05-12-06 |
by KNAC
Guns N' Roses In
By Debby Rao,
They're back!!! Guns N' Roses, one of the most controversial rock bands of the 80's are back in full force taking New York by storm with a fury that hit like ya like a freight train.
Guns N' Roses performed their first concert since 2002 last
night at the historic Hammerstein Ballroom in
Last time I saw GNR perform was on the Use Your Illusion Tour in 1990.at the Worcester Centrum. I have always loved their music, and tonight's concert was everything I thought it would be. Up Close and Personal, In Your Face, Axl Rose at his best!!!
Driving down 95, it may have been raining buckets but nothing could damper the mood for the day. We were going to see GNR perform in a very rare club appearance.
This was my first time seeing a concert at the Hammerstein
Ballroom. The historic venue which is right int he center of
We were right down on the floor, and had a great view of the band. Opening the show was Bullet For My Valentine. I recently got to see them perform on the Rob Zombie Tour. Their modern day set with great melodies was better received on the Rob Zombie Tour. It was clear the audience was their to see one band their heroes Guns N' Roses.
The excitement in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. hit the stage right at 11 P.M. and played till 1:15 A.M. in the morning. GNR performed most their hits, taking their fans into the future with this stellar new line-up that includes new guitarist Ron Thal of Bumblefoot fame , who didn't disappoint the die-hard GNR fans.
Opening with "Welcome To The Jungle", Axl Rose dressed in a black long sleeve shirt, and jeans with his newly dread locked hair in a ponytail took complete control of the stage. Axl was back, in great voice, and looking amazing. It was clear to see, that Axl is back for the long haul and ready to rock.
GNR first part of the show inspired their old school hits which included ,"It's So Easy", Mr Brownstone ," and "Live and Let Die." GNR sounded really tight as Brain played down some of the hardest hitting drum solos that you could imagine.
One of the most amazing of GNR's sound that I enjoy enjoy is the amazing keyboards. I have seen GNR keyboard player Dizzy Reed perform with his band HNB many times and let me tell ya tonight Dizzy was on fire. Tickling the ivories on his grand piano solo leading into "The Blues." Tonight it was so great to be able to see Diz perform with one of the greatest rock bands of our time, . Axl sang his heart out on this song, and proved his diversity as a singer.
Axl also sat down at the piano on "November Rain" and performed one of the most touching moments of the evening. This song has always been one of my favorites and seeing Axl perform this song tonight was simply amazing.
Tonight's GNR concert was prompted by spontaneity and even included a special guest star. No it was not Slash or Izzy, but 80's rocker Sebastian Bach. Seeing two of the best 80's singers singing "My Michelle" was simply.priceless!
GNR performed the title track off of their upcoming album, Chinese Democracy and song "I.R.S." These songs best describe GNR in 2006 very modern with a touch of old school. Another one of the highlights of the show was my all time favorite GNR classic,"Patience." Axl shined.
As the evening was coming to a close, one thing was for
certain. The momentum of the band never let up. All eyes were on Axl Rose as he
captivated the audience with his magical stage performance. GNR ended the night
with guitarist Robin Finch blistering solo into "Night Train" and
closed with the ferocious "
The audience went into a frenzy, headbanging when Axl sang,
"Take Me Down to The Paradise City" as Axl and his new version of GNR
rocked
Get ready to witness one of the best rock and roll shows
this year, as GNR invade
GNR are back with a vengeance, and making their old school rock and roll roots come alive once again, as Axl Rose proves he is indeed one of the best rock and roll singers of our generation.
GNR Setlist
Welcome To the Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Better
Live and Let Die
Sweet Child O'Mine
Knockin On Heaven's Door
Madgascar
You Could Be Mine
The Blues Dizzy Solo!
Out to get Me
November rain
My Michelle - Sebastian and Axl
Chinese Democracy
T.W.A.T
Patience
I.R.S.
