Guns N? Roses Toronto November 15th: An Honest Review

   I?ve seen a lot of people talk a lot of shit on this forum about the Toronto show and so I?d like to give an honest perspective of the show. Let?s start from the beginning.

   I got at the venue at 5:00pm and when I got onto the floor at 7:00pm I was one person behind the rail, one person right of centre stage. The opening act came on at 8 and stopped at 8:30. The opening act was GARBAGE, nobody enjoyed them. The songs were terrible, lacking any structure. Not only bad songs but the lead singer blew the performance by constantly running around the aisles trying to get people excited. Nobody gave a shit, lets move on.

   Next were the Suicide Girls. They came on at 8:50. I was expecting some ugly ass bitches dancing to the backdrop of shitty music. They actually impressed me. First off, they were never nude; they had tape over their nipples. The best way to describe it is eye candy to pass the time. They had a good time and it got the crowd excited after such a shitty opening act. They finished at around 9:25.

   After the crowd was pumped up the Suicide Girls, out comes Bach at 9:50. My honest take of Bach is that he?s a great opener. He knows how to work a crowd. He?s the epitome of a late 80?s front man. He head bangs, swings the mike, and just gets the crowd fired up. His new songs were not good but they weren?t terrible. Bach told a story how he first performed at some shitty bar in Toronto and how he met his wife here and how the hottest girls are in Toronto (he pointed out this one girl in the audience that WAS smoking hot- more on her later). The floor was really into his performance and so he told the crowd that it was the best night of his life, (ya right but thanks for the compliment bro). There was a cool surprise during Monkey Business. In the middle of the song, out comes the Trailer Park Boys. To give a backdrop of who the TP Boys are, they?re the most popular and iconic figures in Canada for young guys. They got a show (Bach?s gonna be guest appearing on it) that?s all about drugs, drinking and having a great time. One of the guys, Bubbles, performed his song Liquor and Whores. For fans of the show this was awesome. The TP Boys looked like they were having a great time. Bach comes back and closes with killer performances of I Remember You and Youth Gone Wild (he can wail like a motherfucker). He finished at like 10:55pm.

   By this time, a lot of people were FUCKED up. There were a few people passing out. I looked back into the crowd, the venue was 95% full, that?s over 18 000 tickets (much better than 2002 sales). People started chanting Guns N? Roses in anticipation, the place was fucking electric. The crew was setting up the stage from 10:55pm to about 11:30pm. People started getting impatient (what else is new), some guys were worried he wouldn?t show. GUNS hit the stage just before 11:40pm, less than ten minutes after the crew finished setting up the stage (so everyone shut the fuck up about waiting)! When the opening notes of Jungle hit, people went ape shit. All of people rushed to the front. I passed the person ahead of me and got to the rail. Axl?s mike was OFF for the first part of his scream so all we heard was ?WHERE YOU AREEEEEEEEEEE? but everyone flipped out.

   Jungle starts and everyone starts moshing. They?re performance of Jungle was amazing, like an overdose of adrenaline. Next came ISE and Brownstone, Axl poured his heart out into these songs. In response, we were SCREAMING our lungs out, packed closer than sardines. I heard people yelling ?HOLY FUCK? like they couldn?t even believe it was happening. A saw a guy cry from happiness after the show ended, it was that fucking good. After the first three songs, about 10 people had to be taken out of the floor out of sheer exhaustion. The crowd reaction was SO much that Axl said ?I remember coming in here in 2002, I had a great time, but this is even better, thank you so much for this?. It was our fucking pleasure dude. He was all smiles. For the record, Axl is in great shape, as a workout enthusiast I can tell Axl is in prime shape, better than Bach. Axl was over pouring with energy.

   Next was Live and Let Die, the pyro was sick, it really adds a little extra edge. KOHD got the crowd to mellow out after nearly breaking the barricades. By this time I noticed we were packed so tight that some people couldn?t sing because they couldn?t breathe. People?s hands were stuck either up or down, it was crazy. After a solid KOHD, Robin does his solo. Previously I trashed Robin for butchering Slash?s solos but his solo spot was decent. Robin has great stage presence; he really is making a good impression on people. After the solo, SCOM. The crowd drowns out Axl, he was spot on, which is good because vocally for him its always been hard to pull off.

