1992.09.15 - Metrodome, Minneapolis, USA

Guns N’ Minneapolis

It might be an understatement to call Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns Ν’ Roses, mercurial. At concerts, he goes onstage whenever he wants, which often means after midnight. He has recently canceled concerts at the 11th hour, usually citing fear of extradition because of pending legal problems in St. Louis. The latest rap against Rose is that he refuses to play in Minneapolis.

Guns Ν' Roses, Metallica and Faith No More were set to perform Aug.5 at the Metrodome. Suddenly, last week GNR pulled out and Metrodome operations director Dennis Alfton said he was given no explanation even though he asked for one. The official story from concert promoters is that the date did not fit into GNR’s schedule. But the rumor going around — and there are always rumors flying about Rose — is that his psychic told him not to perform in cities that begin with the letter “M."

A check of GNR’s itinerary indicates no concerts in Milwaukee, Memphis, Miami or Minneapolis. Someone who was backstage at GNR’s January concerts at Target Center said Rose had his psychic with him.

What gives?

“There’s no truth to that (psychic story),’’ Chris Jones of GNR’s management team told the Los Angeles Times but he said that he was amused by the rumor.

By the way, GNR is scheduled to perform in Montreal.

Meanwhile, there is a possibility of a Metallica concert in the Twin Cities with Nirvana and Faith No More at a site other than the Dome, according to a source with Metallica. Nirvana is not on tour because lead singer Chris Cobain has recurring stomach problems, but the band is performing a handful of concerts.

Guns N’ Roses on again

The on-again, off-again Guns N’ Roses concert is definitely on again for Aug. 5 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Also appearing will be Metallica and Faith No More. Planning for the concert was abruptly called off three weeks ago, apparently when Guns Ν’ Roses mercurial lead singer Axl
Rose, upon advice from his psychic, decided not to perform in any cities that begin with the letter "M." There is no word why the show has been given the go-ahead once again. Tickets, priced at $27.50, will go on sale Monday at Ticketmaster outlets.

Guns N' Roses reschedules sold-out show in Minneapolis
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Three Guns N’ Roses concerts are being rescheduled, including a sold-out show Wednesday night in Minneapolis, because of damage to lead singer Axl Rose’s vocal cords.

The announcement was made Thursday night in a press release by Geffen Records.

The Geffen release said that Rose is expected to fully recover but must not sing for a week to allow his severely damaged vocal cords to heal.

The two others concerts being rescheduled are a sold-out show tonight in Foxboro Stadium near Boston and a show Sunday at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C.

Tickets for the shows will be honored for the rescheduled dates, which were not announced.

The Geffen release said the tour, which includes the group Metallica, will resume Aug. 8 in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.

A spokesman for Foxboro Police Chief Ed O’Leary said the chief received a phone call late Thursday night from the management at Foxboro Stadium saying the concert would not be held.

Security for the concert was canceled, the spokesman said, and the chief was told the concert would be rescheduled for September. About 50,000 people had bought tickets to the show.

Guns N’ Roses show to go on

Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose is down, but the band’s concert with Metallica Wednesday at the Metrodome is not out, contrary to prior reports.

Rose suffered damage to his vocal cords Wednesday night, and GNR canceled its shows scheduled for Friday night in Massachusetts and Sunday in South Carolina.

GNR spokeswoman Wendy Lafster told the Associated Press yesterday that doctors had advised Rose not to sing for a week and thus Geffen Records, for which GNR records, announced that the Minneapolis show would be postponed. The announcement from Geffen was not authorized by Guns Ν' Roses, said Catherine Swedberg of Jam and Company 7, which are promoting the Metro-dome concert. "The word from Guns Ν' Roses management is that it’s going on," she said yesterday afternoon.

The cancellation in Boston was not announced until 4 a.m. yesterday, said Steve Morse of the Boston Globe. Me said the stage was nearly set up and the promoters donated all the backstage food — enough to feed 250 people — to a shelter for the homeless.

— Jon Bream

Guns N’ Roses concert is postponed until Sept. 15
By Jon Bream
Staff Writer

Today’s Guns N’ Roses-Metallica concert at the Metrodome has been postponed until Sept. 15 because of the condition of Axl Rose’s vocal cords, it was announced late Tuesday afternoon.

Rose, lead singer of Guns N’ Roses, injured his vocal cords July 29 in New York City, and his doctor told him not to sing for a week. Two concerts were postponed, but Guns N’ Roses had hoped to play in Minneapolis.

