A Word

***Wacken 2018 - view from the Jägermeister Deer

Live gigs are essential. Remembering them is sometimes even more fun (but writing tedious ;-). Short stories about great gigs - and the others as well. This is strictly non-commercial and just my humble taste/opinion.

23 May 1992

Guns N'Roses, Faith No More, Soundgarden

Location: Donauinsel, 1220 Vienna, Austria
Probably the primary reason for my persistent dislike of xl-gigs.











Buddies: quite a few, I remember Flyingsheep, Pez, Action, Han (Rainer was also there)

Score: 2 out of 5 stars
Another Gig: No

It has been one of these gigs that you would not want to miss in those days. Guns N'Roses just released their double 'Use Your Illusion' and are too big to fail. Faith No More are also highly successful, still the 'Angel Dust' release followed just a few days thereafter. And Soundgarden, still in their beginnings, showed the way to grunge rock.
Everything was too big here, the crowd, the lines before the beer and the toilets, the distance to the stage. The only thing that was too small was space, far too small. High temperatures added to my overall unease in this concert. Waiting times before each gig were quite a nightmare.

So finally Soundgarden, in retrospect the most enjoyable gig. Although the sound was far from perfect, the potential of the band was quite evident. Chris Cornell, still with long hair, still has much potential for improving his live vocal performance. It has been quite enjoyable.

With Faith No More on stage with much delay, the trouble already started. To many people on too little space. It might sound a bit grumpy, but it was no real joy to survive this crowd. The band's performance was very good, apparently I only remembered the songs from the first two albums, but whether the Angel Dust songs were well played, no idea.

Then another endless break, the main act with much fanfare. It's show time, not gig time. The crowd cheers up, probably because you must cheer up for such ticket price. Slash is good in any band, also Guns N'Roses. Certainly, this is a perfect mega-show of a mega-band, but not my show. I am wondering how anybody else feels. Time-wise, it's value for money, as far as I am concerned it took too long. End of rant, don't crucify me for this. It hasn't been my day, not at all.