well, I just came home from one of the best and probably biggest concert (festivals don't count) I have ever attended. I'm still in awe. The band which introduced me to rock music (with totally new line-up) played an awesome gig.
As I knew they would start playing approx. 2 hours later than announced, I arrived at the arena 1 hour late
Axl can be proud of me
They didn't prove me wrong, they appeared on stage at 22:45, instead of 21:00.
Here's the songs played:
Welcome To The Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Live And Let Die
Knocking On Heavens Door
Short Robin Finck solo
Sweet Child O'Mine
Richard solo (Robin joined later for "Beautiful")
Dizzy Solo
The Blues
Ron Thal solo (Don't Cry)
You Could Be Mine
November Rain
Out Ta Get Me
Better
Think About You*
Patience*
Nightrain*
-Encore-
Madagascar
Robin Finck solo
Paradise City*
As you might guess, godlike Izzy Stradlin joined GNR on stage during songs marked with *. I'll be telling why I called him godlike.
They exploded with WttJ, and It's so Easy. Everybody singing along every single word, jumping, screaming... Then things slowed down with Mr. Brownstone and Live And Let Die. there was a moment in the middle of LaLD, where Robin finck played a little solo, which he played with EXACT same guitar tone Slash used... I felt really strange. As if... anyway.
Axl noticed a banner. He requested and showed it us: "Mum, don't worry, I'm with axl again - '93/'06" which was referring to the famous banner "Don't worry Mum, I'm with axl" banner of the '93 istanbul concert
then came a very extended version of KoHD, which was a bit boring towards the end. it was more like 2002 version than UYI2 one.
Robin Finck played a solo with a raspy tone, then came SCoM. the solo wasn't the best effort from Robin. He played it better at some occasion. this was certainly not the brightest moment of concert, but Axl's perfect performance made everything outstanding.
Richard showed his technical talent and rock'n'roll blues roots. I couldn't believe the stuff he played with his thumb instead of the pick! I can't understand why he's getting very few solos.
The Blues received almost no reaction from the crowd, very few people were into new songs. It's probably because most of the people were older than 25. They were more interested to hear classic stuff. And the blues followed a very long(but beautiful) dizzy reed solo, and The Blues wasn't the song which would move people. Nevertheless, It was played beautifully. Robin's solo shined. He's very good with solos with less notes, without fast passages. melodic, emotional and expressive stuff.
During his guitar solo, Ron suffered a lot of strange noises and cuts due to equipment, but he demonstrated how a guitar solo should be. not focused on boring technical prowess, but emotional stuff, standing alone without a band to back up, entertaining.
Yo Could Be Mine started with drum intro, and imho, better than Brain's effort. But still, Matt Sorum, with his double drums (I think they're toned differently) makes this one unique. How much they try, they can't make it the same (let alone better). And tommy's bass sound was exactly the same as Duff's. sigh... I know people don't like this comment but... I really wanted to see that blond haired tall guy playing that stuffi which he does in his own way.
November Rain was one of the highlights of the night. all three guitarists played their solo perfectly. they brought their own interpretations to what slas created. These already superb solos were even improved by those guys. (again finck played with Slash signature sound...) And the slow part ended.
Out Ta Get me was strong, but it didn't move people a lot. wih better things started to get wild but we were out of energy already...
BUT...
then came the shining star, Izzy Stradlin. It was really unannounced. I checked his website for an announcement many times, but nothing was there. People went NUTS! I can't describe the energy he brought to stage and to the audience! It was like WttJ again, as it was the first song of the concert. people screaming, singing along... everything. And on stage, he was like the leader. tommy, ron and richard were always around him, pushing him to do the back vocals, as if he was their father, yet better, their idol. He wore exactly the same black outfit and played almost exact same black guitar Richard was playing. it was almost like a father and son. So alike... Izzy really owned the show. He was godlike. you could feel an aura of energy around him.
Patience and Nightrain were awesome. No words can describe.
Madagascar is my favourite among new songs, and most original newGNR song. they played it very good. the reaction it received was the best among new songs. Then the gig ended with Paradise City as usual.
After a looooooong review, here's my thoughts:
- the guitar trio is awesome, awesome, awesome. Their passion is so clear.
- Their stage presence is unmatched. people who never heard GNR (yes, they exist!) are impressed by their show.
- Fast and powerful old stuff (Ycbm, out Ta get me) aren't as good as slower or new stuff. The reason is that, 3 guitars (and occasionally 4 with izzy) make it really hard to hear subtle fills, basslines, solos and stuff. it becomes somewhat "rigid" and too solid.
- their forte is slower stuff, Ron and Richard play really superb stuff in the background.
- tommy sticks too much to the original stuff Duff wrote. I was really eager to hear the difference he makes, but instead, I missed Duff occasionally. the fact that they didn't play Rocket Queen worked almost better for me, as the bassline is so "Duff".
- Axl is better than ever. Better than past, better than beginning of the tour. incredible.
- Ron may be one of the humblest and most sympathetic guitar virtuoso ever lived.
- Dizzy is a damn good piano player, but his stuff goes unheard beacuse of the sound barrage guitars create.
- Izzy is either the new prohpet, or a saint.
- Don't flame me on this, I LOVE new guysand new songs, but we must give credit to the classic line-up, Especially to Slash and Duff, they created music which is so wonderful. Anything new guys play with their sound, or make slight variations, you can't help but think what a genius and damn good players they are, what a badass attitude but strong emotion they had. (and I must add, you can easily add Buckethead to the list. his impact on newGNR is undeniable) after all, they are still adding blocks to the foundations "old guys" created.
- New songs are the ones which are totally not shadowed by the past. They really should play more of the new songs. And Robin really shows his talent on them. I think those solos are the same caliber of Slash's solos.
One word to describe (everthing related to GNR, both past and present): "MAGICAL"
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