On Tuesday, July 19, 2016, I, along with three other delinquents, ventured to the faraway land of Foxborough, Massachusetts to see Guns N’ Roses in concert with (most) of the original line up. The reality of what was happening didn’t actually set in until we found our seats among the titan that is Gillette Stadium (Go Pats!). Within moments of sitting down, the stage lit up and music instantly filled the entire stadium.

For me, the most important part of the night was Saul Hudson, better known as Slash, the genius behind the guitar assault of Guns N’ Roses’ early days. Many “real players” enjoy poking fun of Slash. I do not. His leads have always been a wonderful blend of bluesy melodic playing and intense hard hitting, dirty rock & roll.

The night started off heavy with It’s So Easy, and kept rolling with Mr. Brownstone immediately after. Slash played mainly Les Pauls for the entire set, with a few Gibson double necks, one Firebird, and 3 BC Rich Mockingbird’s thrown in for good measure. For the entirety of the 26 song set, Slash did exactly what the audience had hoped he would do: play damn well and look cool doing it. Even after so many years of playing the same songs, and then so many years avoiding certain members of the band, Slash still brought the intensity and fire that was heard originally on Appetite for Destruction. Slash also, I’m happy to say, kept a healthy blend of the classic solos we all know and love, and just enough of improv to keep things interesting. Though I’m sure many non-musician members of the audience didn’t notice, the tiny variations in his playing were very interesting and uniquely “him.”

All in all, it was like stepping back into the 80’s for one night. The crowd had fun and the guys in the band looked as if they were actually enjoying performing. For over 3 hours everybody just sang along to songs the public thought would never be performed again by the people that wrote and made them famous in the first place.