Guns N' Roses
Sin City Illusion I
April 8, 2016
T-Mobile Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada
Lineage: Church Audio CA-14 Cardoid Mics - > Church Audio Ugly 2 Preamp (Gain setting +30db) -> Sony PCM-M10 -> 24/96 WAV -> Sony Vegas 10 Pro -> 16/44.1 -> Adobe Audition - > Audacity 2.1.2 (tracking) -> Trader's Little Helper 2.7.0 (FLAC level 8 lossless compression & verification) -> YOU
Thank you to LIMULUS for mastering this recording!!
Artwork by: FernandoGNR and __mo__
Photographs by Tony Trujillo - http://tony-trujillo.com/ - Photos used WITH permission!
Taping Location: SEC 10 Row 9 - directly behind the soundboard
Very good audience recording! Sound quality is about 7/10.
I had the gain on my preamp boosted from +15db to +30db in order to compensate for the fact that I was on the opposite side of the arena.
The Limulus source is the best April 8th recording at the moment.
If you had told me on February 23, 1993 that it would be 23 years before I'd have another opportunity to see the core of Guns N' Roses on stage again, I wouldn't believe you!
After decades of waiting, the realization of a dream was finally upon me!
Peace had finally been made in 2014, after years of feuding between the two headed Guns N' Roses dragon known as Axl and Slash.
Rumblings of a Guns N' Roses reunion intensified in late 2015 which sent hardcore fans around the world into hysteria...
Tickets for the Sin City reunion kick off shows would be hard to get!
Unfortunately, tickets were put on sale while I was in the middle of moving from Austin to Dallas.
I missed out, and had to go the eBay scalper route in order to obtain April 8th tickets...
Luckily for me, my mom relocated to Las Vegas in 2015 so my lodging costs were effectively $0.00
If it wasn't for her, I doubt I would have been able to attend either GNR show in Vegas.
Thank you, mom!!
Onto the memories of my Sin City Illusion...
The party got started on Thursday April 7, 2016 when I picked up my friend Limulus, at McCarran International Airport.
We stopped by my mom's place to pick up my brother. Then the three of us toured the Las Vegas Strip.
Around midnight, we dropped by the Guns N' Roses fan gathering at the New York, New York Center Bar for a while. After this, we headed to the T-Mobile Arena to observe the grounds and obtain information on the security measures at the gate. We met an upper level staff member of the T-Mobile Arena who gave us insider information on Axl's leg injury and what venue management expected out of Mr. Rose.
Later on, we hung out in the lobby of the Delano for 30 minutes or so, as it was rumored that the band were staying there.
After a few hours on the Strip we headed home and hit the sack around 4AM.
On the night of the show, we dropped Limulus off at 5:00PM so he could participate in the VIP pre-show party.
I spent the next several hours waiting for my friend Brian to contact me. Unfortunately, Brian has no cell phone, so there was no way to contact him.
I waited for Brian in the pouring rain from 8:00PM-9:30PM outside of the T-Mobile Arena. When he failed to appear, I made an executive decision and gave Brian's ticket to my mom, who is a huge GNR fan. Around 10:30, Brian sent me a flurry of emails telling me he was looking for me outside of the venue. Unfortunately, it was too late and there was nothing I could do but refund Brian's money. A friend can only do so much when there is no way to make contact. Please.... BUY A DAMN CELL PHONE!!
My mom was tired of standing in the rain and managed to get a staff member to let us in through the VIP entrance.
Being a senior has its perks! This is when something I didn't expect occurred. The metal detector at the entrance went off....
I was forced to show a venue staffer my sunglasses case which housed my mics and preamp.
I was then asked to unzip the case to reveal its contents...
BUSTED!!
The staffer asked me what my gear was for. I quickly told him I had a hearing impairment and that the mic and preamp were Assisted Listening Devices.
I was told I wouldn't need them for this show and was sent on my way. Disaster averted!
Once in my seat, I setup my gear in the dark during the Alice In Chains set because my mom was concerned that I would be caught.
Mothers, you gotta love em! This would come back to haunt me in several hours....
Guns N' Roses took the stage at midnight and played until 2:30AM Saturday morning.
I couldn't believe it... Axl, Slash, and Duff, were on an arena stage together for the first time since 1993!!
The dream of millions of fans had come true!
Just like on the Use Your Illusion tour, my mom and I were together again at a Guns N' Roses concert!!
We had a great evening of mother/son bonding in the company of Axl, Slash, Duff, and 20,000 hardcore Guns N' Roses fans!
I broke out in tears during the following tunes, so you may hear me sobbing like a child from time to time.
