Take on GNR in Vegas

Rock & Roll came alive last night after nearly 25 years of walking aimlessly through the dark forest with no direction but finally all things were lined back up again.  Somehow the greatest living rock band made a 15,000 person arena feel intimate, maybe because the fans wanted so badly to have it happened or maybe because they just bring that vibe.  Either way, all was right either the world last night 

There were some surprises and that is what has always made Rock & Roll great but what weren't surprises was what makes Rock & Roll

The surprises included Sebastian Bach coming out for My Michelle and the boys rocking to The Who's Seeker and that doesn't even include the fact that Axl actually made it on stage early. 

They went on right after 11pm, which was amazing considering Alice In Chains didn't finish till about 10:20pm.  Axl was awesome his voice sounding better than it did in his heyday even if he couldn't move.  Duff was great and we loved the fact they give him a couple of punk songs but the difference is Slash, he IS Guns N' Roses. 

Forget Zakk Wylde, or Buckethead or Bumblefoot or DJ Azra or DJ Jazzy Jeff of whoever they've had. Those guys were good  technically but there is no comparison.  Truthfully, comparing them isn't even fair because these are Slash's songs, they were just playing them but he will forever own them.  

Even Richard Fortes the other guitarist they have now is awesome, but Slash is unreal and he is Guns N Roses as much as Axl if not more.   He rips for almost three straight hours, he never stops, he brings it the entire show and it isn't just technically awesome but it's melodic and powerful. 

They played everything starting with It's So Easy and going through the full repertoire including Jungle, Brownstone, You Could Be Mine, Estranged, November Rain, Sweet Child and Coma.  They gave you some new stuff, they gave you some awesome covers and they gave you Slash doing The Godfather theme leading into the Star Spangled Banner as he channeled the greatest guitarist of them all

Nothing rocked more than Rocket Queen.  Nightrain and Brownstone were incredible and an encore with Don't Cry and Paradise City can't be beat although Sebastian Bach headbanging duet of My Michelle was close in that it was his first time sharing a stage with GNR since 1991.  But at the end it was about hearing Appetite played 3/5 of the original lineup.   We didn't miss Steven but we did miss Izzy who was the architect behind a lot of GNR's Magic, but that had always been more apparent in the studio than in concert because there, you just need Axl and you need Slash 

So there we have it, nearly 25 years later, all thing were right again.  Let's just hope they can keep it together till East Rutherford in July. 

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