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My first GNR show was London, Ontario 2010. God damn, was that a time.  I started really getting into GNR in high school. I started really immersing myself in GNR in around 2006, started lurking here in 2007 or so, and got Chinese Democracy the day it came out (after immersing myself in leaks). My first rock concert was Rush in 2007, so I missed GNR's 2006 tour by a few months, but I remember seeing advertisements for it in town when it rolled through. It seemed like forever for the tour to be announced after the album came out. Back then, Axl was kind of a rare touring act. I was worried I would never see GNR, which is funny looking back. There were lots of rumors between the end of 2008 and the announcement of the tour in late 2009 like they would tour with an orchestra or that they would tour with Van Halen, etc.  Finally, they announced a brief Asian and an extensive Canadian tour in late 2009. Fall of 2009 was probably the most hyped I have seen this place. 2016 was close and obviously, the reunion gets a lot more traction, but the forums were overall more active back then because social media communities weren't as much of a thing. One of the Canadian dates happened to be only about 2 hours or so away. I had just started college that fall and didn't have a car, but I bought two pit tickets, nonetheless. My friend and I convinced his mom to drive us and get us a hotel. Thanks, friend's mom. The lead up was great. The "new" lineup actually sounded really good. Everyone was worried about DJ in 2009, and obviously we know how that ended up, but in 2009 and 2010 he was pretty well received in the band. Him and Bumble played more faithful to the studio material in 09-10 and I think people liked that at the time. Looking back, of course, I would take weird and creative Robin instead of DJ, but that is neither here nor there. The bootlegs from the Asian tour were phenomenal with a great video of Osaka and a soundboard of Tokyo coming out. I played the hell out of those leading up to my show in January of 2010.  Finally, our show came. I had wanted to see Axl for years so this was a defining music moment for me. He would be the first member of any GNR irritation that I would see. The ride up was fun, we played the Tokyo bootleg on the way up. London is a pretty small city, so even NuGNR coming to town was a big deal. People were blasting GNR throughout the city and stores and restaurants all seemed to be talking about it. It was pretty cool to us since we were teenagers. The hotel was pretty nice, and the venue was great. It was in a smaller arena. We waited hours in line to get a good spot (but quickly bought t- shirts which are now long- gone) and were just a row or 2 behind the rail on stage left. The wait was an event in itself. We witnessed fights, girls in the rafters started taking their clothes off and were put on the jumbotron, I almost got beaten up by a D- list UFC fighter who wanted my spot, Canadian act Danko Jones was the first opener, then Sebastian Bach played and yelled at security for not letting people take photographs. Finally, after several hours, GNR started.  Having Chinese Democracy start and seeing Axl come out was one of those pivotal concert memories. His voice was absolutely killer that show, probably the best I have ever seen. We know how kick- ass he sounded in 2010, and I am glad it was my first representation of him live, in- person. The whole band brought it, and my friend even caught Bumblefoot's pick at the end of Patience. The setlist was excellent for a fan witnessing the band for the first time. All the warhorses felt fresh and exciting back then for me, and we got 9 Chinese Democracy songs including rarities like If the World (that was awesome, live) and Scraped. I love Chinese Democracy, and this felt like a true album tour where the songs felt exciting and new. At the end of the show, Axl and the band hung out on stage for a bow and pictures while some girls passed shots out into the audience. The show finally ended at around 1 or 2am.  We had a great trip, and it is one of my fondest memories. No, it wasn't the original band and Slash and Duff were absent, but for a teenager just really getting immersed in the music, it really was an incredible experience. I have seen them 9 other times since, and have good memories attached to all of those shows. The London show has somewhat been surpassed by seeing the real- deal with my favorite reunion show. I can write paragraphs on how amazing 2016 was, but that doesn't take anything away from that first GNR show. I got to see Axl from the front of the crowd for the first time, performing my favorite music, with my best friend on a sort of out- of- town trip as I was ending my teenage years and starting a new chapter in life. It is a core memory and one that I like reminiscing on. It is crazy that this was almost 15 years ago. I was 18 when I went to this show and now I am over half- way to 33. That really is messing with my head . If you enjoy concerts, I hope you get to see them @Karice. I am sure they have a few more big tours in the tank, and they are still worth seeing.  TLDR- 2010. It was good. 

I really really love Metal Chestnut, his soloing is just so pure early 90s Slash. I wish the song would just go on and on and on. It somehow feels celebratory and triumphant, like he knew he had a killer record on his hands and wanted to give it a fitting fare well. Makes me feel like the first few years of my love for Estranged, where I wished his solos would just go on for much much longer.

They were so late that the fans were booing the tits being shown on the big screen! I'll never forget that!  That was my last. Great show but things sadly declined after 2016.

May 26, 1993, Istanbul, most beautiful city. We had Izzy, Soul Asylum was swapped with Brian May  Band was on fire. We went to the stadium 1 day before to get the first line :)) 

Toronto 2016