I’m really good at pretending.
Anytime someone asks about my favorite band, I act like I’m thinking really hard, and then say something cool like Nine Inch Nails or Quicksand. It makes me seem a lot deeper than I am. What I really am is a liar.
My favorite band is Guns ‘N Roses. It always has been, and I only pretend otherwise for fear of embarrassment.
Slash has been my idol since I picked up a guitar, Duff had the punk cred that I always longed for, and Axl Rose was the coolest person on earth. He’s the only person that’s ever pulled off spandex shorts and a flannel shirt—and that’s not for lack of trying on my part.
My best friend in elementary school, Austin, had a cool dad that took us to concerts from time to time. My parents have always loved music, and went to their fair share of shows, so I don’t want to paint them as squares or anything. My dad saw Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, and Janis Joplin play at Lagoon in the 60’s, so I grew up listening to good stuff. But they never took my brother or I to the concerts they went to when we were young—mostly because I don’t think they thought we’d appreciate them. They did take us to see MC Hammer, Boyz II Men, Jodeci, and TLC though. That was my first concert ever.
Austin’s dad took us to see Emerson, Lake and Palmer one night when we were in sixth grade. It was enjoyable, but neither of us loved the music. As we drove home, Jim, his dad, said “Thanks for being good sports about this, you guys. If Pearl Jam ever comes to town, I’ll take you to that as a ‘thank you’.”
I spent the next few weeks looking at the newspaper every day, trying to find any mention of Pearl Jam going on tour. At the grocery store I’d look through Rolling Stone, and at my parent’s friend's house I’d search the music section of Entertainment Weekly hoping for news. There was nothing, and I started to give up hope.
Then Austin called one night. “My dad’s taking me to see Guns ‘N Roses and wants to know if you can come, too.”
I was floored. I couldn’t say yes fast enough. But I was also 12, and had to ask my parents. I didn’t own any Guns ‘N Roses albums because they all had PARENTAL ADVISORY stickers on them, and I didn’t really want to have that conversation. But seeing them live? That was worth the risk. Thankfully they said yes, and when it was announced in the paper the next day, the teacher held it up, and jokingly asked if anyone was going. The whole class looked at me, and I just smiled.
I don’t remember a ton of details about that show, but I do remember loving it. Blind Melon opened, Guns started on time (a rare occurrence for them at the time), and played for over three hours. At one point my mom called the Delta Center because she couldn’t believe the show wasn’t over yet. Jim bought me a tour shirt that was way too big, and said “ Gn’ F’n R’s!” on the back. I proudly wore it to school the next day, and as often as I could after that.
As I got older, more into punk, hardcore and metal, I got a little ashamed of my Guns ‘N Roses love. They weren’t cool, and most of my straight edge friends hated them. That didn’t stop me from getting a Guns tattoo, and holding on to that shirt even as I sold all my other rocker shirts to Pib’s Exchange for probably forty cents. I bought CHINESE DEMOCRACY the day it finally came out, and gave it prominent placement in the U of U newspaper’s Arts Section (which I could do, since I was the editor), but I kind of let go of them after that.
A few years ago, when Axl, Slash, and Duff buried the hatchet and announced the “Not in this Lifetime” tour, I was skeptical to say the least. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, and didn’t plan on seeing it. A bit later, Propagandhi announced a tour, and the closest stop to me was Las Vegas. My friend Paddy and I bought tickets, booked a hotel, and planned to hit the road. A couple of weeks before we left, GnR announced a stop in Vegas—the day after the Propagandhi show. We decided to hit both ends of the spectrum that weekend, and check out the anarchist Canadian punk band one night, and the embodiment of U.S. capitalism the next. It wasn’t as good as the ‘93 show, but they sounded like their old selves, and I left the arena pretty happy.
A few weeks ago, they announced an SLC date. I didn’t buy tickets, and didn’t plan on going to this one either. On Tuesday—the day of the show—I couldn’t stop thinking about it. At about 7:00 pm, I was sitting at home, and decided to give it a shot. I drove downtown, parked a few blocks away from the Delta Center, and walked to the box office. I asked for the cheapest, best ticket, paid $43, and wandered in just as the lights went down.
I went by myself (one of the perks of being a #SingleSuccessfulGuy, is that I can make these kinds of last minute decisions), so I took notes with the intention of making a Twitter thread. Then I remembered that Twitter is dead, and that I have a newsletter that I promised to use more often.
So there you have it, a 900 word preamble to a glorified Twitter thread about the set list of a show you didn’t go to. Exactly the kind of content you came for.
“It’s So Easy”
This is one of my favorite songs, but I hate that they use it as a show opener. If they were in a tiny club (like one of the Sunset Strip places they used to play in the 80s) it might work. In giant arenas, it just doesn’t pack the same punch.
“Bad Obsession”
I never cared about this song, but it’s a really good second song. Keeps the energy up, and I still remember a lot of the words.
“Chinese Democracy”
I listened to this song as I drove home from Best Buy after buying the CD in 2008, and that’s probably the last time I heard it.
