The bloom is off Guns N' Roses
- Greg Haymes, Albany Times Union

ALBANY -- Welcome back to the jungle.

Or at least the back yard badly in need of mowing.

Guns N' Roses are back -- sort of. On this comeback tour -- their first in about a decade -- vocalist Axl Rose is back with a whole new army of hired Guns. His new crew features mysterioso gonzo guitarist Buckethead (who does indeed sport a KFC bucket on his head over a white mask), as well as ex-members of Nine Inch Nails, the Replacements, Primus and the Psychedelic Furs.

The band -- bulging with the excess of three guitarists as well as a pair of keyboardists, launched into their Pepsi Arena show on Wednesday night with the predictable anthem, "Welcome to the Jungle," as Rose roared through his fierce call to action.

The crowd, which had waited impatiently for more than 75 minutes after the second of two opening acts wrapped up their performance, finally had something to cheer about at 10:30 p.m., but let's face it, the current GNR incarnation bears little resemblance to the old powerhouse.

GNR was once a ferocious rock 'n' roll machine, seething with raw, primal energy. But the lineup that took the stage on Wednesday was a far cry from the band's heyday.

Clad in baggy pants and an oversized New York Rangers hockey jersey to offset his long braids, Rose unleashed his trademark howl on old favorites like "It's So Easy" and "Mr. Brownstone" as the lyrics scrolled by on his TelePrompTer amid a seemingly endless barrage of videos, special effects lighting and nonstop pyrotechnics.

This wasn't rock 'n' roll. It was, in fact, a parody of rock 'n' roll, and the pompous, overblown rendition of Paul McCartney's James Bond theme, "Live and Let Die," cinched the deal.

Maverick hip-hop DJ Mixmaster Mike -- best known as turntablist for the Beastie Boys -- manned the wheels of steel for a 45-minute set that careened from Led Zeppelin to Gary Numan, keeping the beat pumping hard. Sporting a blue "Tableist" T-shirt and -- of course -- numerous chains around his neck, MMM was bookended by a pair of inflatable alien robots with constantly flailing arms. Close-ups of his ever-in-motion hands were psychedlicized on the big overhead video screens, but still failed to generate much excitement. In fact, most GNR fans took advantage of his performance to visit the concession stands.

Openers CKY plowed through a half-hour of nu-metal sonic sludge to warm up the evening, belching and plugging MTV's "Jackass." While the Pennsylvania quartet cranked up the requisite volume, they failed to generate much heat, hitting their high-water mark with the gurgling "Inhuman Creation Station," as guitarist Chad I. Ginsburg whipped through Pete Townshend windmills clad in a G.G. Allin T-shirt.

GUNS N' ROSES
With Mixmaster Mike and CKY
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday Where: Pepsi Arena, South Pearl Street, Albany
Musical highlights: The opening "Welcome to the Jungle"
The crowd: Approximately 10,000 fans, more than most of the shows on GNR's comeback tour

Axldemocracy's Review

I'll take first things first. Took Amtrak from NYC to Albany and it was a pleasant ride. Got to ride in Business Class with the big shots and while everyone else read their Wall Street Journals I busted out my Blender magazine with a very dirty looking Christina Aguilera on the cover. No G N' R mentions in this months issue, so unless you want to read about Christina's nipple ring I wouldn't suggest picking up this months issue. On Amtrak I got to talk to a guy by the name of Steve who I met last year in Vegas and who, like many other Gunners, spends a lot of time and money travelling to see the band. He is a real cool guy and we had a real nice talk. It also turns out he knows Eva from here at the bar -so that was pretty cool.

