Another blistering hot evening, another sweltering venue and another gig. Except that this one was always going to be just that little bit special. 

Sebastian Bach got things started at 6.45 and played a 45 minute set that drew largely on the debut Skid Row album. Opening with ‘Slave To The Grind’ he still looks like he did when I saw him with Bon Jovi at Milton Keynes back in ’89, whirling the microphone round his head at considerable speed. ‘Big Guns’, ‘Piece of Me’, ‘Here I Am’ and ’18 & Life’ all followed and for a time it didn’t seem like he was going to play anything other than Skid Row material which would have suited the crowd fine. The songs have stood the test of time well, Seb still has a decent enough voice and remains an energetic frontman. Eventually a song written by one of the guitarists was offered up, possibly called ‘England Metal Head’, which was a speed metal scream-fest that left me unmoved. ‘Monkey Business’ sounded a bit ragged then another new song, a ballad, ‘By Your Side’, which was pretty good. The acoustic guitars were wheeled out for ‘I Remember You’ before ‘Youth Gone Wild’ rounded things off in chaotic fashion. Whilst the rest of the band were virtually anonymous throughout Seb can carry it off more or less on his own and overall this was an enjoyable set. 

Mindful of the late start time at the earlier shows on the tour I retired to the bar and the (desperately long) queue so afraid to say didn’t hear a single note of Bullet For My Valentine, but I’m sure that the kids enjoyed it. 

Back in the Arena at 9 pm I was mentally prepared for a wait of at least another hour so it was a pleasant surprise when, at 9.30 sharp, the spotlights heralded the start of ‘Welcome To The Jungle’. Guns N’ Roses (or is it Axl N’ Friends?) hit the ground running with a powerful opening four pronged blast that also takes in ‘It’s So Easy’, ‘Mr Brownstone’ and ‘Live And Let Die’. Next up was ‘Better’ from the ‘Chinese Democracy’ album and it was apparent the crowd were generally unfamiliar with this song and the pace dropped a little. A storming ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ and ‘Knocking On Heavens Door’ got things back on track before the set began to drift along somewhat with guitar and piano solos and between song noodles. Song selection was heavily skewed in favour of ‘Appetite for Destruction’ and I would have happily taken the overlooked ‘Civil War’ or ‘Yesterdays’ over ‘Out Ta Get Me’ or ‘Think About You’. 

No Guns N’ Roses show is complete without a flashpoint and it came mid-way through ‘You Could Be Mine’ when Axl stopped to berate the (notoriously heavy handed) NEC Security for their treatment of a crowd surfer, only restarting the song when the offenders had been replaced. Fortunately this didn’t seem to affect Axl’s generally cheery mood and the rest of the show passed by without incident. ‘November Rain’ remains a milestone but following it up with another guitar solo was questionable to say the least. Special guests time saw Sebastian Bach back on stage, joining in for ‘My Michelle’, before Izzy Stradlin increased the number of guitarists on stage to 4 for the last half an hour or so. ‘Patience’ and ‘Used To Love Her’ definitely benefited from his presence and it was nice to see two of the original members back together again. 

The set proper closed with ‘Nightrain’ and by now it was 11.30 and people were beginning to leave, as you would expect given transport and ‘work next day’ scenarios. This could have easily been avoided had the band shaved twenty minutes off the set by dropping some of the solos and getting on with things a bit quicker between songs. Don’t get me wrong – when they actually played songs they were, for the most part, on fire but this was very much a stop-start performance. The encore began with ‘IRS’, definitely my favourite of the ‘new’ songs previewed; lets hope the album isn’t much further away so everyone will be more familiar with these tracks next time they tour. A rousing ‘Paradise City’ closed the show in suitably climatic style and was another reminder that, despite the various changes in personnel, Guns N’ Roses remain a stunning live band…when they choose to be.

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