July, 5th - Helsinki. The update / fuckin' aye I'll be there thread

[Skeba]

I was _way_ too tired yesterday to write any kind of a report.

And I'm sorry for the people who wanted more live updates with more accurate setlists.. I was in a way too good of a mood to start worrying about the updates.

The band was excellent. They went on really late, which was no surprise. The band was 'supposed' to start at 9 as someone said, but I think the opening act started at nine, and GN'R hit the stage at.. well later. You can check from /J's post earlier. ?I really liked the solos, apart from Bumblefoot's solo prior to bbfoot and Robin's latter solo, which I didn't get at all. Axl was in a good mood. Didn't really get why some people yelled a few fuck you's to Axl (didnt' hear them myself), but he turned it around pretty well. The story about sweden was cool. I was 100% sure that it'd end in out ta get me, but with the twist in the end they played think about you instead. Rocked! Highlights for the show, for me, were Jungle (the start was amazing as always), Finlandia, Better, NR, and in general seeing the band in a good mood, and having a good time up there. I'm kinda sad about not having a ticket to tonights concert, but I'm so happy with last night, I don't think it could be any better.. The new songs went over well, except maybe for madagascar, which slowed the pace down a bit after a furious start. I'm glad though that they played it early in the show.

I'm not gonna go into more details as they've either been covered, or I don't see a need to. Thanks to GN'R for an unbelievable concert.

To people asking about RQ, I'm fairly sure they'll play it tonight as they are doing 2 shows in finland. They'll prolly want to mix things up a bit.

I've been in the dark about last nights football, so I'll go watch that now. Later..

[Skeba]

http://www.iltalehti.fi/popstars/200607064839444_ps.shtml

The link someone posted.. I'll do a short translation.

It states that even though to some people GN'R is dead, last night proved that some rock songs are not to be forgotten. The band was late, but it was to be expected (cool that someone in the press knows a bit about GNR concerts.. ). The stage was pretty simplified, and Axl caused a huge reaction from the crowd as the show started. Axl was _the_ star of the night though other members of the band did a good job. The tour has been a success and one can only imagine the memories that people had passing them by as November Rain was played.


So a nice, short, positive review.

[kaasupoltin]

I was in the train to Riihim?ki, and it was quite a " nighttrain" ! It was totally full of people, you could not move there, until people started to leae the train. Nearly a fight started around one door, becouse people wanted to come in the train, but there was no room. It was very stupid thing from VR or HKL

Haha yeah it was a frigging nighttrain There was two bums passed out on the floor too.. fucking insane. But it was a part of this great experience

Btw. Is there any info about bootlegs from this show?

[axe]

Oh yeah, nobody hasn't mentioned? About half an hour before GNR started "the Mexican wave", familiar from soccer stadiums, went around the arena quite a few times. If only Axl had been in the country to see that!

And about the Sweden arrest, he said that the police wanted to take the blood test because "he must be on drugs because he's a bad bad American!"

[jimmythegent]

The new songs went over well, except maybe for madagascar, which slowed the pace down a bit after a furious start. I'm glad though that they played it early in the show.

that doesn't surprise me one bit

when are people going to fess up and admit this song is an absolute turkey?

[kaasupoltin]

So I didn't take my camera in, but here's two pictures taken with my SWEDISH phone

This was taken 21.44, and Gn'R was supposed to start like 21.00:


This is just Axl, I got a nice view:


Waiting for some good photos

[Skeletor]

On the way back, the last and only train came about 1:30. There were probably thousands of people waiting for it.

Man, this is one of the reasons I love living downtown Had a nice walk in the warm summer night... Those taxi lines were crazy too.

It was the shortest possible train VR could use.

Just occurred to me, people who don't know that VR stands for the Finnish National Railways, might get the wrong impression

[makkonen]

... okay, I feel like something is missing between better and nightrain, but I'm not sure

Robin's second guitar solo?

... few jam sessions between the songs

...that sounded like background music for 70s porn movies

I think it was theme from 70?s film "SHAFT"...or very similiar to those 70?s blaxploitation films. I?m pretty sure that was the vibe they were after. It sounded very good and very cool. Liked those parts very much
ps. Frank Ferrer did FANTASTIC job replacing BRAIN?
See you all tonight also (maybe ChiDem or IRS is on the setlist...or IZZY comes to jam with Melrose)

[WARose]

The new songs went over well, except maybe for madagascar, which slowed the pace down a bit after a furious start. I'm glad though that they played it early in the show.

that doesn't surprise me one bit

when are people going to fess up and admit this song is an absolute turkey?

i love it how some people use to state their opinion as general consensus...madagascar and IRS wer the best songs at RAR

[jarmo]

It was the shortest possible train VR could use.