Ok -on to the show. Me and my two friends get to the Pepsi Arena around 4pm and start lining up with about 7 other people who are there. Let me say this, the Pepsi Arena security guards suck some balls. First off, they have one guy -well kid outside in charge of the line trying to arrange the General Admission line. This 19 year old kid is out there trying to arrange the line outside and he does not know what the fuck he is talking about or doing. He tells us we shouldnt be lining up this early -cause when they open the doors everyone is just gonna bum rush inside anyway and we will lose our spots. He also says there is nothing he can do about it if people start cutting the line. People start buming out so I pull this kid over to the side and tell him that if he isnt gonna police the line, then everyone who is here right now, will. The kid was so terrified to tell people who were arriving to the venue, where the line started and to have their purses open and keys out when they are letting people in. He was having other fans on the line say it to other fans! It was pretty funny -yet sad. If this was a MAJOR city, and the crowd was more rowdy and troublesome -this could have gotten ugly QUICK. After being in Vancouver, all I wanted was a smooth experience, and if that meant me, my friends, and anyone else on line had to be involved with organizing the line and getting shit like that together, then it was fine with me.

So at around 6:30 they open the doors. The line goes smooth and everyone gets a wrist band. Me and my two friends get to the front of the stage -against the barricade in front of Finck's side of course. It brought back memories from Vegas last year -I was in the same exact spot in Albany as I was for the two shows in Vegas last year, so it was pretty fuckin cool. We start talking to the venue security working the show -and they were all cool guys. Definitely more organized and tougher than the security guards outside working the show. This one guy was real cool and me and my friends were talking to him. It turns out he was leaving in about 20 minutes to go pick up Axl at the airport and escort him to the arena. That made me feel much much better, knowing that Axl was on his way. Yep, I was still feeling the bad memories of Vancouver -what can I say. An experience like that sticks with ya, and it is going to take me a while to get over it.

CKY takes the stage a little after 7:30 and they are surprisingly good. Much better than what people have been giving them credit for. The guitarist in the band looks like Dave Navarro a bit when he has his hair in his face, and he does the Pete Townsend Windmill any chance he gets, but he is real into it, and plays to the crowd and that got the crowd into it. I thought they rocked and were real supportive of G N' R -saying how they were psyched to be on this tour and this was gonna be a kick ass show. They played a hard set and got a nice reception.

Next up was Mix Master Mike. I like pretty much every type of music -rap, hip hop, and good techno. I was looking forward to MMM but when he got on and played, it just wasnt happening for me. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the concept -I think having someone like this involved on the tour is great -the crossover in genre is not the problem. Where the problem lies is MMM stage set up. Basically, he doesnt have one. All he has going is the turntables he is scratching on and blow up dolls that blow side to side as he scratches. At a rock show, that is not going to cut it. What he should have had is go go dancers on each side of the stage dancing in cages, or even break dancers on stage dancing to the music, and/or a screen behind him playing trippy ass images to the music he was scratching to. If this was a dance club this would not be a problem -cause everyone is doing whatever and into other things. But at a rock show, and for a rock audience, they want something to watch while they listen, something to keep them jamming with the music. Watching MMM just scratch away was not fun. I have a lot of respect for the guy, -I have respect for a lot of good DJs, but his stage set up hurt his performance, and it could have been much better. His set list was real cool, a lot of good tunes he was scratching too -but it got old fast, and it had a lot to do again with the stage set up.

Before G N' R took the stage the famous G N' R tour game "Show Us Your Tits" was played. There were many contestants at the show which I was surprised by -I thought Albany would be more conservative, but hey I'm not complaining. Though it was fun for the first few minutes, like Mix Master Mike's set it got old pretty fast. I'm probably in the minority when I say this, but I was bored. I mean yeah it's always fun to see girls get naked, but I wanted to see G N' R and if I wanted naked girls, I could have stayed in NYC and went to FlashDancers or Scores. I also found it a little tasteless -esp. the camera guys who had a lot of shitty things to say while they were filming the girls (also about Axl which I got real pissed about but that's a whole other story). They even propositioned some girls in the front -offering them a backstage pass -pretty shitty stuff. The girls seemed real slutty and VERY groupish and were looking exactly for that so I guess it was good for them, but it just made me shake my head in disgust. Well, I guess some things never change at G N' R shows.