Nightrain
www.newgnr.com
05-14-06 | GNR @ Hammerstein Ballroom,
What an event. --- and I left for NY around 1:30 and got there are 3:00. After driving around a little bit we parked in the garage right next to the venue and decided to walk around a little bit. Me being a total jackass I had my camera in my hand and the parking guys kindly reminded me that I can't take that in. So instead of fight with them I just put it in my car, which ended up working out. When we walked out of the garage we saw that there were about 70 people in line already.
After getting some food there was really nothing else we had planned, so I went into a Staples and bought a disposable camera. When we went back to the line it had grown a little bit, so I would say we were about 120-150 people back. It was 4:30 when we got in line, which is really really early, but come on, it was a Guns concert. What do you expect me to do?
We met this cool guy who helped passed the time. I never learned his name but we were going back and forth talking about Guns N' Roses, which was really weird and fun because I don't know many people who are as big of fans of them as I am. Apparently everyone in the line was, and he pointed out how obsessed some fans are...which was true judging by what people were saying around us. Luckily he wasn't some crazed guy who was telling me that Axl Rose is God and things like that.
Around 6:00 I took a bathroom break at Quizzno's and asked a guy how the security was about cameras. He told me that they patted you down pretty good, and the security guys in line came around and threatened to not let you in if they found one. Great. So we started walking back to the line when the guy pulls a really bold move and asks if he and his friend can cut in line. Seeing an opportunity, I told him if he could sneak my camera in that he could cut in. He told me it was a deal, and because he had long sleeves that it would be no problem.
Finally, at 8:00, we were let in. The guy got the camera in as promised and handed it back to me right when we got in. He ended up staying by us during the show. We were one of the first people there and ------ and I got in the 2nd row on the right side of the stage, right before the barrier slid in towards the stage. It filled up pretty quickly and by 8:30, around the time Bullet For My Valentine went on, there were at least 15 rows of people. This guys were pretty heavy, and I could see how people would like them...But they were playing to the wrong crowd.
Around 9:15 their set ended and people around me started to guess when GN'R would come on. ---- and I were behind a set of 3 annoying/semi drunk girls (So it seemed). The was literally breathing down this girl's neck around 10:30, and he turns to her friend in a loud voice, "If I get pushed I am going to throw a huge elbow behind me to get back away I SWEAR TO GOD!" Me, being right behind this clown, did not like this plan of action. I tapped her on the shoulder and told her that doing that would probably not be the smartest thing to do. She asked me why and I told her that if she elbows me, I am going to "get violent" (yeah, that's the term I used) and hit her right in her ribs. She gives her friend a "is this kid serious?" look and I just stare right at her, telling her that she is going to be crushed and it's not my fault if 1000 people push me into her. She then tells me that she'll just push ---, and ------- gives her a look and then gives me a laugh. So now I figured I at least have a target to push up against.
To ----'s left was a girl who really stank. I mean I know it's hot in there, but could you throw on some deodorant if possible? This woman obviously had no idea of her death stench or was proud of it because she felt the need to lift her arms in the air about 10 times before Guns actually came on, giving me a nice blast of BO. Rock and roll, huh?
The more time that passed, the tighter the crowd got, and I told Molly to try and fight for position when Jungle started to play. Right before 11:00 Lenny Kravitz shows up in the VIP section of the mezz. Apparently Fred Durst was there too.
11:00 hits and the house lights go down and the opening delayed riff starts playing. Me and 2499 other people lose their minds. The stage lights fade on and there is Axl in this leather long-sleeved type shit that is half open, sunglasses, jeans, some red-ish shoes, and with some serious looking rings and a big cross on. No bandana, but he was sporting the braids and a goatee. He looked in shape for being in his mid forties. Just as the song kicks in there are some mini fireworks that set people off even more.
I had my arm locked in a straight position against the railing so I am not pressed against it. It was a lot rougher that I thought it would be, and it stayed like this until the 4th or 5th song in. It let up a little then, but when the old hits were being played it picked back up.
