on’t even try to make sense of it. The only thing that could interest me at this point would be if i could be a guy on the wall to see how things are done with these guys behind closed doors.

I’ve been through so many phases as a fan of this band. I remember gettyup early to go to Best Buy and get Chinese democracy and the cd (what’s that?) into my disc man and walking the streets of north Chicago listening to the whole thing. I was vindicated after years of patience and loyalty.

I sat down at one of my favorite bars to get ready to watch the bears play and wanted to share my excitement and i let some one listen to it. He listened for not more than 30 seconds and handed it back to me. Then he said something that wounded me but i was immediately embarrassed that i would care so much of GnR that i was almost offended for Axl.

He said, ‘we waited 15 years for this?’ and then casually moved on with his day.

And now I’m kinda there with him. GnR will always be my favorite band. I’m grateful for what i have and what has been but it’s just not the same.

I was in high school in the late 90s to early 2000s. Nothing could be more uncool than liking GnR. Defending the band and Axl was something i had to do from day 1. I took personally the way my friends would shit on them. And on some level I understood. But i felt so strongly about them that i took it as a badge of honor to keep trucking along with this ridiculous amazing band.

Then in my senior year axl did that mtv one off that was supposed to vindicate and validate my patience and loyalty. How silly it must have looked in retrospect. Axls crooked bandana on top of what kind of looked a wig wearing a football jersey, a guy dressed as a lumberjack, another with a kfc bucket on his head.

I digress…

The point is…the magic is all but gone for me. And us diehards have little to show for it in 2026. It’s a little sad watching their last gasps. Even worse to see it all as a cash grab squeezing every ounce out of the bottle that they can…

Ahh what could have been…

The handful of clips I’ve seen so far Axl just sounds horrible. Could be the songs I’m picking. Maybe there’s nothing that can be done about it but he just sounds like he’s never sung these songs before.

This has been beaten to death…but what is actually wrong? Is it just age?

This on top of everything else discussed in this thread from management incompetence to a strange schedule of dates (including Tinley Park lol) and the weird sporadic song releases with no follow through…i will likely pass when they come through my neck of the woods in 6 weeks.

Meh…

What were the pitfalls?

Do you know what is bliss? Checking out. I imagine I'm not the first person to realize this...and I won't be the last.

Do you know what I think causes cancer? Hysteria.

There's no excuse for it. I know Seattles D is elite...but he looked like a guy you need to cut ASAP.

Banks was the guy I was hoping would drop to the Bears...I never thought Campbell would drop that far. Thank god he didn't because what I saw yesterday was abhorrent.