made artistic diva threats kinda like how he did before he completed NR

[Blackstar]

23 minutes ago, Sweersa said:

Tag for later.

Years ago, didn't Axl say they wouldn't have released the song if they didn't have permission to use the MLK bit?

It was Tom Zutaut:

Axl feels that particular speech is at the core of the message that he is putting across in that song, and he told me that if the Martin Luther King estate would not give permission for that to come out on the final record that, that track would not be on it without it. I subsequently found out that the recorded rights to that speech belong to Universal so I figure that – Coretta King [wife of Martin Luther King] is dead now – so unless her kids are violently opposed to him being associated with Axl Rose, Universal should be able to work that out. [Classic Rock, March 2008]

[kingcanyon]

the full show is up now on YT

[AxlSlashthebest]

59 minutes ago, Spoon87 said:

To me that's the version of Madagascar I always wished for, just a kick ass solo instead of the spoken word montage. One of my absolute favourites on CD. Pretty impressive, thanks for that! 

I'm compleletey ok with u.  For me it's could be the sound who could fit with -november rain-don't cry-estranged

[Powerage5]

35 minutes ago, kingcanyon said:

the full show is up now on YT

Is it? I saw one video that’s 1:48 long, but haven’t seen one that’s the full show. 

[kingcanyon]

19 minutes ago, Powerage5 said:

Is it? I saw one video that’s 1:48 long, but haven’t seen one that’s the full show. 

yes its 4 hours its the full pretenders set & Guns set

 

[MicEffecT]

On 9/4/2023 at 10:13 PM, PaoloLA said:

I guess maybe where anyone was seated. Where I was. Side stage. Lower level 200 and the sound was great…. For me. 
obviously if the show was at Scotia Bank, it would have been louder and tighter.

Yeah definitely seems the closer you were to the stage. The worse the sound was I was in C7 which I thought was going to be far back but it turned out to be perfect for sound

Edited September 6, 2023 by MicEffecT

[Jakey Styley]

Strong Madagascar - are both Fortus and Slash soloing? How do they handle that part?

[ZoSoRose]

6 minutes ago, Jakey Styley said:

Strong Madagascar - are both Fortus and Slash soloing? How do they handle that part?

Sounded like Slash did a few flourishes under the main solo

[DSTK]

57 minutes ago, Jakey Styley said:

Strong Madagascar - are both Fortus and Slash soloing? How do they handle that part?

Fortus does the bulk of it 

[Pedrolg]

Axl is now using falsetto even in the first verses of Madagascar. Bummer.

[MicEffecT]

7 hours ago, Pedrolg said:

Axl is now using falsetto even in the first verses of Madagascar. Bummer.

The man is 60 and still putting on 3 hours shows. This will probably be their last tour.

Edited September 6, 2023 by MicEffecT

[mystery]

20 minutes ago, MicEffecT said:

The man is 60 and still putting on 3 hours shows. This will probably be their last tour.

Regardless of how he sounds now, I'm blown away with how much better he looks at 61 than 10 years ago at 51. He didn't look super healthy during the Nu Guns era circa 2010-14. He pretty much hid himself in hats and sunglasses and looks more youthful now even if his voice is going.

Edited September 6, 2023 by mystery

[jekylhyde]

That falsetto sounds thin and shot, but his low voice sounds REALLY good! Especially on Nightrain 

And on Absurd, Bad Obsession, Pretty Tied Up etc. When it comes to his baritone, there is still plenty of gas in the tank 

Axl should use it as much as he can. It sounds great. Vicious, pissed off and powerful.

[moreblack]

9 hours ago, jekylhyde said:

That falsetto sounds thin and shot

The funny thing is, it doesn't sound like that in person. Recordings make it sound like he's just meekly squeaking out a thin sound, and that's all the phone and camera mics pick up, but hearing it straight from the PA, you can tell how much air he's actually pushing out physically. 

[DSTK]

12 hours ago, MicEffecT said:

The man is 60 and still putting on 3 hours shows. This will probably be their last tour.

They'll tour again for sure, Slash seems to be off with Myles ( snooze fest ) .. they'll be back in 2024, touring makes too much money and they're still shifting plenty of tickets 

[Guns fam]

I was at this show - I thought it was phenomenal 

The sound and setlist were great. My wife kept commenting how good Axl sounded. The whole band was on fire that night. I saw them at the Rogers Centre in 2016, the sound was way better this time. 
 

I can vouch that Axl sounds much better in person than on YouTube - that’s a fact. 
 

As Absurd was playing I was thinking to myself this song really does sound ALOT better live. Then my wife looked at me and said Axl should have kept this one locked away. The young kids next to us seemed to go nuts for Absurd, so I guess it’s personal preference. 
 

Overall a great night - I’ll see them anytime they come around. I’m seriously looking forward to attending Power Trip. 

[Gnrcane]

1 hour ago, Guns fam said:

I was at this show - I thought it was phenomenal 

The sound and setlist were great. My wife kept commenting how good Axl sounded. The whole band was on fire that night. I saw them at the Rogers Centre in 2016, the sound was way better this time. 
 

I can vouch that Axl sounds much better in person than on YouTube - that’s a fact. 
 

As Absurd was playing I was thinking to myself this song really does sound ALOT better live. Then my wife looked at me and said Axl should have kept this one locked away. The young kids next to us seemed to go nuts for Absurd, so I guess it’s personal preference. 
 

Overall a great night - I’ll see them anytime they come around. I’m seriously looking forward to attending Power Trip. 

I think (as somebody who has attended 4 shows since 2016) that the less desirable  sounding parts of Axl's voice don't stand out as much in person due to the mix and volume.  I think the cell phone recordings "pick out" the vocals more in the audio processing and highlights the flaws but the flaws exist live.  If you specifically focus on the lead vocals live you will notice it.  If you just get absorbed in the show and the overall sound then it doesn't stand out.

During parts of songs with quiet instrumentals the same vocal is definitely present live.