The Up Close And Personal tour the best GN'R tour ever?

Long shows, great reviews, huge camaraderie between members, no riots, no cancellations, tight band, and very effective in the way of turning the media opinion from 'horrible' to 'favourable'.

Has there ever been a better GN'R our?

I am not inclined to apply a hierarchical rating to GNR tours based on my personal experience. It's been done to death by others. My first GNR show attended was in 1988 as opening act for Aerosmith, in Massachusetts where Aerosmith is King, and the audience was as kick ass as both GNR and Aerosmith. My last GNR show attended was in Worcester, MA where the band is a different line up including songs from Chinese Democracy and an appreciative and joyous audience like Worcester shows usually attract from all over the greater New England area. No small number of the reviews of the most recent GNR U.S. tour were unfavorable or just anemic pseudo reviews. I enjoyed reading the amateur fan reviews in forums similar to this one quite a bit though.

I admire the tenacity of Axl and his ability to gather great musicians into his endeavors. I enjoyed the 1991-1993 shows with the horn section, the girl singers and Teddy ZigZag playing keys and harp too. It's all good. Regardless and in spite of media opinion, I have faith that GNR will carry on with some claim to integrity and can count on enthusiasm and loyalty from large numbers of fans world wide.

Gosh, this reads like an infomercial on the inspirational channel. Sorry and Amen.