Guns N' Roses
Date: Friday, November 3, 2017
Venue/location: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Tour name: Not in This Lifetime 2017
Recording type: Audience
Taper(s): Chickenwing, SKimber1000, jhp40219, Brandon K
Photography: Dad, Elijah
Artwork: ethiessen1
Media: Lossless; 3 CDs
Source information: Digital Masters
Source 1 (Chickenwing): Zoom H2N internal X-Y microphones (16 bit, 44.1 KHZ WAV) -> mastered in Reaper and Goldwave
Sources 2-4 (Youtube patch): Youtube download (192 KBPS MP3) -> mastered in Goldwave
Universal lineage: mastered in Adobe Audition and Goldwave (specific care taken to insure no loss in quality) -> track splitting in Goldwave -> encoded to FLAC level 6 using Trader's Little Helper
Generation: Master
Total running time: 3:34:57 (215 minutes)
Track listing:
01. Intro (patched)
02. It's So Easy (patched)
03. Mr. Brownstone (mostly patched)
04. Chinese Democracy
05. Welcome to the Jungle
06. Double Talkin' Jive
07. Better
08. Estranged
09. Live and Let Die (Wings*cover)
10. Rocket Queen
11. You Could Be Mine
12. Attitude (Misfits*cover) (with "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" intro) (Duff McKagan*on lead vocals)
13. This I Love
14. Prostitute
15. Civil War
16. Yesterdays
17. Coma
18. Band Introductions
19. Slash Guitar Solo (with Johnny B Goode jam)
20. Speak Softly Love (Love Theme From The Godfather) (Nino Rota*cover)
21. Sweet Child O' Mine
22. Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb*cover)
23. Used to Love Her
24. My Michelle
25. Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd*cover) (Slash & Richard Fortus guitar duet)
26. Layla (Derek and the Dominoes instrumental cover) (Axl Rose on grand piano)
27. November Rain
28. Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden*cover)
29. Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan*cover) (with "Only Women Bleed" intro)
30. Nightrain
31. Encore
32. Catcher in the Rye
33. Melissa (Acoustic snippet of The Allman Brothers Band cover)
34. Patience (acoustic)
35. Don't Cry
36. The Seeker (The Who*cover)
37. Madagascar
38. Paradise City
39. Outro
Notes and comments:
Lineup: Guns N' Roses
The band:
Axl Rose*– lead vocals, piano, percussion
Slash*– lead and rhythm guitars, talkbox, backing vocals
Duff McKagan*– bass, backing vocals
Dizzy Reed*– keyboards, piano, backing vocals, percussion
Richard Fortus*– rhythm and lead guitars, backing vocals
Frank Ferrer*– drums, percussion
Melissa Reese – synthesizers, keyboards, backing vocals
Recorded from an unknown section on the 300 level, row D.
There was not a single moment of hesitation. When Louisville was added to the "Not in This Lifetime" tour, I was attending regardless of price or company. I ended up going with my dad and his friend, having bought him tickets for his birthday, and we grabbed pizza from a very popular bar across the street from the Yum Center. Dad and his friend were in no hurry, and as 7:00 rolled around I was getting rather anxious. I started hinting at the prospect of leaving, but alas, fifteen minutes and a shirt later, we finally made it out the door. I have included pics.
Before making it to dinner, I had gotten a call from my good friend Elijah who attended the first show I ever taped. He hadn't intended to make it to this GNR gig, but sprung last-minute tickets on SeatGeek. Him and his girlfriend were going to meet us at our seats, but standing in the slowest line I had seen at the Yum! Center, I told him to go on and get settled, as I thought we would be late. Dad made fun of me actually, because I called the ticket office and mentioned there was a massive crowd still vying for entry, and inquiring whether or not the show would be delayed any. It actually was pushed back about five minutes.
The line crawled through security, and we boarded an escalator to the second level while I started my Zoom. Dad's friend kept wandering off though, and we had to chase him through the second level, grab him, and find an elevator to the third. GNR had taken the stage, seeing as it was 7:35, and I was quite frustrated. The elevator woman took us down to the ground floor, back up to level 2, down, and up again before we made it to three. The security guy with my ALD was standing in the elevator with us (small world!) so I grabbed that before exiting. I didn't intend to use it at this point, but figured it was a great problem to have later. We stepped into the arena proper and I took my place leaning against a railing in a great recording spot. The second song was wrapping up, but I hoped for patches and was prepped for the rest of the show. Dad and his friend left for drinks after Jungle, and when they tried to return they were denied entry due to having the wrong tickets. I didn't leave with them though, and luckily we were spared from this frustration. I met up with them after the gig.
