Here Today... Gone To Hell!

I was reading the FAQ for new guests and noticed the only song from UYI1 that was never played live was "Don't Damn Me".  Does anybody have any ideas on why not?  The song is one of my favorites and doesnt seem to difficult for the band to do(unlike say "Garden of Eden")

But didn't they play it once in 1989?

It is a tough song, tougher than 'Garden of Eden'. The solo is a killer. Prob that's why...

-Steve Mckagan

I dunno.  Mr. Jarmo?

My source:
www.gnrontour.com

12.06.89 - Is this the date you refer to?
According to the site, the song was only played during a rehersal.  I dont think that counts...

If they just had a very small audience like 100 people, i think it counts.

That's one of my favorite songs on either Illusion album.  I would love to hear a live version of it...sucks there isn't one.

same here. it's probably too hard t play though

Dammit.  I wonder if Scott would ever sing it....

That would be blasphemous, considering how personal the song is.

its one of fav songs. maybe they were going to play it at some shows but axl walked off the stage. what is that song about? is it about being your self and talking and not care about what people think or axl writing whatever he wants.

This is directly from "The band time forgot" book:

"DDM"was fairly self explanatory and refleted Axl's predicament of "damned if you do damned if you don't".  As he speaks of in the song "don't damn me and don't idolize the ink or I've failed in my intentions can you find the missing link."   Axl did not want to be revered as the messiah (prehaps also a reason why he wrore the "kill you idols" t-shirt  so often) but he did not feel he deserved constant chastisement either.  As elsewhere it was a statement by a man struggling to come to terms with his own status, an almostgraphic explantaon of his potential mind swings, "sometimes I wanna kill, sometimes I wanna die, sometimes i wanna destroy, sometimes i wanna cry, sometimesi could get even, sometimes i could give up, sometimes i could give, sometimes i never gave a fuck."  Perhaps this verse more than any other on the album summed up where Axl Rose was at in 1991.

This strikes me as one of the biggest mysteries of this band. To me this is one of their best rockers ever, only second to nightrain. I know not everyone agrees on that, but that the song is atleast one of the best on UYI 1, has to be a given.

Yet, the band never played it. That puts it in the company of songs like My World, Get In The Ring (I think) and perhaps Bad Apples. In comparison this just doesn't make any sense. I've heard that it was too hard to play. Well, maybe for me or the guy in Motley Crue, but not for Slash. No way.

I'm left clueless on this subject. Anyone with more information who want to share?

Because they prefer Dead Horse (http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/board/index.php?board=13.0) : ok:

Aside from Coma, I think this is GNR's most "lyrically packed" song...  I think it'd be difficult for any singer to pull off live without forgetting an entire verse or two.

...And just my opinion, but aside from the chorus, there's nothing particularly memorable about it - Just kinda one long rant (albeit a well-written one).

Did I post this in the wrong place? Hehe, well ok, sorry about that.

Maybe it's vocally difficult to do, so that's why it's never been performed. just a guess.

it's one of my favorite guns songs of all time actually.

Yeah, I get that, but then why did they play Coma and Perfect Crime? I know they didn't alot, but atleast they did.

In fact, on the forum show in 91 I think this was the only song in their whole cataloge they didn't play. It's like they forgot it existed.

It isn't that vaocally hard to do, Axl has sang much harder songs, You'll have to ask one of the guys in the band why it didn't get played It's definetly a great song

They did play Bad Apples live BTW

They did play it live, not often but they did

No, they didn't.

The current band didn't play a hella lot of songs collectively.

And it's not that hard to pull off live, vocally or otherwise. WTTJ is harder to manage live vocally. And that was and is even done sparringly to this day : ok:

Dont Damn Me is very hard to sing, there are very few pauses in this song and I would guess that's why it was never played, for a similar reason Coma was only rarely played, cos they're too damn hard to do justice to in a live environment.

Off the top of my head only Dont Damn Me. My World, GITR and One in a Million were never played live.

No shit, my bad, I was thinking of right next door to hell.  Sorry.

One In A Million was played atleast once.

Yes and I love that One in a million boot, so simple but so classic.

You could be right there, it was never played on the UYI tour though was it?

To my knowledge no.? I've only heard the cbgbs version. they had too much new material to go back to it by then

One can reproduce DDM live more easily because throughout 60ish% of it, it can be sung in alower key that would just need better pacing.

they played live bad apples
in RIR2

Im not saying it can't be done live but I think the reason it was never played live was due to it being too hard on Axl vocally, I could be wrong though  :peace:

Hey don't knock Mick Mars, fuck head.

