So I got to go to see Guns n Roses in concert Saturday night at the Rome Palalottomatico after waiting months in excitement. Not only are they one of my husband's favorite bands, but it was our first paid concert in Italy (a lot of them are in an open area and free), and plus, I was itching to get back to Rome. =) First of all, my excitement these past few months turned into anxiety when I started reading about GnR's concerts in England and Dublin the last couple of days. Them being late, event coordinators cutting their show short, bottles thrown, them walking off the stage....drama... We got there around 7:00pm when the doors are suppose to open at 6:00pm only to see everyone in line all around the stadium at different entrances and crowds everywhere. First thing that came to my mind was that they wanted to make sure GnR was going to show up before letting everyone into the stadium.
Fortunately, at 7:30pm, they finally opened the doors. Phew! One breath I can finally take. We took our seats and took the scene in with a nice cold beer in our hands. Best part about this was that they had someone walking around that you can buy beer from rather than going outside. =) Anyways, after another hour of filling up the stadium, the opening band came out at 8:30pm. Murderdolls... Don't know if you have heard of them, but I was not loving them, at all.... To name a couple of their songs - a version of "Old McDonald", another called "Sex, Drugs, Rock n' Roll", and another one called "I love to say F*ck" and the lead singer walking around with an umbrella with the word written on top... it was not my cup of tea. Made me realize how much I don't appreciate Rock or Heavy Metal or constant head banging and there are no other bands like Guns n Roses out there. So after one loooong hour of playing, and GnR fans starting to booo them, they finally finished their act.
Then, something I have never seen, the stage crew comes out to change up the stage to get ready for GnR. Normally curtains are pulled or something but we got to see them do every bit of their stage assembly. This took about 20 minutes and it was now about 9:50pm. Waiting... waiting... Fans start to chant "Guns - n - Roses" and "Axl"... waiting waiting ... fans start booing ... waiting waiting ... fans chant "Guns - n - Roses" again ... waiting... then some more booing and couple cups and bottles thrown in the air and stage... Crap... please don't repeat the last couple of nights. Then, finally, at 10:30pm, lights go out and GnR comes out! Woooohoooo! Houston we have lift off.... Welcome to the Jungle! =)
The show was great. Axl was his usual self with his couple signature moves and sways and throwing of the mic stand. Happily accepted all the thongs and bras thrown at him. And even grabbed a couple of the banners and flags that fans had made. One said "Axl is God", but my personal favorite was a flag of Italy with "I wanna feel your serpentine" written on it. There are four guitar players in the band, plus drums, plus two on keyboards. The guitarists were absolutely amazing. Freaking beyond talented. They all got their solos and absolutely rocked it. There was fire and fireworks.
Highlight of the night for me was when Axl performed "November Rain" on the piano. Other song favorites were "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and the closing encore song "Paradise City".
It was a great night! It still blows my mind how they have so many fans all over the world as do a lot of singers and bands. But to be in a different city and continent watching them was priceless.
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