GUNS N’ ROSES: The Concert That Wasn’t Supposed to Happen
I couldn’t believe it was actually happening. I’d convinced myself that it would never happen. Yet there I was watching Guns N’ Roses on stage once again.
For years I wanted this show to happen, but about five years ago I started hoping it never would.
Guns N’ Roses has a special place in my memories, just as the band did in the pop culture consciousness and in the world of music — especially rock ‘n roll.
The heyday of the band had been 25 years ago, if not more. Animosity and dissension between Slash and Axl Rose had reached such epic propotions, that any camaraderie they once shared on stage would be gone. On top of that, videos I’d seen of Axl performing with the illigtimate incrationon of GNR (Guns N’ Posers I refer to them), made me cringe. His days of being able to hit the notes he did in his wild youth seemed to be long gone.
Yet on the evening of Saturday, April 9, 2016, there I was at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas anticipating the return of Guns N’ Roses. In fact I was there with five other buddies that I’d known since my teenage years. Three of them even flew in from the east coast for the concert.
It wasn’t the return of the original lineup of the group. Drummer Steven Adler had been kicked out before the recording of the Use Your Illusion albums because his drug abuse had gotten out of hand.
Matt Sorum from The Cult, who publicly wondered how one could get kicked out of Guns N’ Roses for doing too many drugs, replaced Adler.
Guitar player Izzy Stradlin’ quit the band during the Illusion tour. Gilby Clarke stepped into Izzy’s shoes for the remainder of that monster world tour which in many ways contributed to the splintering of the band.
While there was little chance of Adler rejoining the band, I’d hoped Izzy would return. If not, I figured Gilby and Sorum would step in as they had in the past. They didn’t. Only Slash and Duff were rejoining Guns N’ Roses. The rest of the lineup would be from the Guns N’ Posers days.
While this gave me some concern, I knew Slash and Duff would be carrying the show musically. It was Axl who as always worried me. How bad would his voice sound? Would he revert into Asshole Rose mode and blow things up?
The first test of all this came a week before the scheduled Vegas shows. GNR returned to the Troubadour, one of the clubs they’d started out in back in the 80’s. They performed to a packed house that had bought tickets for only $25.
Word coming out of the show was that it was incredible. Curiously, I watched some clips that were uploaded to You Tube and Instagram. I was encouraged. Axl sounded quite good. The band seemed to be playing together and enjoying themselves like they once had. Maybe the Guns N’ Roses reunion wouldn’t be a disaster that I feared.
Then disaster struck.
Axl had broken his foot during the Troubadour show. He’d required surgery to repair the damage and a steel rod was inserted into his foot. At that point I figured we wouldn’t be seeing Guns N’ Roses in Vegas that weekend.
Back in 1992, Axl Rose had refused to go on stage early in Montreal when James Hetfield of Metallica had been burned by the show’s pyrotechnics. There was no way Axl would go on with a broken foot. He’d revert to crazy primadona mode. The show would be postponed.
Then Axl surprised me. The shows would go on as scheduled. He had to keep weight off his broken foot, so he’d be sitting in the throne Dave Grohl had used on the Foo Fighters tour after breaking his leg. This was a good sign, but still things could go wrong.
We heard the Friday show started late. That was typical of Guns N’ Roses, precipitated by Rose according to the other members in their memoirs. Maybe not all was well. Reviews of the show were great, but could they do two amazing shows back to back. Could Axl’s voice hold up? I’d find out that Saturday night.
When the lights went down the audience went wild. Warner Brothers’ Loony Toons theme played in the dark. How appropriate, I thought. Then silence as we waited in the darkness for what seemed like eternity.
Then the distinct voice of Axl Rose calmly said, “Good evening” and the crowd went wild again. The lights came up and there was Axl on his throne, with Slash and Duff McKagen flanking him as they burst into “It’s So Easy.”
From the opening lyrics, I knew I was in for a treat. Axl sounded good. The energy of the first song, followed by “Mr. Brownstone” let me know that the show was off to a good start. “Chinese Democracy” followed, and even though it was a Guns N’ Posers song, Slash shredded it.
The fourth song is when it all came together.
Axl screamed out “Do you know where you are???” as he opened “Welcome to the Jungle” screeching and hitting notes I no longer thought he could, holding them longer than I thought was any longer possible for the 54 year old rocker.
I looked to my buddy Tony Wyman who stood beside me. I knew he could feel it too.
Guns N’ Roses was back!
Think I’m just being a stupid, sentimental fan boy? Then check out this video.
The show continued on, the energy amped up, and the songs that I loved were almost all played.
Sebestain Bach, originally from Skid Row,took the stage at one point and on behalf of all the GNR fans told the band “thank you” for reuniting. He then sang a duet of “My Michelle” with Axl, running around the stage, almost a surrogate for the band’s immobilized lead singer.
This was a special part of the show for me. Back in August of 1991 I’d gone to my first rock concert at the Los Angeles Forum. It was Guns N’ Roses with Skid Row. GNR came on late, close to midnight I think, but played for three and a half hours. Slash later wrote in his biography, that was the longest show the band had ever played.
The most poignant moment of the evening for me was when Axl took the piano before his signature “November Rain” performance and played “Layla.” Slash and Duff came over to the piano to jam the tune with him.
The sight of the three playing together in unison like that was what made the night for me. Seeing them playing like that together, letting it all hang out, feeding off one another, that’s the Guns N’ Roses chemistry that launched them from the clubs of Hollywood to the stratosphere of rock in the second half of the 1980’s.
Forward to the 3:00 minute mark in the video below to see what I’m talking about.
Guns N’ Roses played for about 2 hours and 45 minutes that Saturday night. With the exception of the three Chinese Democracy songs that I tolerated since Slash was playing them, I loved every minute of the concert.
When they performed their ballad “Estranged” it seemed to me as if Axl was singing to the bandmates he’d now reconciled with.
I’ll never find anyone to replace you
Guess I’ll have to make it through, this time, oh this time
Without you
I knew the storm was getting closer
And all my friends said I was high
But everything we’ve ever known’s here
I never wanted it to die
Why couldn’t they have figured it out back when? How many great albums, how many chart busting hits, had been lost in the 23 years because the band couldn’t work things out and stay together?
One will never know because they were too volatile to take a deep breath and work things out back then.
But is that a bad thing? After all, their volatility was a major part of what made Guns N’ Roses into “the most dangerous band in the world.”
Older guys, now in their 50’s, this tour is clearly about business. They’re cashing in off the demand their absence created. However they easily could have done it on the cheap, raked in the cash, and only done it half heartily. That wasn’t the case.
Guns N’ Roses, put the years and the animosity behind them and brought the A-game to their return for their appropriately named “Not In Your Lifetime” Tour.
In many ways the wait made the reunion so much sweeter. All we needed as “just a little patience” right?
There was something special about being there. We all bought t-shirts at the show, commemorating that we had been at the actual Vegas shows. Most of us wore them the next day and people all over Vegas stopped us to ask how the show was. When we told them it was incredible they all lamented not going to it. I’m fortunate I chose not to have that regret.
I loved the show and can’t wait to see the world’s most dangerous band yet again. In fact I will be this upcoming week. I’ve got tickets for both of their upcoming shows at Dodger Stadium and the one in San Diego.
Maybe it seems crazy to you, but not to me. It seems quite fitting to mark my first Gun N’ Roses concert experience 25 years ago this August, by partaking in a trio of GNR shows.
I’d probably be more crazy not to go, because things could always blow up with these guys and it could be another 23 years before they come together to tour again. I certainly hope not, but one never knows what will happen with Guns N’ Roses.