jellyzero Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 (edited) I have seen Guns N’ Roses three times now, the first in Vegas (01-01-01) and Columbus (11-02) but this Guns N’ Roses concert in Cleveland was the most amazing rock concert I have ever attended. It had everything that the classic Illusion shows had. Knowing the reputation of the tour thus far, my friend, Chad, and I arrived about an hour and a half after the start of the show (little did we know that we were missing the SUICIDE GIRLS). I had read that for most of the tour GN’R hadn’t hit the stage until midnight so we weren’t in a huge hurry. We had lower level balcony tickets, had driven seven hours to get to the show and when we parked and got out of the car, a live version of “Patience” was blarring through the streets and Chad (being his first GN’R show) started to freak but I immediately noticed it was the version from the LIVE ERA CD and told him not to worry. As we were walking towards the stadium, a guy in a SUV slowed down and asked us if we had good seats cause he had free tickets, Chad blew him off but I went and talked to the guy. I asked the guy why they were free and he said because Axl wasn’t going on until midnight and they couldn’t stay that long. I took the three free tickets from him and told Chad that we would just ask the gate people which tickets were better, his or ours, and use them. As we were walking in a woman was telling people Axl wasn’t going to show. I hate people like that at a GN’R concert. Why are you even there if you are just trying to start bullshit? We got into the stadium and asked the lady at the gate about the tickets. She told us that the free tickets were by far the best. As we were taken to our seats, Sebastian Bach was starting to play “Youth Gone Wild” and we were shown to out 5th row seats on the side of that stage, eye level with the stage and no more than 20 ft from the band. They were the BEST seats I have ever had and we kept looking back at the balcony, unable to believe how lucky we were not to be sitting back there. After Bach finished I hit the restroom and there was a guy in the bathroom starting more bullshit and saying how there was going to be a riot. I told him that this concert needed good vibes and he should stop saying this shit to people. Sometimes I wonder if people like this come to see the show, or come hoping that a riot will start and they can get in on the destruction. When we got back to our AMAZING SEATS, the EAGLES OF DEATH METAL had taken the stage. I had never heard of this band, and for good reason, they were god awful. Every song sounded the same, they had a song about cherry cola that somehow wasn’t as good as the one SAVAGE GARDEN had out years ago, and the singer (who looked like a cross between a 70’s pimp and the Beastie Boys in “Sabotage”) had no vocal OR dancing ability. They continued to get booed loudly and the singer and other guitarist seemed to be laughing about that fact on stage. I will in their defense say they had on catchy song that went “shit god damn, I’m a man I’m a man.” Finally their show was over and the SUICIDE GIRLS, who I am sad to have missed earlier in the night, took the stage again. They threw water all over each others thin white t-shirts, hoola-hooped half naked, and played with a whip all to the songs “Black Betty” and “Hells Bells”. They were amazing! The wait for GN’R began after that. At Midnight the lights dimmed and Robin Finck hit our side of the stage kneeling down and hitting the beginning notes of “Welcome To The Jungle”. Axl yelled out “Do you know where the fuck you are?!?!” and it was ON!!! The show had everything you could want in a GN’R show. It was obvious from the beginning of the show that Axl was having problems with his ear monitor. He kept yelling at the sound guy from the stage but this guy was totally sucking it up, not to mention the sound guy out front who had no idea that the singer needs to be the loudest guy onstage. Remember how I was saying it was a classic GN’R show? Well, in the middle of “Live and Let Die” Axl kicked a fan out of the show, and that security guard did not terry at all, that guy was gone and everyone cheered. Then Axl asked us how we liked the “PIGEONS OF SHIT METAL“, it was very obvious that we all hated them and I loved that he was up there making fun of his opening band. He went on the say that it would be the Pigeons of shit metal’s last show of the tour with GN’R, what a shame! JRobin Finck took the first, and worst, solo of the night. Robin went from one side of the stage to the other bending notes in and out of tune, and generally making noise. When he started “Sweet Child O’ Mine” the bass was heard but no Tommy Stinson. To my eyes it seemed like he was being a dick all night. After that Axl looked towards Tommy and said “you might as well go home” when Tommy looked over to him he said “not you, the soundman”. A few songs later he went on to say that he didn’t know what it sounded like out front but in his ear piece it sounded like someone took an old FM transmitter and stomped the fuck out of it over and over and over. In fact that is how it did sound when he went up high, I really could have killed the soundman