Norman, OK Updates?

[scans n' copies]

He did say the Lady Gaga line.  And DJ did take a fall toward the end.  He was down for a minute so I hope he's ok.  Overall it was an incredible show.  DJ went WAY out into the crowd, Fortus seemed to be talking to people all night, and Axl sounded spot on.  Tommy did an awesome job on My Generation and Estranged was incredible.

I'm also glad the reviews are really seeming positive!

[axlrosegnr]

Did Hinder get any Boo's?  Please someone say yes.

[diego]

 

[russkwtx]

Just back from Oklahoma, here's my review.

Band came on stage at 10:40pm and last note was played at 1:45am.

First, I want to say that I've been going to concerts for decades and have seen dozens of shows. All the big names and some bands that probably only  a few on this board have heard of. Last night's show in Oklahoma was the best concert I have ever seen. Period. The set list was phenomenal, they played for more than 3 hours (who does that today?), the sound mix was excellent, and Axl's vocals were strong and clear. Just a phenomenal experience all the way around. Thanks to an excellent sound system and proper mixing the songs were very powerful, even This I Love which as I previously indicated is not one of my favorites. But last night it sounded great. Axl was super energetic, running around like it was 1991. He did not leave the stage as often as in Dallas (11/5/11) and was not gone as long. He was dancing around and having a great time.

The band played all the usual songs from this leg of the tour. I did not try to keep track, I just wanted to enjoy. But the best thing about the show was the encore--6 songs! I may have the order incorrect but it basically was:

Maddy
Shacklers
Patience
OTGM
Nice Boys
Paradise

What a treat!

I called the wife from Oklahoma this morning and told her not to look for me for a while, I had decided to not come home and just follow the band around for a few weeks. I was joking of course. But I wish that I could.

Other thoughts:

The organization of the concert: This has nothing to do with Guns, but OU had the weirdest "organization" (if you can call it that) that I ever saw.
I arrived at the venue at about 9pm. I parked and started walking to the entrance when I saw a huge long line, maybe 2000 people. I asked what it was and they said it was the line to get in. So we all waited, advancing a few steps every couple of minutes. After about 25 minutes of this (it was cold!) we were getting toward the front (frontish) and a university representative said that people with tickets could go to the side of the building (another line) and enter there. So the front main entrance was apparently will call only. It was not marked and only that one person at the front of the line was giving out this information. Why didn't she walk up and down the line? Or why did the university not hire a whole other person to have 2, or even 3 (!) people who would communicate this information? Given the enormous number of police and security inside the venue they easily could have spared one person to go outside so that thousands would not stand in line for no reason for a long time. Then on the side of the building where we were to enter there was again a huge line, but in fact there were multiple entry points but no one was there to tell concert-goers. Overall, it was very strange. I finally got inside and seated about 9:45. I never had an experience like that. Caught a few numbers by the opening band but that was fine with me since I did not think much of them.

Met some nice people in line and enjoyed listening to the uninformed rumors of the numb and naive. "They'll going to play all of CD." It was fun.

Another annoyance: they charged me twice for parking. Parking was included in the overall ticket price when I bought online, but when I got to the parking lot the guy said you have to have a little green ticket. I told him I bought online and the price included parking (like in Dallas) but he said no green ticket, no entry. So I had to pay for parking again, $10. Oh well, what are you going to do?

Beer sales: no problems. There had been rumors that you couldn't buy beer inside the venue. But I saw many neon signs that were permanent fixtures on the walls next to food vendors so that rumor was not true.

Axl's interaction with the crowd: not much at all, to be explained below. Only four instances of Axl interacting with the crowd:
1. announcing DJ's birthday (we all sung happy birthday to him).
2. After Maddy and before Shacklers Axl said, "some of you decided to stick around a while." I did not hear the Lady Gaga line but there was something Axl said at one point that I could not hear because of guitars so that may have been it.
3. At end of OTGM, Axl sang "so you can suck me, take that one to heart Oklahoma." Not really an interaction but the first time the entire show he acknowledged being in Oklahoma.
4. At end of concert, he thanked everyone for coming out and said "Hope to see you again." No promise of a return, unlike in Dallas a few days before. Reminded me of the guy who tells his date "I'll call you."

The audience:

The audience was a major disappointment. Actually, it was pathetic. By the end of the show it was just plain embarrassing to be among the few who remained. I wonder what Axl thought. I know that he noticed.

The venue at full capacity holds, I guessed, about 16,000. Half of it was blocked off for the stage, so capacity would have been 8,000, give or take. At the start of the concert I estimated maybe 7000-7,500 people were in attendance--the pit was 2/3 or 3/4 full; the lower level was full, but the upper level was sparsely populated.

By the time the encore started there were maybe 4000 left, maybe even less. By OTGM, Nice Boys and Paradise there could not have been more than 1000-1200 people in the arena. It was basically empty. The pit was reduced to maybe 300 people, probably less; in the lower level there were scattered people here and there; the upper level was totally empty. At the end of Paradise Axl had to short armed the mike toss into the audience or it would have hit concrete if he had done his usual heave. I know that college students stay up to 2 am to party, so why leave the concert? I guess they were worried about their 8 am classes, and we all know how much OU is a top notch educational institution where studies come first.

Audience.2: This was the first time I saw a concert in a college town venue since, well, I was in college. I expected the crowd to be energetic, even raucous (you should have seen the piles of empty beer cans and bottles lying around outside the venue). The pit was filled with people who basically stood there. This might have been due to the throngs of security who walked through the pit the entire night--why? I expected the college crowd to know the new songs, maybe even more than the old songs. Instead, my impression was that the audience came to hear the "hits" (and especially Sweet Child, the only song for which the crowd actually went wild). The audience was polite and acknowledged the new songs, but were not wildly enthusiastic like I had expected. The audience was much more enthusiastic in Dallas about the new songs.

Summary:
I loved the show, loved the band, loved the music, loved Axl, loved the whole experience. But there was a disconnect between this phenomenal show and a rather pathetic audience.
As I was lying in bed trying to sleep afterward, my ears ringing, I thought to myself:
a. it is a privilege to see GNR, one of the greatest rock bands of all time.
b. it's a privilege to see such a great show by one of the best front men of all time.
c. It's a privilege to see such a long show, who else plays for 3 hours?
So I just don't get why so many people left early. It was a major disappointment and embarrassment to be among the few who stayed to the end.
Anyway, if anyone in the band reads this review I just want to say thank you for putting on the greatest concert I have ever seen. It was an experience that I will never forget.

[angeles]

Happy Birthday DJ Ashba 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6IziV2SPXQ&feature=player_embedded

[russkwtx]

I forgot to add that the one good thing about a nearly empty venue at 1:45am in the morning is that it took no time to get out of the parking lot!

[GNRVahland]

"Rose seemed to relish the wee hours, telling the crowd at the start of the 1 a.m. encore, "I hope all those who left early enjoyed their Lady Gaga albums."


I liked Axl's Lady Gaga line. If in fact he did say that.

Would love to hear or see that... hopefully somebody taped that part 
(Although it might not do justice to Lady G but that's another story)

[gnr85]

thanks for all the updates again. nice set list, nice to see revenge show up again

[Montrealrocks]

3 very good video added (patience, Live and let die and sweet child o mine are bad ass.  Hope the guy is gonna upload more!

http://gnrworld.net/2011/11/10/norman-set-list-pictures-and-videos/

[lagr08]

I just don't get these crowds today either.  I know us 80-90's kids were just getting started come the a.m. hours.  Also, I'd think in today's economy people would want to get every single dollar's worth.  After 3 hours in KC I'm gonna be asking "is it over already?"  I hope they play every single song yet on this tour and then add more.  I'd kill to meet a single member of the band but meeting a single person from HTGTH would be mind-blowing as well.  Sure I'm old, I may even sit during a solo or two and i'm sure my back is gonna hurt like heck Sunday morning, but for 24 years I've been jamming to GNR on tape, record, cd, vhs, dvd, and pc...I think I''ll be just fine for 3 hours live!

[jarmo]

Amazing how, when people have nothing else to whine about, they whine about the show being too long.

It's like starving and then saying you're being served too much Filet Mignon!




/jarmo

[Montrealrocks]

Amazing how, when people have nothing else to whine about, they whine about the show being too long.

It's like starving and then saying you're being served too much Filet Mignon!




/jarmo

When it's not long enough, people whine. 
When it's too long, people whine.
When it's starting too late, people whine.
When it's starting too early, people whine.

Guns n Roses fans are a bunch of freacking whiners.  Maybe they are just not fans.

Just enjoy the fucking show already!

[russkwtx]

My sense from listening to and talking with people in line at Oklahoma show was that they were just curious and not necessarily huge Guns fans. So they are the probably the ones who leave early once they have their curiosity  sated or just get bored because they are borderline ADD.

[eragon]

My sense from listening to and talking with people in line at Oklahoma show was that they were just curious and not necessarily huge Guns fans. So they are the probably the ones who leave early once they have their curiosity  sated or just get bored because they are borderline ADD.

Or they have other responsibilities like work or kids and  they don't have the opportunity to do nothing and stay in bed the whole damn day. It's because of these peole that G N' R can do shows these days.

[Sillything]

My sense from listening to and talking with people in line at Oklahoma show was that they were just curious and not necessarily huge Guns fans. So they are the probably the ones who leave early once they have their curiosity  sated or just get bored because they are borderline ADD.

Or they have other responsibilities like work or kids and  they don't have the opportunity to do nothing and stay in bed the whole damn day. It's because of these peole that G N' R can do shows these days.

I myself are always too hyped after a rock show with a favourite artist! I want to wind down and up like crazy and party til morning no matter what the starting or ending time is. I' cant possibly be at work and be a responsible employee the day after just from being so pshyched from the whole experience. How many times in a life time do you see GNR live? It's WORTH a day off from work!

[russkwtx]

My sense from listening to and talking with people in line at Oklahoma show was that they were just curious and not necessarily huge Guns fans. So they are the probably the ones who leave early once they have their curiosity  sated or just get bored because they are borderline ADD.

Or they have other responsibilities like work or kids and  they don't have the opportunity to do nothing and stay in bed the whole damn day. It's because of these peole that G N' R can do shows these days.

I don't know which show you are talking about, but I was talking about the Oklahoma show where 99% of the audience were college students below the age of 23. That's not to say that they don't have kids, but not likely.

[Let Me Hear It Now]

Amazing how, when people have nothing else to whine about, they whine about the show being too long.

It's like starving and then saying you're being served too much Filet Mignon!




/jarmo

That seriously might be the best complaint I've heard.  Really?  There's too much Rock N' Roll and it's going on too long for you???  Wow.  That beats the idiots who complained about Estranged not being played then complained about the way Axl sang a certain line or DJ played a certain note once it was played.

These people are the antithesis of fans.

[lagr08]

First off, it isn't the GNR fns that whine about how long/late the show goes.  It's the Axl hatin' media and the "I bought what Slash is sellin'" kids that complain.  As for old with kids and a job.  That's me, old, 5 kids and work 46 hours a week...big effin deal, it's GNFNR people!  Furthermore, most of the clubs you people go dance the night away at don't open their doors any sooner than GNR hits the stage.

[jarmo]

/jarmo

[Will]

Wow the last one Jarmo is amazing, I love the fireworks pics!