2023-09-20 - Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, MS

Well, that was one hell of a show.

Longest show by the band since the Vigo/Madrid shows in June.

My 6th show of the reunion and I got 8.5 new songs, with the ".5" being People Get Ready. By far the longest GNR show I've seen at 32.5 songs, and might take the cake for the longest Concert i've ever seen at almost 3 and a half hours long.

Those 3 and a half hours were quite interesting. I'm so glad I ended up pulling the trigger to buy these tickets. The people I sat around bought tickets in the rafters, then RE BOUGHT new tickets in the level I was sitting in when the prices dropped earlier today. Talk about an old money city. Again, I got this ticket for $60 out the door on the day of the show. When I was on the way to the venue, that same section had seats selling for $149, without fees totaled in yet. Get fucked ticketmaster....

The setlist this go round is super tailored to the hardcore fan. And I was getting that vibe being around ALOT of people who had yet to see the band since they "reunited." By the time we got to WTTJ in the set, about half the venue was sitting down. As rehashed as 2016's setlist became, I don't think it had the same effect on the common fan. Bad Obsession, Chinese Democracy, and SLITHER back to back to back with a hop skip and a jump to Pretty Tied Up is a hardcore fans wet dream.... I can't say the same for the old folk of Biloxi Mississippi.

The crowd just seemed to be lost. I can't vouch for what @rjuncajun is saying here, because I just didn't see it. Yeah they were loud, of course they were. They were drunk! It was filled to the brim at the beginning, but closing in on the 3 hour 15 minute mark, when the lights were going crazy for Coma, you could literally see massive spots in different sections where people had just up and left. The parking lot as i was leaving reflected that as well. Many people stopped clapping half way through the show and just waited for the band to start the next number. Although the people who stuck around made up for in droves. When the band stopped and the lights went down, there was always a massive response.

Sigh. Now that I've gotten my major complaint out of the way, lets talk about what really matters: how did they sound?

Theres no denying it anymore, there has been a collective agreement made somewhere along the line to start "hiding" Axl's voice. It would come up. It would come down. It would fade away. It would be prominent as fuck and then just disappear completely. Thats not working a shitty sounding room, thats a sound man pulling you up and putting you back down. At times Melissa sounded more prominent than Axl. To me thats a sure tell Axls mic is being fucked with. No one is touching Melissa's voice because its sitting in the background, so when she comes in she's way in front of Axl, who's been pushed deep in the mix.

The low vocal start to the set really does wonders for Axl though later in the set, and I think for the Hardcore fan, getting all of those songs together with Axl saving his voice earlier on is more than worth it.

This was my first time seeing Hard Skool and I was actually super excited for it, then Axl forgot where he was after the solo. It sounded like a complete and utter train wreck. I was watching Duffs face the whole time and he had to look up to the sky and verbally keep time to get through it. Thats how behind Axl was. Other "clunkers" up until that point were Jungle and Slither. YCBM was alright. He really spit some venom at the end.

Perhaps actually sounded pretty amazing and had a bunch of people who seemed to be casual fans interested. It really made me think that people probably could have gotten extremely into that song if it was marketed better. It has all the making of a traditional GNR song. Reckless Life also sounded fairly good. The band actually made Absurd sound really good tonight as has been explained already.

Slash was having a good night tonight. He seemed super into it and not "over-adding" things to the songs like he has been known to in this post-COVID era of touring. I think he even tagged a little bit of Hendrix onto KOHD, or maybe it was the notes Cajun is talking about at the end of LALD. I was trying to think of the song, but I couldn't off the top of my head (too much weed...) but i could see Slash sitting in it and enjoying it.

I think it was around this time that someone threw a pair of glasses at Axl that he put on which made him look like his 2002 former self. It was a trip. I think Axl kept them and brought them out later. They might have been super expensive, who knows.

The solo for Rocket Queen is super digestable now and actually sounds really fun. Fortus is putting a lot of Funk into it and Slash seemed to be playing off of him well. Even Frank was going off on little fills that sounded great. It sounds like a more cohesive jam from where they started in 2016.

I think the LALD screams are where you can see the biggest hit to where the vocals once were, even in 2016/17. And that truly means it can only go more down hill from here, not to be totally grim. It still rocked!

TV Eye was new and Duff sounds really good on it. It's a little long and monotonous, but it gives Axl a break, and it was new for me so I enjoyed it. Down On The Farm and Anything Goes were new highlights for me as well. I thought Axl sounded really well on those, given they use 2 vastly different styles. He killed it.

Don't Cry got a wonderful reception. I think Don't Cry and Patience together always belong in the set, especially if you're doing 32 song sets.

I took a pee break during Sweet Child O Mine... big for me as I try not to miss any of the show.

I had someone ask me in Wichita Lineman was an original.... yeah.... Axl was really feeling it though and dare I say it sounded professional and nice on the ears.

Madagascar had me equally happy and sad. Happy because its one of my favorite CD tracks, but sad because we weren't getting Street Of Dreams. I had gotten Madagascar the last time I saw the band in 2021, so when I saw The Blues was sound checked, I got super excited only to have that rug ripped from under me.

Axl was speaking into the mic after every song and you could really see that he was going on a limb and trying to pick songs or remember songs off the top of his head. It made for some really great call outs. The longest one I can remember actually was before Madagascar. Axl stood in the middle of the stage speaking into the band/crew channel while everyone else was just looking at him. I can only assume he was calling out the next couple of songs: Madagascar, Coma, Patience, My Michelle and then bring em home. At least thats the way it seemed.

I left early as they kicked into Paradise. I feared I would get stuck in the parking lot after just having experienced that at a Pearl Jam show, and I didn't want to be in a parking lot for an hour facing an hour and a half drive.

All in all, if this was the last show I saw them perform ever, I think i'd be completely and utterly satisfied. Nothing will ever beat Nashville 16, but this one certainly tried. If the crowd was more receptive, I think it would have taken the cake.

goodnight

EDIT: I hope Axl ( @dexter ) saw my original post in here and thats why they played 32 songs. Okay goodnight :hahafyou:

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