Here Today... Gone To Hell!

On this page with Administrator approval we can make reviews from upcoming tour

I just got home from this show. I will be do a fuller review on my blog tomorrow, but here are a few highlights...

    * If anybody saw the white guy who translated outside the express (first 1000 people from each side) queue, that was me Cheesy
    * The opening act got stiffed with a 15 minute set. I was pleased.
    * There were some problems with the stage, and they had to screw a few things down just before the show started
    * The stage looks fucking sweet though!
    * Ashba fucking rocks! Awesome player, and he works the crowd like a superstar. He was obviously being showcased, and he was the first image anybody saw (Pics getting emailed to me tomorrow. Iconic), and the crowd all knew his name. Nobody wanted the other guy with the hat Wink
    * Ron's new double-neck is, quite possibly, the sexiest guitar ever made.
    * There were sound problems. Opening chops of CD were muted, and Axl's mic was all over the place, as were guitars from time to time.
    * Axl apologised for his vocals on Sorry. Musically, it was great, but he seemed to have problems deciding where to sing (the key goes up and down like a whores drawers). People I was with didn't notice anything wrong, but I did. Kudos for trying though. I am sure the problems will be ironed out
    * No "This I love". Bummer! I wanted to call the wife and let her hear it, as she was pretty gutted she couldn't come with me. She is desperate to hear that song played live. Hopefully they will come back next year Wink
    * Axl and Tommy were deciding the set as they go. At first it was "What should we play", but later they were pointing at the setlist on the ground and asking "This one or this one?"
    * No Encore. Paradise City finished seconds before 11:30, so I am guessing they were on a curfew (else they would have worked the encore). The crowd were begging for more. Literally! Cries of "Please Guns N' Roses play some more" were all around me. Despite the lack of encore, there was a lengthy set. The people I went with were surprised at how long a GN'R show lasts!
    * I got T-Shirts. I will take pics tomorrow and upload them somewhere.


I will post my full story tomorrow. I had quite the adventure Smiley

December 10, 2009 --- Tour Start in TAIPEI, TAIWAN.

I was at the Taipei gig last night, and I thought I would share my impressions of it. First of all though, I should say this was my first Guns and Roses gig ever, I never saw any of the earlier line ups.

They came on 36 minutes late, long enough to listen to a good section of the Appetite for Destruction album on MP3 player and dream of what it might have been like back in the day.
   


No apology for the delay, the first track was Chinese Democracy, which started with DJ Ashba in spotlight, standing on one two amps, one foot on each, at the very top stage platform and playing the opening riff. The hat he was wearing looked a bit like the one Slash used to wear- surely no coincidence, he's got the same kind of nose ring too... and doesn't Richard Fortus bear more than a passing resemblance to a young Izzy Stradlin?

Once all the band were on stage, there was a lot of activity on stage, the three guitarists, bassist and Axel moving around a lot, up and down the stairs... the crowd reception was close to ecstatic down at the front, a forest of hands thrust in the air making devil's horn symbols, and everyone jumping up and down. Having said that, there wasn't too much of a crush, it was pretty comfortable for a big stadium gig.

The guitarists kept coming right up to the edge of the stage to do solos, which was pretty exciting. Ron Thal seemed particularly impressive, very fluid, plays with his eyes shut like he's entering a trance or playing in a dream. Throughout the gig, every musician would get a chance to show what they could do with a solo of their own, apart from the synths guy, I guess he didn't make the grade. Richard Fortus did a reworking of the James Bond theme, and Thal did the Pink Panther theme, Tommy Stinson played 'My Generation' and sang lead on that, which was pleasing for the Who fans in the audience. I'm really curious to know if the tunes I couldn't put a name to might not be the melodies to forthcoming songs in the Chinese Democracy album sequence.

I couldn't quite work Axl out. He was really wide eyed at the start and I didn't know why, and I found myself struggling to pick out what he was singing quite often, although that's probably due, at least in part, to me having to wear ear plugs these days. Also he kept going backstage for some reason. At first he looked tired, well, maybe it was jet lag or something. But he convinced as showman and performer as the gig rolled on, dancing energetically, and running around, and I think his singing got stronger too.Before November Rain, they played the riff to Jean Genie, and Axl muttered the first line of that song... then when the grand piano was pulled out on to stage and as he sat down he announced 'Bennie and the Jets', but played November rain instead. He played piano himself for November rain, and as luck would have it, it had begun to drizzle, so he changed the words to 'December Rain', which was pretty cool. The song ended with the 'Don't you feel
like you need someone' verses that feature on the "Live Era" version of the song.

At first, the main special effects were just the film projections on the the three big screens at the back of the stage, but later on they also had huge roman candle type fireworks, flames gushing out of pipes, and the show ended with strips of foil like snakes being shot right out in the crowd. That was right at the end of the encore, the show closer was Paradise City, which began with Mr Rose wryly commenting 'Perhaps you'll recognise this one.'

The pre-encore closer however, was Knocking on Heaven's Door. Axl told a story about how he met Bob Dylan at a party and Bob asked him when he was going to record Knocking... Axl says 'We all really love that song' and Bob says, 'I don't care, I just want the money'. It was a good feeling though, and he got the crowd to join in on the chorus. "Perhaps you guys can help me out with this one".

