Just got back from this. Sad - yes sad to say - it was a great ****ing show. Why sad? Because this is the third time I've seen G'n'R & the first without the rest of the band. And this was probably the best sounding show. Guess having Robin Finck & Tommy Stinson helps, as well as having everyone be relatively sober & focusing on the music. Hell, Axl sounded great & put on a hell of a show. Yeah, he's a pompous ass. Yeah, I miss Izzy & Slash and the rest. But if you guys get a chance check the new lineup out. I've now seen Axl without the band, and seen "the band" (as Velvet Revolver) cover GnR songs. The Axl-Finck-Stinson version was better... and again it makes me kinda sad to say that. Oh, and the Chinese Democracy song - ESPECIALLY Madagascar - sound great live. Night Train blew me away & was longer than November Rain. They played Rocket Queen Crazy moment - Sebastian Bach sang My Michelle w/ Axl. More later, it's late & Emmanuelle in Space is on. I think www.brooklynvegan has pics.
I heard the soundcheck... I work on the 15th floor of the building right above Hammerstein... I recognized one of the songs and checked the website, sure enough Axl's newest incarnation was listed onthe bill... are they playing again tonight?
tommy stinson on bass must have been bad#ss to watch. that guy has some bass stage presence second only to paul simonon i heard axl is trying to use 3 guitarists? a shredder, slash-style, and the guy from NIN?
Yeah it was nice of him to show. I cringed when I saw a hat thrown from the audience almost nail his head. I figured that would be the end right there. Anyway, I don't know what made him come out of retirement - can't be money issues - but dude was on & putting on a show. Looks like a freak with cornrows though... Again, I saw them twice before - the first time Axl was a drunken mess - as was the rest of the band - but they were new & tearing it up. Short set. The second time was the bombastic Use Your Illusion tour, where they had backup singers & all sorts of crap. That show sucked. I should have left after Soundgarden played. Axl mentioned that he'd been talking to Izzy, but nothing about him rejoining the band. Musta sucked for the guy replacing Izzy to hear the crowd go nuts when dude's name was mentioned. Anyway, Night Train turned into an extended jam - and yeah three guitarists, three different styles - and it worked. And it was better than any previous incarnation of this band - live, anyway.
Oh, and November Rain really isn't a bad song when you take away the backup singers, about 6 minutes of it, and any visions of Axl swimming with dolphins. I wish I could go to The Hammerstein just once though and not have beers dumped all over those of us on the floor by the balcony people...
Awesome shows, Axl sounds great, GnFnR are back. Robin Finck is an amazing guitarist, I dig the new Chris Robinson/John Frusciante look. The new guitarist, Ron Thal aka Bumblefoot is ehhhhh.. He's not much of a shredder as Buckethead was, more blues based, like Slash. His solos are kinda weak, but he's only been in the band for a week. Richard Fortus continues to impress me. Better f'n rocks, and will be a huge radio song.
Umm? Steve Harris says hello.. BTW: I am anxiously awaiting a GNR tour also. Hopefully they come to TX.