Axl sounded surprisingly great...really. I know it easy for me to have a bias review but I wasn't not expecting him to sound that good. There were times when you could hear him, but that was because everyone around me (and myself) was singing so loudly. He mentioned that he was working with a vocal coach for a while which is something I was surprised to hear. Early in the show he also said that, "Regarding the new album, it seems that you people here can hold your breath a lot long that most people. Thank you for that."
I don't remember the exact set list but I am pretty sure they played the following songs.
Old songs:
Welcome to the Jungle, It's so Easy, Out ta get me, Nightrain, Mr. Brownstone, Paradise City, My Michelle, Sweet Child O' Mine, Rocket Queen, Patience, Live n' let Die, November Rain, Knockin' on Heaven's Door, You could be mine
New songs:
Chinese Democracy, The Blues, Better
There were also a couple solos in there which I liked, except Bumblefoot's. Wow did that one sucked dick. It sounded like Buckethead but just really really sloppy. At least he played the songs well.
So 9 out of the 12 Appetite songs were played, which was fine by me!
So amazing parts include the sparks raining down during
November Rain, the confetti shower during
The crowd was rough, they played a TON of old material, and Axl sounded great. This was the concert that I had been waiting to go to since I was 13, and it did not disappoint. I was taking pictures and "hiding" by camera the best I could the entire time. I will post some shots later on, and hopefully there will be at least one good shot! It will really give you a sense of how close we were. I'll never get to see Guns N' Roses in this small of the venue, be that close to them, or hear that much old material ever again. The concert was near perfect for me.
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05-15-06 |
by xgrego
hello all... its about 3 30am
first off, one word, flawless... except for a little cough he let out during patience with 2 songs left to go. axl smirked and made the so-so hand gesture and the crowd cheered for him.
ok, i couldnt stand bullet and neither could anyone else. not even the 60yr old couple standing near me. what they were doing there your guess is good as mine. they went down with the rush of people during wttj. never saw them after, hope they are okay.
so....as the lights went down the air filled with marijuana smoke and people began to scream as the synth wailed. the longest set since, including kohd and patience... i dont think we will get much more. still minus twat, but they played all the other new tracks very well. uncle axl was quite the comedian too... he had quite the few zingers. he spoke to the crowd a lot, and never was left without a smile. "i leave my room and put on a coat and some crazy hat and duck down in a cab, and still a truck driver will pull up to us and go, axl! hey man!... how the hell do you all find me?!" something to that effect. he said he spoke to izzy and the phone today and said the shows were going very well, izzy wished him best luck with it all being how great ny has treated them in the past. axl yelled at security during a song bc they were too tough on the crowd. they didnt want crowd surfing or girls on mens sholders. axl chimes in mid line "stop with that fucking shit". he also acknoledged that we were the origonal first date, "you dont think i know that?!" thought we would get something special, but no.
many more solos this time, acl would run off and i assume take care of his voice. one solo, fink and fortus take the stage. they begin playing and soon enough it takes shape to christine agulera "beautiful". sounded great. fortus ended it by kissing fink. side note; stinson flipped off a crowd memeber during the last few songs, why i dont know.
axl was very lovey dovey with all the band mates except ron. all players who could move around would, except ron unless it was his turn to solo. fink/fortus had a nice joking time on stage while ron was left alone. only once did axl touch/hug ron, during the line in chinese democracy "No it don't really matter You're gonna leave these thing to Somebody else". very odd i thought. you conclude your own thoughts. althought during a song ron stuck his guitar out into the crowd for them to strum, very cool.
all in all great show. topless woman, guns n roses playing like a fused band..... but i must say there was a lot of hate in the crowd. not that they booed ron, but physical fights multiple times. it was to bad some had to get hurt and be ejected over drunken problems. youd think we could have all came together for one night under gnr rule... if other thoughts come to mind i will add on. others who went feel free to add as well. cheers.
05-15-06 |
by Shawn
My wife and I flew from
He hit all the notes and carried the notes like the old
days. I was about 3rd row center on the floor and could see the energy from
rolling off of him as he sang. I have been recharged and after all these years
without any new material. This band is still my favorite and will always be.
