September 23 - Devore, CA @ Hyundai Pavilion (KROQ's Inland Invasion 2006)

[leatherebel]

There was definitely an almost full house in the beginning of the GN'R set - around 60,000. Hell, the pit where I was was even oversold, it was hard to find breathing space, let alone start a mosh.
Most of the people who left did it after nightrain and before the encore. It was already almost 1am. But even for the encore there were at least good 40,000.
The entire show was exactly 2hr5min. Definitely not of the longest sets. And was it me, or was that one of the very few performances this year with NO sound problems?

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

The sound was great.  The mic fucked up during RQ once, but it was miniscule in comparison to other shows.

[leatherebel]

The sound was great.? The mic fucked up during RQ once, but it was miniscule in comparison to other shows.

I thought Axl fucked it up. He started singing a little too early and then said "fuck" angrily as if it was somebody else's fault. Maybe he couldn't hear himself in the earpiece and that's why got mixed up.
But there were some evident lighting problems. The sides of the stage were often left dark even when Axl was running there.

[w.axl.rose]

OK, here's MY review.

GUNS N' ROSES kicked every bands ass!  All these other bands used their distortion and other effects to hide behind their crappy playing.  And no, my head isn't in Axl's ass, you can ask anyone to compare the bands, and GN'R will always come out on top.

It was so cool, Jack and his crew found a way to sneak into Loge, and we then organized everything from there.  We started several GUNS....N'.....ROSES chants.  But then things got ugly.  The lame-brain morons in the Lawn section started throwing bottles (I assume they were full of piss).  So everyone in Loge retaliated.  It was so ugly.  Several families left, and the Loge was *About* half-empty.  And those drunk pot heads started several trash fires that raged on throughout the whole night. 

hey i was at the lawn    the people that started this shit was the ones that where on the right side of the lawn, then the middle part of the lawn started throwing shit i took a pic with my cell with all the bottles in the walk way between the lodge and lawn

[HamsterDemocracy]

What does KROQ stand for?

Nothing, but if you want, you can pretend it stands for King Rocket Of Queens. I don't know what the hell that means but it's the only thing that fit.

[cybercurves]

I found this on LA Times website, as usual take it for what it's worth:

Guns N' Roses Relights Fire:

Axl Rose leads a solid revamped lineup that wins over some but not all of wee-hour fans at marathon KROQ show.
 "I see fire!" said W. Axl Rose as he peered out at the masses filling the huge Hyundai Pavilion in San Bernardino. He'd spotted a small conflagration, somewhere past the loge area, which was soon extinguished. But Rose, the singer and proprietor of the concept called Guns N' Roses, might have been articulating his hopes for the band's first Southern California appearance in 14 years ? a nervy homecoming that could have proved disastrous but, five songs in, was going all right.

 Rose did bring the fire, but it wasn't always reciprocated by the fans, who'd been at the amphitheater all day Saturday to witness KROQ's annual Inland Invasion fest. After sets by arena-rock aspirants including Avenged Sevenfold, 30 Seconds to Mars, Papa Roach and Muse, plus the poignant return of grunge standard-bearers Alice in Chains (with solid new singer William DuVall replacing the deceased Layne Staley, and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park jumping out for a cameo), tens of thousands of black-clad beer drinkers were primed for GNR's onslaught of heavy-metal parking-lot hits. They didn't even riot when Rose took an extra hour to get onstage (around 1 a.m.). But GNR's two-hour set, which relied primarily on those hits, only held half the room, as others fled when Rose tried new material or gave one of his three guitarists a lengthy chance to stretch.


 Those who stayed enjoyed a rejuvenated Rose. In 2002, when he last unshackled GNR from the studio sessions for the perpetually delayed "Chinese Democracy" album, Rose wasn't really ready to tour: His pipes were rusty, his physique chunky, and his band unable to click. He proved free of those ills this time as he howled through such barn burners as "Mr. Brownstone" and "It's So Easy" or mid-tempo epics including "November Rain," hitting even the high notes.

 Still sporting that baffling cornrow ponytail and looking tight around the forehead, the 44-year-old Rose nonetheless reclaimed his mojo. Big rock gestures drew attention to his agility: his patented snake dance, now more of a big-cat prowl but still commanding; speedy runs down the long side-stage ramps; even a leap atop the baby grand as Dizzy Reed (the only band member from GNR's glory days) played the rolling, unreleased ballad "The Blues."

 Rose's theatrics verged on mugging but were perfectly timed. There was a bit of Sinatra-in-Vegas in his approach: Rose is aware that, this late in his career, his gestures could seem hardened, so he throws in a little emotional distance to epoxy the hits his way.

 What's grown more flexible is Rose's relationship to his band ? always an autocracy but now one that leaves a little room for his subordinates to relax. Guitarist Robin Finck, in particular, has grown toward something like equality with Rose; his solos flashed and bubbled, deviating enough from ex-GNR lead guitarist Slash's style that they gave hope that the new Guns N' Roses is becoming more than a replicant. The other two guitarists, Richard Fortus and Ron Thal, demonstrated killer chops but less brio, mostly hewing to notes that replicated the original versions. Still, when Fortus and Finck turned Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" into a sky-is-crying-style blues, Slash's memory was almost ? not quite ? washed away.

 That guitar interlude was one of many allowing Rose to exit the stage, presumably to rest his voice and maybe slap Sebastian Bach on the back. (The Skid Row singer joined Rose onstage in a chummy run-through of GNR's "My Michelle.") His costume changes, though simpler than Mariah Carey's, were just as frequent, and those absences affected the set's pace.

 The crowd's mood also sank when the "new" material surfaced.

 For all the years Rose has spent tinkering with them, these selections won't shock Guns fans into a new age ? they're logical extensions of the GNR sound Rose left us with in the 1990s, swashbuckling and enjoyably overgrown, a sound expressing no concern for trends, only for Rose's own Blakean vision. It's not that the prickly "Better" or the abstract but promising "I.R.S." were weak; they just couldn't match the excitement of "Sweet Child O' Mine," the song that reinvented the power ballad, or the exquisitely bittersweet "Patience."

 Those certified classics got the throng singing, which energized the band, the electricity trickling up until Rose himself gained another layer of rock-star aura.

 A few fans could be spotted singing along with the night's four unreleased songs; they're easily available on the Internet. "You downloading ... ? you're responsible for putting us on this gig," Rose said with a chuckle in a rare bit of stage patter. GNR doesn't need Internet buzz to attract fans, any more than Bob Dylan does, but if Rose needs to believe online buzz is bringing GNR back into the light, let him fool himself. Maybe he'll put "Chinese Democracy" up on iTunes.

 

[EFISH]

Yeah it was posted early today, but KICKASS picture! I always wanted that goatie to be done with, but then i got soooo used to it... but i think he looks awesome without it!

[cybercurves]

Shit, if this was posted elsewhere in this board, my apologies.  I had no idea. Lock the thread.

[estebanf]

Guitarist Robin Finck, in particular, has grown toward something like equality with Rose; his solos flashed and bubbled, deviating enough from ex-GNR lead guitarist Slash's style that they gave hope that the new Guns N' Roses is becoming more than a replicant

Exactly my thoughts. Robin is the man.

[GNRfan2008]

Interesting review. Considering all of the old GN'R catalogue is already on iTunes, I would expect Chinese Democracy to be released on iTunes the same day the album is released in regular stores. I would also expect the first single to be available on iTunes before the album is out, and pre-ordering will probably be available on iTunes as well. I haven't ever pre-ordered any albums on there, so I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I think the album downloads at MIDNIGHT the day it's released. So that's a pretty cool incentive I guess, but I suspect most GN'R fans will just go to a record store and buy a physical copy of it. If it's not a parental advisory album, I'll probably go to Wal-Mart since they're open 24 hours.  Hell, I might just pre-order on Amazon.com. I did that with the Batman Begins DVD and it arrived the day of release. Amazon.com usually has pretty good pre-order deals if I'm not mistaken.

[Hatts]

Overall a nice review, but i don't know how they expect the new songs to get the same reaction as "sweet child"?  How many times a day is that song played all over the world.  When the new songs get played on the radio they are going to get one hell of a reaction.  It's like the same review over and over.  Sometimes i think they just don't want to say it was good.




Hatts

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

If you don't know, then why do you reply?

w.axl, all it takes is one moron.  You've heard the expression, "Monkey see, monkey do."

[WeHeldTogether]

KROQ doesn't stand for anything, it means K-ROCK.  like rock n' roll.  the k is just in the station name.  KROQ.  four letter station abbreviation.

[diablo280273]

I think its one of the best and honest reviews of the 2006 tour i've seen so far. 

[HamsterDemocracy]

If you don't know, then why do you reply?

w.axl, all it takes is one moron.  You've heard the expression, "Monkey see, monkey do."

I do know what it means. I already said: nothing. It isn't an abbreviation. KROQ is just KROQ.

[BluesGNR]

Guitarist Robin Finck, in particular, has grown toward something like equality with Rose; his solos flashed and bubbled, deviating enough from ex-GNR lead guitarist Slash's style that they gave hope that the new Guns N' Roses is becoming more than a replicant

Exactly my thoughts. Robin is the man.

Well said.  I'm really impressed by them and the new gel that's becoming GNR.   

[w.axl.rose]

w.axl, all it takes is one moron.  You've heard the expression, "Monkey see, monkey do."

yeah.

if i had my cam i would've of taken a better pic. heres one with all the bottles in the floor

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Holy shit dude, you were there?!  Did you see a guy in a blue bandana and an AFD leather jacket?

[w.axl.rose]

did he have long hair, like a sort of blonde color

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

No, I have brown hair....