AXL's Rant in San Juan last night

[Risico]

Just hearing anything different would be much appreciated.

It doesn't have to be "huge" songs like Civil War or Estranged.

I'd jump for joy if they played Yesterdays, One in a Million, or even Sympathy for the Devil - Anything to get LALD and Out Ta Get Me out of the setlist.

[Outtagetme]

You're right- Richard. 

[Midnight Gunner]

"He doesn't care" or "he doesn't give a fuck" yet he seems to be reading this board and he's now ranting about it....oooooooooooooooook!

I just wish he'd start listening.

[dizzy68]

YYYAAAYYY Axl!


I say this as a person who went to a show in 2002, all 4 Hammersteins, and will be going to Worchester in a few weeks.?

 With all due respect you should learn how to spell the town you are going to. It will make it a lot easier to find. 

[GunsNCrowes]

First off I'd like to say that I've seen them 4 times since '02, and yeah--each time has been amazing. ?The energy of the show is fantastic and the tunes still rock--so yeah, that in and of itself is a reason to go. ?This is a great thread--lots of good points made on both sides. ?

But I do think the claim that the people who follow this board only make up a very small % of the audience is just wrong. ?The general public doesn't live under a rock--a lot of people with the disposable income to shell out these ticket prices are gonna do at least a minimum of research, and it's not hard to find this site, and others, that've told the story. ?And the expectations that come with this tour, this record, and these musicians. ?And, a lot of people *have* heard the leaks too--evidenced by the multiple people I've met here in NY, Vegas, Chicago, etc. ?This isn't 1998 anymore where only a few internet "nerds" are in the know about what's been going on with this band. ?And it ain't that "nerdy" anymore to check out bands and music on the web--that's how a lot of music is discovered these days. ?Whatever plusses and minuses that may bring is irrelevant--that's how the industry works now. ?

I for one don't post much here at all, but I check in pretty often to see what's up (I know a lot of others that do the same), and that's because I strongly think this is a band that still matters. ?That's part of the intrigue--he's been gone for so long--what's next? ?What are these guys gonna drop on us? ? That's ultimately what's going to make or break this incarnation of the band--delivering on the incredible potential of the new material and new players. ?And to those of us going to mulitple shows and supporting the band through a lot of up and down times, I think it'd be a great move for him to mix it up just a little right now, as some have suggested. ?Civil War would be a great start, Rhiad even better, and hell mix in a cover or two. ?Look how AMAZING "Sailing" was--damn.

Bottom line, the only thing the performer "owes" the fans in any concert setting is a 110% effort to give them their moneys' worth that night and rock the f*ckin' place to the ground. ?By all accounts that is happening. ?But instead of ranting on a couple overly-negative people, I think the band should go the opposite route and use the "hardcores" and their considerable word of mouth (with sites like these, etc) TO THEIR ADVANTAGE and really break out some cool sh*t. ?It's a great opportunity to make a very, very good show something completely mind-blowing, in the process gaining more new fans, generating even more positive buzz, etc.

See ya at MSG.   

[//JK75]

Well I don't know if someone already said this, but to all the people who keep sayin' they are playin' the BIG hits I just want to ask this.....

Civil War, Yesterdays, Don't Cry wasn't big hits ?

And Out Ta Get Me and My Michelle was ?

[//JK75]

"He doesn't care" or "he doesn't give a fuck" yet he seems to be reading this board and he's now ranting about it....oooooooooooooooook!

I just wish he'd start listening.

Yeeeeeeees sir.

[Christos AG]

Take it easy you Irish drunks... 

 

if he had accused/singled out greece and the greeks you'd be whistling a different tune!
you'd be riddled with the paranoia that he and gnr are never going to grace your country again!

oh noes!
someone call pat kenny!

LOL... Trust me, if he had accused/singled out Greece and the Greeks, I'd try to find the one Greek asshole complaining and kick his ass... 

Anyway, I don't think I'd start crying about it... As I said he mentioned Ireland cause it's on the other side of the atlantic and probably no drunken Irish will travel so far for a show in the US. He could have mentioned any country, it was just an example, he didnt mean anything special by mentioning Ireland...

