Hammerstein May 12, 2006

[JAxlMorrison]

So, I was there (and what an amazing show and comeback.) We got the 3 ChiDem songs from 2001-2002 shows, and we got 3 debuts (Better, TWAT, IRS.) But I noticed after that show, there’d normally be less of those “new” songs, as they relied more on Appetite like in 2002. 
Anyone have an idea why that was the case, in a year that was initially meant to promote the release of the album? 
I’m asking cause I was happy as hell that night, and hearing almost half the album live, to me it was a sign back then like, ok the band’s evolving, moving on, and we’re gonna move into this new era of songs (which never happened, and I don’t think 6 ChiDem songs were played at a single show the rest of that run, and maybe not again til the end of 2009.)

Don’t get me wrong, I love My Michelle, Out Ta Get Me, Think about You, but when they’d start at a show, I’d kinda roll my eyes inside and think, cmon man. Let’s move on and get some more of that new stuff. 

[Silence]

I recollect having to leave early every night to make the train back to New Jersey. Axl was going on close to midnight and every night I had to be in the NE corridor by 1:15am. 

[©GnrPersia]

Those NYC shows was NewGNR at its prime. The best shows of the era without doubt. It's a pity we never got any proshot.

Do you recall if there was any professional team recording those? 

[Axl_morris]

9 minutes ago, ©GnrPersia said:

Those NYC shows was NewGNR at its prime. The best shows of the era without doubt. It's a pity we never got any proshot.

Do you recall if there was any professional team recording those? 

Rock in Lisboa and rock am ring were filmed a few weeks later. That's as close as we will get. 

Some pro clips from Hammerstein made it on to an unreleased documentry and parts of the Better video maybe

Edited November 5, 2023 by Axl_morris

[rumandraisin]

The next part of the tour was a lot of festivals, Axl knows the majority of the crowds wanted to hear the classic stuff. He's not silly. I think they had a good balance for an album that wasn't out yet. 

[sakuL_]

32 minutes ago, Axl_morris said:

Rock in Lisboa and rock am ring were filmed a few weeks later. That's as close as we will get. 

Some pro clips from Hammerstein made it on to an unreleased documentry and parts of the Better video maybe

unreleased documentary ... is that out there? never heard of such thing.

[JAxlMorrison]

47 minutes ago, ©GnrPersia said:

Those NYC shows was NewGNR at its prime. The best shows of the era without doubt. It's a pity we never got any proshot.

Do you recall if there was any professional team recording those? 

Not that I’m aware, but I was watching some of the bootleg earlier. 

[estrangedtwat]

10 hours ago, JAxlMorrison said:

So, I was there (and what an amazing show and comeback.) We got the 3 ChiDem songs from 2001-2002 shows, and we got 3 debuts (Better, TWAT, IRS.) But I noticed after that show, there’d normally be less of those “new” songs, as they relied more on Appetite like in 2002. 
Anyone have an idea why that was the case, in a year that was initially meant to promote the release of the album? 
I’m asking cause I was happy as hell that night, and hearing almost half the album live, to me it was a sign back then like, ok the band’s evolving, moving on, and we’re gonna move into this new era of songs (which never happened, and I don’t think 6 ChiDem songs were played at a single show the rest of that run, and maybe not again til the end of 2009.)

Don’t get me wrong, I love My Michelle, Out Ta Get Me, Think about You, but when they’d start at a show, I’d kinda roll my eyes inside and think, cmon man. Let’s move on and get some more of that new stuff. 

 

 

The exact same thing happened in 2009/2010.

FINALLY, the damn album is actually OUT and they're now free to play as much of CD as they want and not have to rely on AFD standards.

In Japan 2009, they kick it off by playing 13 of the 14 CD songs in one show, which has never been done again.

In 2010 in Canada, most of the CD songs are kept in rotation, including things that would eventually become rare like TWAT and Scraped and ITW.

 

After a few months.....phased out.  Just back to the AFD greatest hits shows that started in 2002.

 

I guess it all comes down to Axl's mood and what he feels comfortable with.  I can't imagine why he feels the need to play the "standards" every single fucking show, every time, but he does.

 

Of all the shows I've attended between 2002 and 2023, the following 12 songs were played at every single show.

 

It's So Easy

Mr. Brownstone

Chinese Democracy

Welcome to the Jungle

Live and Let Die

You Could Be Mine

Rocket Queen

Sweet Child O' Mine

November Rain

Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Nightrain

Paradise City

 

 

EVERY SINGLE TIME.

 

I get that every GNR show is someone's very first GNR show and they'd be disappointed if they didn't get to do that fucking sing along to KOHD.  And at least Live and Let Die is a fairly short song.

 

But for fuck's sake....Rocket Queen??  At EVERY show?  Chinese Democracy, a song that landed with one of the biggest "thuds" in music history?  Nobody would give a shit if that was dropped.

