The Baddest Band in the Land: Guns N' Roses

The original five, Duff, Slash, Axl, Steven, Izzy.

When I was in high school, Guns N' Roses burst onto the music scene and almost instantly I became a rabid fan.  With their first single release of "Welcome to the Jungle" they could only get moderate air play on MTV at the time, a time when MTV actually played videos.  But once "Sweet Child O' Mine" hit, you couldn't turn on MTV or any modern rock radio station without hearing it all day long.  Their album "Appetite for Destruction" did just that, it created destruction across the music scene bringing hard rock to the masses and pushing Hair Metal out the door.  They became notorious for many reasons good and bad and although I didn't advocate or engage in any activities most of their fans did, I loved the intensity of the music, the passion with which it was sung and the raw power, the aggressiveness, the imperfection and the attitude with which they played.  As a band they didn't care who liked them or hated them, they knew they could blow the doors off any audience, especially live. Their follow up albums "Use Your Illusions I & II" were huge, sold millions and millions and launched them into rock and roll history.  Then, not unlike most bands, infighting, road fatigue, too much success too soon and differing opinions on direction caused them to break up in the mid 1990's.

One of the best selling albums of all-time.  26 years later it still rocks!

During those years I was fortunate enough to see them a few times; a mega show with Metallica at the Silverdome where each band played over 3 hours, an engrossing show with tons of theatrics at the Palace of Auburn Hills and subsequently a follow up show at the Palace that was stripped down completely, just the band, their instruments and a few lights-literally a club show in a huge arena.  My brother Jeff was with me at that show and he'll attest to how they did indeed, blow the doors off that night.

After breaking up there was always clamoring and hope that they would somehow reconcile and get back together, but as long as Axl Rose was in charge, it was never going to happen.  But he owned the name and he is the voice and he continued to maintain a version of GNR, eventually releasing the long awaited "Chinese Democracy" album, but it sadly tanked on the charts.  But that didn't stop him from touring with his new incarnation and last fall they announced a month long set of shows at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas.  Being only a few hours away I thought I should check them out.  Sure it wouldn't be the same as seeing them 20 years before, but with almost any band the lead singer has a signature sound that can almost never be replicated, so as long as Axl was leading the charge, I decided I'd go, I knew it wouldn't be the same but after all this could be my last chance to ever GNR live.

Let's get ready to rumble!  I was in Vegas after all.

I should quickly state, that since I was going to drive to Las Vegas I decided to pass through Bullhead City to spend the day betting on football with my Uncle Al.  If you read my earlier blog, you know my penchant for betting.  After arriving in Bullhead and driving over the river to the casinos in Laughlin, I spent the day watching a lot of football and making a lot of bets and eventually ended up ahead enough to pay for my concert ticket and trip.  I wish every weekend was this successful.

Based on advice from a friend I bet on Kent St., one of my many winners that day.

I then drove straight to the Hard Rock ready for the show.  I should state the same friend that gave me advice on betting on Kent St. had also hoped to fly out for the concert and almost did, but it didn't work out and I didn't want to miss my chance and still went on my own.  Once I got to the Hard Rock the place had basically turned into the GNR Casino. Since they were playing there for a whole month the casino was filled with memorabilia, signs and posters everywhere, they renamed the street the Casino is on to Paradise City Way and they even had GNR poker chips.  As a big fan, it was very cool and certainly set the stage.  The venue, The Joint, is only about 4K seats so being able to see them in such a small setting was something I was really excited about.  I knew it wouldn't be the same as it was originally, but I was still hyped.  I had bought a general admission ticket, which turned out to be on the floor and since I was there early, I was able to be right up next to the stage, something I never expected.

The Hard Rock Casino became the Guns N' Roses Casino.

The opening band was Filter and they took the stage right on time at 10 p.m.  They played their set including their radio hits, "Hey Man Nice Shot" and "Take a Picture", both of which had massive radio play during their day.  They played for about an hour, just enough to warm up the crowd, then they moved on as everyone was ready for the main event.  Back in the 90's GNR was notorious for not taking the stage for hours between the opening band, in fact at the mega show with Metallica I seem to remember waiting at least 2 hours before they finally came on stage.  But part of the promotion for the Hard Rock shows stated that they would take the stage "on time", whatever that meant. But after only about 30-40 minutes after Filter left the stage, here they came bursting out playing the title track from "Chinese Democracy" before bleeding into a deafening kick-ass rendition of "Welcome to the Jungle" and then a classic fan favorite, "Its So Easy".  Sure it wasn't the same group of 5 that began 25 years earlier and certainly time had aged Axl and his voice, but hearing those last two songs and feeling the intensity and emotion with which they played them, it was almost like a time warp and it certainly served notice that this concert was indeed going to be epic.


As the band was taking the stage the anticipation was high.

They tore through song after song, playing all the classics from Appetite and the Illusions albums while mixing in a few new ones from Chinese Democracy, just the right balance of new and old.  They even played a few songs from their indie EP, Live Like a Suicide, before Appetite, songs only hard core fans would recognize.  I loved every second of it.  Being that close to the stage was surreal and wasn't nearly as overbearing, from a sound stand point, as I had expected.  Everyone on the floor was having a great time and The Joint was definitely rockin'!!!

I was literally this close, it was crazy!

They played for 3 and a half hours, jam after jam, with a few guitar solos to give Axl's voice a break.  But to hear him screeching and screaming, that signature sound, certainly some songs have passed his voice by, but most of them, he was right there, bringing it home just like he did years before.  For any true fan of GNR you would not have been disappointed.  Would it have been better to have Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven there instead, of course.  But time changes everything and since that's never going to happen, I wasn't going to let it ruin my night or my thoughts of the band, just enjoy it for what it is.

Just a little Patience!

When they came back out for their encore they played "Patience" before closing with the epic, "Paradise City".  A song that still brings it all these years later.  There are probably a few songs from bands for everyone that speak to them or have an impact on them and this one still does it for me, every time.  In fact on one of my long runs recently, after running about 16 miles with 2 to go, I was really tired and just hanging on when Paradise City came on my iPod and I literally got goosebumps hearing the intro. That song drove me the last 2 miles, no question.  It's just good hard, in-your-face, rock and I love it!  Overall it was a great show and I am so glad that I went, even though I had to go alone.  It may be the last time I ever see my favorite band play live, no matter what incarnation they are now or in the future.  Time moves on for everyone and everything  But for one night, in Las Vegas, Sin City was just that and after a day of gambling, betting and jamming to hard rock, it was a night to remember.  And besides living in Scottsdale, I do live in Paradise City!

My old posters still hanging proudly in my garage.