On Sunday night before leaving for Thailand we went to a Guns N' Roses concert at Olympic Park. In 1989 or so this would have been a great concert; we weren’t so sure in 2009. But we figured, why not? Wife was not as excited as me, but she was willing to try. If you’re like one of our friends, who was surprised that Axl Rose was still alive, here are some quick facts: GNR ‘s first album was in 1987, their last major concert tour was 1993, Axl is the only original band member left and their last album ‘Chinese Democracy’ was released in 2008. Oh, and Axl was born in 1962, making him 47 years old. Before the show, I checked out the reviews of his concert in Taiwan, which was the first and only show on the tour before Seoul. One guy wrote that Axl seemed fat and out of shape, and needed a lot of oxygen during the show. Doh!
So, we took the subway to the show. The concert was scheduled to start at 7:00 and we got to the arena at about 6:00. We expected to go right in. Nope. We were forced to line up by ticket number! And, then after waiting in the cold for an hour, we went into the show in order, even though we were on the floor without assigned seats! Only in Korea would they all line up so patiently. Even Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin) had to wait in line!
So, we took the subway to the show. The concert was scheduled to start at 7:00 and we got to the arena at about 6:00. We expected to go right in. Nope. We were forced to line up by ticket number! And, then after waiting in the cold for an hour, we went into the show in order, even though we were on the floor without assigned seats! Only in Korea would they all line up so patiently. Even Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin) had to wait in line!
Once in the arena, we were psyched to see this opening band. It was a Korean pop band... just the right thing to get really ready for a rock concert! The second Korean band was better; they actually played rock! Then we had to wait a couple more hours as the stage crew applied bright orange tape to everything. Argh! The show started after 9:30.
Honestly, my first thought was that Axl was fat and out of shape, and needed a lot of oxygen. Déjà vu! He was trying to dance and move like in 1989, and it was not working. And, he needed to go backstage almost every song, probably to suck some oxygen. But, after a few songs, I started thinking he was singing okay! They did most of the GNR classics from Appetite for Destruction, including Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child O’ Mine, Paradise City, Knocking on Heaven’s Door, etc. and they sounded good. Axl can still sing. Overall, it was a good show and they played a long time. But, I couldn’t help feeling a bit old watching Axl trying to be a young rocker. My new rule is don't go to a rock concert if the band has been playing more than ten years. I hear Green Day and The Killers are both coming soon to Seoul...
On a side note, I think we broke a record in getting from Olympic Park back to Yongsan. Our cab driver was completely insane. We thought we would miss closing time for the gate where we parked, and be forced to walk home from a different gate. But our crazy driver made it with time to spare. This was one of the few times where we both buckled up in a cab.
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