 

You Could Be Mine was a big hit over 30 years ago, but I don't think anyone would miss it these days.

 

SCOM/Jungle/PC....November Rain......and even arguably KOHD (even though I hate it these days).......those are the essentials.  Those songs are there for casuals and first timers.  They can seriously CUT the rest and I don't think anyone would mind, especially not the fans that have seen them multiple times over the years.  Sheeesh.

[JAxlMorrison]

I didn’t have a problem with Rocket Queen, in fact it was a favorite to see live! Then Slash returned and it became 17 minutes long haha. 

[D4NNY]

7 hours ago, ©GnrPersia said:

Those NYC shows was NewGNR at its prime. The best shows of the era without doubt. It's a pity we never got any proshot.

Do you recall if there was any professional team recording those? 

That whole year was golden, I love going back and watching anything from that tour. What a shame that band didn’t last longer

[BillConnor_1982]

1 hour ago, estrangedtwat said:

 

 

The exact same thing happened in 2009/2010.

FINALLY, the damn album is actually OUT and they're now free to play as much of CD as they want and not have to rely on AFD standards.

In Japan 2009, they kick it off by playing 13 of the 14 CD songs in one show, which has never been done again.

In 2010 in Canada, most of the CD songs are kept in rotation, including things that would eventually become rare like TWAT and Scraped and ITW.

 

After a few months.....phased out.  Just back to the AFD greatest hits shows that started in 2002.

 

I guess it all comes down to Axl's mood and what he feels comfortable with.  I can't imagine why he feels the need to play the "standards" every single fucking show, every time, but he does.

 

Of all the shows I've attended between 2002 and 2023, the following 12 songs were played at every single show.

 

It's So Easy

Mr. Brownstone

Chinese Democracy

Welcome to the Jungle

Live and Let Die

You Could Be Mine

Rocket Queen

Sweet Child O' Mine

November Rain

Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Nightrain

Paradise City

 

 

EVERY SINGLE TIME.

 

I get that every GNR show is someone's very first GNR show and they'd be disappointed if they didn't get to do that fucking sing along to KOHD.  And at least Live and Let Die is a fairly short song.

 

But for fuck's sake....Rocket Queen??  At EVERY show?  Chinese Democracy, a song that landed with one of the biggest "thuds" in music history?  Nobody would give a shit if that was dropped.

 

You Could Be Mine was a big hit over 30 years ago, but I don't think anyone would miss it these days.

 

SCOM/Jungle/PC....November Rain......and even arguably KOHD (even though I hate it these days).......those are the essentials.  Those songs are there for casuals and first timers.  They can seriously CUT the rest and I don't think anyone would mind, especially not the fans that have seen them multiple times over the years.  Sheeesh.

You have to play the standards and the hits.  And it’s not like they have a large body of work to even choose from

[Jwalker19]

This is so wild to me because I just bought a bootleg DVD of this show at the end of last month and it literally just arrived yesterday. 😂

[Gordon Comstock]

8 hours ago, Axl_morris said:

Rock in Lisboa and rock am ring were filmed a few weeks later. That's as close as we will get. 

Some pro clips from Hammerstein made it on to an unreleased documentry and parts of the Better video maybe

 

Didn't a couple full songs eventually get posted online? There was a LALD video that I think was from this show, and Welcome To The Bumble... I haven't seen either in ages though. They were technically pro shot but not the kind of videos that are shown on the screens...

[JAxlMorrison]

1 hour ago, Jwalker19 said:

This is so wild to me because I just bought a bootleg DVD of this show at the end of last month and it literally just arrived yesterday. 😂

Enjoy! While it may not “technically” be the best GNR show I’ve seen from 2006-now, the atmosphere was insane, excited and tense. And to see that version of the band perform, and to be there for the debut of 3 more new ChiDem tracks? There was a lotta hope in the air for the future, the IMMEDIATE future. 

[Jwalker19]

7 hours ago, JAxlMorrison said:

Enjoy! While it may not “technically” be the best GNR show I’ve seen from 2006-now, the atmosphere was insane, excited and tense. And to see that version of the band perform, and to be there for the debut of 3 more new ChiDem tracks? There was a lotta hope in the air for the future, the IMMEDIATE future. 

Thank you! I'm going to review it on my YouTube channel after I watch it. I'm jealous you were there and got to see that lineup!

[JAxlMorrison]

5 minutes ago, Jwalker19 said:

Thank you! I'm going to review it on my YouTube channel after I watch it. I'm jealous you were there and got to see that lineup!

Nice! Post a link here?

[megaguns1982]

I remember Axl being in top form, singing as good as he ever did, looking badass too. 
it really seemed like he had a lot to prove back then, I never for a minute believed that just ten years later there would be a reunion….

Edited November 6, 2023 by megaguns1982

[Jwalker19]

18 hours ago, JAxlMorrison said:

Nice! Post a link here?

Absolutely! I appreciate you being interested!

