Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Well, as most of you must have understood the title is a joke.

I am not humble.

Anyways, today I listened to Sailing from Wembley, and I remembered what I've lived this summer, so I decided to share it with the rest of the board.

Before this crazy summer began, I was supposed to see 3 shows, a bit later 2, a bit later they became 3 again, then 2 again, then 4, and in the end I attented 6 GN'R shows... Crazy huh?

Well, it all began back in February or March... I wanted to go and see them at Rock Am Ring. Then I talked with Jarmo and he told me he and lots of others were going to Rock In Rio. So, one Sunday night I bought one ticket to Rock In Rio festival. Little did I know... I ended up buying tickets for 4 other Greeks.  ;D

The days were passing by and the rumours for Madrid were really strong, so I booked the plane tickets for all of us and I thought what the hell, in worst case scenario, we'll get to see Madrid as well.

GNR were announced for Madrid, so our money weren't "lost". Then they changed the date.

I couldn't miss the opening night of this European tour... I HAD TO BE THERE. So I paid for plane tickets all over again and...

Oh, I had also bought plane tickets to Nuremberg for the 10th of July, a show with the Rolling Stones, a dream show.


May 25th, 2006

Woke up really early, something like 4 am, and we flew to Madrid. The first surprise was waiting for us at our hotel.

We didn't have a hotel. Anyway, we found one quickly and went straight to the venue.

Well, back in 2002 I had this small sign which Axl noticed in London Arena. This time I decided to make it a bit bigger...  ;D

(http://www.gunsnroses.gr/Christos/EuropeanTourReview/meandnatassa.jpg)
Me and Natassa outside the venue in Madrid

A few hours before the show GN'R were soundchecking. It was surreal, being out of the venue, listening to the soundcheck. And then Axl joined the band and they kept on soundchecking. People around me didn't seem to realize what they were listening to so they weren't paying attention...

(http://www.gunsnroses.gr/Christos/EuropeanTourReview/meandmeanmachine.jpg)
Me and meanmachine before the gig

Well, the spanish crowd got really upset cause of the delay, GN'R showed up at 12. People got crazy the moment they appeared on stage.

(http://www.gunsnroses.gr/Christos/EuropeanTourReview/madridgnr.jpg)

GN'R, 4 years later, without Buckethead. AND they played There Was A Time. This reason alone was worth all the extra money I spent. I just love that song. And I feel extremely lucky that I heard it that night, since they never played it again on this tour.

Anyway, the night had come to an end and we headed back to the hotel. Straight to our beds for sleep...


May 26th, 2006

We got up, went to eat some McDonald's and went straight to the airport with one of those cars GN'R used in London. That was a bit funny, cause the windows were dark and I felt like a celebrity driving through Madrid.

At the airport we found out that we didn't have a hotel in Lisbon as well, the 2 Greeks that didn't have enough money to buy another ticket for Madrid had already arrived in Lisbon and gave us the good news.

I was so fuckin upset during the flight, but an hour later all this would be a loooong forgoten memory... Or NOT...

The plane landed safely and we went to get our bags.

Suddenly as I was seating I heard someone screaming DIZZY.

I turn around and I see Dizzy. The rest can be found here: http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/board/index.php?topic=30827.0

After this "meeting" we went to the hotel to see what's going on, anyway we only found a hotel a few minutes before the pre-show party at the Hard Rock Cafe. All the hotels we looked at before ending at the right one, were like whore-houses... But in the end everything worked out fine...

God, what an amazing night.

Read about it starting from here: http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/board/index.php?topic=30864.msg602638#msg602638

(http://www.gunsnroses.gr/Christos/Jarmo_Christos.jpg)
Me and Jarmo presenting Kidnap

(http://www.gunsnroses.gr/Christos/Christos_Kidnap_On_Stage.jpg)
Me singing Knockin' On Heaven's Door with Kidnap

Thanks to these amazing guys from Portugal, I had one of the best nights of my life. Thank you Kidnap.


May 27th, 2006

Dead tired. Sleeping all day. Went to Bella Vista Park right before the Darkness started playing. Enjoyed all of their set, as I really dig them.

Then GN'R came on stage for what I consider one of the best gigs I've been to, along with some other from this tour and some other artists...