The concert was postponed because the doctor said Rose risked permanent damage to his voice if he sang today. A source said Rose’s insurance company would not insure his throat if he sang because he would be violating his doctor’s orders.

The Guns N’ Roses-Metallica tour is expected to resume Saturday in Montreal.

All 47,000 tickets for the Metrodome concert had been sold. They will be honored for the Sept. 15 show. That program will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a performance by Faith No More. The concert will have a 1 a.m. curfew; Guns N’ Roses is known for its late performances.

Ticket refunds are available at the place of purchase.

"Guns" fans in ticket line not worried about Axl

Kate McCarthy

About 70 stout-hearted rock fans camped out on the sidewalk near the entrance to the St. Paul Dayton's ticket office Sunday for first dibs on tickets to an Aug. 5 Guns N' Roses-Metallica concert.

The ticket seekers brought lawn chairs, blankets, pillows, headphones, compact disc players and vast quantities of their primary life-giving commodities - cigarettes and Coke Classic.

Clad in black boots, jeans and jewelry, the concert-goers also sporting a lightning array of heavy-metal T-shirts: Megadeth, Testament, Anthrax, Van Halen, Kingdom Come, Dokken, the Scorpions - as well as the obvious "Guns" and Metallica.

But the fans were nonplussed about the arrest of Guns N' Roses lead singer Axl Rose on Sunday. Rose was picked up by federal agents at New York's Kennedy International Airport on misdemeanor charges filed after violence broke out at a Guns N' Roses concert in St. Louis. Rose, 30, is accused of diving into the crowd and causing a riot.

Violent incidents - as well as vicious lyrics and confessions of drug use - are a G&R trademark, and seem only to further endear Rose to his fans. Along with bedraggled copies of City Pages, ticket seekers Sunday passed around "Appetite For Destruction: The Days of Guns N' Roses," which, the jacket cover purports, "captures the poetry and dark hexagonal of Axl Rose's mind."

"He'll be out by tomorrow, even today - hell, he's probably out by now," predicted line-waiter Jamie Martinson of St. Paul.

Martinson, 21, turner out to be right: Rose was turned over to New York police, but shortly released on $100,000 bail.

Stacie Rettinger, 17, of St. Paul contended the incident "was zero percent Rose's fault."

Second-in-line Rettinger said Sunday evening that her three-day camp-out on Cedar was well worth it. Rettinger will use her salary at Arby's to put out the $30.50 required for a top-flight ticket. She lined up on Friday.

"There are no words to explain Guns N’ Roses," she said. "They have so much energy, they're just incredible, there's no one comparable."

Clovis Bracknis, 20, of St. Paul proudly showed off his homemade leather-and-spikes bracelet as he waited for tickets. A cheerful personal-care attendant for the handicapped, Bracknis tried to explain the allure of heavy metal.

"It's loud, hard, wild and fast," he said. "When a band has the power to get 30,000 people to bang their heads, you've got to respect that."

Guns N’ Roses N’ Metallica Ν’ 50,000 rocking fans do the Dome

At least one young fan wanted to go onstage and hug Axl

By Jon Bream
Staff Writer

“They Said It Would Never Happen,” barked the ads for the concert featuring Guns Ν’ Roses and Metallica.

They are the two biggest rock bands in the world at the moment. Could they play on the same bill? Imagine the Rolling Stones and The Who playing together 20 years ago. Who
would open — Guns or Metallica? Clash of the egos? They said it would never happen. Well, party on, dudes!

That’s what the scene was like Tuesday when Guns N’ Metallica stormed the Metrodome. In the past 12 months, the Dome has played host to many big-time events — the World Series, the Super Bowl, college basketball's Final Four — but last night's blockbuster concert would have to rival the World Series as the
event that lived up to expectations.

A sellout crowd of 50,000 partied in overdrive to the thundering, exhilarating rock music, probably unaware that there was thunder, lightning and pouring rain outside. It may have been a traveling show-business package of rebellious rock V roll played by angry young millionaires, but it was a trailblazing concert nonetheless.
“I never thought I’d see the two of them together,” said Amanda Roivanen, 16, of Chisago. “One [Metallica] is more heavy and thrashing, the other [Guns N’ Roses] is more pop. It's unheard of to have two different types together.”