because Axl and the band gave it everything they had and were top notch. There were no flaws in their performance and most of the time it sounded great. The only qualm I had with the show is the excessive solos. Robin Finck’s solo was terrible and unnecessary, Ron Thal’s was “Don’t Cry” as an instrumental plus some tapping which, IMO was still unnecessary, but Richard Fortus is without a doubt the best guitarist in this band. He is technically as good as Ron Thal from what I could tell from the solos and he doesn’t bend bad notes, which Robin Finck continues to throughout the night despite glares from Axl. Richard Fortus also treats the music with respect and has an amazing stage presence. The old songs were perfect and the new songs (5 in total) were played very well despite the Axl’s soundman trying to ruin them (the vocal on MADAGASCAR was almost inaudible). When it came time for “Paradise City” pyro and confetti filled the arena and the nearly full arena went crazy once again. After his signature “good fuckin’ night” he came back to stage and said something to the effect of “despite all of the setbacks tonight this turned out to be a lot of fun, thanks and everyone drive safe”. Afterwards they grouped together for a bow, except Tommy who was apparently still acting like the rockstar the he is not.An amazing show and I pity any rock fan on this earth who doesn’t see this show. I still can’t believe that Chad and I lucked into those great tickets, what a night! The setlist: (sometimes out of order)Welcome to the JungleIt’s So EasyMr. BrownstoneLive and Let DieKnockin’ On Heaven’s DoorRobin Finck SoloSweet Child O’ MineYou Could Be MineDizzy Reed Solo (with “Angie”)The Blues BetterRichard Fortus Solo (with “Whiter Shade Of Pale”)Out Ta Get MeIRSRon Thal Solo (with “Don’t Cry”)My Michelle (with Sebastian Bach)November RainPatience (which Axl said was what he needed to exert some of)NightrainEncores:Chinese DemocracyMadagascarParadise CityEven though the show is great, here is what could fix the GN’R tour and make it even better:Cut out the guitar solos!Hire capable soundmen!!AndPut out a product that the tour can be out supporting!!!! Edited November 26, 2006 by jack99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.b Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 These days the industry works different then it did 15 years ago, the album is to promote the tour, not vice versa... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssiscool Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 i aggree with the solos deffinatly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Axl Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 great review!"Hire capable soundmen!!" - Agreed :xmasssanta: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urlacher54 Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 (edited) So you never saw the Original Lineup, but you say that this had everything the UYI tour had? How would you know? Edited November 26, 2006 by Urlacher54 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saulhudson88 Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 i aggree with the solos deffinatlyI agree with you. Axl get lost with those solo´s performances and play instead 2 more songs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.b Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 i aggree with the solos deffinatlyI agree with you. Axl get lost with those solo´s performances and play instead 2 more songs!If it keeps his voice in good form, he can have all the solos he wants... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negative_Creep Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 nice review and look come by with the tickets!i agree with the solo'sand im unsure, who was being a dick Axl, the soundguy or tommy? I know you meant tommy later on "acting like a rockstar that he isnt" or whatever but was it tommy you were on about earlier? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownsfan Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 was at the Cleveland show, too. I can second many of your observations but not your conclusion...Agree that the show overall was a good time and I'm glad I went, but:1) the sound was a mess. 2) the 3 guitar and 1 piano solos were gratuitous. my wife actually thought DIZZY FUCKING REED gave the best solo performance - if that tells you anything about the quality of the guitar solos. I thought Ron's solo was the best of the guitar solos, myself, but still could have done without it.3) in terms of the new stuff - they sounded good on The Blues. Better, IRS, and CD sounded ok. Madagascar (which might be my favorite of the new stuff) sounded REALLY BAD. We couldn't even hear Axl.4) with the 4 solos and 5 new songs, I'm sure a lot of fans are leaving these shows wishing they had heard more actual (released) Guns and Roses music.One other clarification - maybe from your seats the place looked near full, but that's because they had completely covered up the upper deck with black curtains. And the lower bowl was "near full", I guess, but there were empty seats. Given that the stage blocks off about 1/4 of the Q, and the upper deck was closed, I bet there was only about 8,000 in attendance.Before the show I thought that I was going to see Axl and a band of hired hands. I left the show feeling even stronger in that opinion.I think that Fortus, Thal and Finck can all play the guitar well... but they have no stage presence. In fact, for my taste, other than Axl, nobody in the current band gives me any reason to go see them again.Axl sounded surprisingly good.Final comment - to say that these guys have everything that the original G'n'R had is just nonsense - you obviously never saw them back then. I saw them twice in the late 80's early 90's. These guys play from the same body of music (and play it well), but they are not anywhere near the showmen of the original. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerage5 Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 Whiter Shade Of Pale!!! rock1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyrie Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 The solos problem would be solved if instead of a solo, the band did a song with Tommy singing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afterthebath Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 I think that Fortus, Thal and Finck can all play the guitar well... but they have no stage presence. In fact, for my taste, other than Axl, nobody in the current band gives me any reason to go see them again.I cant comment on this particular show - but from the 2 shows I attended this tour - Hammerstien, MSGand countless youtube viewings, I don't see how people can say this band has no pressence?Robin gallops across the stage with such unique charisma and natural movement I actually said to my girlfreind at MSG "He must be on Extasy to be feeling this music so much." Fortus just plain "Beats the Shit" out his guitar, playing every chord with impecable accuracy. and everyone else is rrunning around and seemingly having a good time. What more do you want?The old members?Izzy never moved - Slash ran around a lot but other than that it was mainly Axl moving anyway.I lots of people are just looking to have things to complain about.P.S Im not bashing your opinion - this is just mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasted Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 True even the Stones said they make more money from touring. The albums are hardly worth it. We have an answer, Houston. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jellyzero Posted November 28, 2006 Author Share Posted November 28, 2006 So you never saw the Original Lineup, but you say that this had everything the UYI tour had? How would you know?Well, I have been collecting video bootlegs since I was 9 (1988), clipped every article I could find for a scrapbook during my middleschool years and I probably have over 100 bootleg videos and audios in all...so yeah, I have a pretty good idea of what went on!was at the Cleveland show, too. I can second many of your observations but not your conclusion...Agree that the show overall was a good time and I'm glad I went, but:1) the sound was a mess. 2) the 3 guitar and 1 piano solos were gratuitous. my wife actually thought DIZZY FUCKING REED gave the best solo performance - if that tells you anything about the quality of the guitar solos. I thought Ron's solo was the best of the guitar solos, myself, but still could have done without it.3) in terms of the new stuff - they sounded good on The Blues. Better, IRS, and CD sounded ok. Madagascar (which might be my favorite of the new stuff) sounded REALLY BAD. We couldn't even hear Axl.4) with the 4 solos and 5 new songs, I'm sure a lot of fans are leaving these shows wishing they had heard more actual (released) Guns and Roses music.One other clarification - maybe from your seats the place looked near full, but that's because they had completely covered up the upper deck with black curtains. And the lower bowl was "near full", I guess, but there were empty seats. Given that the stage blocks off about 1/4 of the Q, and the upper deck was closed, I bet there was only about 8,000 in attendance.Before the show I thought that I was going to see Axl and a band of hired hands. I left the show feeling even stronger in that opinion.I think that Fortus, Thal and Finck can all play the guitar well... but they have no stage presence. In fact, for my taste, other than Axl, nobody in the current band gives me any reason to go see them again.Axl sounded surprisingly good.Final comment - to say that these guys have everything that the original G'n'R had is just nonsense - you obviously never saw them back then. I saw them twice in the late 80's early 90's. These guys play from the same body of music (and play it well), but they are not anywhere near the showmen of the original.I never said THESE GUYS have everything that the old lineup had...what I meant was Axl and his attitude and the excitement of not knowing what he would do next. I agree that Dizzy was worth listening to but after Fortus played his solo with direction in my opinion as opposed to Finck who was a mess and Thal who seemed to get off to a rocky start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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