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- Me_Wise_Magic
- Rep: 70
Re: 6 - 05 Buffalo, NY Outer Harbor
Hope for the best and that 
is in fine form and good spirits. And of course the rest of the band are enjoying themselves and kicking ass.
Re: 6 - 05 Buffalo, NY Outer Harbor
Monster Truck a Canadian rock band from Hamilton, Ontario, opened at the Outer Harbor for Guns N Roses Wednesday night .Members include lead singer and bassist Jon Harvey, guitarist Jeremy Widerman, keyboardist Brandon Bliss and drummer Steve Kiely. (Photo by Harry Scull Jr. / Buffalo News)
Did he still have the banshee howl?Its been a long time since Axl Rose was the undisputed king of the underground Los Angeles rock scene. Back then, his band, Guns n Roses, was the it band, the group that had been able to navigate the terrain between punk, metal and glam rock.
It has been 20 years since Guns n Roses played Buffalo, the last time being a headlining slot at what was then known as Rich Stadium. The slightly metal-inflected version of the GnR take on Aerosmiths early work has not exactly been in vogue over the past two decades. Were the GnR faithful still out there?
On Wednesday, as Guns n Roses kicked off the the Outer Harbor Concert Series season, it certainly seemed that the the folks who worshipped Appetite for Destruction had not forgotten their band. And judging by appearances, a whole new generation of Guns lovers was eager for their first experience of the band as well.
The concert site at the Outer Harbor was stuffed with rockers, folks who, one surmises, like their rock jarred and their choruses memorable. It was cold, unseasonably so, and very windy too. But when Guns n Roses took the stage - at 10:15, perhaps surpisingingly, given singer Axl Roses tendency to start shows as late as midnight - it felt as if Appetite for Destruction had just come out, and Paradise City was still in sight.
The Outer Harbor series has made some serious improvements since last year, its maiden voyage. In addition to much more accommodating parking, the investment in sound, production and staging was immediately apparent on Wednesday. The sound was incredible - loud, well-mixed, and abundantly powerful.
The band? Yes, this is the version of Guns n Roses that lacks founding member and guitarist Slash. And yes, so much has been said about singer Axl Rose over the years since Slash left to suggest that the GnR singer is pretty much a nut job. But Wednesdays show suggested something different. This version of GnR came to kick butt and take names. And, flying in the face of Roses tendency to take the stage hours after the published time, the band arrived by 10:15 p.m., and tore into a set that could not have left diehard Gn R fans disappointed.
Opener Chinese Democracy gave way to Welcome to the Jungle, and the place went nuts, cell phones held aloft bobbing in real time to the groove. Rose, a heftier and significantly more Southern rock-looking form of the man all of these people had fallen in love with in 1989, accorded himself well. Its So Easy boasted much of the strut of the original, as did the decidedly swanky Mr. Brownstone. Rose was energetic, on point, and if he couldnt quite deliver the goods with the power he displayed in the old days, well, who could blame him? He was certainly going for it.
Rose, from the beginning of his career, sang in a hyper-powerful head-voice falsetto of the variety that does not age well. That he could sing as well as he did during older tunes like Rocket Queen and the highlight of the evening, a take on Paul McCartneys Live and Let Die, was rather incredible.
Without founding member, and acknowledged guitar god Slash, the 2013 version of GnR fell back on the talents of three sublimely gifted guitarists. Led by Ron Bumblefoot Thall, and including DJ Ashba and Richard Fortus, the guitarist lineup delivered an inspired mix of blues-based hard rock, virtuoso shred playing, and post-Keith Richards slop. It all added up to some killer playing, though at times it did seem that there was simply too much guitar in the mix.
Rose did highlight each player - pianist Dizzy Reed vamped on Led Zeppelins No Quarter, while a jam on Pink Floyds Another Brick in the Wall Part II gave way to the power ballad November Rain - with Rose seated behind the piano in all his Elton John-esque glory ,and finally, guitarist Bumblefoots Objectify. These were some of the sets high points, and seemed to get former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson in the mood to rock.
But in the end, this is Roses show, and he lorded over it - for better and for worse - throughout. GnR in 2013 still kicks butt. Even if Roses voice is not what it once was. But then again, what was it once? A scream that perhaps could not endure then test of time.
That said, Wednesdays show was a riot. Fantastic sound, plenty of room, and the sort of sightlines that would make Bonaroo proud.
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Re: 6 - 05 Buffalo, NY Outer Harbor
Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr Brownstone
Estranged
Better
Rocket Queen
Forus Solo
Live and Let Die
This I Love
Used to Love Her
Motivation
Dizzy Solo
Catcher In The Rye
You Could Be Mine
Mi Amor
Sweet Child O' Mine
Another Brick In The Wall / Axl Solo
November Rain
Objectify [BBF Solo]
Don't Cry
Civil War
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Jam
Nightrain
Jam
Patience
The Seeker
Jam
Paradise City
Re: 6 - 05 Buffalo, NY Outer Harbor
Solid review. Pretty much how I feel regarding the band live these days. They get a ton of shit but if you look at it objectively they still put on a great show. No, it's not 1992 anymore, but it's still pretty good.
Good to see Civil War back in the set. Also UTLH has made a few appearances of late. If there was any chance of something new and different I'd say it'd be at the Brooklyn show since it seems to be an intimate show for the fans. Am I wrong about that? But of course, I'm not expecting anything drastic.
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: 6 - 05 Buffalo, NY Outer Harbor
My brother went to the show and texted me a photo of him just 6 or 7 rows back from the stage. He said he had an amazing time but I didn't get many details. He saw them in Cleveland with me in 06 as well. Wish I could've been there this time!
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