1. Welcome To Jungle 2. Estranged 3 Sweet Child O'Mine 4. November Rain 5. Knockin' On Heaven's Door 6. Patience
The Axl/Slash/Duff reunion live on stage was a very emotional moment for me.
Interesting observations:
1. Instead of bursting onto the stage in the dark, Axl was wheeled to the stage while sitting in Dave Grohl's Rock N' Roll Throne.
He greeted the crowd just before Guns kicked into It's So Easy....
2. Fans were leaving their seats in droves during many of the Chinese Democracy tunes.
This was mind boggling, considering the historical nature of the GNR concert.
3. There were dozens of unoccupied seats around the arena, proving that the Guns N' Roses shows were scalper sell outs.
4. Axl's rendition of the outro of Layla was a highlight.
Every time I hear this iconic piece, it reminds me of one of my all time favorite films... Goodfellas!
As I mentioned earlier, setting up in the dark came back to haunt me in a major way near the end of the show...
During the beginning of Knockin' On Heaven's Door the cable connecting my preamp to my M10 recorder became dislodged.
This lead to 22 minutes of audio drop outs. I noticed the issue 1:25 minutes into Paradise City and quickly refastened the connection!
The last 8 minutes of this recording sounds just as good as the first two hours.
I was heartbroken upon discovering this massive hole in my recording.
However, Limulus has skillfully used his April 8th master recording to patch the gap in this release.
My recording of the April 9th show is complete!
Guns N' Roses must have an open taping policy in 2016....
I had my mics mounted on a hat in plain sight of venue staff on both nights and was given no grief!
Thank you, Axl!!
Please tape/film this band when you see them!!
THE RETURN OF THE THREE KINGS!!
Guns N' Roses are:
W. Axl Rose: Vocals - Live from Dave Grohl's Rock N' Roll Throne
Slash: Lead Guitar
Duff McKagan: Bass Guitar
[01] Intro (5:19)
[02] It's So Easy (3:04)
[03] Mr. Brownstone (4:12)
[04] Chinese Democracy (3:39)
[05] Welcome To The Jungle (4:55)
[06] Double Talkin' Jive (5:16)
[07] Estranged (9:10)
[08] Live And Let Die (3:19)
[09] Rocket Queen (11:51)
[10] You Could Be Mine (5:43)
[11] New Rose (3:08)
[12] This I Love (5:54)
[13] Coma (9:45)
[14] Theme From The Godfather (3:20)
[15] Sweet Child O' Mine (6:33)
[16] Better (6:18)
[17] Civil War (7:55)
[18] Wish You Were Here (instrumental) (3:32)
[19] Layla outro (instrumental) (3:24)
[20] November Rain (9:56)
The tracks below were patched with Limulus' source due to technical difficulties:
[21] Knockin' On Heaven's Door (9:39) (patched right before first verse)
[22] Nightrain (8:35)
[23] Patience (6:01)
[24] Paradise City (6:31) (first 85 seconds patched)
[25] Outro (3:10)
Running Time: 150 Minutes
Additional Musicians:
Dizzy Reed: Keyboards
Richard Fortus: Rhythm Guitar
Frank Ferrer: Drums
Melissa Reese: Keyboards
IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm new to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and am eager to meet new friends who would be interested in attending (and taping) rock shows together.
If you'd like to join the taping community, please let me know...
Going to concerts with friends is MUCH MORE FUN!
Next stop for the Nightrain is on August 3rd, 2016 at AT&T Stadium on Arlington, TX
The 25th anniversary of the GREATEST Guns N' Roses performance of all time!
REQ: IEM sources: If you use my audio for producing an IEM/AUD matrix, please be so kind and send me a copy along with the unedited IEM, too.
REQ: Any uncirculated Guns N' Roses audio/video from 1985-1993
Does anyone have a recording of the Guns N' Roses performance at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas
on September 4, 1992? If so, please share!
REQ: Guns N' Roses Noblesville, Indiana May 29, 1991 pro-shot 2DVD GNRONTOUR.COM edition
I plan to upload this recording to DIME, The Trader's Den, JamToThis, The GN'R tracker, and Usenet (a.b.sounds.lossless, a.b.sounds.flac, a.b.sounds.lossless.bootlegs).
You are welcome to upload this recording to any blogs/file locker/forum/non-music themed tracker as long as the *ENTIRE* file set is available for FREE download!
I don't want anyone on Earth to spend a penny on this recording!!
Respect my wishes, eBay parasite SCUM!!
rockphantom
April 18, 2016
Dallas/Fort Worth (Arlington)
***DO NOT SELL***
***DO NOT SHARE WITHOUT THIS INFO***
***DO NOT BELIEVE THE AUSTIN, TX HYPE***