Rick Woytych, 28, of Richfield, hadn’t been to a concert for five years, but took off from work as a baker last night to go to the Dome. “I don’t even listen to the music, but
when I heard they were coming together I had to go,” he said at intermission. “This is the concert of the century. You’ll never see two bands like this together again. And so far this is the best time I’ve had at a concert.”

Emily Burblies, 12, of rural South Haven, Minn., was attending her first concert, with her parents and two friends. She said she was embarrassed to be with her parents but she wanted to be at the Dome for this concert. “I’m in love with Axl [Rose, GNR’s singer],” she said. “I want to get onstage and give him a hug.”

After Metallica’s 2 1/4-hour performance, Paul Burblies wasn’t sure his daughter would make it through the evening. “My neck hurts,” she said. She had been shaking her long hair vigorously to Metallica’s music. But the seventh-grader, wearing her new GNR T-shirt, was determined to see her heroes. “I’m a country girl and I’m the only girl headbanger in my school,” she said. She did promise to be in school today but warned that “I might fall asleep in my classes.”

Woytych brought his 17-year-old cousin from Virginia, Minn., and his cousin’s buddy. They weren’t planning on going to school today. “You’ve got to sacrifice things,” said Josh Tamminen, 17, who was wearing a newly purchased Metallica T-shirt. “You only live once, so you have to make it to a great show like this.” The best-selling T-shirts last night were the two $23 models with both GNR and Metallica on them, according to vendor Curtis Nachtsheim. As for the individual band shirts, the GNR ones were
outselling the Metallica shirts, he said. Vendors expected to sell more than $500,000 worth of souvenirs last night, he said.

Activity was brisk in the lobby at nearby booths for such campaigns as voter registration, reform of marijuana laws and Amnesty International. John Katz, 27, a volunteer at the Rock the Vote booth, said more people registered to vote than he expected. Less than halfway through the long evening, his people had registered 140 new voters.

Across the concourse at the Amnesty International table, Jeff Scharlau, 31, also reported a positive response from concertgoers. “People who like sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll are also into human rights,” he said. “I was worried about fans for a band [Metallica] with an album called ’Kill ’Em All,’ but the fans have listened to what we have to say. I have hope for the youth of America after this.”

The young people came in all shapes and sizes. Lizard-skin cowboy boots talked to black spiked high-heels. Sneakers and baseball caps were common, as were T-shirts emblazoned with either Metallica or Guns N’ Roses.

Actually, Faith No More opened the 7-hour-plus concert. When the San Francisco quintet took the stage at precisely 5:30 p.m., maybe 5,000 folks were in the Dome. About 45 minutes later, the aggressive genre-blending band energized the audience with its closing number, the 1990 rap-metal classic “Epic,” which brought folks to their feet to sing along.

Metallica followed with an intense, powerful, liberating and varied assault of intelligent heavy metal. It was more satisfying than Metallica’s performance in November at Target Center if only because of the performance of lead singer James Hetfield.

Having burned his left hand in an onstage accident with a flame thrower, Hetfield can’t play guitar for the time being. So last night he stalked the stage. He was more menacing and powerful than before. He was not as scary or possessed as Rose was later, but Hetfield’s controlled fury ignited the crowd; at song’s end, he would say demurely, “Thank you.”

After a 95-minute intermission during which there was human gridlock in the humid Dome hallways, Guns N’ Roses took the stage. Their explosions and flashpots during “Live and Let Die” outdid any pyrotechnics Metallica offered but, as this edition went to press and GNR was still playing, it was unclear who would win the battle of the bands, other than the fans.

Guns N' Roses N' Metallica N' Faith No More N' 50,000 screaming headbangers party down

Jon Bream

"They Said It Would Never Happen," barked the ads for the concert featuring Guns N' Roses and Metallica.

GNR and Metallica are the two biggest rock bands in the world at the moment. Could they play on the same bill? Imagine the Rolling Stones and The Who playing together 20 years ago. Who would open -- Guns or Metallica? Clash of the egos?

They said it would never happen. Well, party on, dudes!

That's what the scene was like Tuesday when Guns N' Metallica stormed the Metrodome.

In the past 12 months, the Dome has played host to many big-time events -- the World Series, the Super Bowl, college basketball's Final Four -- but last nights blockbuster concert would have to rival the World Series as the event that lived up to all expectations.

A sellout crowd of 50,000 partied in overdrive to the thundering, exhilarating rock music probably not aware that there was thunder, lightning and pouring rain outside.

