Used To Love 'Em, But I Have To Kill Them

I'm not saying it wasn't fun. It was. That was exclusively a result of the crew we rolled in with. When you bring Boston, Buffalo, Manoguayabo with a double shot of Rochester together, madness generally ensues. The only problem was that Paul and I went head to head with W. Axl on Nightrain and I honestly think our version was better. Oh, Axl doesn't look a bit like the photo to your right. He's not in fighting shape. Not in the least.

Here were the main issues:

1. Sound was awful. Speakers were muted, I believe intentionally because Axl couldn't hit the notes, to the point where you could have a normal voice level conversation with the person next to you while the concert was going on...not exactly what you expect from a GnR show.

2. Not a very well-thought out setlist....the new songs and the guitar and drum and piano solos were show stoppers...and not in the good way. They actually brought the show to a halt.

3. Chinese Democracy is not an album with appealing music. You won't get it confused with Paul's Boutique, London Calling or Blood On The Tracks, trust me.

4. Axl's energy level is gone. Hey, the songs they were pumping out were fun to sing to, but remember how nuts he used to get during Knockin'? The sprinting around the stage? The "I'll sing one and you sing one" callback? The spandex? None of it is there. It's all gone.

All in all, very happy I went, but when the highlight of the night was chanting "Guns....N....Reyes" and the Shea Stadium/Jose chant with the biggest Mets fan on the planet outside of MSG (much funnier when you've been drinking for 8 hours and seeing pissed off Yankee fans glare at you), well that doesn't say much for Axl's new band.

Here's his old band: