The Ritz...20 Years Later

[Bandita]

Wow, I cannot believe you don't LOVE the Ritz show.  I remember watching the original airing of it and basically it sealed my love of GNR forever.  It wasn't long after that I got to experience my 1st GNR show but the Ritz was the 1st live appearance of theirs I had seen so I always have a special place for it. 

[Axl4Prez2004]

Wow, I cannot believe you don't LOVE the Ritz show.  I remember watching the original airing of it and basically it sealed my love of GNR forever.  It wasn't long after that I got to experience my 1st GNR show but the Ritz was the 1st live appearance of theirs I had seen so I always have a special place for it. 

Yeah, I didn't have cable until a couple years after the Ritz, and as such, I hadn't seen the show.  My first exposure to GNR was mainly AFD and Lies on tape and cd along with the videos on MTV and the uyi cds later on.  My first live stuff exposure was Buffalo '92 with Metallica and Faith no More.  After that, I got to see the Tokyo UYI videos and then my fav., the Paris '92 video.
The Paris video got stolen from my house at a party I threw, but whaddaya gonna do?  It was a killer party.    So, long story short, I think we're all a little influenced by the shows we see first.  The Ritz was a first love type show for lots of folks and that's cool.  Like I said, it's GNR, it's allll good.   

[Scabbie]

It makes me smile to see so many here defending the rock n' roll attitude.

Let's remember that the next time GN'R tours! 




/jarmo

Going slightly off topic here but  for me a big change in the current 2006/2007 line up performances is how raw and dirty and badass they sound compared to the more polished and sometimes perfect musicanship of the buckethead era.
Now they seem to get lost in the moment and and are actually having a great fucking time, who gives a fuck about a few bum notes here and there, its a live show for the audience in the room, not to be analyzed by nerds sitting at home.

And who cares if it doesn't start at 9PM and end before 11PM.. It's rock n' roll! 




/jarmo

 I don't care if they wanna start later just make it clear on the fucking ticket 

[Rirobinson]

And who cares if it doesn't start at 9PM and end before 11PM.. It's rock n' roll! 




/jarmo

Someone is talkin' other people words... Again...   

[jarmo]

I don't care if they wanna start later just make it clear on the fucking ticket 

Maybe you could suggest it to the promoters?



First we have people here defending the rock n' roll attitude, and now we have one person wishing to have some kind of advance "warning" on the tickets that rock shows don't start at 9PM sharp.   


Often concert tickets state when doors open and the show itself starts. The show usually starts with an opening act. So if the ticket says 8PM, it doesn't mean the main act (in this case, GN'R) will be on at 8PM.




/jarmo

[lakersaregreat]

I don't care if they wanna start later just make it clear on the fucking ticket 

Maybe you could suggest it to the promoters?



First we have people here defending the rock n' roll attitude, and now we have one person wishing to have some kind of advance "warning" on the tickets that rock shows don't start at 9PM sharp.   


Often concert tickets state when doors open and the show itself starts. The show usually starts with an opening act. So if the ticket says 8PM, it doesn't mean the main act (in this case, GN'R) will be on at 8PM.




/jarmo

just to be fair, scabbie asks for a fair and reasonable disclaimer on the ticket. not all of the people that go to the shows know that they may go on at 1 or 2 am. you and i know that, but most of the other people dont know that. they have kids and work. i think its just fair to let them know about it. as for us, we dont care and we dont need to know, but most people who go to the shows are not on your board.

[Limulus]

again the Ritz88 is still only an average show from that band era, as famous as it is, that doesnt mean they made much much better ones. please please try to get the audio from this show -only half a year later- and imagine that being the one to be "proshotted" for tv airing:

August 02nd 1988 - Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, IN

it blows away Ritz88 so easily performance-wise 

[Voodoochild]

Wasn't the Melbourne 88 show proshot too (even tho the quality sucks)?

Anyways, it's like what people says about RAR. Isn't their best performance, but the quality of the recoding is way too good for people who often don't judge the performance of the song in itself.