It may have been a traveling show business package of rebellious rock 'n' roll played by angry young millionaires, but it was a trailblazing concert nonetheless.

"I never thought I'd see the two of them together," said Amanda Roivanen, 16, of Chisago. "One (Metallica) is more heavy and thrashing, the other (Guns N' Roses) is more pop. It's unheard of to have two different types together."

Rick Woytych, 28, of Richfield, hadn't been to a concert for five years, but he took off work as a baker last night to go to the Dome. "I don't even listen to the music but when I heard they were coming together I had to go," he said at intermission. "This is the concert of the century. You'll never see two bands like this together again. And so far, this is the best time I've ever had at a concert."

Emily Burblies, 12, of rural South Haven, Minn., was attending her first concert ever, with her parents and two friends. She said she was embarrassed to be with her parents but she wanted to be at the Dome for this concert. "I'm in love with Axl (Rose, GNR's singer)," she said. "I wanna get onstage and give him a hug."

After Metallica's 2 1/4-hour performance, Paul Burblies, 42 wasn't sure his daughter would make it through the evening. "My neck hurts," she said. She had been shaking her long hair vigorously to Metallica's music. But the seventh grader, wearing her new GNR T-shirt, was determined to see her heroes. "I'm a country girl and I'm the only girl headbanger in my school," she said proudly. She did promise to be in school today but warned that "I might fall asleep in my classes."

Woytych brought his 17-year-old cousin from Virginia, Minn., and his cousin's buddy. They weren't planning on going to school today. "You've got to sacrifice some things," said Josh Tamminen, 17, who was wearing a newly purchased Metallica T-shirt. "You only live once, so you have to make it to a great show like this."

The best-selling T-shirts last night were the two $23 models with both GNR and Metallica on them, according to vendor Curtis Nachtsheim. As for the individual band shirts, he said, the GNR ones were outselling Metallica's. (Similarly, GNR has sold more albums than Metallica, about 40 million compared to 20 million.) Vendors expected to sell more than $500,000 worth of souvenirs last night, he said.

Activity was brisk in the lobby at nearby booths for such campaigns as voter registration, reforming marijuana laws and Amnesty International. John Katz, 27, a volunteer at the Rock the Vote booth, said more people registered to vote than he expected. Less than halfway through the long evening, his people had registered 140 new voters.

Across the concourse at the Amnesty International table, Jeff Scharlau, 31, also reported a positive response from concertgoers. "People who like sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll are also into human rights," he said. "I was worried about fans for a band (Metallica) with an album called 'Kill 'Em All,' but the fans have listened to what we have to say. I have hope for the youth of America after this."

The young people came in all shapes and sizes. Lizard-skin cowboy boots talked to black spiked high-heels.

Faith No More opened the 7-hour-plus concert. When the San Francisco quintet took the stage at precisely 5:30 p.m., maybe 5,000 people were in the Dome. About 45 minutes later, the aggressive, genre-blending band energized the audience with its closing number, the 1990 classic "Epic," which brought people to their feet to sing along.

Metallica followed with an intense, powerful, liberating and varied assault of intelligent heavy metal. It was more satisfying than Metallica's performance in November at Target Center, if only because of the performance of lead singer James Hetfield.

Having burned his left hand in a recent on-stage accident with a pyro device, Hetfield can't play guitar for the time being. So last night he stalked the stage. He was more menacing and powerful than before. He was not as scary or possessed as Rose was later on that night, but Hetfield's controlled fury ignited the crowd; then at song's end, he would say demurely, "Thank you."

Even though Metallica was playing on a much larger stage than at Target Center, the five players (guitarist John Marshall has been added temporarily) roamed around the stage less often than they had last fall. Thus, their performance was more focused, compact and potent.

At the end of their performance, the guys in Metallica took a curtain call, which was reminiscent of the Twins returning to the field after winning the World Series last October.

Then, after a 95-minute intermission during which there was human gridlock in the humid Dome hallways, Guns N' Roses took the stage. Their explosions and flashpots during "Live and Let Die" outdid any pyrotechnics Metallica offered and GNR's light show was much more artful, extensive and sophisticated. However, GNR's performance was less focused than Metallica's and more varied, ranging from piano ballads to full-tilt rockers.

