Guns N Roses Concert- Worcester, November 8th

My husband and I pondered together, just what did we want to do for our sixteenth anniversary celebration in October? As hubby and I went back and forth, thinking of the obvious outings we could go to, everything that we both suggested seemed so boring.

Dinner? Yeah, sure, why not? Movie? Nah. Bowling? No thanks, not this year. Hockey game? No, not fair to hubby, as he is a casual fan of hockey, and besides, I hate the Patriots and would never attend a football game with him, even if my life depended on it. Although, I have gone to baseball games with him and the kids, I don't mind that sport. Still, baseball season was done in Boston, so we wracked our brains, itching for something different to do this year for our anniversary.

Then, it hit me, as I was reading a message board I belong to for one of my favorite bands- how about we get tickets to see Guns N Roses? Hubby said "sure, why not? We haven't been to concert in years!"

Well, that sounded great, until my kids got wind of the idea. You see, they all love Guns N Roses, too! My son, who was going to turn 13 on November 9th, said that he would like to go, and celebrate his birthday listening to Axl bang out tunes. Both of my daughters nodded in agreement- my oldest, who just turned 15 on Nov 28th, and my youngest, who is 10 and 1/2, also said they wanted to go. So, hubby and I, who were to celebrate our anniversary late this year, by a couple of weeks, got tickets for the whole family to see Axl and his new band in their glory.

Folks thought we were nuts, bringing the kids. We heard several excuses as to why they shouldn't go, but honestly, we as a family enjoy this band, and I figured where our seats were, we wouldn't see much going on up front. I had to assure several friends that we were not getting floor seats, because of past experiences at Axl's concerts. Anyhow, we all went and had a blast!

At 11:45, Robin started the "Welcome to the Jungle" riff, the crowd jumped to its feet, screaming and clapping. We all got chills, waiting for the long intro to "Jungle" to be done, as we all wanted to see the King of GNR in person! When he finally came out on stage, and started singing, I got goosebumps all over. I don't think there was a member in the audience that wasn't on their feet, singing, clapping, and just having a great old time while Axl "sssshhhhhnnnaaaaa nnnnaaaaaa naaaaaaaaaa naaaaaaaaaaa knees knees" his way through "Jungle". "Sweet Child O Mine" had everybody singing again- I don't think, young or old, that there was one person in the audience that didn't know this song by heart, and sang loudly and proudly along with Axl.

"My Michelle" saw Sebastian "Baz" Bach making a guest appearance, joining Axl on the stage- they were awesome singing together. Sebastian Bach was the first opening act for the concert, along with Papa Roach. My kids, hubby and I weren't too crazy with Baz's opening act- we really couldn't understand a word he was singing, and when he talked to the audience, his vocabulary is very limited to mostly obscene words. Still, Baz was awesome on "My Michelle", and my kids and hubby really enjoyed Papa Roach. I had never heard of Papa Roach before, so it was new music to me. They were great, considering I had never heard of them before I got to the concert.

My son was thrilled, when at midnight, he realized he was officially 13. Smiling and singing away at this concert, he hasn't gotten over it yet, that he was there, watching Axl perform. When the show closed with "Paradise City", everyone was on their feet again (like they were most of the night, with exception to the slow songs and all the solos), singing and enjoying the last song of the evening. It went by so fast, Axl was hilarious, even joking with the audience about having a "moment of silence for Brittany and Kevin" just as he was about to sing "November Rain." When the audience started laughing, he laughed a little and said "now, that wasn't very nice!"

Great, great show, well worth seeing. Great way for us to celebrate our late anniversary, and I dare say, my son will never forget the beginning hours of his special 13th birthday!

Oh, and two great message boards I frequent for all the latest GNR news:

http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/board/index.php - Here Today, Gone To Hell! - all the latest updates are here from GNR management, courtesy of the Administrator of this board, a poster named Jarmo.

and

http://www.rosesofvelvet.com/forum/index.php - Roses Of Velvet Another great message board to discuss GNR.