Take it easy you Irish drunks... 

Eggffgg...what are you saying bout....irish...i'll feckin kill ya,,,aaaaaah...feck, me drunk?...sure, what are ya on about, ya feckin gobshite....eggfgfgsgf

You? Drunk? NOWAY....

yeah, and picking on the irish wasn't cool.. he should know that i missed my fucking exams to go and see them play

Again, he just mentioned Irish as an example, he could have mentioned any other European country... It's not like he's got something against Ireland and Irish people...

[JimMorrison4]

Well I don't know if someone already said this, but to all the people who keep sayin' they are playin' the BIG hits I just want to ask this.....

Civil War, Yesterdays, Don't Cry wasn't big hits ?

And Out Ta Get Me and My Michelle was ?

Yesterdays was a hit? Where?

[Andreas - N.I.R.]

One thing that would be really cool of GN'R to do would be to hold a poll for which songs people want to see on the setlist, and then do a show with the most requested songs. I know Theraphy? did something like this earlier this year. They held a poll on their official site, and then recorded the songs live (but in the studio) and released them on the website.

Not that I think Axl would ever agree to do something like that, but it would be cool, wouldn't it?

I just put my "dream setlist" in the 'US Tour wish list'-thread. Do so you too,

http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/board/index.php?topic=34200.0

[The Legend]

Well I don't know if someone already said this, but to all the people who keep sayin' they are playin' the BIG hits I just want to ask this.....

Civil War, Yesterdays, Don't Cry wasn't big hits ?

And Out Ta Get Me and My Michelle was ?

Yesterdays was a hit? Where?

It wasn't as big as some, but it was a hit.

[supaplex]

so axl is calling out fans who sit on a message board and complain about the setlist. it's funny that the same people are the ones that supported this band and axl all these years without any activity ('96-'01) and after a failed tour ('02) and they're the ones defending him against all bad press and the casual rock fan that thinks axl is an asshole. so i won't agree with axl this time.

there's some of you who say that people going to more than one show should expect the same setlist and don't have the right to question what the band is doing. i say they have every fuckin' right to express their opinion just like each and everyone here does. just because they're not praising every show doesn't mean they should shut up. yes they are 5% of the people going to the show, but one "gem" each show for those 5% i don't think would be too much to ask. and playing the hits for the 95% doesn't mean they could throw a don't cry, estranged in there. it's not like those weren't hits.

everytime someone says that *insert band name here* does something every one of the people blindly defending gnr jumps right in and says gnr is not doing what other bands do. but as soon as people discuss the setlist the same defending individuals say that "most of the bands have the same setlist every nigt". so, when is it ok for me to compare gnr with other bands and when it is not? because i'm confused.

and i keep hearing they play what the crowd wants to hear. then, what about greece when there were civil war chants going on from the crowd?

i've only seen gnr once this year and i will admit it was the greatest show of my life. i had to travel abroad too see them because there was no chance they'd come to my country and i'm 100% sure i'll do it again whenever they'll be back and i'll have a great time again. but i won't deny that i will go hoping to hear some different songs and if it would be the same setlist again i will still rock out but i will be a little dissapointed. i'm not "bitching" and "whining" i'm just trying to share an opinion with fellow gunners and hope not to get responses like "you suck, fuck off, go away if you don't like it".

[grog mug]

I guess Axl just needs something to rant about....I do agree with him ranting about the CD though.  At least give it some kind of promotion.  Maybe he'll just rant on and on about CD tomorrow when he comes out dressed as the old Axl.  That'd be great....

[Acquiesce]

What part don't people understand about who is going to the concerts? Does it not make sense to you that the people that are going to see them, have not seen this set list before? What part of this is so hard to understand? That is the entire point here. It is not a tough concept to grasp. The setlist is working with casual fans, who just happen to buy tickets to the shows. That's it.

No, that is not the point here and I don't understand why you keep grasping onto it like it is. This is the Chinese Democracy Tour. It is not unreasonable for any fan to expect more than a rehashed greatest hits set. If they intended this to be a a greatest hits rehash for the casual fans then it should have billed it that way. You can't create expectations by naming it the Chinese Democracy Tour and then complain when people are upset that they haven't met that expectation.

