December 19th Gibson Amphitheatre (Updates, Discussion etc...)

[ftheup]

Wellllllll......Last night was my first GNR show since 1992 with Metallica.  I like many others, was hoping that this show would go off without a hitch.  It was a very surreal experience going to this venue, walking around during Helmet, seeing all these beautiful women, seeing a very diverse male audience(all ages, races, and probably orientation).  The surreal part was that I had seen this band in its "prime" back in 89, 91 & 92.  When a lot of these people were preteens or single digit in age.  Now with Axl and a very unknown cast to me, it was time to see if it was worth the wait.  We left Riverside at 8:15, knowing that the Suicide Girls and Helmet were not what I needed to get my blood pumping. An hour and 15 minutes later, we were there. We sat down right as Baz began.  I have seen Skid Row twice, and both times, they were better than the headliner.  BonJovi and Guns N' Roses(I call em' like I see em').  Sebastian is an amazing performer.  I love how old school he is with the wired mic.  I love the fact that he brings hot half naked chicks on stage.  Sebastian was simply great.  I was geared for a Skid Row/Sebastian upstaging of the headliner once again.  When guns hit the stage, I was 21 again.  Axl goes out of his way to  make it worthwhile to the people at his shows.  You get what you put into a rock show.  You don't put out, you get the same in return.  His voice is the BEST ever for hard rock.  I was so pumped to see this legend from 20 feet away.  I know, once the CD is released, this will be an extremely hard ticket to get.  Highlites...WTTJ, How the Fuck did he get to the front of the stage without me seeing him?!?!?  Rocket Queen(one of the top 3-4 songs by GNR).  November Rain fire.  It seemed to me like Frank kicked or pushed the stand that the fire was on to get it away from him.  There were a couple of other small fires on the stage at the time.  I was looking for the exit, but the stage hands did the job they were paid to do and we rocked on.  The three guitarists were phenomenal.  Each bringing something very different to the gig.  It was a thrill seeing Izzy.  He is my personal favorite from the original lineup.  Dude is tall, very lanky.  I might have pissed on somebody's sister's leg had he broken into 14 Years, alas, I did not.  People are very quick to slam Axl and he deserves a lot of the negative press from the past.  He is the best performer I have seen front a hard rock band live.  I have seen VanHalen at the very last gig with Dave in LosAngeles in 1984.  For 22 years, this is what I compared frontmen with.  Axl has overtaken Dave in my opinion.  He was unable to do it with Slash & Co.  But he did do it with Robin, Ron, Richard, Tommy, Chris, Dizzy & Frank.  He has matured and hopefully recognized that he is not alone in his journey, he has all of us to back him as well.  Long live Guns and Fucking Roses!!!!

[Silkworms]

Axl threw picks into the crowd near the end and was shaking a bunch of people's hands.?

So glad I spent the money on Pit tix (although many people in the pit snuck down).? I lucked out and got to shake his hand during Paradise City.? I have it all on video, I will post it as soon as I get home and can get it off my camera phone.? I, along with most others who went last night, am struggling at work today, but so worth it!? AMAZING SHOW!!!?

I tried using Youtube but the sound wasn't working.  I'll try again later.  Here's the last few minutes of last night from the pit, including me shaking Axl's hand:

http://rapidshare.com/files/8353564/gnr-12-19-06.mov.html

[Rosettta7]

Chapter 2
Too Much Security

The security people were overwhelmingly annoying at this concert.  If there's one thing that I hate, it's being treated like I MIGHT do something wrong.  One of these security people stood in front of the walkway just to the left of our seats, legs spread apart in a military stance, her back to the stage.  She had this little pencil flashlight that she shone at everyone who walked by.  It must be a terrible job, to be at a concert that just calls on you to face the stage and rock out, and you have to stand there shining your flashlight at people just in case someone does something wrong.

During Sebastian Bach's set, I noticed that there was a man in front of me, who was obviously quite drunk, however, he was only dancing.  Not causing any problems or trouble, mostly staying in front of his seat, but occasionally dancing in the aisle.  No big deal.  But then all of a sudden, about three songs into GNR's set, a bunch of security people surrounded him and asked to see his ticket.  He pulled slightly back, not resisting, not fighting, just realizing that they were going to hassle him and leaning away from them.  Then he reached into his pocket and got out his ticket and handed it to them.  They shone their stupid little flashlights on the ticket, and then they grabbed him by the arms and took him away.  He didn't fight them, he just went along with them.  I was so pissed off by that.  There was no reason for them to take him away.  He wasn't doing anything wrong, and that was really his seat.  That totally put a damper on the whole experience for me.  I was enjoying myself, dancing, but then I began to think that I'd better not dance too much lest they take me away too.  Later, near the end of GNR's set, the man came back.  He returned to stand in front of his seat, but he wasn't dancing anymore.

It was so surreal.  Not something I wanted to see.  Just too much security, too much fear.  It sucks to live in an environment ruled by fear.

[crow316]

security kinda bugged me too.  I was trying to get to the pit after Paradise City (during the bow)in the off-chance I could show Axl my tat. But he was still guarding it.  The show was over, he could have let me in, but oh well. 

[Christos AG]

Wooooooooow....

Must have been an amazing show.

First of all thanks to everyone for the updates and the reviews. Kinda felt like I was there. That's how good these reviews were.

wowww Izzy? doenst look like him... he?s thal in this pic

haha... that confused me. yeah, he's TALL in that pic.

I was lucky enough to meet Izzy at some point in my life, and all I can say is that he's way taller than I expected him to be...

So, yeah, the guy isn't what you'd call a shorty...

[NicoRourke]

Thankx for the reviews people !!

Is there a video of Robin falling on the floor, then being hit by Axl's mic stand ? Could be fun

[w.axl.rose]

dont know if i got that part on camera but heres better for you guys  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx5ZjW4ukM8 video also posted on youtube thread

[forgotaboutsteve]

a few of my pics from the show...

[TVC15]

Great pics! I was there too.

 

[BumbleFinck]

this is the show that blew the other two nights out of the water. The 19th was by far the best of the three.

[Robman?]

great pics, especially the first one with Axl at the piano 

do you have any of Robin by any chance?

[WhiteRose]

Thank you for the pics.?

It was the best GNR show I've ever attended... even better than the Forum in '91.? ?

Cheers,
W.R.

[ftheup]

Thank you for the pics. 

It was the best GNR show I've ever attended... even better than the Forum in '91.   

Cheers,
W.R.

I attended night 1 at the Forum in 1991.  This one was much better that that night. 

[The Legend]

Thank you for the pics.?

It was the best GNR show I've ever attended... even better than the Forum in '91.? ?

Cheers,
W.R.

I attended night 1 at the Forum in 1991.? This one was much better that that night.?

Wow. Those were the classic days! 

[ftheup]

Thank you for the pics. 

It was the best GNR show I've ever attended... even better than the Forum in '91.   

Cheers,
W.R.

I attended night 1 at the Forum in 1991.  This one was much better that that night. 

Wow. Those were the classic days! 

This show was sooooo much better than either of the GNR shows I had seen before.  Some of it has to do with my level of sobriety(totally sober now), some of it has to do with the music never being heard(pre illusions release shows), I might have taken for granted the fact that I was seeing GNR back then, something that I was thinking was going to happen every few years.  Fourteen years after the Coliseum show makes me appreciate this band quite a bit more.  Could they have been a bit more full of themselves back then???  They were HUGE at the time.  Imagine this tour with one ounce of promotion.