Take on GNR

For 3 hours I was transported back to the music of my youth, where
nothing mattered but Rock N Roll and nobody cared about anything but
the music. Guns N Roses played Roseland which in 1988 would have
been a wet dream and in 2012 was more like a midnight trip to the
john. When you closed your eyes in the packed auditorium filled
with 3000 guys in their mid 30's, you could take yourself back to when
it all meant so little cause Axl's voice is still the same even if his
silhouette isn't. Slash and Izzy and Duff have been replaced by a
bunch of dudes who have fantastic chops and the melodic solos could
easily be confused for the old masters but without the big top-hat
sitting on-top of the long black hair there is always something
missing.
They played almost 3 hours and banged through all the classics opening
up with Welcome to the Jungle and Mr Brownstone and closing with
Nighttrain and Paradise City and honestly it sounded genuine. I
probably could have done without the four or five tracks off of
Chinese Democracy and to this day I don't care for the movie songs
(Live or Let Die and You Could be Mine) but when Axl sits at a grand
piano to play November Rain or they do an all acoustic Patience it
just feels so right even if the lighters have all been replaced by
iPhones.
The highlight past Axl's ability to still command the room are the
three guitarists who duel for lead guitar supremacy throughout the
night which actually probably proves how incredible Slash was as he
handled all those lead guitar duties alone.
But the most striking part is that the age and waistline of the
audience have mirrors Axl's trajectory. Gone are the ripped jeans
and flashing chicks in the audience and in it's place stands an
incredibly civil crowd with most people keeping a fair distance and no
mosh pits or successfully crowd/surfing. The civility was actually
pleasant because after standing on my feet on concrete for 4 hours, I
would much prefer a leg rub to just about anything else. But all in
all it was a rocking good show, it could have been an hour shorter
since nobody except Axl cares about anything Chinese other than
Jeremy Lin but honestly it was probably the best show I've seen in
decades.

The only thing I am left with is......where the hell is BucketHead