[lost un the jungle]

On 11/5/2023 at 1:09 AM, JAxlMorrison said:

Anyone have an idea why that was the case, in a year that was initially meant to promote the release of the album? 

I recall in '06 Axl saying that "this fall" the album will be released. I think it was supposed to do these gigs and then drop the album, but we know what happened. Also he added new vocals during this period to complete the album, you can clearly notice in CD where he sings clean (99-01 vocals, i.e Rihad, catcher, twat, postitute, etc)) and the ones with rasp (06-07 vocals i.e. some parts of if the world, SOD, IRS, Better, etc).

[rumandraisin]

14 hours ago, lost un the jungle said:

I recall in '06 Axl saying that "this fall" the album will be released. I think it was supposed to do these gigs and then drop the album, but we know what happened. Also he added new vocals during this period to complete the album, you can clearly notice in CD where he sings clean (99-01 vocals, i.e Rihad, catcher, twat, postitute, etc)) and the ones with rasp (06-07 vocals i.e. some parts of if the world, SOD, IRS, Better, etc).

ITW, SOD and IRS were all recorded, vocally in 99. Apart from the ending of SOD. Better from 2002/2003

[rumandraisin]

I always say 2006 was the last time they could have put CD out and it have been a genuine hit. Better too. They were on fire, Axl on absolute peak form. Better was even getting radio play. Just needed a video and a release with maybe a live track. 

And they blew it, just to add Bumbles parts which were one part too many and Frank, completely unnecessary. 

Edited November 7, 2023 by rumandraisin

[lost un the jungle]

7 hours ago, rumandraisin said:

ITW, SOD and IRS were all recorded, vocally in 99. Apart from the ending of SOD. Better from 2002/2003

Yes, but they have new vocals on some parts after that period. Just listen, they sound different, with 06/07 voice

[JAxlMorrison]

16 hours ago, lost un the jungle said:

Yes, but they have new vocals on some parts after that period. Just listen, they sound different, with 06/07 voice

I don’t think if the world could’ve been done in ‘99. Before Bucket joined? That wouldn’t make sense, it was a Bucket song wasn’t it?

[Liva]

I was at all 4 Hammerstein shows, and they were all equally amazing.  2 shows I was on the floor, 2 in the balcony.  The shows I was on the floor, when jungle kicked in the concrete floor of the venue no joke was flexing up and down with the crowd jumping.  I've been to hundreds of concerts and never experienced this before, to the point I started to get a little scared the floor was going to crack.

Tons of celebrities along both sides of the venue.  Off the top of my head, Brian May, Lenny Kravitz, Sebastian Bach (came on stage and sang), Kid Rock (came on stage and sang), Izzy, Fred Durst, Justin Timberlake walked by me one show.  What seemed like every single Victoria Secret model was in attendance.  

One of the last shows, I remember Sebastian Bach had to finish all or part of Paradise City, Axl went off stage, I think he was having throat issues?  Axl went balls to the wall the first show, for the 2nd show he told us he almost didn't make it, woke up without a voice, Sebastian Bachs vocal coach came to the rescue and got his voice back, if it weren't for him, the show would've been cancelled.  He thanked both of them.

Axl went on stage between 11-12 every night I believe.

 

Side Note - Ive been on these forums since probably 2002/2003 maybe earlier?  Every era of Axl, in the moment other than maybe Axl/DC, people on here say how Axl isn't as good as (insert era here) and he doesn't look as good as (insert era here).  When he had the braids, people generally disliked it, and in 2006 people generally disliked his voice very much other than a few songs at Rock Am Ring 2006 which people said was a glimpse of old Axl.  Its just funny to see in 2012, and 2016, and 2023 how people wish they had 2006 Axl, when at the time, no one wanted 2006 Axl.   In 2016/2017 when he was growing his hair or wearing too many hats, people wanted him back in braids cause "he looked badass in braids".  At the time, people HATED that look and would say he looked like Predator, its fake hair, its yarn, its extensions.  

[Spoon87]

4 minutes ago, Liva said:

 

Side Note - Ive been on these forums since probably 2002/2003 maybe earlier?  Every era of Axl, in the moment other than maybe Axl/DC, people on here say how Axl isn't as good as (insert era here) and he doesn't look as good as (insert era here).  When he had the braids, people generally disliked it, and in 2006 people generally disliked his voice very much other than a few songs at Rock Am Ring 2006 which people said was a glimpse of old Axl.  Its just funny to see in 2012, and 2016, and 2023 how people wish they had 2006 Axl, when at the time, no one wanted 2006 Axl.   In 2016/2017 when he was growing his hair or wearing too many hats, people wanted him back in braids cause "he looked badass in braids".  At the time, people HATED that look and would say he looked like Predator, its fake hair, its yarn, its extensions.  

True. It's kinda funny to see.

Same with how guys like Robin and Bucket were hated and laughed about back then.