Guitarists Slash and Gilby Clarke meandered on some aimless solo excursions, and hyperactive singer Rose kept disappearing from the stage during guitar solos to change outfits. When he was onstage, he scurried all over the place like a scrambling quarterback desperately looking for a receiver (at one point he muttered something about ex-Viking quarterback Fran Tarkenton. Thus, much like the Stones' performance at the Dome, it was difficult last night at times to focus on the 10-member GNR spread all over the stage with its various tiers and ramps.

Rose, who had called off a Dome appearance Aug. 5 because of throat problems, sounded in fine voice last night. Especially impressive were the current hit, the piano ballad "November Rain," the up-tempo hit ballad "Sweet Child O' Mine" and the ambitious epic "Civil War." The repertoire was nearly identical to the one GNR played at Target Center in January. The big differences were two inflated crab-like creatures that appeared over the stage during, "Welcome to the Jungle" and the fact that GNR got onstage at a relatively early hour for them -- 10:45 p.m.

And the band finished 10 minutes before the 1 a.m. curfew, leaving some time for post-concert fireworks and a curtain call, complete with Rose tossing roses into the crowd. Sometimes, GNR plays by the book.

Rolling Rose

Although Guns Ν’ Roses' repertoire Tuesday at the Metrodome was predictable (it was the same as their concerts in January at Target Center), singer Axl Rose was his usual loose-lipped self. Like Mick Jagger, he likened the acoustics of the Dome to those of a bathroom. He also jabbered about former Vikings Fran Tarkenton and Chuck Foreman, who actually played at Metropolitan Stadium, not the Metrodome. Rose was at his best when he made fun of himself. After performing Bob Dylan’s "Knockin' on Heaven’s Door," Rose pointed out that he’d lost count of the music during the song. He attributed it to having used marijuana and LSD as a youngster. Then he said that after endorsing those two youthful vices he'd probably be popular enough to be elected president. He said if he got to the White House, he couldn’t handle it. "After 10 days, I’d want to reach for the red button," he said.

Guns N’ Roses may be the MTV Generation’s answer to the Rolling Stones but GNR didn't make as much money at the Dome as the Stones. Tuesday’s Guns N’ Metallica concert grossed $1.286 million from ticket sales, making it the second biggest one-day concert gross in Minnesota history. The Stones pulled in $1.298 million from one of its two Dome concerts in 1990.

Tuesday’s Dome show was the last performance for Faith No More on the Guns N’ Metallica tour; the band has its own small-hall tour scheduled. Faith’s guitarist Jim Martin joined Metallica for the latter’s encore of "Enter Sandman’’ Tuesday. And it was Martin pictured with Metallica singer James Hetfield in Wednesday’s Star Tribune. Meanwhile, the controversial Body Count, featuring Ice-T, is expected to open the few remaining Guns Ν' Metallica concerts.

HEAVY-METAL ACTS AT HOME IN DOME

Melissa Heng

As the Twin Cities struggled to cope with rain and floods Tuesday night, the Metrodome played host to a capacity crowd that spent over six hours bowing to gods of their own.

Faith No More, Metallica and Guns N' Roses, icons of the heavy-metal world, attracted every hasher, rocker and head-banger under the age of 50 in the Twin Cities. Not since Lollapalooza has so much hair been flung.

The combination of screaming fans, wailing guitars and roving strobes in an enclosed arena with excellent acoustics created a sound powerful enough to blow a person into another dimension. The floor thumped and jumped as fans pogoed non-stop for hours.

Metallica's set, which lasted well over two hours, was a celebration of music as the ultimate in entertainment and escapism. Times like this remind us of just how long Metallica's been around and how many hits they've had. "Seek and Destroy" inspired the most audience participation I've seen in ages.

The energy was charged even in the slow moments. Everything from gut-wrenching guitar solos to "Enter Sandman" had the crowd on their feet. When they weren't bopping up and down, they were waving their lighters in the air, singing and swaying along.

At 10:30 p.m., Axl Rose arrived, and Guns N' Roses prepared to take the stage. The backroom joke among the police and security forces was that Elvis was indeed alive and in the building.

Somehow the crowd found more energy to keep up the frenzy for another two hours.

Despite heavy security, there were minor problems. At least two fans were sent to jail for disorderly conduct and one for assaulting a police officer, Minneapolis police said.

But other fans were blissfully unaware. As the stage was bathed in colors, a tireless Axl pranced about during long, drawn-out intros and instrumental solos. They managed rousing renditions of "Live and Let Die'' and "Attitude."

All in all, it was a great stage, great visuals, a great crowd and a venue that can't be beat. This is what a great gig is all about.