I don't care much about Ritz 88. Just the Marquee show (which is soundboard too) blows away this one. And I'm sure their attitude at the time (which seems to be praised by so many) was there too.

[lakersaregreat]

Wasn't the Melbourne 88 show proshot too (even tho the quality sucks)?

Anyways, it's like what people says about RAR. Isn't their best performance, but the quality of the recoding is way too good for people who often don't judge the performance of the song in itself.

I don't care much about Ritz 88. Just the Marquee show (which is soundboard too) blows away this one. And I'm sure their attitude at the time (which seems to be praised by so many) was there too.

Yes, Melbourne was pro shot. i think that show was just average. as for the marquee, that show was insane. ritz 87 better than ritz 88 imo, but i enjoyed both....

[Scabbie]

I don't care if they wanna start later just make it clear on the fucking ticket 

Maybe you could suggest it to the promoters?



First we have people here defending the rock n' roll attitude, and now we have one person wishing to have some kind of advance "warning" on the tickets that rock shows don't start at 9PM sharp.   


Often concert tickets state when doors open and the show itself starts. The show usually starts with an opening act. So if the ticket says 8PM, it doesn't mean the main act (in this case, GN'R) will be on at 8PM.




/jarmo

I'm not talking about half and hour here or there, most people have been to gigs to know to expect this, I've been to quite a few of those. I'm talking about gigs like Hammersmith where the band didn't come on until 11pm or so. The underground stops at 12, therefore, rock n'roll or not, it puts lots of people out of place, especially on 'school nights'.



 

[gunns1]

I don't care if they wanna start later just make it clear on the fucking ticket 

Maybe you could suggest it to the promoters?



First we have people here defending the rock n' roll attitude, and now we have one person wishing to have some kind of advance "warning" on the tickets that rock shows don't start at 9PM sharp.   


Often concert tickets state when doors open and the show itself starts. The show usually starts with an opening act. So if the ticket says 8PM, it doesn't mean the main act (in this case, GN'R) will be on at 8PM.




/jarmo

I'm not talking about half and hour here or there, most people have been to gigs to know to expect this, I've been to quite a few of those. I'm talking about gigs like Hammersmith where the band didn't come on until 11pm or so. The underground stops at 12, therefore, rock n'roll or not, it puts lots of people out of place, especially on 'school nights'.



 

When I was at the 23rd Sydney show, I was front floor GA,
and While we were all waiting In line,
A lady came around with a clipboard asking everyone if they will be catching trains to get home after the concert,
so they could get a rough estimate on how many trains they should run overtime, The Next day
Axl was in the state paper for saying that he disrupted the timetables of all the trains,
and how late hes show ran and how it disrupted everything...

At the same token, If gnr dont want any more bad publicity, they should have some warning on their ticket,
or at least warn the local transport system ahead of time, instead of hiring someone a few hours before the concert starts
to do a quick count of heads,
It just disrupts the whole balance of things temporarily, all because of the NON die hard fans
not knowing that when Gnr says 8-9 oclock, what they really mean is Closer to 12:00 then anything,
I know that If I wasnt a die hard gnr fan, and I was unprepared I would really be f@cked off...

[chriskon72]

I'm up in the air on this late starting time. I agree people have kid's with sitters and all. Work, I don't know, it's not like no one has ever come in little "under the wheather". Come on, it's once in a blue moon. It's not like GNR are playing your city every week or every 5 years for that matter. I do think it sucks when there are no chairs on the floor and your waiting forever, especially for those who travelled far to get to the gig. Anyhoo I remember in 91 at the first show in Toronto, they came on late as fuck (2nd show was the same, I honestly they weren't gonna show up, this was before the riots and no shows) just before Estranged Axl let everyone know from the stage that the last train/streetcar was leaving in 5 minutes but no one left that mother of a show...I was lucky I drove my piece of shit Chevette to the show and paid an arm and a leg for parking. 