Around 10:30pm "Show Us Your Tits" ended, and the lights went out. The curtain rises and the stage is revealed. All I have to say is KICK ASS!" The stage set up rocks. The screens/monitors they got going on, with the two levels, and the wings on the side, the chinese banners, just looked awesome. There was some ambient music playing in the background, but no "Exorcist" or "Network" intro. Finck starts "Jungle" and he walks out with Tommy. Finck is dressed in a kick ass black silk suit, with funky socks and cool boots and a kick ass hat, much like the one the wrestler The Undertaker use to wear back in the day. Tommy is dressed in black pants and a funky t-shirt with the number 78 on it. Brain takes his seat at the drums dressed in a yellow flannel, bucket hat he wore at MTV Awards and sunglasses. Dizzy and Chris get on their keys. Dizzy is wearing black G N' R tank to, and Chris has a nice dress shirt on with leather pants and a ski hat.

Buckethead slowly appears -almost like Bela Lugosi in the old Dracula films. You don't actually see him appear -he just sort of shows up. Creepy, yet kick ass! He is wearing gray slacks, gray windbreaker with blue flannel underneath, and a black cape. Axl screams "You know where you are..." and the show officially starts. Axl takes the stage in a New York Rangers third jersey -which I was fuckin psyched about being that hockey is my fav sport and the Rangers are my team! Only thing I was disappointed with was no name or number on the back -he should have had Messier on the back -it would have been a nice metaphor being that Messier is the best leader in all of sports, and Axl is the best front man in all of music. Anyway, Axl and the band were full of energy and just kicked fuckin ass. The whole band (except Bhead -he got into it later on) were all over the stage, interacting with the crowd and just having a great time. After "Live and Let Die" Axl speaks to the crowd for the first time and tells us a story about a girl who came up to him the other night and in a dumb and nasal voice says "Why is Paul McCartney playing your song?" Axl says "I thought that was really funny."

I believe "KOHD" was next, so the set list was a little different. Same songs, but different order. During "KOHD" I hear some asshole screaming VERY LOUD to Axl "Hey Axl, you fuckin asshole. Where's Slash!!? Axl you fuckin suck!" So I look to my right and see the fuckin punk who is talking shit. I tell him to shut the fuck up and he continues to talk shit. Everyone around us is yelling at him to end it, but he continues. So I reach over and snuff him/smack him in the head real hard and tell him to go the fuck home. He looks at me bewildered as 20 other people around me start yelling at him too. I put the middle finger right in his face and tell him he is an asshole. Before I know it, one of Axl's security guys who looks like an ex-football player and who was in front of the stage the whole show, comes over and grabs the guy and tells him something in his ear. The guy didnt say anything after that, and when I looked over for him a few songs later, he was gone, which was good and bad cause after the show it would have been nice to have a nice friendly conversation with him

Anyway, back to the show - Axl switched into a New York Yankees jersey before November Rain and sang the "Asshole Intro" and then apologized and said it was the wrong song. He then played the funny intro where he looks at the crowd. He then played a deep emotional intro which sounded a lot like the piano solo used in the "Making of Estranged" video. Very chilling and hauntingly beautiful. Brain then did the drum intro and started November Rain.

I believe it was after this song that Axl first really spoke of the old band, especially Slash, though he may have said things that I am talking about now a little earlier in the show. It's hard to remember cause I'm so overtired and need sleep.