Triple bill offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance

Guns ’N Roses, Metallica and Faith No More team up for an unbeatable concert

By BRYAN SANDE, For the Tribune

Tours like the recent triple bill of Guns ’N Roses, Metallica and Faith No More come along once in a lifetime. All three bands are solid headlining acts, but they combined their efforts for a couple dozen shows that are bound to go down in rock history.
In the past year, Guns ’N Roses' “Use Your Illusions I & II,” Metallica’s self-titled disc, and Faith No More's "Angel Dust” have combined to sell in excess of 10 million copies. Several problems, such as scheduling, egos and physical setbacks, have arisen on tour but the three supergroups still managed to pull into the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis Sept. 15. The show, originally slated for August, was rescheduled due to Axl Rose's vocal problems.

San Francisco's Faith No More opened the festivities at 5:30 p.m.

This was the last date on this tour, as they were opening their own headlining tour days later in Omaha, Neb. Rumored to be having internal problems, the group was led by vocalist Mike Patton through a rather lackluster 45-minute set. The only highlights were "Midlife Crisis” and their smash breakthrough hit of 1990, "Epic.”

The crowd was given a wake-up call at 7 p.m. when fellow Bay area bashers, Metallica, hit the stage. Leading the prowl was courageous vocalist Hetfield. He was severely burned in Montreal on Aug. 8 after an on-stage pyrotechnics accident which forced rescheduling of more tour dates. Former guitar roadie and Metal Church guitarist John Marshall filled in instrumentally for Hetfield, who is still not 100 percent and unable to play guitar.

Along with fellow guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Jason Newstead. Metallica roared through recent hits like "The Unforgiven,” "Wherever I May Roam," and “Sad But True” — barely giving their head-banging fans time to breathe.

Drummer Lars Ulrich’s drum set electronically shifted from side to side throughout the two hour-plus performance. Two gigantic TV monitors on either side gave fans up in the nose-bleed section an up-close view. The immensity of the stage — the w'idth of a football field and more than 100 feet high — would have made it incredibly difficult to watch otherwise. Die-hard Metallica fans went berserk as they hit a stretch of back-to-back classics like "For Whom the Bell Tolls,” "Fade to Black" (the song during which Hetfield was burned), and "Seek & Destroy."

The initial encore saw Faith No More’s guitarist Jim Martin joining Hetfield on “Am I Evil.” followed by “Nothing Else Matters," and “One.” But the highlight was yet to come. Hetfield strapped on his guitar and led the band through the awardwinning, soon to be classic, “Enter Sandman.” With the set finished following pyro explosions and the crowd seemingly drained, was it time to go? No, there was still the headliner, Guns ’N Roses.

Rose's reputation for starting late had the fans uneasy. They kept themselves occupied with beach balls and "the wave” until the lights went out at 10:30 p.m., only a half-hour late.

Starting out with a threesome off their “Appetite for Destruction" LP (“Out To Get Me,” "Welcome to the Jungle,” and "Mr. Brownstone”), the band got everyone on their feet. Rose, commenting that the Metrodome sound was like playing in a giant oil drum, had people wondering about his temperamental moods. Would the show be ruined? Nah.

Twelve touring members of GNR
kept everything running smoothly. Bassist Duff McKaden sang lead on a Misfits cover tune, and joined guitarists Slash and Gilby Clarke on a string of seemingly endless solos. Rose’s grand piano solo led into their current sensation. "November Rain." There also were the "976-HORNS” girls and their back-up singers, keyboard man and percussionist Dizzy Reed, and keyboard, harmonica and horn player, Teddy.

Highlighted with tremendous pyro and crowd sing-alongs were Guns' versions of Paul McCartney's "Live And Let Die," and Dylan's “Knockin' On Heaven's Door." An electric version of "Patience" proved why Guns 'N Roses has become one of the world's biggest attractions. Strobes, explosions and Rose's constant sprinting from side to side left everyone fulfilled.

Just how great is GNR? After watching a spectacular, two-hour show, people like myself were still complaining about songs they didn't play ("Don t Cry," "Get In the Ring,” It's So Easy,” etc.) The area's worst torrential rainstorm in six years flooded the freeways to and from the Dome. Even that couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the sellout crowd of 50.000. At $27 a ticket, fans got considerably more for their money than they could have hoped for.

(Bryan Sande is a free-lance music writer in Bismarck.)