Rock in Rio
(well, in fact it took place in Lisbon, but anyway they speak almost the same language)
I spent last night watching Guns n’ Roses (or is it officially Guns & Roses, these days?) play Rock in Rio, thanks to AOL streaming the whole thing.
First thing to say is that the sound guy responsible for the mix must DIE, DIE, DIE. I mean, the sound for The Darkness update: in fact the sound was almost as bad, but there were less instruments to drown the baby] was ok and sure this is not the same setup but could it be this bad? For two thirds of the show, we mostly could not hear the guitars (while there are three freaking guitarists on stage?), Axl was singing alone and the sound was drowned with synth. Hopefully, during You could be mine something happenned and “pop” so be it, there was sound.
As for the show, this is the new G&R, so this is really a matter of taste. Lots of old songs, only four songs from the Use your Illusion, 3 new songs (including Better and Better 0wnz). Robin Finck still plays in a sloppy way (I just wish he had done the same thing as he did during the previous Rock in Rio and played alone a “local” song). Richard Fortus is rock solid and Bumblefoot can nail any solo while running in circles around the two others.
Oh and yes, we heard there were synth, but on some songs many people would have preferred not to know about it, thankuverymuch.
I have to say I still prefer Buckethead on the lead. Sure, the karaoke version of Don’t cry played by Bumblefoot was just amazing (and the crowd also), he also nailed nicely the outros of November rain and Nightrain, and the Beautiful cover (cough) by Robin and Richard was really nice to listen to and watch.
But I like better (uh, got the pun?) the melodies used by Buckethead on Nightrain, and trying to play the You could be mine solo just faster is a no-go to me anyway, like what did Bumblefoot today, while Bucket nailed it nicely and sloppily every now and then during the previous tour.
Anyway, 23 days, 6 hours and counting.