He started off saying how he has not spoken often on this tour so far, but not to worry cause it was still early and he was just getting warmed up. He made the comparission to De LaHoya and Vargas and how Slash likes to run his mouth in the press about Axl and G N' R. Axl got very emotional at this point and started talking about all the shit he went through to get this band together and how they are being treated unfair by the people reviewing the shows and by fans, but people don't or refuse to understand what happened with the old band. He also addressed the people who say "There wouldnt be a November Rain or Estranged if there wasnt Slash" and Axl says "These people don't realize though how hard it was for me to get him to play those songs." He talked about Slash and Duff being bad cops and Axl called himself the sheriff I believe. He said that he has wanted to stay quiet about this for a while, but he wants his side of the story to be told as well, cause all we have heard are lies. He got very into this at this point and told us we had all been lied to and taken advantage of at our expense and it wasnt fair. He said he wants us to hear and know the truth and that everyone has the truth in them -it's just up to the individual to decide if they want to recognize it or not. He brought this point up later on in the show again when he went on another rant about Slash and the old band. He also talked about how the press says he has no integrity left, and that he doesnt give a fuck anymore. He said "Yep, I have no intergrity left and dont give a fuck that is why I am here tonight and that is why the band is here tonight and that is why were are going to make this thing work..." He then said that now somebody will record this rant on an MP3, go home and transcribe, and the press will talk about what a bad guy Axl is. It was classic Axl and I loved every minute of it cause it was Axl speaking his mind on what went down with the old band and just confronting everyone who continues to try and hold him and the new band back and from moving FORWARD.

Before "Patience" he was ranting again about the above and then said "People don't understand that Slash and Duff didn't want to be a part of a lot of the songs that were written -and people don't know the arguments that we had at Can Am (?) studios about songs they would and would not play-and here is one of them" -and "Patience" started.

At this point Axl was in a NY Giants Michael Strahan Jersey and the show was going amazing. Axl was really into the crowd and the crowd was really good. Except my friend who is a huge Jets fan and was bumed Axl didnt represent Gang Green

During "Nightrain" Axl made eye contact with me - which he was doing all night which was kick ass -and I gave him the peace sign with real emotion and he gave me the famous Axl smile and nod and gave the peace sign right back to me the same way. It was fuckin awesome!!! Almost another "Rocket Queen" moment for me

The set ended with "Paradise City" and confetti was everywhere!!! I am still picking out confetti out of my pockets! I took off my clothes when I got home and confetti was coming out of the inside of my clothes, it was insane! It was an amazing fuckin show. This band just gets better and better with each show they play and though I thought they were AWESOME for those three shows in Vegas, this show they were just so much more tighter and together. They are truly a band now. They are like a muscle. It gets developed, it grows, and then it just continues to get stronger and stronger the more you work on it. The more shows they play the better they get, and when they kick off the next leg of the tour -they are going to really be something special -esp. playing the new songs. They play the new songs we have all heard already with so much emotion -you can just tell the album is going to be something they are all proud of and are going to fight tooth and nail for.

On a side note, I got to talk with Mr. Loder the other day and he will be in Boston this weekend covering the show, and will make yet another attempt to interview Axl. He said "I have managed to NOT interview Axl on three continents now (Rio, Vancouver, Tacoma)" and also said he is not getting his hopes up about getting an interview done in Boston. But like I told him, if Axl is gonna give a deep and lengthy interview it is going to be with him. He also said "The Garden show will be the big one for this band..." I can't wait!

So whoever has not seen the show yet, youre in for a real treat. Everyone enjoy and have fun. Last night started for me G N' R 3 times in 8 days! Hartford should be rocking and the Garden should really be something special.

Roadcrew@aol.com's Review

Hey Everyone--
Let me just start by saying Happy Thanksgiving, sorry this took me a full day but I got a little distracted by the holdiay. Anyway, Sal's review (posted by Ravi) is pretty detailed, so I'll just add a few things... When I saw the band for the first time in Vegas this past year, it seemed to me that they had progressed a lot in the year since the first Vegas show-- they seemed tighter and, judging by the Rio video, there seemed to be a much deeper sense of comraderie. Well, I'm happy to report that they've gotten even BETTER since Vegas. First of all, as Axl said, this is not a band of guys who met in a bar or were already friends or whatever-- but you'd never know it from watching them. Everyone was interacting quite a bit (even Buckethead), there was a lot a laughing and joking around. Axl said something at one point-- couldn't make it out, the band had already started playing-- that made Tommy and Richard crack up. Tommy, Axl and Brain were all exchanging smiles during "November Rain." After "My Michelle," Axl turns to Tommy and says "What did you want to say?" and Tommy grabbed the mic and shouted "That song is fucking fun to play!" Tommy also tried to say something during the band intros, but his mic was turned off.

