The next hour was spent trying to get the girls in the audience to take off their tops. Not a bad way to kill the time.

After about twenty minutes, Mixmaster Mike started doing his thing. He wasn't bad - obviously very talented. He played for about forty minutes and got a much louder ovation than CKY did

Anyway, on to the good stuff.

At about 10:10, we hear the opening chords of WTTJ. The crowd just goes nuts! Axl comes out and yells: "Do you know where the fuck you are, Columbus?" For the next two hours, Axl and company simply gave us our money's worth and then some!

For those of you wondering, Axl came out with a white OSU jersey, #27. He later switched to the Red OSU #27 jersey. He said at one point that he has been wearing OSU jerseys for a long time. He then switched to a generic Columbus Blue Jackets jersey, then back to the white OSU one for Paradise City. I checked the current roster and there isn't a #27 listed for OSU right now. I'm not from this area, so maybe #27 means something to somebody, but I definitely don't know.

Back to the show. Axl sounded GREAT. The best he has in years. Especially during LALD - he let out a couple of long wails during that one - very nice. Plenty of pyrotechnics used in that song too.

He didn't really talk to us until after Think About You. He then comes out, and in a Ricky Ricardo voice, tells us: "You got some 'splaining to do." He then talks about the OSU riots of last weekend. Obviously
in a very good mood, he tells us that when he saw the reports of the riots on TV, he checked his watch and thought he was late for the show or something ("What, am I late already?"). He also says, mockingly, that
he would never, ever be involved in something like a riot, much to the delight of the crowd.

After Out Ta Get Me, Axl did that little football jersey rant he did in Cleveland, then tells us a little about Buckethead. However, tonight Axl says that he "*has* to mention" that Buckethead's father went to OSU. Then he introduces the next song as Mad At NASCAR. "Damn seatbelt rules!"

After that song and before November Rain, he briefly talks about a memory he has of Ted Nugent playing down south and him asking the crowd for some "Nashville Pussy." I think I missed part of this, so I'm unsure of what the hell that had to do with anything.

During Buckethead's solo, he played "Old MacDonald Had A Farm", then uses a synthesizer to record the last little bit of his solo. After that starts playing on a loop, he sets his guitar down and brings out a bag of what looked like sealed toys. I was on the floor, but wasn't close enough to see what he was giving out. Anybody else know?

I have to say that all three new songs were received well by the crowd. Some people already knew the words to them, especially Madagascar (since it was played on MTV).

Patience came and went without incident. Afterwards, Axl briefly mentions that Rock N' Roll is such a "friendlier sport" than football. Then he hears some guys up front asking for Nightrain. He then actually asks the Security Guard to hand his microphone to the guy, so he can ask for the next song! The guy yells out Nightrain, Axl gets the mic back, and the band launches into an awesome version of an old favorite of mine. Afterwards, he says "Columbus, Ohio; Ohio State; Good Night!"

The band leaves the stage, but not for long.

Robin comes out and starts a solo, which leads into Paradise City. Axl throws his whistle into the crowd after he uses it. Near the end of the song, rotating fireworks and confetti machines go off, making the stage alive with color. And Axl ends it with the classic "GOOD. FUCKING. NIGHT!!!"

Whew. I'm sorry I wrote a book, but I promised myself that I would stay up and type all this out before I forgot some of it. Axl sounded great. Yes, you could hear him over the band. He was really enjoying himself, interacting with the crowd. Several times he grabbed the hands of the people on the sides of the stage. And I can't forget to talk about the band! Man, they played the fuck out of the old songs! I've been a GNR fan ever since I heard WTTJ on the radio, but, honestly, I didn't miss any of the old guys tonight. Sometime during the show, Axl thanked us for coming out and checking out the new band. Believe me, I was thanking him for sharing them with us!

I hope you all get the chance to see these guys in concert. Again, it is well worth it.

Thanks for listening,
OhioFa

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