I was there- my 3rd time seeing them. A few random thoughts:
The start was ridiculously late as has been mentioned. It was about 10.50, but Thin Lizzy didn't finish until after 9.30 so the crowd weren't actually that pissed off.
The crowd were quite good, especially early on, but even though we didn't get the biggest setlist, it is still pretty damn long and it just drains peoples energy, especially with all the jams. The place still went suitably bonkers for Paradise City though. Nottingham crowds are rubbish from previous experience so I was pleasantly suprised.
Speaking of the jams, they are nearly all god awful. I agree with the guy who said the show should be cut back to 2 hours and just have the songs rather than the pissing about. Dizzy playing Baba o reilly was alright, as was DJ's solo (which was definitely ballad of death, I remember it from 2 years ago), but everything else sucks the big one, especially Bumblefoot's 'song'. The man can play guitar, no doubt, but he can't sing.
Estranged and Civil War both sounded really good, as I hoped they would. I've been waiting to hear them for a long long time.
Fortus absolutely murders the 1st November Rain solo. Give it to one of the other guitarists- almost ruins the song.
Madagascar still sounds amazing. I really like its positioning in the setlist. Unfortunately this time they decided to do another annoying jam before starting it. In 2010 the first thing you heard for the encore was the synths starting up and it was just a brilliant dramatic moment.
I could hear Axl fine. In fact the sound was generally great, except the drums were slightly too loud. He sang as well as 2 years ago. It's pretty impressive in all honesty that a 50 year old can still hit all those notes for 2 hours plus.
In general I'm about halfway between the other two contrasting opinions of the show. Compared to Manchester 2010, the setlist was better, but the performance not as good (or was it because I was drunk in 2010 and driving this time?)- Axl was happy enough but he didn't seem that into it. Credit to the rest of the band for trying to engage the audience though. I'd definitely go again if they continue to include some more Illusion songs in the setlist, but it's about time for some new material too in my opinion.
