GNR Last Night

[CureTheSane]

Last time GNR toured Melbourne was in 1993 in what is generally referred to as a debacle or a mess. With temperatures of 42 degrees Celsius, water bottles banned and no shade for the 75,000 people attending and nowhere near enough toilets.

Happy I didn't attend.

 

They came back last night, and played the MCG stadium in front of 70,000 fans.

We rocked up early to get a car park in the surrounding streets which we did.

Spent 30 bucks on crappy food outside the stadium.

Went inside and took up our seats to watch Woldmother.

They were as shit as I thought them to be. Other states got Rose Tattoo. That would have been nice.

Anyway, the seats were reasonably shit for gold section.

Stage was partially blocked by the sound booth. We ended up with discount tickets, and I assumed that was the price we paid, but people around me had paid full price and were pretty pissed.

After Wolfmother, some dude came around and was talking to a few people who had complained.

I listened in and joined that little group who were taken to the ticket box and had our tickets replaced with some near the side of the stage.

This may sound not that much better, but given where we were (8 or so rows from the front of the stand directly in front of the band, with a 150 meter football field between us and the band) they were dots originally.

Where we were moved to were platinum seats, and the view was pretty damn good, 6 rows from the front of the stand.

 

Show started poorly.

What is a GNR concert without waiting an extra hour for the band to appear? I guess this is just a part of the experience.

Then as they were about to come out the announcer said "Hello Sydney" Pretty big fuck up at a Melbourne show.

Coming on to the stage amidst a wave of "boo's" is not ideal.

 

So they played. Sound in the end was not top notch, because it was a stadium and there was echo etc and the speakers had a tough job.

Axl sounded...... pretty damn amazing.

I actually watched closely looking to detect prerecorded vocals.
He hit all the notes, and far exceeded what I thought he could do in his prime, let alone now.

I expected Vince Neil type missing words etc, but he did none of this at all.

He'd also trimmed down a bit.

 

Setlist:

It's So Easy

Mr. Brownstone

Chinese Democracy

Welcome to the Jungle

Double Talkin' Jive

Better

Estranged

Live and Let Die

Rocket Queen

You Could Be Mine

Attitude

(Misfits cover) (with "You Can't Put Your Arms… more )

This I Love

Civil War

Slash Guitar Solo

Speak Softly Love (Love Theme From The Godfather)

Sweet Child O' Mine

Whole Lotta Rosie (with Angus Young)

Riff Raff (with Angus Young)

Wish You Were Here

(Pink Floyd cover) (Slash & Richard Fortus guitar duet)

November Rain ("Layla" piano exit intro with… more )

Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Nightrain

Encore:

Don't Cry

Paradise City

Great Concert - far better than I thought it would be.
Only song omission that I though we may have heard was Patience.
Would have loved to have heard some others in place of Chinese Democracy crappy songs, like Bad Apples, Yesterdays, Get In The Ring, but never expected these to be played.

Angus Young appearance was a crowd pleaser.

Whole Lotta Rosie was a great pick. Riff Raff wasn't

Would have been better to play an anthem song, but i guess I understand maybe why they didn't.

Axl kind of fucked up Paradise city. For whatever reason that song sounded like shit.

They screwed up the sound and it just sounded a mess, but no biggie.

See them if you get a chance.

[glam_junkie]

Looking forward too seeing them in adelaide this weekend.
Reviews have been pretty positive from all shows so far from what ive read.

I bought the cheap seats too... so interesting to see how shit they are.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Nice review. Not that I would ever see them, though. I don't like the band, but it was a good write-up nonetheless.

[Nightrain]

Last time I saw GNR with Chinese Democracy lineup was back in late 2012 and I can't believe my ears to hear Axl sang his heart out and yeah he's damn amazing back then. Not sure why I read many stated that 'Axl voice was shot' and everything, that's not what I experienced. Glad you can saw this line-up dude, the closest thing to me is in a week they're gonna play Singapore, but can't make it there, too bad no one here is pulling them for a show

[CureTheSane]

Everyone was going on about how killer Axl was live.

I always thought he was an OK singer, kinda like Vince Neil.

Suits the songs and holds his notes when he wants to.

Clearly he has been making music well within his range and it's all held up well for him over time.

 

One thing they didn't really do was interact with the crowd much.

A few "how are you all" comments but not much more.

Did a bit of sing along during Knockin' On Heaven's Door, but didn't play the crowd, just put his hands up a few times for the crowd to sing.

This was a big miss in front of 70,000 people who would have sounded great if he'd got them going.

 

There also seemed to be a newly created Slash intro to most songs, which got a bit boring. Almost like they were trying to fill the 2 1/2 hours a bit.

 

Small things to complain about for a great show though.

[Glen]

I saw them 1988 and in the early 90s and they were great.

 

I passed on the London show

[martinsane]

Nice overview shame on the opener. However made up for with Angus in tow and the seat adjust.

 

GnR is one of those bands I never did see for whatever reason not unlike Maiden. And unfortunately in today's economy I would NEVER drop the outrageous asking price for a seat to the show. I will stick to the b level bands playing the club for a few hundred real fans and save a hundred bucks.

[CureTheSane]

I'm the same.

Not because of the cost, but more the experience. Look at the image below for GNR.

You're at the back,150 to 200 meters away from the stage, and the band are dots, so all you do is watch the big tv's

And you're paying over $100 for the privilege

I much prefer a small venue show, or even a larger 10,000 person venue where you get to see what's going on and be involved rather than be a spectator.

Unfortunately, GNR don't leave any other option.