The Stinking Rose
Every revival concert ticket comes with an implied warning: 'music may not sound the way you remembered it'. So I'm not sure what we had in mind when we excitedly clicked the 'purchase' button, forking over an obscene convenience fee, for 2 tickets to see Guns and Roses. Subconsciously we must have known what we were in for when, a week before the concert, we both discretely checked on Craig's List to see how much we could unload them for. But by the time the concert rolled around, the nostalgia from our high school days had won us over and we were off to the Warfield in the coolest, thirty-something wanna-be rocker outfits we could find. Yes, that pretty much reduced us to jeans and a t-shirt.
It had clearly been a while since Axl had been over the Mr. Brownstone lyrics: it was 11:30 before he made it on stage and the bus was ready to go home. The buzz in the crowd was a mix of those who were ready for an old-school party those who were seriously contemplating whether this was actually worth missing the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy.
The show kicked off with a lively 'Welcome to the Jungle', which was enough to bring a weary crowd to its feet. We snuck in to General Admission in an attempt to relive the glory days but soon retreated to our assigned seats in the yuppy section upstairs where people were trying really hard to stay alert, and maybe even dance when they were inspired. Those moments were few and far between. Although Axl's famous sound came through from time to time, when it wasn't droned out by a faulty sound-system, it was dashed by his own ego trips. On two separate occassions he stopped the concert mid-song, had the lights brought up, and personally had a fan thrown out for their behaviour. It was tough to get back into the second half of 'Sweet Child of Mine' after watching take place.
The remainder of the show saw Axl running back and forth between the stage and his opaque changing cabana where you could catch a glimpse of him smooching random women mid-song. This might have been entertaining back in the day, if Slash were there to pick up the slack on stage, but the crew he has pulled together since doesn't hold a candle.
Captain America's been torn apart
Now he's a court jester with a broken heart
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