A combination of curiosity and nostalgia has managed to sell tickets, but it remains apparent that the new Guns n’ Roses must prove itself to the world. The new, all-star line-up has Axl backed by the mysterious cult figure Buckethead, Robin Fink of Nine Inch Nails fame and Richard Fortus all on guitar, Dizzy Reed (who toured with the previous incarnation of GnR) and Chris Pitman on keyboards, Tommy Stinson of the Replacements on bass and Brian “Brain” Mantia of Primus on drums. Unfortunately, the old Axl showed up (or failed to show up, actually) for the tour’s opening night in Canada, and the show was canceled. Days later, at the tour’s unofficial debut, the band played to a half empty house and were plagued by technical difficulties that resulted in throat problems for Rose. Although subsequent shows were reportedly better, by the time the tour landed in Boston, many fans were skeptical.

DJ Mix Master Mike of Beastie Boys fame performed a solid set behind the turntables mixing hip hop beats with heavy metal favorites and proved to be the perfect opening act by warming up the crowd of nearly 13,000 fans. The beauty of having a DJ as an opener is that his equipment can be lugged of stage in seconds, and the headliner’s gear is already in place. Unfortunately, GnR did not capitalize on this opportunity. Axl was reportedly late to the venue and refused to go on until he was ready. He was not ready until 10:45, by which point the crowd, which consisted of mostly 30-somethings with families and day jobs, had grown restless and even resentful of being kept up past bedtime on a Monday night.

Much was forgiven, however, when the familiar echoed opening chords of Welcome to the Jungle filled the arena. The band ripped through respectable versions of that song and two other favorites from the Appetite for Destruction album before kicking it up a notch with the pyrotechnics for their now classic cover of the classic Live and Let Die. The set continued to build in intensity as the light show, flash pots and video screens complimented aural barrage of You Could Be Mine from the Terminator II soundtrack and a scorching up-tempo version of Sweet Child O’ Mine in which Robin Finck was note perfect even at warp speed. The first new material of the night was the tenth song in the set, a moody, atmospheric song marked by lots of keyboards and programmed drum sounds. That mood was extended by November Rain, the sole song exclusively released on a Use Your Illusion album. What followed was probably the highlight of the night for many: Buckethead’s solo, which opened with a nun chuck demonstration and his famous robot dance followed by some fretboard dynamics that could fuel the rumors that he is actually Steve Vai or Paul Gilbert in disguise and a bizarre moment when he walked to the side of the stage with a trash bag in hand and started throwing rubber hands into the audience. Following Buckethead’s demonstration, the band ripped through Rocket Queen, which rang in the midnight hour and saw many fans heading for the exit to catch the last train out of Boston’s North Station (unfortunately no one told Axl that Boston sleeps). The band debuted two more new songs, one piano-driven and one guitar-driven, before closing out their set with an electric version of Patience and two more tracks from Appetite. After a very short break (undoubtedly during which the event staff explained that Boston’s subway actually closes down at night) the band came back for a blistering version of Paradise City complete with fireworks, flash pots, and graffiti cannons.

The show was reminiscent of 80’s excess (or perhaps today’s teen pop music scene) at times with it’s use of lights, pyrotechnics and other distractions that have been absent from the rock scene since the grunge movement swept them away. The visual aspects of the show were not limited to stage set, however. Axl hid is increased girth under a series of over-sized Red Sox, Celtic and Bruins jerseys (at least his wardrobe people knew he was in Boston even if they didn’t realize that the World Champion New England Patriots are our team). Amazingly, Buckethead, who sports a KFC bucket as a hat and a Mike-Meyers-from-Halloween-esque mask was out-freaked by Finck who sported an all-white jumpsuit and a partially-shaved, partially-shoulder-length hair style reminiscent of Riff Raff from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Axl’s voice was great although drenched in effects at times, and the band was exceptionally tight. With seven and sometimes eight instruments in the mix, the sound could have become a wash; however, each musician was courteous and conscious of his roll at any given time. Most of the lead guitar work was shared by Buckethead and Finck; however, Fortus also injected a few solos. Unfortunately, all three were perhaps too true to the original solos composed by Slash, so with a few exceptions toward the end of the set when each one cut loose more, their individual styles were essentially obscured. Which is indicative of the entire new GnR experience and is either their greatest strength or their biggest failure. The new band is virtually a mirror of the Mark Wahlberg movie Rock Star. In Rock Star, a fictional band replaced their singer with a younger, less troubled carbon copy to perform energized live shows. For GnR, Axl has replaced his troubled former band mates with technically proficient musicians to perform accurate renditions of the band’s greatest hits for live shows. The effect is impressive and entertaining, but somehow disappointing as this line-up could undoubtedly update the older material in interesting ways. The relevance of the band hinges on the strength of the Chinese Democracy. So for now, we’ll have to wait to see.

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