[Albert S Miller]

If it were me and I had tickets to see GNR on a weeknight or whatever night for that matter, and lets even say that I have kids, just knowing GNR and their lack of stability for being on time would be my first clue to #1 take next day off of work and #2 take children to grandparent or relative overnight, and last use your own transportation. 

[gunns1]

If it were me and I had tickets to see GNR on a weeknight or whatever night for that matter, and lets even say that I have kids, just knowing GNR and their lack of stability for being on time would be my first clue to #1 take next day off of work and #2 take children to grandparent or relative overnight, and last use your own transportation. 

But because your a gnr fan,
you know that the time gnr hit the stage is rarely before midnight,
To the casual fan that goes to the shows due to the nastalgia factor, that couldnt tell you 1
member in the current gnr other then axl, wouldnt have a clue that the starting time is so late,
And when your waiting at the ga floor, after you paid 170$ for the ticket, to wait for nearly 2 hours
just standing, 2 cms from everyone, dehidrated , could all be made alot easier on people
if a little communication on gnr's/promoters half was involved
Like I said, Im not dissing how much of a great fucking show gnr can put on,
But when you hear people complaining ,and are practicially collapsing due to heat exhaustion/dehydration.
then thats when the Line is met....

just my 2 centz

[chriskon72]

     I don't know exactly, but the gigs are booked with a starting time and a closing anytime after that, the band gets fined by the time they went over the closing time. By god I don't want to bring Slash into this but in his book he says GNR spent a load of cash on  curfews, union fees and overtime. Of course whoever built it, has to take it down. and get the fuck out. It could also be a reason for shitty sound at GNR gigs sometimes because the crew didn't have sufficient time to set up, just saying I don't know and don't work on their crew but it makes sense.

[Scabbie]

     I don't know exactly, but the gigs are booked with a starting time and a closing anytime after that, the band gets fined by the time they went over the closing time. By god I don't want to bring Slash into this but in his book he says GNR spent a load of cash on  curfews, union fees and overtime. Of course whoever built it, has to take it down. and get the fuck out. It could also be a reason for shitty sound at GNR gigs sometimes because the crew didn't have sufficient time to set up, just saying I don't know and don't work on their crew but it makes sense.

Part of the problem I think is that the fine itself doesn't find its way back to the inconvenienced consumer (for example to help pay for a taxi when the underground has stopped). Certainly in the UK the council like to pocket the money.

In some ways I'd love it if GN'R booked a concert to start late in the evening. Nightclubs have DJs going late, I'm not sure why bands are treated differently. Would give me some more time to have a few more beers before the gig starts.

Back to the original discussion though, does anyone know if GNR ever planned to release this, or was it exclusive to MTV?

[hartman]

GNR will never be able to perform at the Ritz level anymore. Even if a reunion happened.
All we can do is enjoy that video, but it'll never happen again, sadly.

[AdZ]

Part of the problem I think is that the fine itself doesn't find its way back to the inconvenienced consumer (for example to help pay for a taxi when the underground has stopped). Certainly in the UK the council like to pocket the money.

Ever heard of a nightbus?

[Albert S Miller]

If it were me and I had tickets to see GNR on a weeknight or whatever night for that matter, and lets even say that I have kids, just knowing GNR and their lack of stability for being on time would be my first clue to #1 take next day off of work and #2 take children to grandparent or relative overnight, and last use your own transportation. 

But because your a gnr fan,
you know that the time gnr hit the stage is rarely before midnight,
To the casual fan that goes to the shows due to the nastalgia factor, that couldnt tell you 1
member in the current gnr other then axl, wouldnt have a clue that the starting time is so late,
And when your waiting at the ga floor, after you paid 170$ for the ticket, to wait for nearly 2 hours
just standing, 2 cms from everyone, dehidrated , could all be made alot easier on people
if a little communication on gnr's/promoters half was involved
Like I said, Im not dissing how much of a great fucking show gnr can put on,
But when you hear people complaining ,and are practicially collapsing due to heat exhaustion/dehydration.
then thats when the Line is met....

just my 2 centz

Well you do have a ligit point in regards to the casual fan.