I understand the album hasn't been released yet, but don't name it the Chinese Democracy Tour if you can't deliver. Sure, they will probably change over to a Chinese Democracy heavy setlist when/if the album is released, but these fans who are seeing the tired greatest hits sets will be getting short changed in the end when that happens.

I also don't understand why everyone is acting like the fans who are complaining are being completely unreasonable here. First of all, these people are complete diehards. They have done more to support this band than these casual fans you keep referring to. These diehard fans also appreciate the band's entire catalog instead of caring only about the hits like the casual fans. A musician should be appreciative of that fact. Instead, he is whining about fans who care about this band the most. They probably care a bit too much, but at least they do.

These fans aren't making unreasonable requests. It's not like they are demanding them to change the entire setlist to tunes that are more obscure to the casual fan. It would be a nice treat if they could just change some things up every now and then. Is it really too much to ask if they would drop a song such as Live and Let Die in favor of something like Civil War or Madagascar? No, it's not but some people sure seem to act holier than thou over it for some reason.

[Kaleigh]

Do these people actually ever go to the shows? Feel the atmosphere, the mood, the energy this set list creates? Doesn't seem like it.

Exactly.  I felt a little nervous before my first GNR concert, thinking that I might be disappointed, but that wasn't the case at all.  The setlist was awesome there, and right now I won't mind if it doesn't change signifcantly when I go again in December.  Of course it'd be awesome if they played some songs they haven't done, but I honestly don't mind hearing stuff like Out Ta Get Me. 

[Duffio]

Well I don't know if someone already said this, but to all the people who keep sayin' they are playin' the BIG hits I just want to ask this.....

Civil War, Yesterdays, Don't Cry wasn't big hits ?

And Out Ta Get Me and My Michelle was ?

It's not about the hits.. it's about the live show man... the live show is what makes or breaks a band... the hits just give them the mainstream part of it..... my michelle is an awesome song live... watch all the boots you can with of that song....  yesterdays isn't such a good live song.... it's not that electric. say as out ta get me is live...

[whiny]

to summarize: the sad thing is not that this time axl and co play the same songs every night (in pretty much the same order); that's a thing you could live with during a certain tour (not too unusual); the real sad thing is that the 2001 concerts, the 2002 tour and the 2006 tour all have a similar set list...  5 years of new gnr on the road... nothing much changed... you don't have to be a basher to realize that this is somewhat strange...

[Apollon]

to summarize: the sad thing is not that this time axl and co play the same songs every night (in pretty much the same order); that's a thing you could live with during a certain tour (not too unusual); the real sad thing is that the 2001 concerts, the 2002 tour and the 2006 tour all have a similar set list...? 5 years of new gnr on the road... nothing much changed... you don't have to be a basher to realize that this is somewhat strange...

Oh yes you are a basher, too!?

Maybe I'm so wrong but as hard as I try, I think "Better", "IRS", "Used to Love Her" "TWAT" wasn't played in 2001/2002...

So keep away the whining, noone cares, except people being at the show! It's so fucking ridiculous when some of you demand a change in the set list when you're just sitting behind your PC's and reading the updates!

All those people at the show have a great time and enjoy the setlist - and some "fans" here at the boards complain... I say, fuck that shit!

And in the end it only matters what the band wants to do and when if the're not keen on playing Estranged or Coma, it's not gonna be played! Period.

[jarmo]

Already got the tix and thought they were going to play more new songs. The hammerstein show was great because they added in TWAT, IRS and Better, but since that show they have since dropped CD or Madagadscar and rarely play TWAT.

Funny because I've heard all those performed live over here in Europe (excluding T.W.A.T). But I think the songs were dropped after May because you say so.

At least one show I went to, I got to hear four of those songs. In one show.



According to you, Chinese Democracy was "dropped" but yet it's been played on the current tour.... I don't know what to make of that logic.


/jarmo

[polluxlm]

Am I the only one leaning towards locking this thread? Seems it has more than served it's purpose.

Don't worry, there will be something new to bitch about soon enough