2011.11.20 - Mohegan Sun Arena, Wilkes-Barre, USA

It took Axl Rose and his seven hired guns a long time to make it to the stage Sunday night. As in just getting started when most concerts are ending. As in more than an hour and a half after the opening act left the stage.

The tickets for the Guns N’ Roses performance at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza showed a 7:30 p.m. start time. For the typical arena show, that means the opening act – in this case, former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach – hits the stage about 7:30 and the headliners take over about 9.

On Sunday, Bach never appeared until 8:30, played for just more than an hour and finished up at 9:35. Because most of the massive stage already was set up for the GNR occupation to come, the sizable but not overstuffed crowd hoped for a 10 p.m. start by Axl and the gang.

And the crowd tried to will something to happen throughout the night. At first, it would cheer wildly whenever there was a break in the recorded music pumped through the arena. When that didn’t work, it began booing as the minutes slowly ticked away.

When the lights finally went off at 11:15, the theme from “Dexter” played as images and GNR logos danced across the nine video screens. With a deafening display of pyrotechnics that would give the Trans-Siberian Orchestra a run for its money, the band appeared and the audience went wild.

Was it worth the wait? An emphatic yes.

From the moment Rose took the stage with his reconstituted GNR consisting of three guitarists, two keyboard players, a bassist and a drummer, the crowd quickly forgot the long wait.

By the second song – a blistering “Welcome to the Jungle” from 1987’s “Appetite for Destruction” debut – all was forgiven.

The early part of the show was split almost evenly with songs from the debut album and from 2008’s “Chinese Democracy.”

Rose, now 49 and the only remaining original member from the band’s glory days, seems to be having a good time these days and seems to still have most of his voice – though it’s a little hard to know for sure considering his bandmates drowned him out more than a few times Sunday night. That was fine for songs such as “It’s So Easy” and “Mr. Brownstone.” (Everyone knows those by heart anyway.) But it made it a little tougher for the more unfamiliar parts of “Chinese Democracy.”

As Rose retreated from sight, each of the band’s three guitarists – Richard Fortus, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal and DJ Ashba – got extended showcases, as did bassist Tommy Stinson, who led the group through The Who’s “My Generation,” and piano player Dizzy Reed, who played a solo version of that same band’s “Baba O’Riley.”

Fortus’ solo spotlight on “The James Bond Theme” led nicely into “Live and Let Die,” but the latter was marred by way too many explosions. Thal treated the crowd to a nifty if somewhat baffling version of the “Pink Panther” theme.

Ashba, who provided most of Slash’s iconic moments Sunday, took his solo turn then unleashed the opening riff of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and the crowd went crazy.

As the grand piano was moved to center stage, the band played a mostly instrumental version of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2,” before it was joined by Rose, who noodled his way through part of Elton John’s “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” before kicking off GNR’s epic “November Rain.”

The main set ended with GNR’s “Don’t Cry,” AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Rosie,” Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” and GNR’s “Nightrain.”

The encore consisted of a brief instrumental jam, followed by “Madagascar,” “Patience” and a celebratory “Paradise City,” as confetti and streamers hit the arena floor and the show closed at 1:55 a.m. Monday.

It was long, it was late, and the waiting made it almost unbearable, especially for those who stood all night long in the general-admission section on the arena floor. But it was so worth it.