Axl Rose is Still Rockin'

We went to see Guns N Roses recently at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. A month or so ago, a friend asked me if I wanted to go, and of course, I said yes. It didn't hurt that the tickets were free. We got to the Forum and inside by 8pm, which was a half hour after the show was due to start. The lines were insanely long outside due to the security doing metal detecter checks on every single person. Eek! Lots of good people watching inside and out - people with 80's hair and all sorts of fun things to look at.

Sometime after 8:30, possibly closer to 9pm, the first act finally came out. We didn't know who to expect, since the tickets just said Guns N Roses, so we were surprised when it was Sebastian Bach! He was so-so. I knew 4 or 5 of the old songs he did (Slave to the Grind, 18 and Life, I Remember You), didn't like the new stuff, and his voice didn't sound that great. But who cared? We had sweet suite seats about 20 rows up from the right side of the stage, and a primo view. Not to mention free beer in the suite - yay!

After Sebastion was finished screaming into the mic, they tore down his set and set up another set. I went out in search of a t-shirt for me, and a snack for both of us. Forty dollars later, I had my t-shirt, and $7 later, I had a pretzel. We got back into the suite just as the second act was starting...and imagine our suprise when it was NOT Axl Rose, but Papa Roach. They did a great set, but I wasn't into it - I'm not a fan of theirs, I only know about 3 songs, but even so, I could tell they were doing better than Sebastian. FINALLY they were done, and their set was getting taken down.