Axl could have gone on as The Axl Rose Band because his voice is what we all
follow. He could pack the house on just his name alone so it really doesn't
matter who plays in the band as long as he's the singer. AXL is the greatest
rocker alive and I can't wait to hear the new cd. Then of course, tour
Shawn Roselius
05-15-06 | GNR @ Hammerstein Ballroom,
FRONT ROW-GUNS N ROSES-BEST NIGHT OF MY 20 YEAR LIFE
what better way to write a blog than hungover- voice is shot- and the ringing in my ears is starting to make me think I may never hear normally again..
TOP 10 MOMENTS OF LAST NIGHT- in no particular order
1. THREATENING TO BREAK A HOT DOG VENDORS FACE
2. GIVING SEBASTIAN BACH MY JOINT
3. BEING MOLESTED BY THE GIRL IN THE 2ND ROW
4. NOVEMBER RAIN PERFORMANCE
5. SEBASTIAN BACH PERSONNALY WARNING ME TO WATCH OUT FOR THE CONFETTI MACHINE THAT WOULD HAVE BLASTED MY BEAUTIFUL FACE
6. DOWNING A BOTTLE OF JIEGER, WHILE DRIVING IN THE CITY, ON MY WAY TO THE CONCERT
7. GOING TO FRIDAYS ON
8. PEEING ON THE GUY NEXT TO ME, THEN HE HOTICED AND TOLD HIS FRIENDS, I MISSION IMPOSSIBLE STYLE TUCKED MY COCK BACK IN MY PANTS. AND PROCEDED TO INTIMADATE THEM LIKE "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY".. AXL SITO STYLE
9. ECW'S BLUE MEANIE AND SEBASTIAN BACH HANGING OUT BEING THE BARRICADE 5 FT AWAY FROM ME
10. AXL ROSE BEING THE FUCKIN MAN.. BEING THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE IN MY LIFE- FOR HELPING ME THROUGH LIFE WITH HIS LYRICS AND MUSIC
11. AXL ROSE MAKING EYE CONTACT WITH MY DATE FOR 5 SECONDS- WHILE SINGING YOU COULD BE MINE
ALSO THERE WAS CAMERAS FILMING THE SHOW- AS WELL AS THE OTHER 3- THERE MAKING A DVD OF THE HAMMERSTEIN CONCERTS
05-17-06 |
by TRx
First off, tonite's show was one of the GREATEST GNR SHOWS EVER...
Just to confirm what was posted earlier, about the 5th or
6th song into the set, Axl begins to talk about an "old friend", one
that he used to"skateboard" with, when all of a sudden he introduces
Izzy fuckin' Stradlin'! I lost it!! I ran straight to the front (about 5 people
back from the stage) w/ my sister and was in shock! It was really Izzy!! The
last time I saw him on stage was in 1991 here on
Admitedly, he looked much older than I remembered him, but it was still
him none the less. He wore a long "Hendrix-esq" scarf that was wrapped
around his head and he kept smiling in a very humble sort of way at the
crowd who (most of which) couldn't believe there eyes! He is a very timid
soul and didn't come to the front of the stage to "show off" or anything...
but he rocked, regardless. He did Think About You (a KILLER
song that he wrote, one that GNR didn't do all week!), then - after
Sebastian Bach came out (for the 4th night in a row) and dueted with Axl
My Michelle, Izzy came out again later in the set to do an honest
rendition of Patience... wow!! If we weren't in heaven already, Axl
this time introduces Kid Rock along with Izzy and they all do a killer jam
on Nightrain!! The packed crowd was losing it!! Just going nutz!!
The most interesting part about that particular song was that apparently
the drummer, Brain, somehow "messed up" the intro of the song, so
much so that Axl (for the first time in all 4 shows) got mad and ordered
them all to actually STOP THE SONG! Izzy looked scared, as if he did
something wrong... but Axl just started in on Brain "...um, we practiced
this at rehearsal!!" (I felt a sinking feeling - like "oh god, here we go with
Axl's bullshit again") but, after Brain quickly apologized and uttered
something to the effect of "this is live - it ain't no Britney Spears shit"
they started back into it just fine... weird.