Well, that's a real cop-out then. On WTTJ Axl has missed plenty of times trying to reproduce what you hear on the album, and most of the time he does ot differently in a live setting I would think.

It's harder to sing live than DDM. Maybe if he would sing it once we'd have Axl's version of proof.

I always wondered why as well. DDM was/is clearly one of their best songs. There is SOOOOO much emotion in this song. I always play this song when I'm pissed off.

Nothing memorable... yet someone above you just said that it's one of the best songs GnR ever did.  So in fact, while your opinion counts in some degree, by the sheer fact that someone thinks it's one of the best, must mean it IS memorable.

Plus, I agree with him.  Don't Damn Me is one of the most obscenely awesome tunes to come out of GnR... hands down.  It rocks.  Not just the chorus.  Jeeeez.

"Why wasn't Don't Damn Me ever played live?" :-\

I'm wondering that question too... because it's a great raw song, and it's the only song in the UYI albums that has the "ILLUSION" word sang on it :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:

By the way, Jimbo, BOTH Bad Apples and Right Next Door to Hell were played live, the latter being played on a fairly regular basis on the first leg of the tour.  Also, I don't know who is knocking Mick Mars, but I think he is a terrific guitarist.  He's no Slash and maybe his solos aren't as complex as some of the greats, but his riffs are the most memorable thing in Motley Crue, imho.

Haha, ever heard Locomotive, dude?  ;D

Yeah, I realize that I'm in the minority. I just think there's too much there - I love Axl's lyrics for the most part, but on the UYI albums he definitely could've used some restraint.

Songs like DDM, Right Next Door to Hell, and Coma just don't have the balance of the AFD/CD lyrics.

right next door to hell rocked that shit live..and so did perfect crime...garden of eden would have been badass live too...and one in a million was played 2 times..cbgbs in 1987 and at the limelight in 1988.......

I don't remember where, but some years ago I read, that Axl felt that the song didn't needed to be played live. It speaks for itself!

Wadya mean by that? There's plenty of sleazy/cheesy lyrics on appetite. Take "Think About You" for instance.

The only songs (originals) that were NEVER performed live are :

- Don't Damn Me
- Shotgun Blues
- My World (was played over the pa as intro and outro though)
- Get In The Ring (except for the chanting at Saratoga '91 of course)

EVERY other song on AFD, Lies and UYI was performed at least once .

Strikes me that the obvious way to do it - because there aren't many pauses for breath in the song - would be to do it as a duet, alternating lines like in Axl n' Baz's version of My Michelle...

SG

Wrong ^^

You can see the bad rehearsing Bad Apples on the Toyko DVDs. Maybe its a song they rehearsed as a band but never chose to play it live.

What's your point? Bad Apples does'nt have the word "illusion" or "illusions" in it.

Why wasn't Don't Damn Me ever played live?

er, becuse the track is no good. It's a filler track, as we spoke about some days ago now  :peace:

Ding ding ding. Same reason as Get In The Ring. He said the song speaks for itself. TO be honest, I think that's bullshit, because what song doesn't speal for itself? I think it's more because it's just a rant and he didn't want to keep making it or something.

I didnt say it did...

The word "wrong" and the rest of the body of the text are in different paragraphs which reveals they arent related. Wrong relates to the above quote and then the next paragrah is a new point. Thats how paragraphs work  ::)

The word illusion is in LOCOMOTIVE as well as DDM.

So what's your point? What were you refering to as wrong, and why the need to mention bad apples?

Do you speak english? Am I missing something? I thought posts were allowed to contain more than one phrase, paragraph or point.

Someone else mentioned Bad apples and I added they probably used it to rehearse as its featured on the tokyo dvds.... its really not rocket science...

Oh i love it when you get all masterful kriss_boy  :love:! Not rocket science? Too true. Lucky for both of us eh? I shouldnta said that tho, as soon some smartass will point out that the basic principles of rocket science are relatively simple.  :beer:

Still doesnt explain how you had difficulty differentiating between two different paragraphs and their simple contexts? ::)

i dont wana agrue, truce buddy?

gnR Rule!!

geeez... :o I'been living a liar (GN'R LIES!!) trough all this time, seriously, never realized the Locomotive part! :rofl: :hihi: maybe because I always skip it to the end part  :peace:

oh, and krissboy, don't worry, I've understood your "double" post perfectly : ok:

Bad Apples was played live twice. At Rock In Rio II and the second UYI Tour warm-up gig.