When Axl introduced Brain, Brain got up and crossed his arms like a gangsta rapper, but he was wearing a pair of sunglasses with a very long artificial nose. Axl said "Brain... wearing a pair of glasses?" and started cracking up.

When introducing Richard, Richard imitated Brain's pose.

When introducing BH, Axl said "He's with us... we think. We're not sure. He's with us and he isn't. He isn't and he is." It got a big laugh.Axl's voice was in fantastic shape. He held the screams on "LALD" for what seemed like an inhuman amount of time-- the crowd just went apeshit, it was unbelievable.

The crowd LOVED BH. I think any doubt about him was erased during his solo. He just kept going and going, and he did so many different things in so many different styles-- shredding, chicken picking, "Star Wars," "Big Sur Moon," "Willy Wonka"-- the people in the crowd who didn't know him just seemed AMAZED, and he won over a LOT of people, I think. Also, he was WAY more animated then I'm used to seeing him-- at one point, in "Nighttrain," he was in the center riser, sees Axl on the right riser, LEAPS (!!!) off the riser to join Axl, and then LEAPS again off of the riser when he was done. He running around and everything. I'm so pleased.

Richard is the fucking man. Period. He's got so much energy, and he plays so incredibly well; I think he and BH did just about the two best solos for "Nighttrain" I've ever heard anyone play, ever.

The band has really found their groove with the old material. They make it sound new again. They make it sound like it's their own w/o betraying Slash's legacy. Just listen to "November Rain"-- Robin adds a little bit of funk to his guitar part during Axl's vocals, and it kicks ass. Robin was great, as always. My personal favorite moment of the whole concert (besides Axl's comment "The old guys are bad cops, and I'm Serpico, and they can SUCK MY DICK!" while grabbing his crotch and saying those last three words in a high, hip hop esque sing songy voice) was during "Brownstone," in the last chorus. Robin was rocking out, eyes closed. Richard comes running over and gets right in his face. He's standing there for a good five or ten seconds before Robin opens his eyes and just kinda jumps back-- he didn't know Richard was there and he was SHOCKED. Then they started laughing. It was just a cool little intimate moment-- I don't even think most people saw it.

Attendance did kinda suck-- floor was full (I was maybe five feet from the barrier right in front of Robin and Tommy-- I think I must've been next to Sal, b/c I saw the whole peace sign thing go down) and first tier was maybe 80 percent, but the second tier was EMPTY.

Can't wait for MSG next week...

Hippie's Review

Okay here it is. I'm warning you in advance it is very long.

I was going to try to write a review as soon as I got back from the show, but we didn't get back till like 3:00 ~ 3:30 in the morning, I was so out of it and I was so tired.

I didn't think my friend and I were going to get there on time because we left my house a little late and it takes us about an hour to get to Albany. Everything was fine until we were approaching the Massachusetts Turnpike and then we had to sit in traffic for about half an hour. However, we did get there on time, and we were a little early. Wish I had brought my camera because security was really light. They basically just patted us down. However, even if I did bring my camera, I probably wouldn't have been able to take to many pictures 'cause security had a good eye on everybody and what they were doing. My friend took a few pictures, but those were even hard to get 'cause security kept there eyes on people.

We had really good seats. We were up in the balcony on the left side of the stage, and we had really good seats 'cause even though we were high up we were still close to the stage. During the opening acts we could see the guitar techs backstage, and I think I saw Buckethead and Richard Fortus getting ready backstage. It was cool to see what was going on backstage, while also watching the people backstage.

CKY came on around 7:20 or something. They sounded okay. I couldn't figure out anything the lead singer was saying at all. Wasn't that good. They had a great sound to them, but their lead singer sucked. Didn't really like CKY and was glad that they only played for about 45 minutes.