To wrap it up, the encore ended with the usual (and killer) jam of
to the night, as well as the week. At the very end, Axl brought out
everyone who played with them this week and they all did one big
'curtain call' (remeniscent of te old GN'R days!)... Amazingly, at this
point of the night, the following people were on stage:
-W. Axl Rose
-Tommy Stinson (aka: my personal God - I'm a huge MATS fan!)
-Izzy fuckin' Stradlin'
-Kid Rock (the douche bag that he is)
-Lenny Kravitz (yep, you heard right)
-Sebastian Bach
-Dizzy Reed
...and Richard, Robin, Chris, Bumblefoot (who's solo SUCKED tonite, btw), etc, etc...
Can you BELIEVE that?! What an ALLSTAR line up!!
I actually have video of Izzy doing Patience, Sebastian doing My Michelle
and Kid Rock doing Nighttrain, but alas its a crappy cell phone version
that I took (about 10 feet from the stage) so I'm not sure how good it is.
If I figure out how to get it off my phone I will post it on youtube.com or
something for all you guys...
That's about it... just wanted to share w/ fellow GNR nuts like myself! :)
PS: Two things...
1. If you are ever in NYC, take it upon yourself to see one of the greatest
(and funniest) GNR tribute bands, 'Mr. Brownstone'... They are personal
friends of mine (as well as my clients) and they rock!! I went to a private
party for this Atlantic Recs dude that they played on Sat in NYC and we
all had a blast!! I was told that Axl & Kid Rock might show up, but alas,
they didn't... Anyway, they are so popular here in NYC that they are
headling a show at the Bowery Ballroom (fairly big venue) on June 10th
and you shoud all go.. its the closest thing you'll get to seeing the original
line up & worth every penny!! Trust me... :)
2. I'd love to find my future wife on here, so... if you live in or near NYC,
are cool, beautiful, and fun (as well as a big GNR fan like myself) and are
single & in your 20's or 30's... like, find me! :) Let's make beatuiful music
together! :P
Til then... ROCK. THE. FUCK. OUT!!
-TRx
www.newgnr.com
05-17-06 |
by crayallica
GREAT, HISTORIC Show........they played from about 11:20 pm until almost 2 am
just some highlights:
I was about 12 deep from center stage, WTTJ, crowd pushes forward, forced to jump in unison, beverages flying.
after LALD (4th song), AXL starts talking, "drugs", "partner in crime", ya know it must be........and then "Mr. Izzy Stradlin' "............great song "Think About You"--only night they played it...Izzy does look like Springsteen...headband..short hair...deep cheeklines...occasional smile..stayed mostly in the background and played some rhythm...awesome to see him on stage. He came back to play on "Patience" afer AXL said "This is an Izzy song". I DID NOT see a tear. Just mixed emotions. Izzy also came back for "Nighttrain". He really didn't come forward much and had small guitar parts on all three songs.
"BETTER" was my highlight and seemed to be the signature song of this version of GNR. It is exactly like the leaked demo except the intro (played by Robin) is longer and not muffled, sounded cool. They all seem to play that song with pure joy, more than any other. The heavy part just blew me away, guitarists swaying side by side during the riff, AXL dances to the techno breakdown, then goes into a pose and his eyes roll in the back of his head. ALL signs point to 1st single. AWESOME!!
Really liked KOHD, was a different version. More mellow than on UYI. Axl said "Hopefully we will get around to releasing this one and put more money in the Bob Dylan fund." another "NEW GNR" moment that I hope to hear again.
AXL had a written list of people to thank that he kept going back to.
Seeing the two most powerful Hard Rock vocalists in history on the same stage doing "My Michelle". Awesome. Credit Baz for doing all 4 nights. ("Subhuman Race" is a severely underrated CD)
AXL joked how people tell him to put out a record, "funny how some things slip your mind"
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