Newsgroups: alt.rock-n-roll.metal
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 92 16:47:24 -0400 
From: Thomas.Sullivan@cs.cmu.edu
Subject: GNR/Metallica/Faith No More in PGH

Just saw the show here in Pittsburgh last night.  I was very impressed
with all 3 bands.   I had a great time and I really feel I got my moneys
worth.

First, a bit of background.  I used to go to a lot of metal shows in the
early
to mid 80's.  I was a Metallica fan when they first came out, but kinda
lost
touch with them (except for what they play on the radio) since then.  I'd
always wanted to see them, but they didn't start touring around until
after
I'd drifted away from really huge concert venues.  (I've still been
seeing 
lots of stuff in the clubs over the years, lots of local stuff in Boston
and back
here in Pittsburgh, I just got sick of Arena and Stadiums and the huge 
prices for short 90 minute sets.  If I was lucky.)  Most of the Faith No
More I've heard has only been radio airplay too.  It's taken me a bit of 
time to get into this funk-metal mix that has been happening over the
past
few years.  I'm finally coming around a bit.  I've got Appetite for 
Destruction from GNR, but not the Illusion albums.  I've always kinda
liked
GNR (at least some of their tunes, their songwriting has always seemed a 
bit inconsistent to me, some great songs and some weak ones), but never
been a big fan.  I've always kinda passed them off as a hack band that
wrote a couple good songs and got lucky to be noticed.  I also hated the
flamboyant "rock star" image of Axl and Co., so I didn't buy the Illusion
albums.  

Now the show:

The show was in Three Rivers Stadium.  Our seats were about halfway
back on the floor, way over to the right.  

Faith No More came on right at 4:30 pm, the scheduled show time.  I
wish I could tell you the names of the songs they played, but see above.
I recognized their radio hits.  They were really solid, very into the
show,
and gave it their all!  I was very impressed, but sorry that they only
did a
40-45 minute set.  Too short.  It was overcast all day and we started to
get
sprinkled on during their set.  No one seemed to care, least of all the
band.
LOTS of people were standing for them and dancing.

Then there was about a 30 - 45 minute break.  The rain started and
stopped a few times, then started again just before Metallica started.

Metallica came out rockin'!  These guys are great.  I had a great time
watching them.  The rain got pretty heavy but they just kept going.  They
were on on the front of the stage getting soaked with the rest of us. 
And
I mean we got soaked!  I was curious about electrocution, but quickly 
realized yet another advantage of wireless guitar systems:  you can't get
zapped cause you're not physically connected to your amp!  So they just
rocked right out there in the rain!  I gotta get me one of those, I'm now
convinced.  They played a 2 hour and 15 minute set.  Came back for
encores twice.  The rain stopped about 2/3 of the way through their set
and
the sky cleared up.  The sun even came out.  At the end of their set they
did one of the classiest things I've ever seen a band do.  They spent
about
10 full minutes running around on stage shaking hands, tossing out drum
sticks, thanking the crowd over and over.  Really made you feel like they
enjoyed being there and were grateful for everyone coming out to see them
and braving the rain.  They were also happy that people knew lyrics and 
sang along.  Everyone stood on their chair for the entire show.  

There was then about a 90 minute break.  It really wasn't so bad, as it
gave you time to deal with the lines at concession stands (one gets
hungry
after 5 hours!) and restrooms.   They GNR stage setup it totally
different
from Metallica's, so they had to spend a lot of time changing it over. 
The
camera operators killed the time by picking out girls in the audience
and 
having them projected on the big screens long enough to get them to 
expose their breasts or to turn down the offer.  One would think that
only
the males were enjoying this, but all the females I saw had their eyes 
glued to the screen, and most of the women zeroed in on did expose 
themselves (greater than 50% did), so they couldn't have been too 
disgusted by this!   DIdn't really matter to me, I was with my
girlfriend,
she's enough for me!

GNR came out and started shortly before 10 pm.  They also played a
2:15 to 2:30 long set.  As I said above, I always kind of considered them
to be kind of a hack band, but I was very impressed with their 
professionalism.  They really put on a good show, were very tight, and I
was pretty impressed by a lot of their song writing.  I misjudged them 
based on their public attitude and appearances, and Axl's actions.   What
I was really happy with was that Axl didn't go off on a "society tirade" 
even once!  I was kind of dreading this since reading about it here from
the DC and Indianapolis shows, but he didn't do any of this in
Pittsburgh!
He did change outfits a bit too often for me, but he's a very good
performer
and the show was very well done.  They also spent a good 10 minutes after
they finished shaking hands and thanking the crowd.  The weather was 
good for their whole set and my t-shirt was almost dry by the time the
show was over (about 12:15 pm).  

Personally, I still think Axl is a sociopath, I still get sick of his
tirades, and
I don't think he should be allowed to do things the rest of society
isn't 
allowed to do (assult people) but he did put on a good show.  (I don't
think
he should be held responsible for the riots though, that's ridiculous.) 
I also
didn't get bored at all throughout the whole concert.  I was in there
over 8
hours too.

I definitely recommend the show to you folks.  Even if you aren't a big
fan of all the bands (I certainly wasn't), you will still see a top notch
performance from all the bands (if Axl is in a good mood, I suppose), and
you won't be cheated out on music for your dollar if you see a show like
we did here.  

--Tom