Oh I intended my last post as a kind of truce offering, and I'm sorry if it did'nt come across that way, it was maybe a bit too sarcastic. But you are quite right, i just had'nt read the previous posts quite as well as I thought I had  :beer:

I bet theres not one definitive reason, but many that lead to not a concious disregard of DDM, but rather made it impractical to play it. ?The fact that they toured on a double album and had "hits" from appetite, lies, and then UYI to play, and then had 30 new songs to work in, they had to pick and choose. ?Also they may have been planning on working it in later during the UYI2, but from reports Axl never wanted to rehearse so i bet they didnt have time to rehearse such a complex song. ?Also the song is complex, neither the guitar dont nor the vocals are easy and need to be highly insynch to sound good. ?Also the lyrics come fast and might be hard for Axl to remember in the middle or end of the show. ?Also I notice that steve lank is listed as a cowriter in some places, I assume its probably jsut a line or something that has to do with his artwork, but maybe there was some falling out there. ?I doubt thats the case, and it mostly just dealt with the inconvenience that performing the song live would cause.

For those who didnt know DDM was a song slash brought from a previous band. But I guess most of you guys knew that.

DDM = best Gn'R song IMO.  At least on the Illusions anyway. :P

i have the live version i downloaded it on napster a long time ago and i still got it
at the end he goes in really low bassy voice wo o o o o o oooooooo and then "how you doin tonight"

Guns N' Roses has never played Don't Damn Me live. There are alternate versions of the studio version with Axl saying differen't things other then "Smoke 'em if you got 'em!" and "Alright! That sucked!". But a live version does not exist in any fashion.

Like I said, the above songs were NEVER played live, ALL the others, including Bad Apples, were.

So no, you DON'T have it...

Why discuss something that is a known fact.

Wasnt Get in The Ring played at Wembley in 1991? Maybe its my bad memory.

I wish they had played it, but I'm perfectly happy w/ "Breakdown" cuz that's one of my favorite songs.

When was garden of eden played?

i doubt bad apples was played......

i could swear i heard that a version of bad apples was almost included on live era. that was... 7 years ago now so maybe i'm getting mixed up. but i'm pretty sure they were considering it.

Wasn't Bad Apples played at Rock In Rio?
I'm pretty sure that it was played in the early Illusion days, while Izzy was still in the band.

Garden Of Eden was played a few times in '93, I believe.

I think you're talking about Right Next Door to Hell.

yes, bad apples was played at rio the second night.

I have a boot of Garden Of Eden live from a gig in the US in 1993, I think it was played live 2 or 3 times at the most.

No..  Im pretty sure it was Dont Damn Me but if anyone has a quote then it would be cool to clear that up. I think I jus heard slash say he brought the riff etc from a previous garage band.

Everyone check here:

http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/board/index.php?topic=4226.0

Maybe slash just couldnt pull it of..... :hihi: Doubt it!

I have heard a bootleg of get in the ring.    It is where they recorded the audience for it.   Axl comes out, says they have this song, forget what they were calling it, they said because of all the bs they are changing it to get in the ring mother fucker.  Crowd starts chanting, then they play it live.

Shotgun blues was also played live...   I think..  not 100%.  BUT.   On the video, the making of November Rain.  Durring the live crowd parts, the band plays a few live songs, for the crowd to keep them jacked before the video shoot.   I am pretty sure Shotgun was one of them, but alas I lost my VHS copy of this, so someone else go watch it and conferm this.

They never played Get In The Ring live. They did the chant, that's all.

I remember reading a long time ago that the reason those were never played live is because the band thought they proved their point on the album. Axl said there was no need for those songs to be played live, so they weren't.

So they just did the chant and thats it?  I dont think so.   I think I heard them play after.  Dont have a copy of this any more, but I am sure of it.

Why would they just say.  Here is a new song, chant for it people..   Then what, they play Night train right after that.   makes no sence.   They played the song right after the chant.   i remember

I dont think so. I remember this and they just asked people to chant...the music wanst even finished when they asked the audience to chant so...

