Two Tickets to Paradise (City)

Appetite for Destruction.

The greatest album of all-time.

Period.

The best.

The 1987 debut from Guns N’ Roses was off the charts.

Actually it was on the charts.

The top of the charts.

#1 for four weeks in 1988.

But from where I’m sitting, it deserved better than that.

From the first note of Welcome to the Jungle.

To the last note of Rocket Queen.

Start to finish there is nothing better.

Nothing.

Throw in Nightrain.

Mr. Brownstone.

Paradise City.

Sweet Child o’ Mine.

And you’ve got a classic.

And that’s just half the album.

The other half is just as good.

Even if I can’t remember the names.

24 years later, it still sounds fresh.

And new.

And awesome.

My love for GNR goes way beyond the first album though.

I have them all.

Use Your Illusion.

One and two.

The Spaghetti Incident.

I’ve got a live bootleg.

A bootleg of covers.

Yes, I’d say I’m a fan.

So much of a fan that when I heard that Guns N’ Roses was out on a concert tour.

A friend and I ran to get tickets.

This was a show I wasn’t about to miss.

Even though the specifics were less than perfect.

School night.

Hour away from the house.

Show starts at nine.

At night.

And Guns N’ Roses was the third band.

Not to mention that this Guns N’ Roses only had one thing in common with the real Guns N’ Roses.

The Roses part.

As in Axl Rose.

The lead singer of this super group is the only original member left in the band.

But since he’s the lead singer, I guess that’s ok.

It took 14 years of silence for Axl to put out the only GNR album without the old band.

And to be honest, it didn’t feel the same.

Or sound the same.

This wasn’t Guns N’ Roses.

This was Axl.

And a handful of other guys.

The concert was no different.

Axl.

And a handful of other guys.

I was definitely skeptical about those other guys.

And what they would sound like.

For good reason.

Gone was Slash... and Duff... and Izzy... and Gilby.

Rocker names.

Replaced by Tommy... and Ron... and Frank.. and Chris.

Dentist names.

Can you see why I’d be skeptical?

Well that skepticism went away almost immediately.

Not only did this band sound the part.

But they looked it too.

They had more tattoos than the New York Knicks.

At times the show felt like a GNR band.

A GNR cover band.

At times it felt like I was watching Elvis.

In his jump-the-shark Vegas days.

But by the end of the night, this group of Who Are You N’ Roses had definitely won me over.

And it wasn’t just the gimmicks.

Sure they had high-shootin’ flames.

Indoor fireworks.

Confetti.

And the fresh smell of marijuana.

But it was the rock n’ roll music that kept me going.

Axl looked the same.

Danced the same.

And sounded the same.

They had three different guys playing lead guitar.

Including one guy wearing a top hat.

And smoking a cigarette.

Slash are you listening?

And everybody in the band got to play the solo of their choice before a song.

Everything from Pink Floyd.

To Pink Panther.

The band took the stage straight up at 11 o’clock.

At night.

Straight up.

I checked my phone.

After leading off with “Chinese Democracy.”

The title song from the “new” album.

The time machine quickly moved back to the late 80’s.

In fact, 18 of the 25 songs they played were from back in the day.

And every time they played a song from the new album.

They were kind enough to flash Chinese symbols on the big screen.

A perfect cue for the crowd to sit down.

Or go to the bathroom.

The main set ended at 1:30 in the morning.

With all the “Good Night” and “We Love You” stuff.

At 1:31 they came back for the encore.

I’m really not sure why they do that.

Especially at 1:30 in the morning.

But nobody asked me.

The show continued for another half hour.

And when the final note of Paradise City faded out at 2:02.

In the AM.

I was spent.

Three Hours.

And Two Minutes.

Of GNR.

An amazing show.

Enough to whet anyone's appetite.