My review + Pictures (First night of the tour)

[EFISH]

Ok guys here it goes.....

So, I got to the arena at 4:30 and was about the tenth in line. After a long 2 hours, 45 minutes, they let us in...
They took my brother's disposable camera away, but they didn't find mine... We went right to the floor, and there was almost no one on the floor yet, and we walked right up to the front railing, almost center stage. Before we knew it, 5 minutes later, the floor was still practically empty and Bach started with Slave To The Grind. It was an energetic performance by Bach but I wasnt impressed at all by his bandmates. Next thing we knew, Papa Roach was on and that set took forever. The whole band had lots of energy, but I wasn't very into it. I just pretended to when the lead singer came down RIGHT in my face!  So Papa Roach finished, and they set the stage for Guns. The wait began...

My brother and I waiting for GNR to come on....


45 minutes later, still waiting....



People were talking crap and saying how Axl is always late and people were chanting "BULLSHIT!"...
Finally at 11:30 the lights went down and that intro started! The shadows of the band members walked on stage and the Jungle riffs started! Axl came out in that awesome black leather jacket "DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE FUCK YOU ARE!" and the band kicked into the first 4 songs without a break (Jungle, ISE, Browstone, LALD)....
At the end of Jungle Robin dove right on me and I was holding him up while he finished the song! The Blues was fucking amazing, one of the highlights of the night! Better was also probably my favorite part of the night, and no one up front was singing except for me and my brother, but they seemed interested and enjoyed the new songs! It reeked of weed and Axl joked "I smell that aroma, I'm sure its just for medicinal purposes only though" and also no one took the covers off of Pitman's keyboards so Axl said "preparing for a rain strom Chris" and then Chris said "Well we do have a song called November Rain...." and then they went into a piano jam, and November Rain which was just fantastic!
November Rain....


Ron used the fretless on his Nightrain solo which was just fucking fantastic! Everyone was singing along to his Don't Cry solo also, and it was great!

Robin solo's with Frank on drums was the weirdest thing, and coolest I've ever wittnessed. Robin was bouncing around, throwing himself all over the place like a mad man, hopping, skipping, everything and anything you can imagine! I was in awe! Richard's solo was good but I was looking forward to hearing Beautiful.

Some little things I remember (I'm probably forgetting alot of stuff but oh well!).....
Ron and Robin were hanging out backstage watching Bach's set and I waved at them and Ron gave me a salute...
During Nightrain Robin was on the pit where security stands under the stage and kept tripping and going all over the place, really into it, and security kept holding him up and litterally held him up for the last 2-3 minutes of the song! I also saw Robin almost trip and fall during Jungle. When they came back on right before the encore, Robin was really pumped up and started pouding on the symbols of the drumset. Also durring the introductions, he didn't have his guitar and was just dancing and grooving! Frank was good, but I was surprised to not see Brain there! I love how Richard slams the guitar, its out of this world!

I was on the very front the whole time, this was my first concert, and the best day of my life!

I know not the greatest review, but I figured I'd write one anyway....

All my pictures from the night can be found here....
http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a177/EFish91/

Here's a few of them.....

[anythinggoes]

good review glad you had good time 16 days til my next show

Whats up with Rons Shirt God damn thats bright 

[cotis]

awesome! glad to hear you had a great time!!

nice pics!

[Journeyman]

great review EFISH, thanks 

[oneway23]

Awesome photos and a great review...Thanks EFISH

[evergreen_layne]

Thanks for posting.  That's almost exactly the kind of shirt I thought of when I heard the comments about Ron's wardrobe.  Guess he's compensating for no bumblefoot guitar!

[EFISH]

good review glad you had good time 16 days til my next show

Whats up with Rons Shirt God damn thats bright 

When In Rome....
Well, When In Miami, dress as the Miamian's....
 

Glad you like guys, 2 more days till I get to do it all over again!

And I'm still pretty much in shock, I've waited my whole life to see GNR and it FINALLY happened!

[jaime]

Great review Efish. ?I was standing right where the bald security guy in the yellow shirt was, he was great, kept giving me water all night. ?When the two security guards were holding up Finck, it was just a great moment, I was laughing so loud. ?We didn't get there until 6:30 and had an hour wait in the line, lucky for us, we made it right to the very front of the stage, leaning on the barrier, because some people walked away while Bach was performing. ?We didn't move, not once, all night. ?It was an awesome show and I hope I can get that very front, middle, slightly to the right spot again because Finck and Fortus liked hanging out there!

[warrocks]

thanks so much for those pics and review I'm glad you had an awesome experience after all ?

I'm so excited GNR had a good concert last night I hope it continues that way.



rock on! ?

[slash666]

Awesome Review!

i think Ron has got a plan dressing wise, Start of the European tour = Normal rock clothes, Start of the US tour= bright shirts, End of US Tour = Naked! 

[Ellroy]

Thanks for the review! Can't wait for NJ and MSG.

BTW, Ron's shirt is the greatest shirt I have ever seen.

[Chief]

Great review, thanks a lot for posting it man!!

[fishyguy]

Great review and pics EFISH!!

Ron's shirt is insane!

[smeagol2124]

Good job EFISH, I'm very happy for you! ?Makes me feel old to think my firdt gnr show was 18 years ago......

Glad you had a good time, and I appreciate that pics ?

[bDinan]

Ron kicks ass.

[Steel_Angel]

nice review, cant see the pics though, the computer blocked them

[nonlinear]

hey EFISH, how did you get that afterparty invite?

[EFISH]

hey EFISH, how did you get that afterparty invite?

Found it on the ground. 

[superdave]

hey efish, how did you manage to get the camera in???  awesome pics btw!

[nonlinear]

hey EFISH, how did you get that afterparty invite?

Found it on the ground. 

oh wow, that's cool!  I'm gonna be searching everywhere in calgary and edmonton to find one of those!   

i wonder if they just hand them out randomly, or what?  was it on the floor or like in the hallway?