Dizzy Reeds piano solo was a very mellow piece, with just him sat at the top of the stage with his piano and everyone else off set. I found myself feeling a lot of respect for this pianist that, before that time, I had barely noticed in the band. The general impression was of eight virtuoso musicians pretty much on top of their game, with everyone afforded their own moment to shine, and the variety made the whole thing seem quite light hearted and fun too. People put Axl down as an ego maniac sometimes, but he didn't hog the stage at all.

I still don't know if what seemed to be Axl straining at times to sing was really happening or was just in my mind, or the fault of the ear plugs, or what, but on the whole he was the consummate showman, that's the main thing. The sleeve photos to 'Live Era 87-93' show him high-jumping however, there was none of that last night. He changed shirt about four times though, and each seemed almost immediately to become drenched in his sweat, he was working pretty hard and he showed it.

My immediate verdict after the show was 4.5 out of five, marked down for just slightly for lateness and being stingy handing out set lists. It's like, c'mon guys, what the hell, can't you roadies just stoop down and pass 'em over, it just takes a second... but they did throw what seemed to be buckets of guitar picks out, so I guess some people went home with a nice souvenir. I think the Chinese Democracy tracks sound better in a live format too, just a bit looser and less polished... but warmer. And it seemed all the boxes from the back catalogue were ticked, it would have been nice to hear 'Civil War' as well, maybe 'Patience'... for me, from the new songs, 'Catcher in the Rye' was missing, but in the final analysis, no complaints. Except that I would have liked them to play on for a couple more hours...

As an afternote I went home, appropriately enough, on the night train, four damn hours from Banciao to Tienjhon, and I'm still knackered... but worth it, well worth it. Chinese Democracy in the Republic of China, sweet as a nut.

The set list at the end of this link is accurate http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/guns-n-roses/2009/taipei-county-stadium-taipei-taiwan-43d717d3.html

Just curious;

You really think Fortus and DJ are trying to resemble Izzy and Slash? I assume your'e joking?

What, didn't you notice the resemblance between Frank and Adler?

there are'nt my reviews, i used copy-paste option. I'm pretty far from seoul

http://yonguksaram.com/guns-n-roses-a-review-of-the-seoul-concert-experience.html

My full review. It's a huge one, so I didn't want to copy/paste it here.

Oh.  :hihi: my bad. I was also wondering about marking them down for being "late" by going on at 9:30. That's 3 hours early in my book  :hihi:

The guy also seems to think that the outro to November Rain is exclusive to the live version of the song (I think he must have only heard it on the radio beforehand).

great review man...how many people were there

Lurk, just read your review.  It was awesome and very detailed.  I much appreciated and enjoyed.  Thank-you.

Quick question, where did you buy the shirts?  I didn't see any for sale.  I would have bought either/both of those as well.

The shirts were out in the carpark near the GS25 (behind the tent with the ice show). There were a bunch of stalls out there, but only one was open before 6. They had a bunch of other shirts, including one female shirt that was awesome - I wish they had a regular T with it on - Belt buckles, beanies, a nice bag, and a godawful wallet!

This many :D

(http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u268/myates1976/GNR/CIMG0226.jpg)

Damn this forum killed my photobucket. It was full.

great review, thanks for sharing it with us

Where can we find setlists and possibly attendance figures from the shows like Jarmo did last time?

Since this Asia part of the tour is only four shows, I'd think Jarmo will add that info to the "Tour Dates" section on the main site page once this leg is complete.

Out of interest, how many were there in Soeul? In the press article said 6,000 and Scraped played!!!! More nonsense. I prefer the reviews from the fans.

The floor plan shows that there were 6,000 floor tickets sold. Then there were seats... It was at least 11,000, and it seemed to be a capacity crowd.

I thought I saw a big black tarp covering the upper deck of the arena in Seoul.

Yeah, here's a good view of how many attended: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ2pOSRd6jQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ2pOSRd6jQ)

Def a lot more than 6,000!

The shows are getting a positive spin from this online music site, based in Australia.

http://undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=9801

Watch Guns N Roses Sweet Child O Mine Video From Seoul
by Paul Cashmere - December 16 2009
photo by Ros O'Gorman


A video of Guns N Roses performing `Sweet Child O` Mine` in Seoul this week has been posted on YouTube.


A fan managed to capture the entire performance of the classic song across two nights in the Korean capital and spliced it together for a multi camera view.

If you have any questions about Axl Rose?s ability to pull off a performance then this flawless performance should put your concerns at ease.

Axl looks comfortable on stage and the new guitarist DJ Ashba has no problem imitating Slash?s iconic guitar solo note for note.

Guns N` Roses have a mini tour across Asia this week, with two more shows for Japan tonight and Saturday.

Then its off to Canada for a tour staring on January 13.

Watch the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QKRTQH_cyk&feature=player_embedded

Guns N? Roses 2009/2010 Tour Dates:
12/16 - Osaka, Japan
12/19 - Tokyo, Japan
01/13 - Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre
01/16 - Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome
01/17 - Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place
01/19 - Saskatoon, SK @ Credit Union Centre
01/20 - Regina, SK @ Brandt Centre
01/24 - Hamilton, ON @ Copps Coliseum
01/25 - London, ON @ John Labatt Centre
01/27 - Montreal, QB @ Bell Centre
01/28 - Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
01/31 - Ottawa, ON @ Scotiabank Palace
02/01 - Quebec City, QB @ Colisee Pepsi
02/03 - Moncton, NB @ Moncton Coliseum
02/04 - Halifax, NS @ Metro Centre
03/10 - 04/10 - South America @ TBA