Martian

So I went to the GnR concert at the Air Canada Centre last week.

The good:

Axl still knows how to rock. Seriously. The new band sounds pretty damn good, although the new guitarist doesn't quite have Slash's chops. That's to be expected, I guess. The played all the old favourites; Mr. Browstone, November Rain, Welcome to the Jungle, You Could Be Mine, Paradise City and all the other great songs. The only two tunes I would've liked to've heard and didn't were Yesterdays and Whole Lotta Rosie, although it's possible those were in the encore; we left before they got to it.

The opening acts all kicked ass. Sebastian Bach rocked out, the Suicide Girls were hot as hell, the surprise appearance of the Trailer Park Boys rocked and there was some seriously hardcore act that started the show.

The bad:

We didn't catch the name of the opening act. It was a female vocalist/guitarist and she was crazy. She was down in the stands, she was body surfing... she was insane, in short. But I don't know who they were.

Parking in downtown Toronto was shitty, but that's the norm.

The ugly:

I had to lose my fedora. Axl may be able to rock, but he's slipping a bit. The security guys said that if he saw anyone who even remotely resembled Slash he'd freak out and not do the show. And apparently a fedora looks like a top hat.

The rumour was that the opening acts were all so kick-ass in case Axl did flake out and GnR didn't end up performing. It was a good show, anyway. I was especially amused when Axl got Sebastian Bach and Bubbles of the Trailer Park Boys out to do a three-way collaboration. That was awesome.

So, yeah. Hardly up to Use Your Illusion era standards, but they still rock, it seems.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame