2011.10.28 - Amway Center, Orlando, USA

bumblefoot Hello USA! 4 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

DjASHBA Good morning everyone!!! We are in Orlando Florida!!!! So excited to finally tour the states!!!! 9 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

gunsnroses Today's Orlando Weather - "Showers" but Tonight's @AmwayCenter forecast is for "November Rain" bit.ly/taMoex about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite

gunsnroses WTTJ Sound check at @AmwayCenter for tonight #CDinUSA http://t.co/QOMyaqN9 2 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

Well, I never had a chance to see the old, fat Elvis Presley in Las Vegas, but I saw Axl Rose on Friday at Amway Center.

That’s has to be close, right?

Rose and the current no-name lineup of Guns N’ Roses – sort of the strike-season-replacement-team of rock bands – unleashed a bloated, but surprisingly strong 3 hours on the opening night of its first U.S. tour in more than five years. Yeah, there was a lot of it – just like the lead singer’s expanded mid-section.

Just kidding, sort of.

Actually, it was hard to make a judgment about Axl’s physique, since he was dressed in a frumpy black jacket, untucked shirt and baggy pants that concealed his waistline. His face also was hard to see beneath pulled-down brim of a flashy fedora and the big video screens never offered a close-up.

Maybe his eyes were shielded to keep him from seeing that there weren’t enough fans to fill the lower bowl or require opening the arena’s upper level. Perhaps the faithful were turned off by horrendous reviews out of the band’s recent Rock in Rio performance – or maybe chubby Axl consumed some of them at the meet-and-greet.

It was hard to hear his voice above the onslaught of guitars and drums in an opening foray that included “Chinese Democracy,” “Welcome to the Jungle” and “It’s So Easy.”

When the mix stabilized, though, his strident tenor was strong (by Axl standards) in “Estranged,” “Live and Let Die,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and others. The gut-busting histrionics in “This I Love,” another Chinese Democracy song, were harder to love, however.

Maybe the band was turned up loud because it rocked instrumentally: Guitarists DJ Ashba, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal and Richard Fortus channeled riffs of signature hits above the foundation of bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer. Fewer time-chewing solos between the Guns N’ Roses songs would’ve been nice, though.

Although less intricate, opening act Buckcherry delivered its enthusiastic aggregation of Aerosmith and AC/DC riffs with conviction, ripping through “All Night Long,” “Dead” and “It’s a Party” with style.

It would’ve been nice if Buckcherry had played longer than its allotted 60 minutes, considering GNR made the fans wait an additional 90 minutes for its arrival just after 11:30 p.m.

But, as tempting as it is to write off the lead singer as a caricature of himself, the wait was pretty much worth it in the end.

No joke.

666 wrote:I've been saying for 10 years now that Axl can barely be heard when you see them live. There were times when I didn't even know he was singing but realized he was because I saw him onstage with the mic. It's really that bad.

Less solos--I'm all for that too, always have been.

And looking at the setlist, half of it is ballads! Yowzers!

DjASHBA What an amazing crowd in Orlando Florida last night! Thank you for the warm welcome! What a great way to launch... http://t.co/a3ym2V7X about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite

Soulmonster wrote:

666 wrote:I've been saying for 10 years now that Axl can barely be heard when you see them live. There were times when I didn't even know he was singing but realized he was because I saw him onstage with the mic. It's really that bad.

Less solos--I'm all for that too, always have been.

And looking at the setlist, half of it is ballads! Yowzers!

You attended the show? Give us a lengthy review!

And yeah, I want less solos and less slow songs, too. Bring on the tight rock concerts!!

Monique wrote:They need more variety in their setlist.

666 wrote:My bad-I worded my post wrong. I didn't attend this show. I meant to say the shows I've been to since 2002 were like that, although the 2002 was by far the best of the ones I went to.

666 wrote:Good to see them playing Shackler's but I've yet to hear a good version of it live. Could be because Axl rarely sings it and doesn't get to practice it much. Same goes for Scraped and others. When they do play it, it sounds bad

Ok I know I'm really late to this put I want to add my 2 cents... and I will try to only add things that I don't think have been mentioned yet...

1) Best song of the night in my opinion was Madagascar, and I'm shocked there isn't a video yet for it. The arrangement, Axl, everything was impecable. Axl had the full "rasp" thing going throughout the song and even let loose a WTTJ style scream before the solo. DJ was playing his guitar like a Cello with a drumstick during the solo as well. Incredible performance.

2) Ron let the audience play his guitar at the end of Whole Lotta Rosie. I was all up in it lol

3) There were two jam sessions that went on during the encore, and both of them came across as full song instrumentals. I didn't recognize either one as another band's work, so one has to assume its some sort of original either made for this tour or something else. Once again, like Madagascar, I'm surprised videos have not surfaced of either one so far. The first one in particular after Nightrain was really incredible. It was a progressive style song that started with one guitar, then two, then bass, drums, etc. It was really a catchy tune and I want to hear it again.

All in all it was a great night like everyone said. YouTube videos do NOT do this band justice as most of the bass both in Axl (which is where people think the Mickey mouse thing comes from... you just can't hear it!) and in the band does not come through.

Look forward to seeing everyone I met from the forums again in Wilkes Barre! I think that show will be a party!