11/25 Auburn Hills, MI [Discussion]

[Budweiser Froggs]

its supposed to be around 23,000 for end stage concerts.  They had a good portion of the upper level curtained off, but most of the lower level was full.

[colma]

I got home at 6am, so I am still a little too worn out to slam out a review of things that have probably already been mentioned.....so here are some of my highlights.

The pre-show get together @ The Post Bar across from The Palace was packed and had a great vibe, other than that annoying female DJ.? If she's an on-air personality I feel sorry for the listeners of WRIF in metro Detroit.

All in all it was a great show.? The band was as tight as ever.? Since I last saw them in May in NYC they have gotten even better.? The jams between songs and the solos only enhanced the show.? Personally, I thought the crowd was great.? About 2/3 or more of the upper level was curtained off but everything else looked pretty well filled in.? I didn't hear people bitching and didn't really see people leaving early (until the encore).?

Our seats were right next to the stage in sec 112, so during Suicide Girls we got to meet/shake hands with Robin and Frank; then during Baz's set I got to trade a hello and handshake with Mr. Dizzy Reed.?

During the opening band it was hilarious to watch Robin walk right past us and into the crowd....he walked out there with his hood on & stood in the middle of the floor for about 5 minutes or more, nobody had a clue.?

Getting to see all of the side-stage activity was great.? Beta was rocking out to YCBM.? Baz and his g/f watched about 3/4 of the GnR show from the side stage and appeared to be having a great time smiling and singing along.? The Suicide Girls and Baz's band all appeared to be enjoying their Saturday night in Auburn Hills too.

I won't lie it was a long-ass drive for one day & round trip, but for a great crowd and a great show I can't complain.?

[manicstreet]

great reviews

little comparation

auburn hills 2002: atendance 5000

auburn hills 2006: attendance 11000

There is no way there was more people last night than in 2002. There were 3 sections opened on either side of the stage and the rest were closed in the upper level. Also the floor could of held more people, cause the floor in 02 was packed all the way to the back and only the back four sections werent open in 02. I was in the top section and there were plenty of open seats. I dont want to sound negative but that is just the way it was. Overall the show was good but if you ask me they need to improve the paceing of the show, for instance: when you bring out the piano to do the blues play november rain afterwards so we dont have to have another piano moving jam.

All in all good show but lots of hecklers in my section saying the usual things, the only thing I would agree with are the solos. The solos show how great all of players they all are but it pulls you (at least me) out of the flow of the show. Sadly i just dont think guns are winning over new fans with the way things are and lets be honest here us older fans are not the target demo to sell cd's too, its the youngsters and i just didnt see that many and the few i saw left early. it pains me to say this, but till the cd comes out or they reunite with the old guys (and i like the new band a lot) i may of had my last hurrah last night.

[gnr08]

During Dizzy's piano solo he played the Rolling Stones "Angie"

[Budweiser Froggs]

who was that chick that baz brought out on stage during his set?  i thought it might have been one of the suicide girls but wasnt sure.

i also forgot about the fight right before gnr came on.  haha.  some people in the pit were fighting (crowd cheers them on of course), police come in and they started punching the police officers.

[Malcolm]

I really like the CD/Madagascar Encore combo

[LovedAlien]

who was that chick that baz brought out on stage during his set?? i thought it might have been one of the suicide girls but wasnt sure.

i also forgot about the fight right before gnr came on.? haha.? some people in the pit were fighting (crowd cheers them on of course), police come in and they started punching the police officers.

I believe that was Baz's wife if I'm correct (I could be wrong).  It was a really great show for sure, my first time seeing the guns.  Some of the solos were a bit long, but they were still pretty great to see...I guess when you're a band like Guns N' Roses (who doesn't have a hugeeee wealth of material that causual fans would know) you have to have time fillers like that kinda jammy stuff.  I think that I must have been one of the only people that was pretty pissed off that Eagles Of Death Metal didn't play.  They're way better than that Nova Rock band or whatever, and they would have been really cool to see

[Onikeus]

 DETROIIIIIIIIIIIIIT. The show was really good, not as good as Toronto, but still a great, great performance. The attendance was solid, the seats were about 85% full, they closed off the upper bowls, but the floor wasn't full, wtf? If Toronto had 18,000 people, Detroit had about 11000ish (my cousin said the 2002 crowd felt burned by Axl for a shitty performance/walking off, and Detroit NEVER forgets, which might explain the attendance). Nova Rock fucking blew, the guy was stoned out of his mind, couldn't sing, he tried to sing a bit of Led Zep's When the Levee Breaks and people started booing HARD. The Suicide Girls were entertaining, and Bach got the crowd pumped up.