Most of you have downloaded the dvd so I won't get into this.

Back to reality after 2 beautiful days in Lisbon, a city I've loved so much, I'll be back as Arnold said once...

Back To Reality

So, back to reality, just to find out that the gig with the Stones in Germany has been cancelled and that a pre-sale for the shows in London is on.

I immediately bought my ticket for the 30th, and a day later for the 29th.

A few weeks later, I found out that they're coming to Greece. On the same date I was supposed to see them in Germany. Life plays weird tricks on us...

I'm in constant talks with the promoter to help them advertize the show, since it's only 2 weeks away.

(http://www.gunsnroses.gr/events/06-07-2006/preshowposterindex.jpg)
Official Preshow Party for the show, with the help of Universal Music and the promoter (Poster thanks to and by xxxrosexxx)

One week in Athens for promotion. Met lots of nice people, especially at the pre-show party. One hell of a night.

Then the day of the gig came.

July 10th, 2006

Right before the gig I got interviewed by MAD TV, the biggest Greek music tv station. They asked me questions like when the album is coming out or why do GN'R have so many really young fans. Like I could answer both those questions... Still, they played the interview like 5-6 times for the next 2-3 days. Lots of people saw it, a friend of my dad as well, he told him about it but my dad hates such things...  :hihi:

Now, lucky again, the promoter had saved the pit infront of the stage for the VIP's. Since I helped them with the promotion, I was one of the lucky fucks in the pit.

Front row, definitely one of the best gigs of my life. I was singing all the new songs by heart, Axl was watching me singing them and he was smiling... And then he mentioned my GREECE LOVES GN'R sign... I think I died that moment.

I was also the one who screamed "DO THE ASSHOLE SONG" and Axl said "Ooh, we got another request for this one" and he played it... Funny... Felt really weird, my first request and not denied... Frank's (the drummer) first request was denied at the acoustic gig and mine wasn't...  ;D

You can find many pictures from the show here: http://www.gunsnroses.gr/athens2006pix.htm

Only 3 weeks away from London...

July 28th, 2006

Flew to London, watched Superman, went to the pre-show meeting. Funny night, when I left the "meeting" I met Juliet Lewis (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000496/). She was really cool to me, talked a bit about her singing "career".

July 29th, 2006

Probably the best day of my life.

Went to Soho to buy some used records, then left them at the hotel and went straight to Wembley. We went to the pre-show meeting at Greyhound, not so many people.

(http://www.gunsnroses.gr/Christos/EuropeanTourReview/meatwembley.jpg)
Me outside the new Wembley stadium

Then the gig. I really loved this gig. Covers (of Sailing, Sway, Back to the USSR), Izzy, Sebastian and the winners announced.

After the show we had heard that there was this aftershow party at some club in Soho but we didn't know if the acoustic was gonna happen there.

So, after 3 hours of waiting in the rain, we found a cab and went straight to that club in Soho.

Everybody was getting out of that club, so I assumed that the acoustic wasn't gonna take place there.

Then my ANGEL (you know who you are  :-*) sent me a text with the club's name. We headed there and a friend got me in.

I managed to get in front of the band, dead center. I watched an acoustic gig by GN'R, and I was right infront of them.

God, that was weird and amazing at the same time. Right infront of the guy who saved my life with his lyrics 6 years ago.

All that week, I was thinking of making a new sign that would say GREECE THANKS GN'R. I never did it.

So, then it struck me. I took this yellow envelope out of my bag and I wrote it on its back.

GREECE THANKS GN'R

I showed it to Axl and he smiled and shook my hand. I really wanted to say it to him, but showing it had the exact same effect and probably even better..., so I'm so fuckin happy I had this chance.

Now, Sailing, that song has been haunting me ever since he performed it with the band that night. I wish they'd release it cause it was simply mindblowing.

Amazing night, probably the best of my life.

The next night was great but weird as well, last night of the tour, with Axl being sick, not able to finish the gig, Sebastian saving the day... Also thanks to the people who showed up at the pre-show meeting at the Greyhound.

And now, back to reality once again, trying to work, but how can I after this summer?

I wanna thank all the people I've met this summer, too many to name them, I hope you still remember me. Thank you all for being so cool to me.

