2012.03.03 - House of Blues Orlando, Lake Buena Vista, USA

“The night’s young, I guess,” the Guns N’ Roses frontman offered about two hours and 20 minutes into an insanely generous, skillfully executed and impressively intimate 3-hour performance by the band’s current incarnation on Saturday at House of Blues. The sold-out show was part of a club tour leading up to Guns N’ Roses April induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Of course, the Hall of Fame lineup — featuring Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler — isn’t the one now on the road.

“Hired Guns and a Rose,” observed one of my cynical friends early on Saturday about an outfit that now includes Rose as its sole original member. Hey, I was skeptical, too, after watching the band’s bloated, though lengthy, show in the tour’s opening days in October at Amway Center.

But all that was before the band went to work on Saturday.

Maybe it’s the time the musicians have spent together on the road — or the opportunity to see an arena-tested group at arm’s length. Whatever the reason, Guns N’ Roses on this night exuded a swagger worthy of a world-class attraction. My harsh appraisal of the band’s October stop wouldn’t apply to Saturday’s inspired return.

Starting with the one-two punch of “Chinese Democracy” and “Welcome to the Jungle,” the band unleashed an epic rock show. Not only was there plenty of explosive power in songs such as “It’s So Easy,” the unit showed more sonic range than in its arena visit this past fall.

Although Rose’s vocals were buried in the mix a bit in the opening moments, his distinctive tenor was an expressive force in the gut-wrenching ballad “Sorry,” a song that inspired some of the women around me to stretch their arms out toward him.

Rose looked leaner than he did in the fall, as he executed slinky dance steps and a few well-timed rock star gestures. Adorned most of the time in dark shades, a black fedora, matching leather jacket and well-worn blue jeans, he was a congenial host.

“How ya doing?” he asked in the early going. “It’s jam-packed in here. It’s nice.”

He shook hands with the fans in front and often shared the spotlight with guitarists DJ Ashba, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal and Richard Fortus. Each delivered memorable riffs, especially the elastic, melodic figures that Fortus added to “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” and a few other songs. Ashba, in his Slash costume, did an admirable job of filling that role, especially on a faithful “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”

The setlist was similar to the one the band delivered this past fall, but in the cozy music hall the feeling was more electric. As the band moved past ”Nightrain” and ”Patience” toward the “Paradise City” finale, it seemed for a moment that the music might go on all night.

Ultimately, the final chords faded at 3:21 a.m., amid a confetti shower and a delirious combination of elation and exhaustion. That last word only would apply to the audience, because the musicians looked like it was still too early to stop.