 I was one back from the rail and when Jungle started, people went apeshit. Axl was in top form, doing all his trade mark moves and wail. The whole band was awesome (major props to Robin Finck, I've finally come around to being a fan, the man CAN play and he has great stage presence). There is however one incident NO ONE seems to realize that happened.

 While Axl just started talking to the crowd inbetween songs saying how great Detroit was, some dipshit threw a handful of coins at Axl. My first throught was riot, but Axl HELD his cool. He just called him a punk or something and said its like shooting fish in the barrel. Throughout the rest of the night Axl was a little more reserved, not interacting with the crowd like in Toronto. But the story doesn't end there. The asshole who threw the coins started yelling shit. He yelled "play some REAL MUSIC" during November Rain. What a tool. I couldn't see him but people told him to shut the fuck up. Next he started yelling "Axl you suck" to get Axl's attention, but I doubt Axl heard him, this guy had a weak voice. After all this he yells "play ONE IN A MILLION". I'm betting he was a racist redneck fan cause the shit he was spewing out was retarded. After ALL THIS, at the end of the show, Axl goes "thank you very much, we had a good time, wouldn't you say, you all have a great night thanks" than BAM the same dumbass through some more change at Axl, RIGHT AFTER Axl just thanked everyone. It hit him in the chest. Axl called him a little cunt and said he hopes he gets his ass kicked in the parking lot. What a douchebag, why blow 75 bucks to see them then?

 Other than that, the crowd was good, but Toronto got a better performance. Axl was loving the Toronto crowd, cause everybody was going apeshit for him. Detroit's crowd seemed a little more conservative. It was a great performance by the band, especially considering the bullshit that happened. I was behind these four biker guys and we all were looking around the crowd to find the motherfucker and beat his ass down. Too bad. Oh and the girl that threw her panties was in front of my cousin, she was grinding right up against him, she was a hot rocker chick. I yelled PLAY RHIAD fucking loud (like ten times), but after that douche bag I bet Axl was just blocking out everything and focusing on the performance. For the people on the floor they made us sign a waiver releasing them of any responsibility if we died, first time I had to do that. Oh and I yelled to Frank and he handed his drumstick right to me, you the man bro. Overall a great night, thanks for the memories can't wait for the next time they come back (and was it just me or EVERYBODY was wearing the new GNR shirt that had GNFNR on the back in red?).

[kyrie]

DETROIIIIIIIIIIIIIT. The show was really good, not as good as Toronto, but still a great, great performance. The attendance was solid, the seats were about 85% full, they closed off the upper bowls, but the floor wasn't full, wtf? If Toronto had 18,000 people, Detroit had about 11000ish (my cousin said the 2002 crowd felt burned by Axl for a shitty performance/walking off, and Detroit NEVER forgets, which might explain the attendance). Nova Rock fucking blew, the guy was stoned out of his mind, couldn't sing, he tried to sing a bit of Led Zep's When the Levee Breaks and people started booing HARD. The Suicide Girls were entertaining, and Bach got the crowd pumped up.

 I was one back from the rail and when Jungle started, people went apeshit. Axl was in top form, doing all his trade mark moves and wail. The whole band was awesome (major props to Robin Finck, I've finally come around to being a fan, the man CAN play and he has great stage presence). There is however one incident NO ONE seems to realize that happened.

 While Axl just started talking to the crowd inbetween songs saying how great Detroit was, some dipshit threw a handful of coins at Axl. My first throught was riot, but Axl HELD his cool. He just called him a punk or something and said its like shooting fish in the barrel. Throughout the rest of the night Axl was a little more reserved, not interacting with the crowd like in Toronto. But the story doesn't end there. The asshole who threw the coins started yelling shit. He yelled "play some REAL MUSIC" during November Rain. What a tool. I couldn't see him but people told him to shut the fuck up. Next he started yelling "Axl you suck" to get Axl's attention, but I doubt Axl heard him, this guy had a weak voice. After all this he yells "play ONE IN A MILLION". I'm betting he was a racist redneck fan cause the shit he was spewing out was retarded. After ALL THIS, at the end of the show, Axl goes "thank you very much, we had a good time, wouldn't you say, you all have a great night thanks" than BAM the same dumbass through some more change at Axl, RIGHT AFTER Axl just thanked everyone. It hit him in the chest. Axl called him a little cunt and said he hopes he gets his ass kicked in the parking lot. What a douchebag, why blow 75 bucks to see them then?

 Other than that, the crowd was good, but Toronto got a better performance. Axl was loving the Toronto crowd, cause everybody was going apeshit for him. Detroit's crowd seemed a little more conservative. It was a great performance by the band, especially considering the bullshit that happened. I was behind these four biker guys and we all were looking around the crowd to find the motherfucker and beat his ass down. Too bad. Oh and the girl that threw her panties was in front of my cousin, she was grinding right up against him, she was a hot rocker chick. I yelled PLAY RHIAD fucking loud (like ten times), but after that douche bag I bet Axl was just blocking out everything and focusing on the performance. For the people on the floor they made us sign a waiver releasing them of any responsibility if we died, first time I had to do that. Oh and I yelled to Frank and he handed his drumstick right to me, you the man bro. Overall a great night, thanks for the memories can't wait for the next time they come back (and was it just me or EVERYBODY was wearing the new GNR shirt that had GNFNR on the back in red?).

The guy was probably just some e-tard from Metal Sludge or something. Your cousin is right about 2002. The Detroit 02 show definitely pissed off a lot of people.

[russtcb]

(and was it just me or EVERYBODY was wearing the new GNR shirt that had GNFNR on the back in red?).

I agreed with alot of your thoughts on the show, but I wanted to comment on this too. I could not believe how many people bought the shirt you're talking about!

It was crazy. There were a ton of people who bought jerseys (including myself) too. They sold a shit-ton of merchandise well before the show even started.

Afterward it was cool to see people searching all over to buy more too.

But back on your point of people paying $75 just to insult someone; I just don't get it. In my review I talked about these three guys at the end of our row who obviously did not come to enjoy themselves. Very strange. They were hammered and I think to some small extent trying to relive their "young and wild days". Not sure, but I (at the request of my wife) let it go and enjoyed the fuck out of myself. I'm glad Axl did the same.

[russtcb]

Oh yeah.... two more things

1) If anyone sees a bootleg of this show (either audio or video) could you please be kind enough to shoot me a PM letting me know where I can get it?

2) I thought it was funny how earlier in the night Axl was like "Auburn Hills.... or Detroit.... is it ok if I call you Detroit tonight?". After the crowd went nuts he said "Ok, cool. Detroit it is" then told that story about his guitar tech from Detroit.

It was cool that at the end of Paradise City he said "BABY! PLEASE! AUBURN HILLS!.... DETROIT!.... MICHIGAN!... GOOD FUCKIN' NIGHT!" we all kinda laughed.

[jthunders13]

2002 had a full floor and less people in seats, this time the floor was like half full, and more people in seats, the vibe on the floor was pretty mellow to me, a lot of young people, but not too much jumping around, the 2002 floor crowd seemed to be a lot more into it....but thats just my take.

[alexh0618]

who was that chick that baz brought out on stage during his set?  i thought it might have been one of the suicide girls but wasnt sure.

i also forgot about the fight right before gnr came on.  haha.  some people in the pit were fighting (crowd cheers them on of course), police come in and they started punching the police officers.

About that fight before gnr came on........

My group of friends were up at the front of the stage so we couldn't see it but when the police came past us with the guy in handcuffs, it was my buddy's uncle! We couldn't believe it.

[misfitx77]

Pretty much everything has already been said.  The show was awesome.  However, I thought there were way more people last night as opposed to 2002.

[russtcb]

Pretty much everything has already been said.  The show was awesome.  However, I thought there were way more people last night as opposed to 2002.

So far no recordings or over pics from The Palace?!

I am terrible at both or I would've done some myself.

Anyone got anything??

[jbuch]

who was that chick that baz brought out on stage during his set??

That was definitely his wife.  Wow, is she hot!!!  She was on the show Supergroup on VH1 where Baz was the lead singer.  You should have seen the photo shoot she did with another one of the band member's wives. 

[babydolls]

cheers russtcb - and to everyone else who has given reviews, I only just read this one.  sounds wicked.  I too would take the odd lyrical fk-up over Axl's obvious enthusiasm for this tour.

not sure about ron's look - but who cares, the guy plays so damn good in gnR!

[Mr.Intensity]

I was at this show, I'll write a quick review....

This was the 6th time i seen the new band and it was by far and away the best sounding performance. With all the audio problems in Cleveland the night before, the sound guy was probably fearing for his life and this show had PERFECT audio. The only mishap I noticed was when Axl Rose forgot the lyrics to the 2nd verse of Chinese Democracy and kind of fucked up singing it, I started laughing and I caught Axl looking back at Robin too and smiling, probably thinking to himself "boy, did I just fuck that up."

Axl was in a good mood the whole night, he explained to the crowd he likes to go on at midnight because midnight to him is like the early morning to us... he explained he's just waking up bright and early to put on a show for us and in his profession midnight is the morning.

The venue was 2/3 full, which could be expected as thier wasn't tons of promotion for this show or a new album, so still very good for not being on tour to support a new album. We got 5 new songs in the setlist, so only other thing we could have really asked for was maybe a "down on the farm" or "rocket queen" appearance in the set... but that didn't happen, which was tottaly fine because as I said earlier THIS WAS THE BEST I EVER HEARD THE NEW BAND SOUND.

As soon as the new cd drops and they add 2-4 new Chinese Democracy tracks to the setlist, I'll be traveling to see the band... oh and this was the first time I seen Frank on the drums, I liked him, he was cool and was keeping the crowd into it, plus, it was just cool to see some big/intense black dude on the drums...

[AxlsMainMan]

This show was fucking unreal!!!

Me and my Dad had tickets in row R, section 113, but ended up having an extra ticket for row AA, in section 112..directly in front of Robin's side of the stage!!

So during "Its So Easy", Axl starts running over to my side of the stage, so I stick my hand in the air figuring it's a long shot, but sure enough AXL FUCKIN' ROSE grabs on to my hand and gives it a good 4-5 second shake!!!

Later on, Bumblefoot would appear in front of me with a big smile on his face, and to my suprise, he sticks out two fingers at me to shake, which leads me to believe that he recognized me from Ottawa, so naturally I give him a 2-finger hand shake

Right in front of me, on the floor, Sebastian's bald guitarist was attached to the Suicide Girls, who by the way are just as hot a foot away, as they are from afar One went to grab a smoke backstage, and on her way back she tickles me on the belly..

Besides Axl shaking my hand during 'Easy, the next huge thrill was during Madagascar when he comes over to the right hand side of the stage, because naturally, Im the only one in my section screaming along every word, and Axl looks right at me with the biggest smile on his face and sings right along with me "Ahhhhh, and left so far from the shore, that I can't find my...." !!!

Some comedic relief to all this excitement was during Paradise City, I could see Beta at the side of the stage shaking her hips and boppin' like a middle-aged lady would do, and Baz then nudges his wife and points at Beta laughing his ass off..

All in all, an amazing show!!!

5 new songs, an Axl handshake and sing-along, and a Bumblefoot 2-finger shake!!

Not to mention the crowd was amazing throughout the whole show, and the band honestly put 200% into the whole show

Thanks Guns N' Roses for 7 amazing shows this year, and I hope to seeing plenty more in 2007