Finally got tickets for the Guns n Roses concert. Come to think of it now, its been a long wait. My first memories of MTV in India are those of some freaks with lots of style making collective noise which was, apparently, music. There was a dude with a cigarette perenially sticking to his lips playing guitar and another guy with a pony tail screaming his guts out. I dint care much for their music then. But the video was great. Yes, I am talking about November Rain and Slash playing his solo standing on a piano as Axl Rose performs on stage and in the video. During my years in Engineering college, rock was the only kind of music which was ever played in the hostel and it was hard to come out of college without being converted into a hard core rock fan. Ever since, I wanted to watch GnR live in concert and thats finally gonna happen tomorrow.

While in college, I graduated to some heavier stuff like Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Sabbath, Sepultura etc. Rock music has been around for about half a century but if there's someone who has to be credited for making rock look sexy, it should be undoubtedly GnR. In the late 80s, there were only a few rock bands around and most of the people dismissed rock music to be too trashy (and not in the trash metal way). Guitar never looked so good before as it did in the hands of Slash. And there are few very people with the kind of stage presence and energy which Axl Rose exudes.

Too much talent leads to destruction if there isnt a sane mind to handle it. Ironically, GnR's biggest hit album was named Appetite for Destruction. The band members of GnR took to drugs and alcohol addcition as if there is no tomorrow. Couple this with ego problems between Slash and Axl and a split was inevitable. It was heart breaking to hear about the split and that Guns n Roses will never exist as a band again. (Yes, the GnR I will be watching does not have Slash or Steve Adler). Slash joined the Stone Temple Pilots to form Velvet Revolver while Axl is the only surviving member of the original GnR.

Its rather frustrating to see loads of talent going waste. Somehow, every genius comes with a baggage of self-destructive elements. Take the case of Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Wasnt he supposed to be the God of alternative rock? But his suicide confirmed one thing. After all, every genius, is finally just human. You need to be superhuman to cope with the stress which comes along with talent, fame and media glare. For a common man, it may be easy to say: sure, make me a celebrity and i will cope up with the pressure easily. But very few actually have a sane mind to deal with it. Some, like members of GnR, develop fat egos, or take to drugs. Others, like Elvis in his final years, prefer basking in their past glory. Still others, like Cobain, who do not have a strong mind to deal with the pressure take up extreme steps. Its something like what we see in the superman or spiderman movies: With a great power comes a greater responsibility.

The association of Slash, Steve Adler and Axl Rose lasted less than 5 years. But that short period of time saw them chrun out hits like Paradise City,  Sweet Child O Mine, Welcome to the Jungle and so on. Appetite for destruction has been the highest selling debut album of all time. At one point, both Use Your Illusion 1 and 2 were vying for the top spot at the same time. This will probably be a unique case of such an occurance. In that time, they rose from nobodies to icons. I always wonder what it would have been if they could settle their creative differences and make music the way only they could. Post slash era has been pretty mediocre for GnR and their new album Chinese Democracy has been in the making since the last 8-9 years.

These thoughts apart, I am pretty excited about watching GnR show tomorrow. I have just one thing to say to Mr. Rose.....Take me down to the Paradise City...............