Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Is it me, or does Mr. Stinson seem a bit melancholy on stage during this tour? I have footage of the 2002 tour, and the guy seemed like a ball of energy (yes, a member of GNR was actually spotted smiling at one time), lots of energy. Just curious, since I get the impression he seems to run the show during rehearsals and appears to be pretty important to the new lineup.

In videos he seems great.  Unfortunately, the two times I saw him were on bad days... Donington, where he was pissed at people throwing shit at him.  And the first Wembley date, where Axl told us tell him, "Cheer up, motherfucker".

I don't know... at all the shows i've seen he seems to be having a great time and jokes around with the guys and what not...

LOL! Axl telling someone else to cheer up. Gotta love it, the drama with these gunners. Sounds like my band.

everyone has a bad day sometimes

He's human, I'm sure he has bad days like the rest of us.

If somebody saw you being down or angry one day, would you like to be labeled as being "melancholy" or angry?





/jarmo

That's why he has the nickname "the general".  Great addition to the band.

just off days im sure, besides, no one knows what goes on behind closed doors.

at hammersmith he was  a bundle of joy and energy!   :love:

Tommy's great and yeah everyone's seen the Donington incident and I think everyone would react the same way if they had actual piss thrown at them.

Part of the reason that he may seem a little more subdued is that I think that he is trying to think of where to go next in the setlist and feeling a vibe from the crowd. ?In 02 the setlist was pretty much laid out and now it is random with Tommy playing the lead role. ?

I think it would be pretty stressful playing-wise to play bass in a band with two keyboards, three guitars, a huge stage, and a singer that is running all over the place....definitely more to think about as the backbone of the band compared to your normal four piece unit. ?

Atleast in Helsinki Tommy was fuckin' amazingly happy! He really took the show to another level joking with Axl.

Not just one bad day, it's an observation after viewing much recent live footage. We'll see after I see them again at the MSG show.

You can't really judge it from a bootleg.  You have to actually be there watching it and feeling the energy.

Yeah, I guess I didn't really sense the energy from the 2002 gigs, it was all in my mind. He musta been really miserable in those vids.  ::)

I guess you wanna see misery and you see it.

It's like if you want to find faults in something, you will.  ::)




/jarmo

Tommy may not be as energetic as the others but he does not stand there looking miserable from the times i saw them the only miserable people i saw at the shows were the fucking security :P

Yes, I'm seeking out Stinson's misery. The point is, he DID seem like the most energetic guy on stage 4 years ago. I guess turning 40 is a bummer.

I'll say it again. Watch the beginning of the video of T.W.A.T. from May 12th at Hammerstein. That exchange between Axl and Tommy was my favorite moment of all 4 nights.

Robin stole the show, in my opinion, those 4 nights, but I still believe Tommy is the most important member of this band.

He's the glue that keeps the band together.

he looks like he is not having fun

Well, maybe it has finally dawned on him that he will never escape being known as a "replacement". :rofl:

Didn't think about it until you brought it up, Jak, but I know what you mean.  He was really in overdrive in most of the previous footage I've seen, and this time, not so much.  He really didn't stand out at the Inland gig, the camera didn't spend much time on him, they weren't drawn to him. 

And people can bring up moments of electricity and overall good nights, but that's a 'not seeing the forest for the trees' thing.  He does seem more low key.   

Maybe the material isn't fresh for him anymore, and that was what was providing the initial ignition, or maybe all the Soul Asylum and Replacements work was sucking up his energy, but the level has been comparatively down.  (Which isn't to say that it's low, it's just that it was so high before).

Good call.

Well , I think he will be a lot more into this new tour especially since they should be playing some more new material!!  they all will for that matter!

Come on, he can be seen on newer footage singing along to the lyrics like he's having a ball

Stinson and Dizzy are closest to Axl.

It's very obvious.

Axl is always buddy-buddy with Stinson - more so than Dizzy actually, but I think that's cuz the Dizmeister is on the keyboard and farther away.

This is just based on my perception but I think Axl and Stinson get along really well. I think Axl likes Finck but they don't have as much interaction, they're probably very different personalities. Finck is kinda bizarre and sexually open (he blew Manson, right?) whereas Axl is an admittedly homophobic guy who is a bit freaky but not in the same way.

So, I think Stinson brings a lot to the band right now.

I think it's interesting that despite Axl rebuilding the band into something else he chose very similar artists - Finck plays differently than Slash but uses similar methods of bends for emotive playing, he just doesn't use blues-based work as much.

Duff was the punk element of GN'R and Stinson was in a punk band and wears punk outfits a lot.

Brain plays pretty similar to Matt although IMO he seems like a much cooler guy and doesn't give 15-minute fucking solos.

Exactly my thoughts. Tommy is definitely one of the most important members in the band. He also seems to be the one who dares to speak up to Axl... the fight they had before the NY warm-up shows for example.

And on a side note... Finck didn't blow Manson, it was the other way round and only for a short moment, so it doesn't even really classify as a blowjob... But let's not go there again, there's been too much fuss about that already.

We don't know, we are not in the band.

How do you know we're not?

Watch the jokes Tommy did with Axl on Novemer Rain at RAR. He was having a really good time..

Tommy and Axl are buddies. They were cracking jokes before "Nightrain" about "the fucking whistle", when I saw them in 2002 in Tacoma. I imagine Tommy just wants the album to come out so he can play his own shit. Tommy is the one member of the band who will call Axl on his bullshit. 

Back in 2002 when i got to see the new Gn'R, Stinson appeared like a really happy alive person. And from what i have seen of the recent shows (on video) he does appear to be working hard and is not so much unhappy as taking the situation more seriously. Maybe he has been on the road too long or simply trying to up his game musically? :peace:

Ive noticed the same thing with Tommy this yr. In '02 he seemed different. I wouldnt put too much into it though. We all know that he and Axl had some kind of argument/disagreement back in MAy. But other than that I dont think its more than that.

Tommy and Robin are the backbone of this band. When all is said and done they have each others back and like some have said when something needs to be said Im sure Tommy leads the pack in saying it.

once the album is out he will be rejuvenated.

I have noticed a different attitude from him as well.

In 02 he seems to really like taking the front of the stage, smilling lots and stuff.

Havnt seen that much of the above, from him this year so far.

Mabey it is that fact that night in and night out he is playing other peoples songs.  Songs other guys wrote.  Mabey it is starting to get to him.

at least I dont think he in feud with Axl , he sometimes make to Axl funny faces during NR

He seemed very happy during the Paris gig. I swear he kept looking at me though  :nervous:

Maybe he's having "creative differences" with Axl.

Tommy's really cool, but I've noticed the same thing during this year - He's still great up there, but dialed down a bit from 2002.

Stinson and Fortus are my favorites of the new guys - Both play with so much energy.

Maybe it's just a change in the band dynamic. A good change too. Not that he's melancholy, but that he doesn't feel he has to be as center-stage as he used to because the rest of the band is more comfortable and putting on a better show. He's been around long enough to probably have his own standards and ideas of what he wants to portray to the audience, and maybe because the guitarists, finck espescially, seem more in command, he doesn't mind hanging back more and just rocking his bass like a bass-player often does.