GNR Ottawa Show – August 21, 2017

On the absolute short-list of contenders for “Best Surprise Ever”?

Unbeknownst to me, my fantastic friend Andy had secretly arranged with my wonderful wife for me to be available on August 21st.

Why?

He’d gotten us GN(FN)R tickets!

Andy made the trip from Hamilton, scooping me in Kingston en route to Ottawa.

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We picked our Must-Hear/Probably-won’t-but-Wouldn’t-it-be-great-if-they-played tracks (Andy: You Could Be Mine/My Michelle, Geoff: Night Train/Estranged), had some dinner and a pint or two, and made our way to Lansdowne Park.

The show was scheduled to start at 6:30(!); given Axl’s declaration of “I get up around 7, we go on stage around 9,” we thought that as long as the show started by then, by Axl’s standards, it would be punctual!

But sure enough, Our Lady Peace started on time at 6:30 and the Gunners went on around 7:25.

We had floor seats; I don’t think we so much as looked at the chairs for the rest of the night.

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pre-show

Setlist (thanks to setlist.fm)

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1. It’s So Easy – and they’re off! Solid choice for the opener, nice to be able to yell out the generally accepted callback to “Why don’t you just?” right off the bat!

2. Mr. Brownstone – Said a little better than before!

3. Chinese Democracy – Slash broke out a green guitar (based on the shape, I’m guessing a B.C. Rich) for this one. And it was evident by this point that the other guitarist, Richard Fortus, is more of a second lead guitarist, he can play.

4. Welcome to the Jungle – You know where you are?

5. Double Talkin’ Jive – Kudos to Andy for winning the name that tune game right away on this one

6. Better – Nice backup vocals by bassist Duff McKagan & keyboard player Melissa Reese

7. Estranged – My probably-won’t-but-Wouldn’t-it-be-great-if-they-played track! Dizzy Reed provided some solid piano work in the mid-song breakdown, so many Slash guitar solos throughout, so good.

8. Live and Let Die – I almost gave in and cried (tears of joy) at this point, having such a great time!

9. Rocket Queen – A friend of ours messaged Andy to say he heard Rocket Queen when driving by the stadium that night, I’m guessing most of the area heard most of the show too!

10. You Could Be Mine – Andy’s must hear, drummer Frank Ferrer sounded stellar on the intro.

11. New Rose & 12. This I Love – Bit of a welcome respite with these 2 tracks, I don’t know if the frantic pace of the first 10 tunes would have been sustainable.

13. Civil War – Slash broke out a double guitar for this one. You know those guitars that are, like, double guitars?!

14. Yesterdays – The song I always play when I pick up a new guitar, single or double, loved the ‘Yesterdays’ whisper at the end.

15. Coma – who else would play a 10-minute track mid-set?!

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mid-show

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16. Slash Guitar Solo (with Johnny B. Goode jam) & 17. Speak Softly Love (Love Theme From The Godfather) – another appropriate breath-catching moment before…

18. Sweet Child O’ Mine – and the crowd, rightfully so, went bananas.

19. Used to Love Her – First GNR Lies tune of the night

20. My Michelle – Andy’s Probably-won’t-but-Wouldn’t-it-be-great-if-they-played track, needless to say, we were jubilant!

21. Wish You Were Here – Quick bathroom break before…

22. November Rain – Amazing, three 9+ minute songs in the set, so far!

23. Black Hole Sun – Guitars were spot on, nice idea for a cover

24. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – Probably the peak of audience participation for the night, with the Knock-knock-knockin’ on Heaven’s Door response

25. Night Train – My must hear!

Encore:

26. Don’t Cry – The Use Your Illusion I lyrics

27. Whole Lotta Rosie – turns out, Axl sounds pretty good singing AC/DC

28. Patience – As the crowd whistled along with the intro

29. The Seeker – Another cover

30. Paradise City – Great finale to wrap up over 3 hours of music!

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post-show

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,….

Verbalize the Positive

As much positive as I’ve already verbalized about GNR, that’s only the tip of the iceberg compared to what I could & should say about Andy.

My undying thanks for the GNR surprise AZ, oh what a night!