Gun’s N’ Roses was one of the biggest groups around when I was growing up.  Eventually they kind of turned into a side-show with people coming and going and Axl Rose becoming a recluse by Hollywood standards.   Axl and Slash were the core of the band, nobody cared so much for the other members, these two were GNR.  So when Slash departed, it looked like the ride was over.  But it wasn’t.  Axl kept the rights to the name and over the years built the band anew.  Their ‘Chinese Democracy’ album got pushed back and pushed back and eventually became something of a joke.  Axl popped up from time to time, I still remember that disastrous MTV performance.  But he kept on going.  Occasional performances here and there.  Then last year the unthinkable happened.  ‘Chinese Democracy’ came out.  I listened to the album out of morbid curiosity.  And it was good.  It’s not a revolutionary ten years in the making event.  But it’s a good solid album, and it deserves to stand with the older stuff.  Between Axl and Slash it’s clear where the real creative talent lay in that group.  If you don’t believe me go out and buy something by ‘Slash’s snake pit’.    Slash may be a great technician but he can’t write music, at least nothing that’s any good.  Here’s a slide show courtesy of youtube.

So I found out last year that the new GNR was coming to Seoul for the first time ever.  I wanted tickets but I didn’t have the money in my account and couldn’t use my visa card over here to buy the tickets.  So I gave up.  Then a few days before the concert K tells me she’s decided to give me one present early.  GNR floor tickets.  I was amazed, speechless.  We decided to make a weekend of it in Seoul and caught the concert Sunday night.  The band was two hours late getting out.  After ninety minutes  chants of ‘F*** YOU AXL!’ would rise up and die back down like the tide.  Then the lights went out.  This was it, the concert had begun.  The chant changed to GUNS … N… ROSES! GUNS … N… ROSES!  People  started jumping, shouting, and screaming.  But at the same time it was the most polite rock concert floor I had ever been on.  Nobody was squashed trying to get  in close  The show its self was awesome.  Axl wasn’t much for small talk or banter between songs, but he could still rock.  My only regret was that we had to leave early to get a train back to Daejeon.