Guns N Fn Roses

I would say this image is a fair visual metaphor for the Guns N Roses band dynamic. The presence of Duff added poignancy to proceedings but the inimitable swagger of Slash in all his iconic glory elevated the whole affair to another plane. It has been said that the mark of a well drawn cartoon character is that you can always recognise them by their silhouette alone and with him existing in this age as more myth than man at a ratio of about 70/30, he plays the role as flawlessly as his double guitar.

None the less there was always going to be one presence looming over proceedings from start to finish and love him or loathe him, there is arguably no one still alive that does it like Axel Rose. His all too public persona over the years may have rendered him more human than his axe wielding counterpart but he has a voice that melts all those flaws away. And in case you were wondering if he's still got it, the answer is yes. Yes he does. He is a larger version of the man who was already larger than life, decked out in a rotating array of rock roll accessories reflecting every step of his journey from the gutter to the stars you could never mistake him for anyone else.

You can almost accept his arrogance over the years, his lateness for shows legendary for practically being longer than the actual performances, all the while knowing his fans would forgive him a whole litany of sins when he takes control of a stage. Now it seems he is giving back to the faithful by finally realising that the only thing more important than being Axel Rose is being in Guns N Roses. Or at the very least being Axel Rose in Guns N Roses. You can allow him that when they deliver on the scale that they achieved last night. And boy did they deliver.

It was the performance of a lifetime that most predicted they would never witness it in. Their respective ages may make the band members 'classics' in their own right but their craftsmanship combined on one stage creates something greater than their already talented parts.In the decades that have passed, their appetite for destruction has always seemed to slightly outweigh their appetite for glory so to see them put that aside for one last lap of victory in between the floodlights and the spotlights.

To sing along to Sweet Child of Mine alongside Duff, Slash and Axel but to be in a crowd, in a stadium, in the moment, arms aloft covered in the splatter of warm spilt beer, as opposed to being at some rock night at about 2am as the DJ plays the last easy crowd-pleaser before closing . Albeit still with arms aloft, covered in the splatter of warm spilt beer.

For fans that have waited for as long as these people had to hear such timeless songs played as they were originally intended it's almost hard to know what to do. The riff kicks in and you have 4-5 minutes (or in the case of November Rain 9+) to lose as many of your marbles as you can muster. Then when it's all over you are left thinking, where do we go now? Quite literally. When 80,000 people all pile out of a station at once towards one station, finding a feasible route hope becomes all important.

When all was said an sung, all those fans left satisfied and with a smile on their face. Those who were sober enough to retain full control of their facial features that is. It was a feat of excess and spectacle truly befitting a group of people once dubbed 'the most dangerous band in the world'. Can they keep it together long enough to do another round? Given the ever present ego required to command a stage in the manner of Axel, I would have to question it but if they are only going to manage it once, that is how you want to see it done. The roses were in full bloom but there is still no question who is top gun. I'm sure he wouldn't have it any other way.