Guns N' Roses in Singapore

Guns N' Roses' Singapore stop on tour for 'Not In This Lifetime' (2017) was magnificent. Gig started on mostly on time at 8.45pm and went on for 2.5 hours. Woah! Everyone's still got it. Are these guys over 50 years old already??! Man, they were rocking it.

Slash burned through the guitar riffs even better than when the band first came out. Richard Fortus was just as impressive. Axl Rose could still sing. Duff McKagan was great, and Frank Ferrer was solid on drums. They also covered an instrumental version of Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' and Eric Clapton's 'Layla', and Axl Rose later sang Bob Dylan's 'Knockin On Heaven's Door'. 'November Rain' played live was as beautiful as I thought it would be.

The problem with ignoring Guns N' Roses in my youth, I end up feeling cheated because I'm paying S$302 for a ticket to hear three familiar songs. Hahaha. I don't particularly care about seeing Axl Rose and Slash on stage together again. Although Slash is really a fantastic guitarist. There wasn't much interaction between Axl Rose and Slash. By about now, after the initial reunion civilities, they must have remembered why they hate each other in the first place.

The bands were awesome. Sound in Pen A wasn't too bad. The inept organizers marred the entire experience. I don't agree with the "Suck it up, it's a rock gig!" NO. This is the EXACT problem I have with the underground scene. Okay never mind, this rant is for another time. I've been very well trained at many huge outdoor rock gigs, Big Day Out and Glastonbury, and the sorts, and I still think LAMC Productions sorely lacks common sense and simple Math. They were so bad with the logistics at Guns N' Roses. We had dashed hopes of LAMC Productions learning from the experiences of staging Metallica in 2013 at this same Changi Exhibition Center. Took me a day to recover from the trauma of crowds (normal) and the pain of getting in and out of the venue (normal too), and I can't forgive the organizers for depriving me access to water (NOT NORMAL).

Somebody didn't plan this well, even though they know that it was only a two-lane coastal road outside the venue, and no train stations feed the area. Traffic control for exiting cars after the gig was woefully inadequate and not very clever. So we pay S$25 just for the privilege of parking, and the organizers didn't give a crap about how we got out. Heard horror stories about the shuttle buses too, in which people paid for a ticket, and it still took two hours to get out. We knew to expect long waits, but the lengthy wait to leave the venue was terrible.

The queues for alcohol and food were ridiculous. The pathetic number of stalls set up was totally inadequate to cater to the crowd of 50,000. Some people spent 90min or so queuing for food and drinks. They even ran out of alcohol. We went early at 5.30pm, and got in at 6.15pm. Managed to get the first round of drinks. I was not pleased that bottled water wasn't readily available till they ran out of alcohol and started handing out free bottles of water. Luckily we ate a proper meal before driving east. We thought food might be a problem. It was. A huge problem. We were really lucky that it didn't rain.

I have $50 left in the e-wallet that I don't know where else to use because it isn't my fault your bloody drinks tents ran out of alcohol and you didn't have sufficient food stalls. Let's see what your refund options are. If unused credits are going back to that stupid e-wallet that I can't use anywhere else or only towards my next ticket purchase at a LAMC gig, that would be a fucking scam, LAMC. You are appalling. You should call yourself LAME Productions. You made millions, so please spend a good chunk of it on logistics. I appreciate Ross Knudson's apology. 

(iGO Team sent an email and promised an update on refund details within 72 hours from Sunday 26 Feb 6.30pm-ish. Sandpiper Asia who supports the RFID bracelets at this gig points the finger at LAMC for all screw-ups because LAMC ignored their suggestions of doing more. I bet AETOS will say the same. So while you guys play the blame game, we consumers aren't impressed.)

The question is, WHEN?

Addendum (i): So on 2 March Thursday evening, iGo Team sent an email offering a refund into the e-wallet or our credit cards. Painless and fast. COOL. Of course I want my money back into my credit card. 

Addendum (ii): The refund was finally made a month later on 28 March 2017.

Very good, @sandpiperasia. And @lamcproductions. You made it painless and easy. 'Refund to credit card' of course! I'm less peeved now. pic.twitter.com/eHWGaEDg0d

— imp (@faerieimp) March 2, 2017