I flew out by myself so I pretty much just walked around for most of the day drinking tons of water (I spent $60 just on water) as it was in the 90’s all day). The other bands on the bill were pretty good – I didn’t really sit in my seats until GN’R came out, but I could hear them throughout the venue.

    

    So now to the good stuff – The sun finally set and I could breath again without the hot sun soaking into my body – and I knew that the GN’R show was right around the corner.  After Alice and Chains came out there was an hour in-between the set to allow for the GN’R stage to get set.  I was walking around, getting my last beer and bathroom break so I wouldn’t have to move while the GN’R show was on.  It was only 9:30 and the fans were getting tired and less patient after burning in the sun drinking all day.

 

    It’s now 10:15 and there are still no signs of Axl and crew and the fans are getting restless.  The venue had videos of random bands playing on the big screens.  Around 10:30 the fans in the lawn started a few fires and I thought that the show was going to get delayed until they put them out.  Thankfully at 10:45 the lights went down and the GNR intro started – and the fans went absolutely nuts. (In all fairness to the band – the road crew was not finished with the stage until 10:30 and the stage was only empty for 15 minutes or so).

    

    The band opened with the traditional Welcome to the Jungle, its So Easy & Brownstone.  Axl was on fire and won over 95% of the crowd that had any doubt. The pyro was awesome which always drew cheers from the audience.  Live and Let Die was followed by a well received Robin Fink solo and Sweet Chile O’Mine.  At this point the band was tight and flawless – Axl stormed the stage with his classic snake like dances and moved energetically thought the show.  His voice was on-target and sounded better than he did during the 2 shows I saw in NY (Which I didn’t think was possible).  After Sweet Child the band went into the newest version of Knockin on Heavens Door which I thought was un-freakin real and well received.  At this point in the show you could see that the crowd was starting to drag a bit.  In my opinion it was not due to the band, but more because of the 10 hours of drinking in the sun, partying.  The band went into a piano moving jam (which I like) and broke into a Dizzy solo (Ziggy Stardust) and then The Blues followed by band introduction. Between the Piano IN Jam, Dizzy Solo, The new song, Piano OUT Jam and Band introductions, the crowd seemed to have lost its energy – there was way too much of a lull to keep a crowd energetic after such a long day.  That being said, the band broke into Out Ta Get Me, which was well executed, and brought most of the crowd back. Out Ta Get ME was followed by another piano moving Jam, the Epic November Rain, another Band Jam and the new song Better.  Although November Rain an d Better were played unfuckin believable and at their best – I think with-in the short period of time the fans heard 4 Jams, 2 solo’s, band intro’s, 2 new songs & 2 old songs – this is where I think they had a hard time keeping the crowd – at this point is when a chunk of fans had left – probably just because from fatigue and the 45 min or so of unfamiliar music – on the softer side of rock.

    

     That being said, the Pit, Orc, Loge and Lawn seats were still 89% full at this point which I think is unbelievable.  Things started to pick up again after the flawlessly performed Better.  Axl came out and introduced his old friend Baz and they tore threw the old classic My Michele – this was one of my many highlights – it’s amazing how strong Axl’s voice is after all these years.  Ron Thol was introduced and performed his solo which included the fan favorite Don’t Cry. I.R.S. was the next song played followed and the lighter igniting Patience and the show ending Nightrain.  I.R.S showed both old and new fans that this band is not ready to quit – they are in this for the long haul.  Nightrain just freakin Wowed me – again – how can Axl’s voice still be that powerful – he tore through that song like a freight train (pun intended) and he finished the song with his traditional “Good Fucking Night”.  At this point people started to leave as they were most likely unfamiliar with the set and did not know there would be an encore (why would they, none of the other bands had?)  Well I new better – along with thousand s of other fans. The lights flickered and the band slams into (one of my favorites) Rocket Queen, the epic Madagascar which again performed flawlessly and finished up with a roaring crowd of support in Paradise City .

 

  After the show that started at 10:45am and ended at 1:20am I went to my hotel in Ontario (20 min away – but got there at 2am due to traffic) went to bed for 4 hours – woke up drove to Long Beach to grab a flight to Boston which I arrived at 7pm – long two days – but well worth every minute of it.

 

   Now that you have read my brief description of how the show went – I will give you a few of my opinions.

 

 

All-in-all it was one of the greatest GN’R shows I have ever seen. As corny as it may sound, they made me proud to be a Guns N’ Roses fan.

 

-illusionone