The show itself was incredible, spanning a total of three and a half hours and with a surprisingly diverse setlist. There were some great covers, jams, and a band member took lead vocals for one song. I had heard horrible rumors of Axl being a jerk on stage, and while his banter wasn't unique or extensive in the least, it was enough, and the music spoke for itself regardless. I had mostly gone for Slash, and the novelty of a GNR reunion. I figured that as volatile as that crew can be, it could be now or never, and now was a favorable option. Slash owned the entire show (as expected) with eloquent riffs and raw shredding like no other. The keyboard players and second guitar were excellent as well, and I sometimes confused Richard for Slash on guitar solos, considering I couldn't actually see who was playing. Axl's vocals were not incredible, in my opinion, and while they were obviously a must-have they were not on par with what I was hoping. He has definitely mastered "you're gonna diiiiieeee," however, and gave me chills in the process. At the risk of setting all Axl fans against me, I was honestly hoping for Slash to welcome out Myles Kennedy to sing Night Train or Sweet Child of Mine. This is the longest GNR set I've seen recorded from this tour, with only Rock in Rio coming close. It has some excellent surprises, and I cannot stress how superb the instrumental jams were. This was certainly a worthwhile experience, and I would pay the price again.
Recording notes: I have used three patches from Youtube, SKimber1000 for the majority of the intro (their autogain is a bitch but thanks to them, we have the first three minutes of the intro,) jhp40219 for tracks 1 and 2 (this is the best of the patches,) and Brandon K for the majority of track 3 until transitioning into my source. Beyond this, my source is consistent, and I am very happy with the sound. I have been working on my compression technique in Reaper, and I think the parameters I set this time around work wonders for the recording, and I'm hoping to improve the quality of compression on some Broadway shows because of what I found out here. The sound is consistent, and even the cannons have been left with their clarity. All taping credit for tracks 1-3 goes to their respective tapers/filmers, and their original videos can be found below. Also huge thanks to ethiessen1 for his incredible artwork. Photography was taken and provided with permission from my dad and Elijah, and I owe boundless thanks to ExVee and @QuestionATL for their invaluable mastering advice. ExVee helped with some random pops on tracks 30 and 37, and I still have no idea how they got in the recording. None the less, enjoy this one. Much has gone into it, and it is a tribute to all GNR fans and the superb group of people who regularly provide me with favors.
SKimber1000's original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-H7dAEdYY0
jhp40219's original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THpg8td4nWA
Brandon K's original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-WiB1bAeIo
Support Guns N' Roses: https://www.gunsnroses.com/
My masters: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rw7vl4egxozs9nt/Masters.txt?dl=1
If you're interested in a trade, a taper around Kentucky, Ohio, Indianna, Tenessee, or Missouri, or would like to contact me for any reason, I can be reached via the ID Chickenwing8 on www.dimeadozen.org :: EzTorrent v0.7.0r474 or The Traders' Den. Alternatively, feel free to email me. Shane.lowe6989@gmail.com
I would like to include a heartfelt thank you to the people over at Setlist.FM for constantly doing their best to update and accurately post setlists from every show possible. Everyone makes mistakes (and they're known for it) but they have helped me immensely in writing up track listings for my show, and lots of the information found accompanying my shows is thanks to them. Whether I have used Setlist.FM to collect information for this particular show or not, they deserve so many thanks for all the help they have given me in the past.
Finally, the confusion in regards to the legality of recording concerts is due to those dishonorable individuals who sell them. I do not condone selling freely-shared live music, and blame those who sell concerts for the lack of people recording and sharing content. Let it also be noted that any who sell this recording deserve nothing more than to have their own collection confiscated and shared freely with the masses. Please only degrade audio quality for personal use. Also, I ask that you keep this info file intact.
Mastered by ExVee and Chickenwing on November 4-8, 2017.
Tracking revised by Chickenwing on November 14, 2017.
Enjoy!