It was the Saratoga 6/10/91 and they did not play the song.  After the crowd chanted it a few times, Axl said "thank you very much".

hmm... ?I think the first song was done, forget the name. ?But then they added the rant into it after, then called it get in the ring. ? Now the more I think of it, I cant remember him doing that rant ever. ?And it would seem kinda silly, to do the same rant all the time live, probably why it was never played live.

So, I agree then. ?This song was never played live.

BUT, what song did they play live after they got the crowd to chant... ? If I was in the crowd I would be all like what the fuck. ?You talk about this new song, get us to chant and beg for it, then we dont get to hear it. ? ?Fuck

[quote author=axlrosehunny link=topic=37363.msg754844#msg754844
Why would they just say.? Here is a new song, chant for it people..? ?Then what, they play Night train right after that.? ?makes no sence.? ?They played the song right after the chant.? ?i remember
[/quote]

False memories are tricky. ?Trust me, it was never played live. ? The chants were, but that's it. ?It's studio magic, much like Kiss Alive! (don't mean to piss off the kiss fans, but you know where I'm coming from). ?I mean, the thing I posted earlier was a segment of jarmo's GNR FAQ. ?I'm pretty sure he research that list extensively before he put it online. ? :peace:

i believe they played it's so easy after they had the crowd chant get in the ring so they could record it. i have the dvd i'll check it out later.

06.10.91 - Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
opening act: Skid Row
set: Nightrain, Mr. Brownstone, Double Talkin' Jive, Dust N' Bones, Bad Obsession, It's So Easy, Dead Horse, Civil War, Welcome To The Jungle, 14 Years, I Was Only Joking [Intro] / Patience, My Michelle, November Rain, Drum Solo, Guitar Solo, Godfather Theme, Rocket Queen, Only Women Bleed [Intro] / Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Bad Time [Intro] / Sweet Child O' Mine
encore 1: Live And Let Die, Estranged
encore 2: Yesterdays, Paradise City
audio/video recording?: audio, video
notes: Special guest performance by Sebastian Bach. Axl announces that it is a "very sad day" because Poison broke up that day. Rare performance of Dead Horse during the summer '91 leg of the UYI tour. Axl leads the crowd in a "Get In The Ring" chant that is recorded and used on the song. He also says that they finished recording the song the night before in Toronto.

Sorry i didnt want to start another thread for this as it probly wont take much time, but i have a question. does any1 know if gnr ever did i full reggae version of KOHD live, as a friend of mine has a strange idea that they did, but i hope not!?

thanks in advance.

I think people ar emissin the point on the chanting. Axl probabably asked the crowd to chant, so they could record the chanting to put on the album.

I wonder if Axl saying "all right that sucked" at the end of it had anything to do with them never playing it live....just a thought

I think if ever that Guns N Roses should be adding this song to their current setlist. Ashba would be great playing Don't Damn Me. One of the great GNR tunes!!!!

Who knows?  You'd have to ask the band members, and there may not be any real reason why it wasn't played.  They may just not have gotten around to adding it in.

Just to clarify some of the debating going on here (from 2006!!)...

-- "One in a Million" was played live on January 31, 1988.  I have the bootleg.
-- "Bad Apples" was played January 23, 1991, the second night in Rio.  I also have that show.
-- "Garden of Eden" was played live February 23, 1993 and several other times in '93 as well.
-- "Get in the Ring" was NOT played live; there was only the chanting from June 10, 1991 as someone else mentioned.

Shotgun Blues was played anytime?......

Shotgun Blues hmmmm....yes, with Axl playing rhythm guitar, that'd be cool. It was him that recorded rhythm guitar on that song wasn't it? Don't think it has been played live. Breakdown is another tune they should bring back. I know someone will say we they're just looking forward to hearing the new music but there's still some amazing old songs that we haven't heard the old or new band playing and I for one would love to hear these tunes added to the setlist. Anyone that says its too difficult for the band to perform any of these songs live is out of their mind. The guys have proven that they can play anything live.

"Shotgun Blues" was never performed live by Guns N' Roses.

Shotgun, GITR and Don't Damn Me tomorroe in Vegas then  :beer:

songs never played live

Don't Damn Me

Get In The Ring
Shotgun Blues
My World

everything from the spaghetti incident exept attitude, down on the farm and the intro of since i dont have you.

Sympathy for the Devil

Well, you could technically count Hair of the Dog as having been played, although it wasn't 'GNR' playing it.  But Axl, Slash and Duff played it together with Lars and Sebastian.