Sebastian’s band took the stage shortly after 8:30 followed by Papa Roach.  Both were actually pretty good and performed their duty well – to mildly entertain the crowd until Axl decided to show up.  Around 11:45 the lights went down, and the familiar Welcome To The Jungle intro pierced the air.  For the next 2+ hours Axl and his new machine played all of the favorites plus 3 or 4 new songs.  Axl was full of energy and in a good mood.  At one point he even, jokingly, remarked to Sebastian that “we f*cked up the ending” after My Michelle.  His mic did not have enough volume and was often drowned out by the music.  As for the new members they are all proficient and quite capable.  Make no mistake about it, this is not the original lineup, nor do they try to entirely mimic the original sound.  They have their own style.  At times it appears that it takes 5 guys to replace Slash with all the guitarists running around the stage.  However they mesh quite well.  Apparently Bryan Mantia is not currently touring with them so Frank Ferrer replaced him on drums.  I think Matt Sorum had a louder, fuller sound, but what do I know.  What I walked away with (as the sun was coming up) was an even bigger anticipation of the release of Chinese Democracy.  My fear has been that it will sound like material from 1997, but after hearing the new songs live I think the album will be quite relevant.  I have always supported Axl’s desire to cover new territory and not just churn out carbon copies of Appetite For Destruction every two years. 

In short, I think it might be too much to ask Axl to perform every concert, and to also be on time.  If you’re going to an upcoming show, be patient.  It’s worth it.

I’ll see you in line when Chinese Democracy gets released…

Ryan