“Slither”
The girl behind me screamed so loud when this song started. No one anywhere else nearby in the arena had a reaction like that to any other song for the rest of the night. I had forgotten all about Velvet Revolver until that moment. I bought this CD in 2004, and listened to it every night at 2am as I drove home from the apartment of the girl I was dating. CONTRABAND by Velvet Revolver, and COLLEGE DROPOUT by He Who Shall Not Be Named were my two favorite records that year, and they will forever remind me of that apartment in Taylorsville. It’s also a shame what happened to the vocalists on both those records.
“Mr. Brownstone” and “Pretty Tied Up”
They hit some under appreciated gems early, and I still think that “Mr. Brownstone” has some of the catchiest lines that Axl wrote.
“Welcome to the Jungle”
I have tried so many times to figure out how to play the intro to this song, and I can never get it right. It’s a banger that got the crowd really hyped.
“Hard Skool,” “Perhaps,” “Reckless Life,” and “Double Talkin’ Jive”
This is when I left to get snacks and buy merch. I had no idea the first two songs in this section are new. “Hard Skool” came out in 2021, and “Perhaps” was released a few weeks back. I don’t think I’ll ever listen to them again, but “Perhaps” isn’t half bad.
“Anything Goes”
The lyrics of this song (like a LOT of Axl’s stuff) have always been a little bit creepy, and seeing a 61-year-old man gyrate while singing that second verse was definitely the cringiest part of the night.
“Live and Let Die”
I didn’t know this was a Paul McCartney song until waaaay after USE YOUR ILLUSION came out. This version is still better.
“Estranged”
The video for this song didn’t get nearly as much attention as “November Rain” but you should absolutely watch it. Axl—wearing a Charles Manson t-shirt—jumps off the side of what looks like an oil tanker, and swims away with dolphins, as Slash rises from the ocean to play a solo. It’s incredible.
“You Could Be Mine”
This song was on the soundtrack to T2: JUDGMENT DAY, and I have a clear vinyl copy with Arnold’s face in the center. Another very 90s music video.
“Down on the Farm” and “Rocket Queen”
Both of these songs had all five people in front of me pulling up Setlist FM to figure out what they were playing. Real deep cuts here.
“T.V. Eye”
No one near me had any idea who The Stooges are, or why Duff was singing lead vocals. Last time I saw them, this is where they covered “Attitude” by Misfits, and I much prefer that song to anything by The Stooges.
“Shadow of Your Love” and “Absurd”
A song I didn’t know existed, and another new song that I don’t really want to listen to again. This time I was the one checking my phone to find the set list, because I had no idea what was going on.
“Civil War”
They even played the COOL HAND LUKE sample at the beginning. This has always been one of my favorite Guns songs. I learned more about history from these lyrics than most of my elementary school classes.
“Sweet Child O’ Mine”
I have always said that this riff is really easy to play, but even easier to fuck up. And if you fuck it up, it sounds TERRIBLE. I have never attempted to play it in public (and never will), but Slash makes it look so, so easy.
“November Rain”
We didn’t have cable when I was younger, but my grandparents did. Every Tuesday in the summer, we would spend the day with them while my parents were at work. I would hole up in their basement all day watching MTV, and this video played every 40 minutes the summer it came out. I could probably stage a reenactment from memory if I had to, even if I’m still not entirely sure what happens in the story. But I would love to be the guy that dives through the cake. That looked super fun. This is also around the time that I had an internal debate on whether to ask my parents to buy me a kilt for fancy occasions. Again, Axl made everything look cool.
“Prostitute,” “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” and “Nightrain”
The video on the giant screen behind the band had animation for every song, and most of it was exactly what you’d expect a bunch of 60-year-old rockers to think was cool. During “Prostitute,” another song I haven’t heard since 2008 (since it’s on the back half of CHINESE DEMOCRACY), the animation was a naked, but pretty lifelike cyborg wrapped in roses. The two teenage brothers in front of me loved it, and their younger sister was super embarrassed.
This is where the set ends, but not really, because we all knew there would be an encore. I hate encores so much. I just want everyone to play the best songs and call it a day. The fact that the band came back onstage after like 45 seconds of applause only strengthens my opinion. They also turned some lights on the crowd get them going. It was pretty sparse by then because tons of people left after “November Rain.”
“Coma”
A very strange song to use as an encore, and has to be a band favorite because I’ve never heard anyone say “You know what song I really love? ‘Coma.’”
“Street of Dreams”
Another CHINESE DEMOCRACY deep cut that I don’t believe anyone actually cares about.
“Patience”
I love this song, but it doesn’t really play well as a one shot. When I saw them in ‘93, they brought out a couch, and a smaller drum set and did a 4-5 song acoustic set right in the middle of the show. “Pateince” made way more sense in that setting.
“Paradise City”
This song will live forever because it’s fun, but more importantly, because of its iconic appearance in CAN’T HARDLY WAIT. That scene did more for the legacy of Guns ‘N Roses than anything that happened between the release of USE YOUR ILLUSION (I and II) and Slash, Duff, and Axl becoming friends again.
All in all, a pretty fun show that I’m glad I went to. Bummed that they left out some classics like “Don’t Cry” and even more bummed that they didn’t add in personal favorites like “My Michelle” or “You Ain’t the First.” And I have to say, if they would have played “Get in the Ring” I would have been so happy. I still hate Mick Wall at Kerrang! and Bob Guccione Jr. at SPIN.