   The YCBM that was played last night was one of the best renditions I?ve heard. The drums were pounding, with the guitars wailing, Axl?s howl at full pitch, everyone grooving; it was a great performance. BTW in between songs Axl and the band would jam, which kept the pace and Frank would pound the drum and people DID chant GUNS N? ROSES.

   Dizzy?s solo was good but it was nothing compared to The Blues. I heard a few bootlegs but this song is one of those classic syrupy ballads like Yesterdays, even better. Axl jumped on the piano at the end and I felt everyone around me gasp. Side story: that smoking hot girl Bach pointed out was leaning right next to me during all of this (she was the one with red hair with streaks of blonde). We got to talking (and hit it off) but her friend fainted so she had security pull her and her friend out, when they pulled her out, you could see her pink thong, but NO ONE noticed because of how good the band was (I looked around to see if anybody saw that).

After such a top notch performance, a song starts that I didn?t recognize (didn?t listen to ANY of the leaks, it was Better). This song floored me. People saying it?s a pop-metal song are fucking retarded. This song is pure funk/hard rock with a twist of a modern sound. It was AMAZING. Best surprise of the night, EVERYONE on the floor dug it, a few knowing the lyrics others just recognizing the power of the performance. The chorus is amazing, the song is a gem. It got the best reaction of the new songs, as good as other big GNR hits. Next was Richard?s Solo, it was ok, he jammed to beautiful with Robin (never understand why they play this), it was a drag.

   Luckily they know how to pace the songs and Out Ta Get Me was next. One of the best performances of the night. The whole band nailed it, Axl sang it with venom and finished it off with ?SO YOU CAN BITE ME,TAKE THAT TO YOUR CANADIAN HEARTS?. Nice twist. A few more people got pulled out, some for crowd surfing, others because it was just too much to handle. It was a good idea to play November Rain, everyone sung it. While he was playing it, Axl glanced a few times over at me. A lot of people at the front were exhausted/dehydrated (you move your spot is taken) so he probably was relieved to see someone still with it. Great performance, heart felt.

   IRS is a classic rock song, it?s got the GNR sound with a Zep feel to it, definitely digging it. His voice was so raspy during IRS I was afraid he might lose it. After IRS I guess the people in some seats were sitting down because Axl said ?Next Bumblefoot, don?t play too loud some people in the seats are trying to sleep?. Bumblefoot?s solo was garbage. It was just mindless shredding, he?s a great guy, I shook his hand, but honestly it had no flow. I saw two people yawn. It was cool that he played Oh Canada though.

   After that Axl comes out and he says ?I have a surprise, but its not what you think?. Now during the whole concert I was yelling PLAY RHIAD (its got potential people), so during his silence I yelled it again and he said ?not quite? (looking at me), and he said ?I got a friend, a Mr. Bubbles?. Bubbles from the TP Boys comes out and he says ?HOLY FUCK this is Axl FUCKING Rose?. Bubbles was star struck. He introduced Bach for My Michelle. My Michelle was electric, they play off of each other well. After Axl made a TP Boys joke (?I?m watching you guys like shit hawks?). Used to Love Her and Patience were next, both solid performances, Axl running like a man possessed during Patience.

   Nightrain was the last song before the encore. BEST song of the night was Nightrain. He NAILED it, he was prowling, stomping his foot, wailing. Mesmerizing. No other words could describe it. I kept taking cell phone pictures during the show but during Nightrain I was speechless. It rocked so hard my mouth was open in disbelief and I could only pump my fist. Axl SAW the expression of my face and he sung a verse right to me, smiling as I smiled back. Whoever said he doesn?t give back to his fans doesn?t know shit.

    I was sad when Nightrain ended as I knew it was near the end. For the Encore Chinese Democracy was played. Its my least favourite new song played yesterday but still a good performance, a good song. After it ended, I tried one last time to get them to play Rhiad, no luck. Paradise City kicks in and it was one of the best performances of the night. Everyone knew it was the last so people once again moshed out. At the end, a pyro went off that pretty much made everyone deaf, a final piece of thunder. Axl threw his mic into the crowd. Then used another mike to say ?Thank you have great night, drive home safe?.