Ali wrote:

You are grossly overestimating the impact of this performance on the US tour.  I mean grossly.  It will have no effect on the US tour ticket sales because this edition of RIR has received virtually no mainstream press coverage.  This isn't like 2001 when MTV and RS both covered the festival and GN'R's performance.  It can't hurt ticket sales if people don't hear about it from the press.

Ali

Think what you want but it has already caused people to not want to go see them when they tour the US. Just ask a few of the members here who's friends have now declined and the few members who are now reconsidering going themselves.  This happend last night. You seriously think that the press isn't gonna pick up on this?  Ok than.

Ok well afte reading the last ten pages I see the excuse of it raining keeps coming up. This is the last time I will harp on it but watch this clip. It rained like that for the entire show and it was NEVER used as an excuse because simply it's not valid and in reality wasn't needed. If the badest band on the planet(Gn'R) is shot down by rain well than fuck me.  Bands play through rain all the time and it's a non issue. IF people continue to say "well it was raining" then they are simply looking for excuses and not willing to admit what really happend last night. It was a piss poor performance from an  incredibly poorly prepared band with the least prepared of them all being the lead singer. It had NOTHING to do with the rain and if it did that is just really, really sad.
[youtube]WpFCnhbYymQ&feature=fvst[/youtube]

As for the November Rain performance Axl clearly checked out. Look at him at about the 4:50 mark or so it's almost as if he's distracted by the crowd for some weird reason. The when he starts mumbling and forgetting the lyrics look at DJ's reaction. It's almost as if you can see DJ thinking to himself 'What the fuck is going on?"

Also to anyone who thinks this performance as a whole won't impact the US tour think again. If diehrad fans who saw this are now reconsidering buying tickets you really think the average Joe who saw that is gonna wanna run out and buy tickets? Not a  chance in hell. This performance did not do anything to boost ticket sales but in all likelyhood  hurt ticket sales. On what level that remains to be seen. Probably not a massive level but still it will have an effect.

After watching clips of the show again today I can honestly say I am  shocked at how terrible it was considering the global stage.  Maybe Axl think differently than we do but I think most of us would've looked at that show as a chance to make a huge statement and prepared accordingly. Well they made a huge sttement alright. Just not the one we all hoped they'd make.

DCK wrote:

Why we're acting so shocked and disgusted with Axl's temper tantrum seeing this is the way he's always been... No, actually, he's better now. Old Axl would have split.

RIR3...which is once a decade, can't and should not be fucked up. The rain you can't do shit with. It's there. The temper tantrums comes out of his own stupid faults. He can fuck up a few shows in the US or whatever - like Pittsburgh in 2002 or even Reading, but RIR is supposed to be golden. When you fuck up RIR, you not only fuck up GNR, you sort of fuck up history and I think we all react on that alone. That's why this is special, and Pittsburgh is Pittsburgh. Sorry for Pittsburgh, Axl is a dick, shit happens, that's what's coming to you when you go to a GNR show. Jolly good, bye bye and good luck next time. That's all fine, but you don't come to RIR singing out of tune and out of breath on top of not handling the fucking weather which WAS horrible. Yes it was. Theres's no arguing it was perhaps the worst conditions you can EVER do a show except in minus temperatures, and get this, rain in Rio is NOT like rain in London. This rain forest rain stuff. It pours. It's like a shower outdoors.

And I get that, fine, not the best conditions. Amazing they pulled it off, but you can't blame the rain on coming in half-assed with apperantly not enough preperation to follow up the legacy which is RIR. Next time maybe sing a few tunes beforehand, go thru some lyrics and be prepared you son of a bitch. And yeah, putting your heart on the line and then fucking up, it's gruesome. It's embaressing and you want to die, but he's supposed to be a professional. They have to deal with it. I wouldn't have. I would have thrown the mic down and left the stage never to return after fucking up your own songs, but he's getting paid for this stuff. Retreat is not an option.

I understand what you're saying.  But, I don't know, I wasn't shocked.  I'm glad he carried on with the show.

He looks bad. But been there, done that. Much better than the VMA performance which was just as big and as important and was an even bigger disaster.

But people in this thread were acting like he had never done anything like this before. That's what I didn't get. Especially when you idolized 92 era Axl, when he played RIO and threw furniture from his hotel balcony at the fans who were chanting his name. That was a dick move.

PROMO POSTER SAYS "over 2 hours of all their classic hits".....doesn't sound like a Chinese Democracy tour to me.