23/4/16 COACHELLA - Weekend 2

faldor

misterID wrote:

Smoking Guns wrote:
Someone tell me how the fuck is now on untouchable status? KOHD AND LALD? Ok, they are staples. The Seeker? That didn't even start till like what, 2014?
You know very well I didn't say The Seeker was a staple. I personally like it, but it can stay or go.

I feel the same. I know The Seeker gets a lot of hate, but I think it's a fun song and the band seems to love playing it, Axl especially. I felt similarly about Riff Raff when they were playing that regularly. I didn't really care for the song myself but when I saw them play the hell out of it live it gave me a new appreciation for it and their enjoyment playing it. There's never going to be a perfect setlist that pleases everyone.

Mama's Good Boy

James Lofton wrote:

Their place on these charts is what seals the deal. When casual fans are pushing KOHD and LALD that tells the band what people are paying to hear.
They're locks.

Right. They are arguably better known as GnR songs than Dylan or McCartney songs.

I think LALD has an amazing energy live. KOHD not so much, but I understand why its still there.

No clue why they can't make time for both Don't Cry and Patience, but perhaps its because they are both softer songs/ballads.

monkeychow

I actually still enjoy KOHD and LALD.

I like their pacing within the GNR set to be honest, and they always sound good live and there's great versions of them on record.

The seeker is more curious as there's no offical GNR version of it, and while it's ok, to me it's no where near as interesting as a GNR song or even a cover such as KOHD where Axl's take on it makes it so distinctive. It's just kind of there. It's not harmful either. It's just kind of a wasted spot - especially late in the set where you could add in a rare or surprise track without disrupting the flow of the show.

johndivney

faldor wrote:

AtariLegend wrote:
I guess people might feel differently about this when they're actually at a show, but what are people's thoughts on the pyro and the dancers?
I approve only if they follow the Roger Waters blueprint. He would get kids from the local city's children's choir to sing on each stop of "The Wall" tour. So as long as Guns is giving the honor to a few local down on their luck strippers on each stop, I'm fine with it. It could be the jolt they need to take their career to the next level. Paying it forward.

Haha love it

tejastech08

James Lofton wrote:

Their place on these charts is what seals the deal. When casual fans are pushing KOHD and LALD that tells the band what people are paying to hear.
They're locks.

Exactly. The downloading motherfuckers on iTunes have spoken and Uncle Axl is listening to them. Here is the Top 20 most downloaded GN'R songs (excluding duplicates from Greatest Hits, Live Era, etc.):

1. Sweet Child O' Mine
2. Welcome to the Jungle
3. Paradise City
4. November Rain
5. Knocking on Heaven's Door
6. Patience
7. Live and Let Die
8. Mr. Brownstone
9. Civil War
10. Used to Love Her
11. Don't Cry
12. Nightrain
13. You Could Be Mine
14. Chinese Democracy
15. Rocket Queen
16. Estranged
17. One in a Million
18. My Michelle
19. Better
20. It's So Easy

Now here is where it gets frustrating for the diehards. When you include duplicates of stuff like Jungle/Child/Patience and so forth, the Illusion deep cut masterpieces are way the fuck down the list: 14 Years, Dust N' Bones, Pretty Tied Up, Locomotive, Breakdown all rank in the 50's. Coma is in the 130's but only because you aren't allowed to download it without buying the whole album. Double Talking Jive, The Garden, Bad Obsession, Perfect Crime all rank in the 60's to 80's. Kick in the nuts when you see Knocking on Heaven's Door repeated on the list numerous times before any of those show up. There's the Greatest Hits version (#5), the UYI2 version (#21), Live Era clean version (#49), Live Era explicit version (#50).

James

Notice that only ONE song on that list has not been played yet and likely never will(OIAM).

They have definitely researched this whole thing before it got underway. They are giving people what they want and rotating various deep cuts(DTJ, Coma,TWAT,etc.) to appease their hardcore base.

That Itunes list speaks volumes. It also tells you why CD and Better are being performed whether someone wearing a tophat likes it or not.

tejastech08

But it seems based on that download list: Used to Love Her, Patience, and Don't Cry are all getting the short shaft. They should be staples, not alternates. Once you include duplicates, Patience appears at #8 and #12. There is an argument to be made it's the "true" #5 ahead of Heaven's Door (which is at #5 and #21).

Don't Cry is not as high on the download list as you might expect, but it has a crazy amount of YouTube views: 251 million. Only thing bigger than that is Sweet Child (north of 420 million) and November Rain (north of 600 million). I believe there was speculation for many years Axl didn't want to play it due to Shannon Hoon's death. He went many years with nu-Guns not playing it and then at one of the gigs Ron played it as a guitar solo with no vocals. I remember the forums made a big deal when Axl finally started joining in on that one in later gigs.

James

Don't Cry is a casualty of the Chinese years. While it was a huge hit in 91 and was played on the UYI tour, afterwards it became one of those songs almost lost to time. Radio never really kept it in rotation with the main hits like JUngle, SCOM,etc. The world at large basically went 20 years without hearing it. Those youtube hits are impressive though.

Its in a position where its not a MUST. Fans wont boo it obviously but they wont be screaming for it either if it hasn't been performed yet when the encore starts. Its a hit that can get tossed in with the rotating deep cuts.

It really shows how strong their discography is when they can rotate major hits like DC and Patience.

tejastech08

James Lofton wrote:

It really shows how strong their discography is when they can rotate major hits like Don't Cry and Patience.

That's what I was saying the other day when I looked at the recent Rolling Stones setlist from the same Mexico City stadium. Almost the entire Stones list is the Hot Rocks album with all their hits from the 60's and early 70's. It's almost like everything they've done since is completely irrelevant. This is where GN'R benefits. They basically disappeared for 20 years and it doesn't even fucking matter. The Stones kept making music since the early 70's and no one gives a shit about 99% of it.

I'm not even talking about the download list here, but the quality list: GN'R Top 30 best songs (which includes deep cut stuff like Coma, Locomotive, 14 Years, Breakdown) compare very well with anyone in rock...which is amazing given their reputation as a band that wasn't around very long. This is where it pays off big time for them now on this tour and going forward. Their songs are timeless and 20 years from now if they are still touring, no one will give a shit about Chinese or anything else in the next 20 years. It will be all about those amazing songs written between 1985 and 1991.

Don't Cry will always be one of my favorite GN'R songs for several reasons: it's their very first song together, Axl's vocals are friggin amazing in those early Sunset Strip bootlegs, and Slash's guitar is beautiful. The below video from 1986 pretty much sums up why I love that song so much, a band that was completely ignored on stage and 5 years later the song is Top 10 on the pop charts. You cannot get a better testament to just how unknown they were and how quickly they blew up than this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ShJhbU2KsY