And sorry to Jarmo, Adam and the 2 girls who were with us for being such an asshole on our last morning in London. You didn't deserve that...

Above all, thanks to Guns N' Roses for one amazing summer and for the years to come.

I'm sure it will be one hell of a ride. And I'll be there until the end...  :peace:

Good work you lazy greek!  :-*

Nice meeting you finally, i still use the lighter you gave me as a gift, i'm even more suprised that it still works!  ;)

Great review man!

Yeah nice review? ::) Cheat

Hey,

stop calling me a cheater.

I was the first person to give updates on this European tour. You copied me...  :P


Ofcourse it would work... What do you think I'd give you? Some cheap fake zippo?

An authentic GUNSNROSES.GR lighter...  ;D

ha i was the first to sent live photos and video  :smoking:

Well, a teacher is always happy to see the student doing good and sometimes better... Ofcourse with the years technology gets better...  ;D

I remember when I went to Wembley on Saturday 29th and this sign waited for me there:

(http://hem.bredband.net/jarmo/yabb/temp/greece_loves_me2.jpg)

 : ok:


/jarmo

Yeah, it was the joke of that day...

We wanted to make you feel "special"... But you're not, so don't get excited...

 :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Im suprised they havent taken you in for medical research yet due to the size of your ego!  :P :-*

My highlight was Jarmo playing tour guide, round a city he doesnt even live in! Amazing stuff.
Musical highlight? Rocket Queen on the 29th, despite Axl getting the lyrics wrong a little bit. This song kicks ass live.
Also, each Paradise City as a closing track was awesome, that track owns live and this "New" band kick the shit out of it, slap it in a garbage can and throw it off a cliff. Brilliant! :D

I did break the GNR greece lighter a bit, i burnt/ melted the top metal bit whilst rolling a joint. It stuck to the bottom metal bit. Fixed it with a bit of Ol' English strength!

Its weird, every time i light a cigarette or a suspicious cigarette i think of Christos! :love:


 :smoking:


Smoke Weed

That was something I didn't need to know...  :nervous:

Go back to sleep. And grow a beard, instead of that fake one!  ;)

The lighter is running out of gas, does me receiving it as a gift mean i get a life times supply, courtesy of the gift giver?

Aaaaaah, go and take off with a rubber those 3 lines you got for a beard...

And no, you don't get a lifetime of supplies. You gotta do it yourself. You lazy bastard.

Can  i have a lifetimes supply of lighters then?
Lots of people i know want one!  :D I could sell them at 2 quid a go and send you 20p per lighter sold?

Thinking of going to any US shows Christos?

I wanted one as a souvineer Christos saw me looking at yours and pulled one out (a lighter naughty) and said "do you smoke" so i said "no" so he put it away and walkd of to the venue. :no:

I cried  :crying:

 :rofl:

great typings Christos... as always  ;)

PM me your address and I'll send you one.

Awesome review, Christos.... sounds like you had a great time!     :peace:

Yeah, I guess you could say that, apart from my last morning in London, and the crappy hotels everywhere...

you crazy Greek everyone will want one now  :rofl:

Yeah, they might want them but they can't get em.

They cost and I don't intend to sell them so very few will get one.

You and Velimir deserve at least one, that's for sure...

 : ok: Good read Christos.


How come all the mods didn't make the trip north?  :(

And by north you mean...?

Glasgow!

ah your so nice and lovely just like a cuddly te.... ? i wont go there :rofl:

Actually the problem at that particular moment was simply money.

If those gigs were only a few days later, I'd be there.

But at the time, I just couldn't make it...


Go and the trade is off. You'll just send your part of the deal.  :P

 :D... thanks ?: ok:.

tell me about crappy hotels. arrived in London on 29th, headed to Euro Wembley Hotel just to get informed they are overbooked and that we can take a bus to very close one down at Hanger Lane... in the end it was OK, but... but we had great Italian dinner served by amazing Polish girl... uh, oh...

You the mostest cuddly anythinggoes! :love:

Didnt mean to turn this into a lighter and Greek appreciation thread,sorry! ?;)

I just felt something from the heart when he handed it over....







...it was a heart attack, i thought he was going to murder me with it.

