Back from Download

My first Download and it was excellent! Not excellent enough for what it would have cost me without a Guess pass, but still cool. I was only there for the Saturday, but what a Saturday! Whiskey Myers, the Struts, Thunder, Black Stone Cherry, all cool. Lawnmower Death, meh, I don't care enough about the joke, but salute those who do. And then there was Guns & Roses...

I saw these guys back at the O2 in 2012, where I was impressed by Axl's vocals. Not any more.

He can't do it. It's a real surprise given that it's only been 6 years. There was one song he mangled badly enough to make one wonder if he had lived his whole life on autotune, but then, in fairness, he could still rock old favourites like 'You could be Mine,' 'November Rain' 'Paradise City,' in short, every song he's known for, he did well. Beyond that, it was less consistent.

Three and a half hours is a long set to commit to if your lead's voice isn't everything it used to be. There were lots of covers, as well as endless guitar noodling from Slash and co. Some mates got so decisively bored they wandered away for a few pints. On the whole, a tight two hours would have been better but this had an air of the devotional to it, almost like a farewell tour. Turns out that, for me, it is. I had fun, but that's enough G&R and I won't need to see them again.

Then we got drunk, then we danced. And it was all good. Next stop: http://www.ramblinmanfair.com/