Do you know where you are?

Saw Guns 'n' Roses last night at Universal City. Holy crap, they are still awesome. How could anyone not get chills from the opening notes of "Welcome to the Jungle"? Four guitarists and two keyboardists could be seen as excessive and yes there were actually pyrotechnics onstage, but damn, the band sounds tight as hell. All the hits were there: "Mr. Brownstone," "Sweet Child O' Mine," "It's So Easy," "Nightrain," "Think About You," "Patience," "I Used To Love Her (So I Had To Kill Her)," "November Rain," "Don't Cry," and covers like "Knocking on Heaven's Door" and "Live and Let Die." (What, no "Mama Kin"?) The new songs weren't bad, either. All those guitars turned into a huge, electronic but warm sound, kind of like The Clash's "This Is England" with howling vocals from Axl, perhaps. There's a lot of shit talk about his facial work and braids, but in the end his voice and stage presence remains untouchable.



Purists would have been pleased by the appearance of Izzy who played on four or five songs. Nice. Late-era and current GR keyboarist Dizzy played a nice medley with Beatles and Stones.It was cool to see Tommy Stinson rocking out in a non-drunken, hard-rocking, nonstop set for once. Opener Sebastian Bach from Skid Row came out to turn "My Michelle" into a screeching duet.

Somehow the band pulled off going onstage at 11:45 and ending at almost 2:00. Only a rock god can show that sort of pull at a corporate venue like the old Univeral Amphitheater. But the band--and it is a group, not a solo show--has the goods and even had the sense to have Helmet open up. An unpopular but amazing choice further demonstrating their bridging of everything rock from metal to glam to goth to blues to garage to infinity.