There is always 2007  : ok:

The truth is that I had been planning that for years, but there were too many people around.




Oh yes there is... :beer:

Polish... They're everywhere...  ;)

nice read Christos. One hell of a summer : ok:

Shame he didnt Christos would never harm you

in public

Ofcourse, I'm too handsome and smart and sexy and above all humble to harm him in public.  ;D

Shame he didnt
Thats it, steal someone elses idea! Hahaha! I love the small letters, you can insult people and they wouldnt even know it. I reckon we should all post in white for the rest of the day.

So Greek, next time we meet, a dual to the death...



...or




..Arm Wrestling.

Loser loses not only their pride, dignity and ...ahem humbleness but also....



...their beard!  :smoking:

great review man . i wish i could be at wembley gigs  :(

Its great because we could post links to songs and stuff ha ha ha ha wait i have no links to songs plus we could swear like bum and titties and even willy and nooone would no he he he


that would be a great match i would like to see

I met Christos only for a minute or so @ Greyhound, but I can confirm what is quoted above? ;)...

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! - Could we even get away with just doing that? You willyhead! :rofl: :rofl:


You can be my trainer and mentor, like Mickey and Apollo were to Rocky. We can do little training montages of me that you can film with your phone with Eye Of The Tiger playing in the background whilst i do 5 million situps. The we will switch and ill take a shot of you going :-

YouCome on Rocky... i mean Arron.
MeI'm trying Mickey i mean er anythinggoes i really am, i just dont think its right putting my beard on the line for this.
You I want you spitting lightning and throwing thunder, i want you to knock em dead Arron. Go Champ!
Me I had a curry last night and im shitting thunder and lightning!

Shave your beard now then.


It'll end in a few seconds. What's great about that? The only great thing is that you won't have to send many updates. Just 2 actually.

10:00:00 The fight has began
10:00:09 The fight has ended, Arron is down


Thanks, but I'd rather have that coming from a lady, I hope you understand what I mean...  ;)

And you 2 english bastards stop with the small letters or I'll send you to hell, or ban you forever... which is the exact same thing...

ok i think we have ruined this thread enough lets go find another one to destroy

it was a crappy thread anyway with some greek gloating about how many times he had seen gnr and met axl (i joke i joke) ps arron you cant shrink the icons remember that

That's it, you're banned 4ever. Both of you.

thats cool
now that you're not living everyones summer fantasy you wanna get that gilby interview done?

No.

It's not ok anythinggoes, I'm 1000% sure I'll lose if I fight him and I'm full of shit.

I'm gonna watch Over The Top a few times to use as an inspirational video for this momentus battle!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093692/

The world meets nobody halfway. When you want something, you gotta take it. - Lincoln Hawk - Over The Top 1987

No??????? oh please do please do :hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi: for God's shake , leave the women alone for a day and update the site - especially the Gilby interview!!  :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

great review buddy!!!  : ok: : ok: : ok: : ok:

i think you made a lot of fans very jealous  :hihi: :hihi:

Great Stuff Christos!

Nice to meet you as well in London (30th)

-Greg

dude, I saw you in Athens, at the concert....here's my bizarre story...

For the last god knows how many years, everyone around me knew about my obsession with gnr...all the way from school, through to my working life....so, i am quite active on the local rock scene here in jhb, and know a lot of local stars, so for my wedding, sa's best band decided to perfom gnr's sweet child for me and my bride on the day...that made it that much more personal...it was great...

and then....our honeymoon was in greece....and just by pure accident i decide to check in here a day before we fly off, just to see how the European Tour s going, and I see that an extra date has been added....in fucking Athens...on the day I land!!!!

Needless to say, we went psycho, trying to organise tickets, didn't sleep for 48 hours out of excitement, finally managed to get to the show...my first gnr show...it was everything i expected it to be...

couldn't have wished for a better wedding present from anyone...it was fucking awesome....

anyway, loved Greece, met some nice people, had a great time.

What was Frank's request?

Maybe one of these days I'll post my "tour diary"....  :nervous:





/jarmo

Civil War?? ::) :hihi:


Or write a book about it? :P ... no, actually I can imagine how much memories you have. Only from 30th I can think of few like Beta and Ron jamming on side of stage, confused Bach dragged to stage for Nightrain? :hihi:, Merck on the phone before Paradise City (with Beta I (only) guess)... and many more... also my overdrunk not-really GNR fan friend fall asleep just when Izzy hit the stage and waking up end of Nightrain, seeing Bach and thinking that opening act is still on... that was funny, really funny? :rofl:

some girl just called me and sais she is still looking for the handsome Greek promised in the title of this thread .....

Where? Did we talk?


Can't remember... I just remember Axl denying his request in a really funny way... Frank was laughing really hard...


That's cause she called an ugly french guy.  :P

Give her my number and she'll find her handsome Greek.

I can only HOPE to enjoy HALF of what you guys did when GNR comes to the US.  You lucky bastards, but I'm glad you guys had such an awesome time.  It looks like all these years of "waiting" is starting to really pay off.  It's a great fucking time to be a Guns N' Roses fan and I don't think I have ever been more proud to be one, than I have been this summer.  I feel kind of guilty though because I haven't listened to any old GNR for a couple of months because I can't stop listening to the '06 live shows and the leaks, over and over again.  I don't miss the "old" line-up at all right now and I can't get enough of the current Guns N' Roses.  Alright, I need to stop myself before I type a whole page about it in this thread, so thanks again for sharing your stories and pictures everyone.  I'm glad everyone had a fun and safe trip(s).  Peace out.

Mitch

no we didn't...I was a bit freaked out...was in Greece for the whole 8 hours, and everyone thought I was Greek (apparently I look like one), so all day long people were coming up to me chatting away in Greek....so I was keeping a low profile.

I did see you though, in the queue outside, and inside again.

Now I realise I should have gone up to you and said hello.....maybe next time.

Yeah, you should have...

Anyway, there will always be a next time...

And you should've said hello to Chris at the Leeds Festival in 2002...? But did you? :P




/jarmo

Well, the thing is that I didn't see Chris cause I was too fuckin tired.

theProject saw me...  :P

In my defence, until this thread came along, I didn't know what you looked like...so if I knew then that it was you...I would have definitelly made a mission to come over...

no worries mate, when the world tour happens next year, JHB is hopefully going to be on the map, and then I'll be your host for the concert.

Good review and great photos Christos. Glad you had a wonderful time. :)

P.S I have a photo of myself outside Wembley Stadium also. What an amazing place! : ok:

Its a magnificent structure, shame it has taken 120 years to build and wont be finished for at least another 120.

wow  :crying: I would have loved to meet some of you guys i can't imagine how much fun it would have been! :beer: those stories sounds so fun, really cool. sadly I'll keep on imaging that, to live far awaaaaaaaaaaay is not cool at all.

I'm happy for all of you  :-* and keep on writing such good stories I'm sure there are more...c'mon :d

I know someone who's preparing his "tour review" and will have it here soon...  I'm pretty sure you'll notice it... ;D

that was a great read and trip down memory lane, cheers Christos!  I want to live and re-live the last couple of months over and over again....  the reality of being at work and no more gnr shows to look forward to is rather harsh  :no:

good memories and tour reviews are most welcome!  : ok:

great stories cristos! i shouldn't have missed the london shows.
please do come back to Lisboa, it was great meeting you at the hard rock. you're always welcome to get on stage with us (kidnap) again for another "knocking on heavens door".
did you check our new demo "fakin" already? check it out our site.
we're probably gonna tour spain for 5 days in early september, so if you're around come and see us!

Yeah, you won't trick me next time...  ;D

If I've just arrived from another GNR gig, I'm not getting on stage... It was fun though... But it would have been better if I hadn't destroyed my voice the previous night, singing along to GN'R in Madrid...  ;D

But you were fuckin awesome! A night I'll never forget... Gotta send you the dvd someday... PM me your address and I'll send it... soon...  ;D

I loved Lisbon and I'm definitely comin back someday. Hopefully to see GN'R again, that would be an awesome combination!




Just heard your new song. Seems like you guys are ready for a record. What's stopping you?


Thanks girl!!


I don't wanna live any other way...  ;D But life's knockin on my door...  :-\


Thank God I'm on vacation and I don't have to think about work for another week...  :hihi: