You are not logged in. Please register or login.
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
Re: 12/07/11 -Youngstown, OH (Covelli Centre)
There aren't a lot of technical thoughts I can add to this thread, but I'll be happy to give my recap of my Dj inquisition as well as other after show interactions.
Russ and I were chatting with Del James and I happened to see through the swarm of tramps that Dj had appeared in the after show area. As I didn't want him to disappear before I got my chance, I quickly bounced to the other side of the room and waited a few minutes to ask him my question. I'd had about a week to figure out how to bring it up and not sound like an asshole. I decided it would be better for me to handle it than Russ, since he would probably have said something like "WHY ARE YOU F'ING WITH ROBIN?? YOU'RE NOT ROBIN!!!" or something to the effect, even if he didn't mean it.
The need for the question really started with this:
As you are aware, I've had months (years?) of hearing about how Dj plays the solo from TIL incorrectly. I have no problem listening to this, as it is technically wrong. But I just figured it was artistic liberty, whatever, that made him want to play the song his own way. Others just thought he was being a jerk. When I learned via a live Twitter chat that Dj claimed the solo was his favorite, it was the last straw for me.
I went up to him, waited my turn, and did the whole thing as politely as I could. I'll do my best to recap without leaving anything out. "Hey Dj, I'm not going to take up too much of your time, but I have a question for you I forgot to ask last week in Detroit. I was reading a livechat you did on Twitter a few weeks ago where someone asked you what your favorite solo was from Chinese Democracy, and you said This I Love. I found that interesting because you always play it so much differently than the album, so why do you do that?"
He answered really nicely and explained to me that he feels like the album version of the song doesn't translate as well to the stage, and he can play it a bit more melodically and make it flow better. It wasn't a big long explanation but it did the trick for me.
I then told him that Russ and I appreciate him and we love what he is doing with the band and what we think he can do for the future of GN'R, I told him that we were both big Robin fans, but we are fans of his now as well. Russ and I left shortly after that.
Before the whole Dj thing, though, I got to meet Richard, which was awesome because about halfway through Chicago, I leaned over to Russ and commented that he has to work his ass off to stand out in this band, way harder I think than Dj and even Ron. I'm glad we got to meet him when we did because some crazy old bat monopolized him for a solid 10 minutes after we shook hands/took pics.
Talking with Del was neat. I thought at first that he was in a shitty mood, but I think he might have just been tired. He was super nice, and when we thanked him for doing what he does for the band, he seemed appreciative.
Meeting Ron for the second time was sweet as hell. It was really funny the first time we saw him in Detroit because Russ caught him first then I introduced myself and he said "Staceeeey" and I swear I think it was the most hilarious thing I've ever heard. The other night in Youngstown, he seemed in a great mood, seemed to be feeling alright, and seemed to be happy to see us which was super cool.
I'm super grateful for this experience and am so glad it happened. Sorry for the lame disjointed story, but hopefully you get the point...:mosh:
