Any new material is years away. How anybody can believe otherwise is beyond me.

It's always somebody elses fault except Axl's.

WTF man...such is the way of GNR.

That actually raises a good point. I think the choices for arenas after knowing the data (ie previous sales in American markets) showcases Axl's ego more than anything. That being said, I'm sure he does care when they place isn't packed. The worst I saw was in Jax Florida. They came on late and it was Halloween. People were leaving in droves after only the first 3-4 songs. By the end of the night it was more than half empty, there was hardly anybody left. They only did one song for the encore too, and I can guarantee you that was because of crowd size (or lack there of. ) We were able to go right up the front (side) near the end of the concert. Even those seats had left...think about that.

If it's simply ticket sales than perhaps 8000 tix (half empty arena) sold vs 4000 tix (sold out smaller venue) may be better for raw dollars. The thing that always comes back to me is operating expenses. Yes 8000 tickets is obviously more money, but when you factor in the overheard to put on such a big production, plus the operations costs of a full sized arena, it could very well yield a loss. I don't know don't what kind of money it takes to pull of an arena sized show, but I can't imagine it's cheap.

Again though, just like anything else, if they do poorly or break even in American markets it may not mean shit since they were a gain overall for the year. I'd imagine whoever finances the tour is looking for a return on their money and that is the risk involved. If the profits are Europe 10, Asia 15, S. America 15, USA -2, it's still a net gain of 38. Board members always think America is the end all and be all, and don't look at the big picture.

Away from the numbers and simply as a fan it drives me  crazy because GnR have the capability to be huge again in America. That's why I like smaller venues. It creates buzz...another sold out show where they WENT ON STAGE ON TIME and fucking killed it for 3 hours. Make a killer video and put it on youtube. Be a surprise guest on Letterman (stay still and don't run out of breath) or somewhere else...whatever. It's not that hard to do. They already (still) have an uphill battle for not being Old GNR, then add into the mix the unprofessional behavior (I don't want to hear that's how Axl is, everybody else shows up on time and plays), half empty venues and the press just slams them for it. If they tweaked a few things they would actually get good press for a change and whip something up. I dunno....they whole thing is a let down.

I'll see them in Miami and Tampa and that will be fun. The days of paying top dollar for seats and traveling all over to see this band are long gone though.