I saw GnR the last time they came through, and was amazed. But this show blew the previous tours out of the water!
Duff and his solo band opened. Duff cracked jokes about "The elephant in the room" (him opening for a band he helped launch), before playing a full hour of Loaded material, as well as GnR songs "So Fine", "Attitude" and "New Rose".
When Duff left the stage I figured we were in for a long wait. We barely had time to comment on Duff's show and suddenly the house lights were down and the crowd was screaming. It seriously was the shortest wait between bands I've ever seen. The opening strains of Chinese Democracy began and the crowd erupted. My girlfriend is a Chinese Democracy fan, and when Axl's vocals kicked in sounding raw and note-perfect, her eyes actually watered up with happiness. They launched right into Welcome To The Jungle next, and when Axl nailed every single scream perfectly, my girlfriend was so happy she held her face in her hands and cried. That will always be my favorite GnR memory. Axl paused during the "You know where you are" breakdown in Jungle and told the crowd that the song had been written in Seattle!
During Estranged, all the fans in the front row held up inflatable dolphins and waved them around in time with the beat.
One of them was thrown on stage and Axl kicked it back into the crowd.
Axl congratulated all the former members of the band for the Hall of Fame induction, and then launched right into "Sorry". Which could be a pretty cold blow if it really is about Slash.
Later Axl invited Duff on stage to play on You Could Be Mine, which I videotaped:
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/COZULJCAAks?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/COZULJCAAks?version=3&amp;hl=en_US</a>]]>GnR's performance was over THREE HOURS LONG. They played everything I wanted to hear, and lots of covers and solos.
Aside from Axl's vocals, my favorite part of the show was definitely DJ. He ran, jumped off risers and interacted with the crowd the entire time, while playing the hell out of the songs in his bluesy Slash style while still making them his own instead of merely copying previous guitarists. He has that energy that GnR had in their club days, and it really adds to the show.
Here's the Seattle PI's take on the night:Guns N’ Roses, Loaded set KeyArena on fire By GENE STOUTIt was classic arena rock: Axl Rose and Guns N’ Roses — plus former bandmate Duff McKagan and Loaded — on stage Friday, Dec. 16, at Seatle’s KeyArena.
Face-melting pyrotechnics, numerous spotlight solos, five video screens and a split-level stage with a “grille” of LED lights – all done in a red, white and black color scheme that would have pleased Santa’s wardrobe department.
Seattle fans got a special treat when former G N’ R bassist (and Seattle native) McKagan opened the show with his current band, Loaded – then joined Rose and company later for a raucous version of “You Could Be Mine.”
The Key was maybe 15 percent full at the official start time of 7:30 p.m., but filled to more than half capacity for the opening set by Loaded. By the time Rose and Guns N’ Roses took the stage at 10:30 p.m., the arena was completely packed. G N’ R continued playing into the wee hours of the morning, rocking and rolling through a long, loud, lead-footed show.
The boisterous concert opened with the theme to TV’s “Dexter,” before exploding with a flash pot-enhanced version of “Chinese Democracy” – followed by “Welcome to the Jungle,” “It’s So Easy” and “Mr. Brownstone.”
With more than 30 songs in the marathon set, the band charged through its songs like a grizzly bear on fire.
Classic songs peppered the show, among them “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City.” Rose, wearing jeans, black jacket, black hat, dark glasses and several crosses around his neck, was in great form, commanding the crowd’s attention.
Even at 49, Rose still has plenty of sass and attitude, qualities fans expect from the veteran rocker and only original member of G N’ R. He looked fit.
Band members playing solos included guitarists Richard Fortus, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (on “Pink Panther” theme) and DJ Ashba (“Ballad of Death”); pianist Dizzy Reed (“Baba O’Reilly) and frontman Rose, also on piano (“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and other songs). Among the instrumental jams was a powerful take on “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2.” And bassist Tommy Stinson was featured on the song “Motivation.”
There were some other choice cover songs, too, among them Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” AC/DC’s “Riff Raff” and “Whole Lotta Rosie”; and Paul McCartney and Wings’ James Bond theme, “Live And Let Die.”
The audience clearly got its money’s worth from the marathon rock ‘n’ roll show. The current tour is a nice prelude to the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2012.
A highlight reel of Seattle footage filmed in the front row:<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/PJiaY0Q9Tow?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/PJiaY0Q9Tow?version=3&amp;hl=en_US</a>]]>Queenie, if you say anything negative in here, you will be banned. 
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