Just occurred to me, people who don't know that VR stands for the Finnish National Railways, might get the wrong impression

Yeah, crazy Finns are blaming everything on Slash! 


I'm still happy about Robin playing Finlandia! 



/jarmo

[Axlative]

I loved the blues-funk-jam-rant about the Stockholm incident:

"Whether they love me or hate me - it really doesn't matter. I wasn't looking for a Swede with a good taste. I was looking for a Swede that tastes good!"?

I for one laughed my ass off.

[sic.]

Man, that was an energetic show if I've ever seen one. Was pretty close to the stage, jumped nearly straight to the fence when WTTJ hit. Stayed there for the rest of the show. Axl was great, good spirits and smiling a lot. Fortus & Finck were fine as well, loved Finlandia and Beautiful. Some people have bitched about the solos, but I found them (as well as slower songs like KOHD) a good time to catch my break from all that moshing, so they definetly were needed. Guess I'm just getting old. Bumblefoot didn't seem to have much to do, he was somewhat invisible to me for most of the show. Then again, Don't Cry was a magical moment, with everybody near me coughing their lungs out, trying to hit the notes. Really a great idea to have a karaoke version as a solo.

The AFD offerings rocked the house, the crowd ate it all up. During the opening of Maddy, Axl teased the audience by asking "What song is this?" I screamed Madagascar, with someone else repeating it almost immediately. Good performance. However, the high point of the show for me was Better. After Patience, I started thinking 'Man, I really want to hear Better right about now' and what do you know - Finck rips into the opening riffs just then and I'm ecstatic. I think Axl quite purposefully left the 'No-one ever told me when I was alone' part for the audience once or twice, perhaps to see if there was anyone around to sing it. I tried. It was funny, I was moshing all over the place during that song while a lot of people around me just stood still. Guess we'll have to make a raincheck after the album drops. ?

But Better is the shit. An awesome rendition, which has to be heard to be believed. I'm officially in love with the song, which works great both in the studio and in a live setting. Once people get it under their skin, it will definetly rock out the audiences.

Oh yes, Fortus was skin and bones. Wonder if he gets fed while on tour?
 

Those taxi lines were crazy too.

No kidding, I stood in line for about an hour afterwards waiting for a ride.

[Skeletor]

It was funny, I was moshing all over the place during that song while a lot of people around me just stood still.

Haha, that's a familiar feeling! I was going crazy during Better, and everyone around me was just sitting still, thinking "so what's this about then"...

[sic.]

^Just one of those things that happen when you know how to download, I guess. 

And during KOHD and NR it seemed like every lighter in the house was lit, very cool. Looks like the band enjoyed themselves, although I was a bit disappointed in getting "only" PC as an encore. Could've used a song about tax revenues, but that's just me.

An amazing show, no matter what they tell me.

[Aava]

That would be Aava.... 

Well, she likes Melrose, so...

 

 

Sorry.. 

Anyways, amazing show. I?m speechless!
I started to cry when Axl came on stage and started to sing WTTJ!


I was also surrounded by businessmen who just sat and clapped, and they was obviously bothered by us singing and jumping around..


What a show!


And Melrose was great too..

[Skeletor]

By the way I have to mention one new stage move by Axl I hadn't seen before: during Better he was jumping up and down really energetically, how would I describe it, with both feet up in the air (tasajalkaa in Finnish). Anyone else notice that?

[jarmo]

By the way I have to mention one new stage move by Axl I hadn't seen before: during Better he was jumping up and down really energetically, how would I describe it, with both feet up in the air (tasajalkaa in Finnish). Anyone else notice that?

I think he does that with Tommy.

It's almost like they're trying to smash the stage.



/jarmo

[Skeletor]

It's almost like they're trying to smash the stage.

Yeah, that's the one I'm talking about

[kaasupoltin]

I loved the blues-funk-jam-rant about the Stockholm incident:

"Whether they love me or hate me - it really doesn't matter. I wasn't looking for a Swede with a good taste. I was looking for a Swede that tastes good!" 

I for one laughed my ass off.

Yeah I laughed like an idiot for that too! One of the best rants ever.. maybe I should print it to a t-shirt in school.
Btw. Did anyone notice a low microphone-thing in the left side of the stage (might be on right side too but I couldn't see) that was pointed out to the crowd? It was standing over the "boxes" that were in front of the stage corner.. well nobody gets the point anyway But I was just thinking that are they recording these concerts and want to get some crowd noice too?

Still no photos?

[LaTeRaLuS]

I loved the blues-funk-jam-rant about the Stockholm incident:

"Whether they love me or hate me - it really doesn't matter. I wasn't looking for a Swede with a good taste. I was looking for a Swede that tastes good!" 

I for one laughed my ass off.

what was that rant about anyway?