2013.06.05 - Buffalo Outer Harbour, Buffalo, USA

Guns ’n’ Roses delivers the goods in Outer Harbor show

on June 6, 2013 - 6:26 AM
updated June 6, 2013 at 7:25 AM

Did he still have the banshee howl?

It’s been a long time since Axl Rose was the undisputed king of the underground Los Angeles rock scene. Back then, his band, Guns ‘n’ Roses, was the it band, the group that had been able to navigate the terrain between punk, metal and glam rock.

It has been 20 years since Guns ‘n’ Roses played Buffalo, the last time being a headlining slot at what was then known as Rich Stadium. The slightly metal-inflected version of the G’n’R take on Aerosmith’s early work has not exactly been in vogue over the past two decades. Were the G’n’R faithful still out there?

On Wednesday, as Guns ‘n’ Roses kicked off the the Outer Harbor Concert Series season, it certainly seemed that the the folks who worshipped “Appetite for Destruction” had not forgotten their band. And judging by appearances, a whole new generation of Guns lovers was eager for their first experience of the band as well.

The concert site at the Outer Harbor was stuffed with rockers, folks who, one surmises, like their rock jarred and their choruses memorable. It was cold, unseasonably so, and very windy too. But when Guns ‘n’ Roses took the stage - at 10:15, perhaps surpisingingly, given singer Axl Rose’s tendency to start shows as late as midnight - it felt as if “Appetite for Destruction” had just come out, and “Paradise City” was still in sight.

The Outer Harbor series has made some serious improvements since last year, its maiden voyage. In addition to much more accommodating parking, the investment in sound, production and staging was immediately apparent on Wednesday. The sound was incredible - loud, well-mixed, and abundantly powerful.

The band? Yes, this is the version of Guns ‘n’ Roses that lacks founding member and guitarist Slash. And yes, so much has been said about singer Axl Rose over the years since Slash left to suggest that the G’n’R singer is pretty much a nut job. But Wednesday’s show suggested something different. This version of G’n’R came to kick butt and take names. And, flying in the face of Rose’s tendency to take the stage hours after the published time, the band arrived by 10:15 p.m., and tore into a set that could not have left diehard G’n’ R fans disappointed.

Opener “Chinese Democracy” gave way to “Welcome to the Jungle,” and the place went nuts, cell phones held aloft bobbing in real time to the groove. Rose, a heftier and significantly more Southern rock-looking form of the man all of these people had fallen in love with in 1989, accorded himself well. “It’s So Easy” boasted much of the strut of the original, as did the decidedly swanky “Mr. Brownstone.” Rose was energetic, on point, and if he couldn’t quite deliver the goods with the power he displayed in the old days, well, who could blame him? He was certainly going for it.

Rose, from the beginning of his career, sang in a hyper-powerful head-voice falsetto of the variety that does not age well. That he could sing as well as he did during older tunes like “Rocket Queen” and the highlight of the evening, a take on Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die,” was rather incredible.

Without founding member, and acknowledged guitar god Slash, the 2013 version of G’n’R fell back on the talents of three sublimely gifted guitarists. Led by Ron “Bumblefoot” Thall, and including DJ Ashba and Richard Fortus, the guitarist lineup delivered an inspired mix of blues-based hard rock, virtuoso ”shred” playing, and post-Keith Richards slop. It all added up to some killer playing, though at times it did seem that there was simply too much guitar in the mix.

Rose did highlight each player - pianist Dizzy Reed vamped on Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter,” while a jam on Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall Part II” gave way to the power ballad “November Rain” - with Rose seated behind the piano in all his Elton John-esque glory ,and finally, guitarist Bumblefoot’s “Objectify.” These were some of the set’s high points, and seemed to get former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson in the mood to rock.

But in the end, this is Rose’s show, and he lorded over it - for better and for worse - throughout. G’n’R in 2013 still kicks butt. Even if Rose’s voice is not what it once was. But then again, what was it once? A scream that perhaps could not endure then test of time.

That said, Wednesday’s show was a riot. Fantastic sound, plenty of room, and the sort of sightlines that would make Bonaroo proud.