Mix Master Mike then came on. I enjoyed Mix Master Mike's set more than CKY's. Kind of got into it. Really enjoyed MMM more than I thought I would. All in all CKY and MMM weren't that bad, but I came mainly to see GNR, so it didn't really matter to me if they sucked that much, 'cause I didn't pay to see them, but Axl and GNR.

Then we had to wait an hour and a half till Axl came on stage. During this time girls were flashing their boobies constantly. The lights didn't go on me or my friend, which was good. It got old fast. If the light had gone on me in the beginning I would have flashed my boobies 'cause I am just wild & crazy, but after about 15 minutes I didn't want to do it because the guys were very disrespectful. Basically if the camera's went on girls that didn't want to flash their boobs the crowd booed. This I found very disrespectful. Just because somebody doesn't choose to show their boobs doesn't mean they need to be disrespected. They guys were pigs and thought it was these girls obligation to flash their boobs. I wasn't into flashing my boobs just so I would be, ( loosely interpret this word ) "respected" for the size of my boobs.

However, after about an hour and a half of the never-ending boobie show, GNR came on stage. They started out with Welcome to the Jungle. I could not stop screaming. When Axl appeared on stage my friend and I were screaming at each other "O My God, that's Axl Rose. That's a real live Axl Rose. Holy shit. Axl." We kept on screaming and singing at the top of our lungs for the whole entire show. I'm not positive of the exact order of the set list 'cause I was just going f**k**g crazy. Axl was so close and I was having quite a few erotic moments. Its his presence. I kept on screaming out through the whole entire show "I Love You Axl." After "Welcome To The Jungle" I think they played "It's So Easy." I think the entire set list was:

Welcome to the Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Think About You
Live and Let Die
Knockin On Heaven's Door
Sweet Child O' Mine
You Could Be Mine
November Rain
Madagascar
The Blues
Rocket Queen
Out Ta Get Me
Patience
Chinese Democracy
My Michelle
Nightrain
Paradise City

I think that is all they played. I was just so f**k**g wild and crazy, and screaming, screaming, screaming. Everything sounded good. Buckethead did his solo which was absolutely amazing. I miss Sl*sh , but do understand fully it was his chocie to leave. Though this saddens me, in my opinion, Buckethead, while not quite as emotional while he is playing, is so f**k**g technically accomplished it is breathtaking. His solo was absolutely amazing and though he wasn't as active on stage as Sl*sh was, he was just as moving I thought with his guitar playing. I'm in love with Buckethead. Screw that. I'm in absolute love with the whole band. I feel like a horny groupie, but the presence of Axl and everybody else was just so incredible that it got me ummmm "really really excited."

Axl's voice was amazing. Very strong and powerful. Didn't sound like he had any vocal trouble at all. Everything he sang was so emotional and he is just such a brilliant singer...it was just so f**k**g incredible. I never wanted the night to end. I could have lived the rest of my life in the Pepsi Arena with Axl singing his ass off and the guys playing and have been the happiest person ever. When he sang Madagascar, him playing the piano, everything, "everything" he did just kicked so much ass. I can't even begin to express the way I felt in the right words. I don't even think there are words to express what I was feeling. It was just so f**k**g incredible, I couldn't even believe I was there to begin with.

