2002 VMA performance was a debacle?

[gun]

It was a very poor performance. ?The vocals were off and the only song that was fair was Maddy. ?The band did ok but it really was a poor reflection of the 02 GNR...what we have seen this year is far superior (outside of the absence of Buckethead).

[axlsfury]

You guys make me laugh who criticize that performance so much.  His vocals were not the best, but the band was tight and it was a fucking huge event.  I think Axl only says it was a debacle now because some people shit on it and couldn't accept the new band.  Go watch it on youtube and tell me how bad it really was.......

[gun]

You guys make me laugh who criticize that performance so much.? His vocals were not the best, but the band was tight and it was a fucking huge event.? I think Axl only says it was a debacle now because some people shit on it and couldn't accept the new band.? Go watch it on youtube and tell me how bad it really was.......

Laugh away...just don't expect a large crowd to be joining you.  It was not a good performance. 

[Gunner4Life]

Still got it on tape, and watched it last night after I saw Axl introduce the Killers, just for nostalgia sake.It would be a lie to say that technically the VMA 2002 performance was great. The opening was awesome, and Axl's opening scream was unbelievable, but he simply forgot to breath during Jungle, and was huffing and puffing by the end of it. Madagascar was next to flawless, and Paradise City was full of energy, other than the band playing a bit too loud drowning Axl out a bit. I just remember back when it happened how exciting and ground breaking it was seeing the new GN'R out there and kicking ass like only they know how when the rest of the world was unexpecting of the whole thing. I can also recall I had just got my wisdom teeth removed 3 days before the performance and I was in total pain for the next 2 weeks. But during that 10 minute performance, I was on my feet and felt no pain! I saw the new GN'R on tour 3 times that fall/winter(i guess i was lucky to live in the midwest back then  ), and I know that in the next few months I will relive that feeling in full. The only difference is that this time I'll have a new album to listen to on the way to the shows...

[icpillusions]

Axl was either out of breath during Jungle or he was too occupied playing with his earpiece and wasn't concentrating on what he was doing.  The rest wasn't that bad especially Madagascar. 

The current style/shape of the band would've been 100x better. imo

[zombux]

where should we start..axl was fat, dressed like a fool, his voice was AWFUL and he had more botox than joan rivers..absolute nightmare

well I don't think his image was too bad during summer 2002... it was terrible through US tour though

[TheRaven]

A big problem was Axl didn't sound that good, but there were other issues. The jersey made him look fat (I agree that he wasn't "fat during" '02, look at some of the concerts, he's wearing like 3 jerseys). Also, casual observers didn't know what they were seeing. They all expected to see the old lineup and were met with a very different image. I remember one of my co-workers the next day telling me "Axl sounded horrible, he's fat now and they have that guy with a bucket trying to pretend he's Slash." I'd assume that most people that watched the show felt the same way (non-GNR diehards like us).

Raven

[DunkinDave]

Tell me something. I was thinking, when i was listening to a bootleg of "it taste good don't it" AXL said that he blew his throat out and a doctor wanted to do surgery on it. Could it be possible that at some point during axl's many, many years off, that he had throat surgery, and maybe thats why his voice sucked?

When you sing regularly for 10 years, rest your voice for 8 and then begin to sing again - your voice will definitely need retraining.

I think Axl either didn't have a voice coach for the 2001-2002 shows or just felt he could wing it because "he was Axl Rose".

Obviously that didn't work out too well.

He can still sing like the old days (Nightrain at RAR 2006) but he's trying to balance his old voice with his falsetto/2002 voice in order to finish sets without straining his vocal chords. I don't have a problem with that, but it's weird listening to him sing in one voice and then switch to another in the same night.

[Nick722]

I thought the band sounded good, but Axl's voice was weird.

[zombux]

this is fucking classic

[Kov]

everyone thinks Axl was fat in 2002 cause of the oversized jerseys, which will make anyone look fat, cause they're so wide. but axl was in the same shape then as he is today, just not sporting baggy jerseys

Actually... Look at the old rock in rio footage, he WAS fat there... 

[nesquick]

I saw it Live and I was very exited! definitely a great GNR moment to me, I didn't even care of how axl sounded, he was there and his aura/charisma overshadowed his voice's problem. I remember having those feelings:

Positive feelings:
1) "Axl, this is Axl live on TV, after so many years that's GREAT!"
2) "hey, that's Dizzy! great to see him again too! Madagascar sounds great"
3) "THAT guitar player who looks like Izzy is on fire...dawn... I'm blown away!" (Fortus of course - still the best!)
4) "the drummer is good!"
4) "The crowd is nut!"

Negative feelings:
1) " Who's that fucking robot? he is terrible! stop putting the camera on him, he is scary! and he plays like a machine, no feeling, he should have joined Slipknot!" (that was Buckethead)
2) " Who's that goth?? eeerrggghhh. Him + the robot WTF is that?. That guy is an ok guitar player though" (that was Robin, but I like him very much now in 2006!)
3) "There's just one guitar player who fits in GN'R out of the 3. Overall, I miss Slash"

of course now in 2006, lots of things have changed. I still miss Slash (as most of the old fans) but Buckethead's departure was a huge satisfaction and a real liberation to me, I'm not ashamed anymore by my favourite band. I still don't understand the 3 guitar players thing, probably never will, but bumblefoot fits much much more than...well... that former IBM machine. So now it's ok in 2006. Not perfect, but very good.

[blaqktiger]

I agree... I actually loved the look of 2002... and that pic proves how badass he looked!

I think a lot of people over-reacted about him being fat, botox, plugs etc....

[pollyblue]

i liked that performance. that was a real band performing and not some hip-hop or r'nb shit that spoils our tv. axl out of breath, technical problems,... it goes with the show! it was rock n roll

[KillKurtzKids]

The band were fine, they played the songs well enough. It was great to see those guys rocking out at a big television event after years in the shadows. Axl however was terrible. Nerves or whatever, they were the worst vocals I've ever heard from him. It wouldn't matter, but when your making your 'grand return' in front of the entire biz after years and years of rumors , to sound so bad was a disaster. But it all went wrong before the show started when they decided to do a medley. Terrible. A song or two songs. Bits of three songs was just a bad idea. After seeing how good they were this summer and how good Axl looked and sounded, the 2002 MTV debacle is even more regrettable.

[The Prez]

Because it was a fucking freak show: it wasn't gn'r

[codenameninja]

I felt Axl was making excuses about the 2002 VMA performance. The band were great. The idea of stringing 3 songs together to make a medley was a bad idea (who's idea was that?) ..and while the band were great, it was Axl who appeared to struggle and run out of steam (possibly due to a lack of training/rehearsal)?

[jimb0]

I think Axl generalizes himself and the band as a Whole, that is why he said that.  I don't think he's pointing fingers guys.

[blaqktiger]

Correct!

[mikegiuliana]

Regardless of how he felt or how he sounded I think the crowd reaction was ten times better then this one where he was introduced as himself instead of gnr..