11-05-06 Guns N' Roaches

BANDS:
Guns N' Roses


Papa Roach


Sebastian Bach (ex-Skid Row)


LOCATION:

Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ


PRICE:
*sigh* around $95

CONCESSIONS:
I breezed by the food and merch so fast that I have no idea.

VIEW:
Front row, on the barricade. No pushing or shoving... it was wonderful.

PRE-SHOW VIBE:
Since it was so cold out, I didn't want to risk getting sick so I waited till door time to get in line. When I saw the amount of people already there, I figured I could kiss front row goodbye. Surprisingly once inside, I didn't have any trouble getting up to the barricade.

I was psyched for this show because I liked everyone on the bill. Well. "Like" is a severe understatement. From about 1989-1992 I was completely obsessed with Gn'R and Skid Row, and Papa Roach own me. So yeah, I was happy about this tour.

ATTENDANCE:
I hate to say this, but pathetic. Apparently NJ isn't the hair metal capital we all thought it was, or this place would have been filled to the rafters. There were full-on deserted sections in the upper deck and the floor was so empty that when I took a bathroom break during Gn'R, I had zero trouble getting back up to the front.

AUDIENCE:
All ages, including a man with the biggest mullet I have ever seen. His hair was down to the middle of his back for crying out loud.

WARDROBE/STAGE SET:
Sebastian didn't have any visuals except the other bands' equipment. Papa Roach had their skull backdrop, while Guns N' Roses had a giant red and white mural of Chinese letters that probably spelled out "Keep dreaming and maybe one day Chinese Democracy will be released."

ARI RATING (ADRENALINE RUSH INDEX 1-10):
Frame of reference:
1= I sat in my chair motionless and felt no emotional connection
10= I walked out bruised and high off nothing but the energy of the show

Sebastian: 5
Papa Roach: 11
Guns N' Roses: 8

SETLIST (not in order):
Sebastian Bach:
Slave to the Grind
Monkey Business
Piece of Me
Here I Am
Big Guns
18 & Life
I Remember You
Youth Gone Wild
and around 3 solo songs I don't know

Papa Roach:
Dead Cell
Not Listening
She Loves Me Not
Getting Away With Murder
Time is Running Out
To Be Loved
Alive
Last Resort
Broken Home
Between Angels and Insects
Scars
Blood Brothers

Guns N' Roses:
Welcome to the Jungle
It's So Easy
Nighttrain
Out ta Get Me
Mr. Brownstone
Paradise City
My Michelle (with Sebastian)
Sweet Child O' Mine
Rocket Queen
Used to Love Her
November Rain
You Could Be Mine
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Live and Let Die
Better and one or two other new songs
-plus instrumental solos

HIGHLIGHTS:
Sebastian sang "Here I Am", which was one of my favorite Skid Row songs ever. He looked good, at least better than I expected him to. I have seen him twice on his own besides this show. I was glad he didn't bust out into "Time Warp" and whatever song from Jekyll and Hyde like he did when I saw him at Irving Plaza a few years ago. I liked one of his new songs that was a ballad, though I forget the name. As far as vocals, he did pretty good. There were a couple of screams that fell short, but I didn't mind. Considering the hard living I'm sure he's done, he sounded decent. By the way, he's my all-time favorite vocalist next to Jacoby.

I was incredibly anxious for Papa Roach because like the summer show in Wisconsin, this was a metalhead crowd and I didn't know how well they would be received. They put on a great show as always, but the audience responded with mild cheering. After one of the songs, a kid started chanting "Guns...and... Roses" and in a kneejerk reaction, I told him I was going to kill him. He didn't hear me, but the father and son between us did and looked at me with concern. I don't know what possessed me to yell that, though I suspect being stressed out has something to do with my outburst. I was pretty excited to hear the new stuff and was particularly impressed by how good "To Be Loved" sounded live. I think they should've opened with that for this crowd. But they only have two more dates with them, so I doubt they'll be changing the setlist now, and especially at my suggestion. Coby went into the crowd for "Dead Cell" (opener) as well as for "Alive" and I think one other song but I can't remember which. The audience seemed to respond the most to "Between Angels and Insects."

For Guns N' Roses, it was pretty cool being first row for them and having Axl be about three feet in front of my face. By the way, I agree with the rumors that he had plastic surgery done. Nobody's cheekbones get higher with age. I also agree with recent show reviews that Axl's been in a very pleasant mood these days. Even when someone threw something on stage, he just calmly said "We really want to keep playing for you, but if you keep throwing things up here, we'll leave." I wondered who would be crazy enough to take their life into their hands by throwing stuff up there. Did they not see the St. Louis footage? Setlist highlights for me were Rocket Queen and Used to Love Her.

LOWLIGHTS:
I suppose you think I'm going to write about how much it sucked that Gn'R didn't hit the stage until 11:30 and didn't leave till 2am. But I fully expected this scenario, so I actually wasn't mad. The only disappointments were that the attendance was dismal and having to sit through the instrumental solos of which Bumblefoot's was the worst. It sounded like he was fumbling around on the guitar as if he'd never seen one before. Unless it's Eddie Van Halen shredding on "Eruption", I just don't have the interest in guitar solos. It also kind of irritated me that he played all of "Don't Cry" instead of hearing the whole band perform the song with Axl.

DO YOU RECOMMEND THIS SHOW? (YES/NO-EXPLAIN):
If you're looking for a good time and time is not remotely of the essence to you, yes.

The Paramour Sessions

Paramour Sessions rambling

OK obviously this isn't going to have a lot of negativity throughout it since
you know I'm Fangirl and all, but I needed to practice my writing skills, so I
figured why not write a review. They say "write what you know" and so here you
go. My thoughts on Papa Roach's latest CD "The Paramour Sessions":

*******************************

In order to seriously review this CD, I had to shut out the world. I signed off
AIM, closed out Netscape and didn't take any phone calls. It's that serious. I
wanted to lose myself in every song and give it the full attention a
2-years-in-waiting CD deserved. I actually have listened to it prior to today.
But the first few times were hard because I just had too many distractions to
fully focus.

Going into this I already had an idea from band interviews that this record
would be different than anything we've heard on previous albums. But since
everything they've put out since 2000 has made it to my Top Ten, I knew I could
trust them to produce something I could add to the pantheon.

Starting off the CD is the single "To Be Loved." I've had mixed feelings about
the opening chant warning us to "put the pedal to the medal." But now to hear it
in context as an intro to the rest of this CD, it makes more sense. Once the
chorus kicks in, I challenge you not to chair dance. If you don't, you're a robot.
I witnessed the appeal firsthand when a Roach-ignorant crowd in Wisconsin
was singing along by song's end before the song had yet to see airplay.

The next song, "Alive", starts out with a snarling guitar slide then
blindsides you with a ferocious attack of chunky guitars and drums. After a
headbanging verse, the chorus thankfully leads you into a breakdown, giving you
a chance to catch your breath, only to have the second verse come back and
assault you again. When they play this song live, I just know I'm
going to be clinging onto the barricade for dear life praying I don't die. Oh
well. If that's how I'm gonna go, then so be it. By the way, "I'm addicted to
the misery in my head" has earned a place in my top Hottest Jacoby Vocal Moments
alongside the "Dead Cell" scream and basically all of "Harder than a Coffin
Nail". But my favorite thing about the song is the lyrics. Once again, they've
managed to give me the right song at the exact time I needed it in life.

Another favorite is "Forever." Coby's cry of "One last kiss before I go" sends
chills up my spine. But really the most moving of all the songs is "Roses on My
Grave". If you had suggested to me in 2000 that it'd be a good idea to have Coby
sing over a string arrangement, I would have played you "Thrown Away" and said
"Uh yeah. Right. Good luck with all that." But now to hear the dark romantic
lyrics soaring over the music, it makes me wonder why they never thought of it
before.

Earlier in the year I'd read that they'd been listening to Motley Crue and I
definitely hear the influence in a few songs. "What Do You Do" and "Reckless"
really recalls Dr. Feelgood-era Crue. I wonder if Kix made their playlists as
well, because the end of "My Heart is a Fist" totally sounds like "Don't Close
Your Eyes." Of course this is all meant to be a compliment, as you all know I
love me some 80s metal from time to time.

My least favorite songs on the CD are "Time is Running Out" and "No More
Secrets", mostly because I can't relate to the lyrics. Actually I'll just flat
admit that right now I have no idea what Jacoby is talking about in "No More
Secrets." Having said that, I used to feel the same way about the first line of
"Sometimes" on the last record. But after awhile I finally understood the meaning
and now feel he couldn't have expressed the thought any more clearly. So I figure
those tunes will just need some time to sink in.

The creative risks they took amount to many pleasant surprises in this record.
They've displayed more musicianship than before, incorporating acoustic guitar, piano,
percussion and backing vocals that add dimension to the music. Jacoby really
pushed himself vocally more than ever, and probably surprised even himself with how
far he could take them. This record really impressed me and I'm proud of them for taking
so many chances that clearly paid off.