Guns N’ Roses

Guns N’ Roses Not in This Lifetime tour came to MetLife arena in the New York/New Jersey Meadowlands this past weekend and proved that its still so easy to rock just like it was 25 years ago.  I caught both shows and they each left my appetite for rock and roll satiated.  From the Loony Tunes themed intro music to the last firework blast following the encores, the energy of the band and the audience created a harmonic wave pattern that transposed 2016 into the early 1990’s.

Both nights the band kicked off with “It’s So Easy,” and followed by a nearly 3 hour set with a youthful vigor that proved they practiced what they preached.  Axl ran around, jumped on the monitors and spun around the mic stand with no sign that he had broken his foot at the top of the tour. His vocals were strong and his attitude was much more mature then his reputation precedes. Slash shredded his guitar so intense my fingers started smoking while mimicking him on my air guitar.  Duff Mckagan drove the rhythm forward all night and sang the tracks from “The Spaghetti Incident?” album.  Dizzy Reed, the second longest continuous member of the band (behind Axl Rose), gave the songs the extra boost to fill the stadium with sound.  Richard Fortus’ guitar playing rivaled Slash’s. Frank Ferrer laid the steadiest of foundations for the rest of the music to be built on top of. Newest addition Melissa Reese played additional keys and handled the specialty sounds as well as added some excellent vocal harmonies. 

The show was practically one giant highlight, but I’ll pick out a few of my favorite moments.  The audio explosions of the pyrotechnics were very in-sync with the music throughout the show. Why just have a drum when you can have a cannon?  I had made a joke that if there isn’t Terminator stuff on the screen during “You Could Be Mine” I was going to leave. I was not let down. Midway through the show Axl took a break and Slash and Richard Fortus went into a dueling guitar version of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.” They played with what Keith Richards calls “the ancient art of weaving” to perfection throughout the entire night.  As the guitar duel ended a grand piano was sneakily rolled onto the stage and without delay Axl is at the piano and the band is playing the piano breakdown of Clapton’s “Layla”.  To no one’s surprise they next went into “November Rain”.  My actual favorite moment of the weekend was only on Saturday’s show when for their first encore Slash and Fortus joined up for an acoustic instrumental of The Rolling Stones’ “Angie” before going into “Patience”.   You know me and cover songs, and GNR is no stranger to recording music that inspired them.  The second encore was a heavy rendition of The Who’s “The Seeker” which they’ve been playing all tour.   They closed the night with “Paradise City” with an extended firework finally.  And then one of the single most mind blowing rock and roll things I’ve seen: Axl threw the mic into the audience.  Talk about a souvenir.

It’s So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
Double Talkin’ Jive
Estranged
Live and Let Die
Rocket Queen
You Could Be Mine
Attitude  *[New Rose]
This I love
Civil War
Coma
Speak Softly Love (The Godfather Theme Slash Solo)
Sweet Child O’ Mine
Better
Out Ta Get Me
Wish You Were Here (instrumental)
Layla  (instrumental piano breakdown)
November Rain
Knockin’ On Heavens Door
Nightrain
Patience (with Angie Intro) *[Don’t  Cry]
The Seeker
Paradise City

*[songs in brackets were replacements on the Sunday show]