(Let it be known that, for purposes of this blog post, the current Guns n' Roses lineup will only be referred to as "Guns n' Roses" or "GnR". The use of quotations around that band, as it currently stands, is arguably the most appropriate use of quotations that ever was.)
The course of true lithium use never did run smooth.
As a kid, I distinctly remember two times where I knew that music was evolving; where I knew that the landscape of music history was being forever changed before my youthful eyes:
The first time was when Guns n' Roses exploded on the scene with Appetite for Destruction in 1987. I was in second grade when I realized my sweet Bret Michaels was getting blown out of the water by these unapologetic miscreants. Music suddenly got more raw and distinctly more real. These guys didn't try to hide who they were behind the fashionable façade of Aquanet and Androgyny. They were in-your-face, hotel-room-trashing bad-asses, and they didn't give a flying-V that they weren't as pretty as Jon Bon Jovi. They seemed so untidy, yet played so tight. As a young musicophile, GnR were my gateway drug: they got me musically curious.
The second time I knew music would never be the same was a mere four years later, when Nirvana released Nevermind in 1991. When the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video was released on MTV........(moment of silence for the death of a formerly great channel, please)......I had that same "Something big is happening" feeling. As a then slightly older, though still naïve rock chicklette, I moved on to guitar-based rock as my heroin. Incidentally, 4 out of 5 doctors agree that aural mainlining is perfectly safe. (That fifth doctor must be a Nickelback fan in recovery or something.)
GnR were the bridge between the unfiltered rock of the 70s and open angst of the 90s. Without Appetite for Destruction, I'm not convinced Nevermind could have existed, or at least not in the same way. Both bands triumphed something that had long been missing in music: the idea that who you actually were was okay. GnR were beyond unwashed--and the girls loved it. Kurt Cobain was depressed--and it gave teenagers something to relate to.
This is why I found it so fitting that I attended my first "GnR" show the year of Nevermind's 20th anniversary. These guys didn't try to be something they weren't--something the 80s demanded of you--and it worked. I place the emphasis there on the past tense: worked. What Axl is doing now with his current lineup of "GnR" is, most decidedly, not working for me. Kudos to Dave Grohl for understanding that what is lost cannot be resurrected, you can only start anew. Axl has yet to learn that lesson.
"GnR" performed last night at Target Center, and as "GnR", I would give the show a 'C', but if Axl hadn't been trying to be something he's not (perhaps by calling this new band something other than "GnR") it could have easily attained an 'A-'.
BAND LINEUP
grade of A-: Tommy Stinson!
Although I wish Axl would given props to our frozen homeland as a breeding ground for talent, I was pleased to see Tommy Stinson (formerly of The Replacements) as his long-time bassist. Even better, Tommy got his time to shine singing lead on a cover of the Who's "My Generation".
grade of C: THREE guitarists do not equal ONE Slash/Izzy combo
On the one hand, I pity anyone playing guitar alongside Axl Rose. It might just be the second-worst job in modern music; the first, of course, is being the lead singer in Van Halen. Who can survive either? That said, the current guitarists can deliver technically accurate solos but the classic GnR's melodic smoothness of touch wasn't there. The guitar feel last night had a metallic edge, a step further away from hard rock, just as the step from Adler to Sorum was.
grade of A-: Chinese Democracy
It maybe wasn't worth the wait (or the weight) for its release, but damn, Chinese Democracy is a good rock album! Axl did not disappoint on this one. Plus, now we can replace sayings like, "You're so slow we're going to have to time you with a calendar" with "Chinese Democracy moved faster than you!" It's good to change up the old standards from time to time.
grade of C: stage show
What's with all the theatrics? The pyros were nearing the magnitude of a Kiss show, and it was out of place. The real GnR didn't need all of those, and they sure didn't need the floor to vomit confetti into the air at the end of the show.
WHAT'S OLD
grade of A-: The Raunch Factor
Women throwing their bras on stage.....women making out in the front row and getting on the big screen....Axl's in-your-face persona with spot-on screams into the big red mic.....CLASSIC. Way to go Axl, you still got it.
grade of C: Faux (Foe?) Slash soloing up front
Let's get something straight, D.J. Ashba: YOU. ARE. NOT. SLASH. I don't care how many dumpy, top hat/fedora cross-breed hats you own or how often you solo with a cigarette hanging out of your mouth like during "You Could Be Mine". YOU. ARE. NOT. SLASH.
SONG CHOICE
grade of A-: Set list
As promised by others in the blogosphere, the set list was all over the board, dishing out a healthy helping of Democracy while at the same time including all of the classics that benchmark our youth. I got a little choked up thinking of Shannon Hoon's hauntingly beautiful background vocals during "Don't Cry", and when "Welcome To The Jungle" was the second song out, I knew a long night of rock was in store.
grade of C: Attention to detail
Since when is it necessary, okay or even preferred to speed up tempo on "November Rain"? Hell, it should almost be downright illegal! (Which, I suppose, would only further entice Axl to do it, so scratch that.) And where was the hip sway when we all needed it during "Patience"?
By any other name, I wouldn't have been as critical, but when you call yourselves "GnR", well, there's a certain level of hope and expectation set by everyone coming to see you. Expectation is the very thing that kept me from full-on loving the show, free from nostalgia, and expectation brought on by fame is the very thing that your counterpart in my musical upbringing, Kurt Cobain, couldn't handle.
Sadly, and coincidentally, both stories have ended with one Gun left in the room.
-E
