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Rabid Guns N' Roses fans Jason and Carol got married in November. It didn't rain on their special day - it hasn't rained up their way for a while. But that month is sacred to them because of the Gunners' anthem, November Rain.
The couple, and their 9-year-old son Brody, drove 4 1/2 hours to Melbourne from the little country town of Horsham for tonight's gig at the sold-out 12,500-capacity Rod Laver Arena.
They're a dedicated bunch, these G N'R fans. And hearty too. It's foggy and freezing outside - around 6 degrees - yet a group of lads stand outside with no shirts on, pushing each other, dishing out dead arms and smoking.
Then again, they ought to be pretty hard since they're here to see the self-proclaimed "most dangerous band in the world". However, judging by the number of worn and torn G N'R T-shirts standing alongside the mix of fathers and sons, and mums and daughters, it's more of a family affair than the band's debauched concerts of their late 80s, early 90s heyday.
They last played in New Zealand at Mt Smart Stadium in February 1993 on the Use Your Illusion Tour and before that at the Supertop in December 1988 following the release of the classic, Appetite For Destruction. When they return next week to Vector Arena in Auckland for two shows on June 29 and 30, only front man Axl Rose remains from the orginal and best Gunners line up.
But the absence of key members, like frizzy-haired guitarist Slash, doesn't worry Jason, Carol and Brody who are decked out in their Gunners T-shirts. They mill about in the foyer having dinner while Aussie legend Angry Anderson and his band Rose Tattoo warm up the crowd. Brody slurps on a Coke looking wide-eyed and amped. But it's his dad who's most excited. He travelled to Thailand to get a pirated version of the new, as yet unreleased, Gunner's album, Chinese Democracy, which Rose has been working on for more than 10 years.
"They wouldn't ship it over so I had to go over and get it. I had a holiday while I was there too with the go-go girls without my wife knowing," he laughs.
When Guns N' Roses split up sometime around 1996 - it's hard to say exactly because Slash, bass player Duff McKagan and a few other members drifted in and out of the band at various times - Rose became a recluse and has spent much of the last 10 years working on Chinese Democracy. While the actual release date of the album has become a running joke, many of tonight's fans, like Jason, have already heard the new songs mostly on the internet.
Tonight the band play Better and The Blues, both of which have that classic, lizard-like Gunners swagger to them, but they get a nonchalant response from the crowd.
For many the new songs may not matter, and it may not be the real Guns N'Roses up there on stage but the hip-swaying singer with the blood-curdling holler still has pulling power.
"I reckon it's Axl and the entourage," says 35-year-old Dave from Ballarat who's here with his 11-year-old guitar-playing, Use Your Illusion I & II-loving son Josh. "But, from what I've heard, it's pretty good stuff," he reasons.
And then there's bubbly 26-year-old Sally from Melbourne who saw them in Perth, now she's seeing them in her hometown and she's also off to the Sydney gig in a couple of days.
"It'd be good if Slash was here and when I saw them in Perth the only time I missed Slash was during the November Rain solo. But Axl is fantastic. He's a little bit older and a little bit fatter, but he's still running round. He is the best frontman in any band, ever," she says.
And besides, says Julie from Warragul, who's here with her daughter, Axl is "sexy".
"And Axl, play your old stuff," she demands. "Pass that on to him will you?"
I would if I had a chance to talk to the great man. TimeOut did request an interview with Rose but were jokingly told there's about as much chance of that happening as getting an actual release date for Chinese Democracy.
Opinion might be divided on Rose's sex appeal these days because he's far from his bare-chested, bike-short wearing best. And that corn row hair-do doesn't help matters either. Tonight he wears jeans with slight cuts through both knees and a thin leather jacket unbuttoned half way down his chest to reveal a sturdy looking cross and other chains.
Despite looking a little puffy, one thing remains - that voice. He's still got it.
However, even after a blistering start to the show with Welcome to the Jungle he has to prove himself to this staunch and discerning Melbourne crowd. It's only after he hits that high-high note in Sweet Child O' Mine - six songs into the set - that he gets full respect.
And the ridiculous whiney bits of Patience - "Said sugar make it slow and we'll come together fine. All we need is just a little patience." - is classic Rose.
One thing to look out for at the Auckland shows is how often he disappears back stage, not only between songs but during songs. Now, I don't know what he was doing but one guesses he had a secret supply of Berroca that he didn't want to share.
Tonight Rose and his eight-piece band (there were five in the original Gunners) romp through It's So Easy and Mr Brownstone; the sing-a-long to Knockin' On Heaven's Door is rousing; the dramatic pauses of Live and Let Die are punctuated with booming fireworks; during Night Train Rose runs back and forth across the stage like a kid who's acting as Superman in the backyard; and even You Could Be Mine, the theme to Terminator 2: Judgement Day, sounds good.
Vector Arena had better be prepared to bend the rules a little and get a late licence for next week because Rose refuses to go on stage before 11pm. The Melbourne show finishes just after 1am and many punters are looking a little weary, especially during the overly long guitar solos from all three guitarists. But it's just like a good pub rock gig - except there are 12,500 people in this bar and they're all singing along.
The old songs are in abundance and it makes you appreciate how good they still are.
It's moments like the opening bars of Sweet Child O' Mine, with memories of Slash and his axe-wielding serenade, and the rampant neck work out of encore Paradise City that you long for the old Guns N' Roses. But it'll never happen and as 16-year-old Michael from Melbourne says: "This is the best Guns N' Roses covers band you'll ever get." He rates Rose as "the best singer in the world". He's got a point because his voice is one of the most distinctive in rock. Without it the Gunners would have been nothing.
Then again, without Slash, one doubts whether we would have made our way down to Paradise City either. But it's a great singalong.
Lowdown
Who: Guns N' Roses
Current line-up: Axl Rose (vocals); Robin Finck, Richard Fortus, Ron Thal (guitars); Frank Ferrer (drums); Tommy Stinsen (bass); Dizzy Reed, Chris Pitman (keyboards).
Where & when: Vector Arena, Auckland, June 29 (sold out) and 30; Westpac Arena, Christchurch, July 3.
Essential albums: Appetite for Destruction (1987); Use Your Illusion I and II (1991); Greatest Hits (2004)
More info: Go to www.nzherald.co.nz/gnr for an interview with Slash from 1993, a review of the show at Mt Smart Stadium also from that year, and a live review from the band's 1988 show at the Supertop.