November Rain sounded so beautiful and the intro he was playing on the piano sounded amazing too. Just before he got into this new intro for November Rain he was playing this other song, and then jokingly he was like "You guys don't want to hear that right." He seemed in a really good mood though, but the same Axl antics were there. He was an hour and a half late and we got to hear some good rants. One was about what people thought of him and people disrespecting him for being blunt and honest about things concerning the past band members. He was telling the crowd that Sl*sh lyed and even though he had other guys backing his story up, didn't exactly make their story the correct story. Then he said it was there business if they wanted to collaborate with Snoop Doggy Dogg or people like that, but he had better things to do and that it was unfair of the former band members to want to keep the music away from the fans. Then there was another rant about Sl*sh and Buff, I think, or was it Izzy, it was really f**k**g loud in there from all the screaming, not wanting to even record songs like November Rain or Estranged and how hard he had to work with them to get those songs out of them. The whole arena was under the magnetic presence of Axl Rose. The whole f**k**g Arena seemed to be possessed by his presence. Okay, there were a few. This one guy passed out on the floor because he got to drunk and passed out and the lady sitting in front of us passed out after Welcome To The Jungle. I think she had just a bit to much to drink, but mostly everybody in that arena was so intrigued by him. I've never seen one person have so much power over so many people. It was incredible. His presence, the magnitude, everything he was projecting ... it was "godlike." I mean, how the hell can you not be intrigued by Axl.

The new songs he played sounded awesome. Over the past ten years, those are really the only songs that have meant anything to me. I can't wait until the album comes out. If Madagascar, The Blues, and Chinese Democracy sound that good live, I think I will die of cardiac arrest when I hear the studio versions. Axl played the piano for Madagascar, sang beautifully, hit every single note with so much power and strength in his voice. The soloing, the quotes, the lyrics, everything was just so perfect. Dizzy played the piano for The Blues, which let me just say "HOLY SHIT." I nearly passed out. It was so beautiful. Very Orgasmic. Loved what I heard of Chinese Democracy. Very very loud at the Pepsi Arena. We were all very very crazy last night.

During songs like It's So Easy, Mr. Brownstone, Out Ta Get Me, etc., (basically everything besides November Rain and Madagascar when he was sitting down at the piano), he was running all over the stage. Never lost his breath. He looked up at my friend and I a few times. We were LOUD. I kept on screaming "I Love You Axl." Richard Fortus also looked up at us a few times, and Buckethead looked at us once. Me and her also sort of got a little provocative. We were grinding during SCOM and a few other songs. We were so crazy. We were dancing a lot during the whole entire show imitating Axl's moves. Everything was just so damn good. I still can't believe he looked at us. That was to me the greatest f**k**g thing that has ever happened to me.

All in all it was a really great show. f**k**g excellent. I have absolutely no complaints about it. It truly was the greatest thing I have ever witnessed in my life. I still cannot talk at all. I wish I could go again and again and again. I can't even describe it properly. I wish I could. Sorry that this is so long, and I hope it is good enough. It was hard to absorb everything in all at once. If I had to sum the concert up in a few words I would have to say it was a never-ending orgasm.

Dave Hall's Review

Since no one has mentioned anything from the show I just figure I would through out a few things.

-Show was f’in awesome. Played similar play list, no Rhiad though and no OMG (not sure if it was on the early lists even)

-After LALD Axl made a comment that some girl came up to him earlier and asked him why Paul McCartney sings his song.

-Place was only 2/3rd full, the bottom deck and the floor… but no one was in the upper deck. However, at least where I was standing (2nd row center) the crowd seemed really into it.

-Axl was in a great mood the whole show. Before patience had a rant about Slash and Duff and how they didn’t want to even record NR and Estranged and how long it took him to get them to do the songs. I thought they were actually going to play Estranged the was he was talking.

-General admission let the 1st 1000 GA ticket holders to the front of the show – it didn’t matter where your GA section was… you might want to show up early for future concerts if you want up front.

-MMM was decent, I still had enough beer in me to enjoy it somewhat. CKY was a good 1st band, but in all honesty I would of expected the second band to be someone like Hoobastank or Alien Ant Farm or Buckcherry or Papa Roach… basically a one or two hit band – not a DJ.

-The people up front I was near loved Buckethead, they never stopped marveling over his playing ability and were going nuts during his song solos.

-Of the new songs, CD seemed to get the most reaction. The Blues to me seemed to be missing something, maybe a Slash solo or something, I’m just not sure.

Have to say I had more fun than I did at Vegas two years ago – maybe because it wasn’t 4 AM.