Welcome Back Axl Rose; Scott Weiland

I'm not going to lie. I'm glad that Axl Rose is back. First of four performances at Hammerstein ran 2 hours, 15 minutes. That's fucking tight. Sebastian Bach joined him on stage for "You're Crazy" and "My Michelle."

In a somewhat related note...last year I had tickets to Velvet Revolver at Merriweather Post Pavilion. I was psyched for the show because Scott Weiland (of the oft-maligned outfit, Stone Temple Pilots) mesmerizes me. My buddy couldn't go, I didn't want to get stuck with the ticket and the First Lady joined me. Reluctantly. We barely spoke for the entire show (which ran upward of two hours) because it was so loud, but I noticed the First Lady was digging it. Walking back to the car I asked her if she saw the part where Slash was soloing behind his head and she said...."I couldn't take my eyes off of Weiland, that's one of the most entertaining bands I have ever seen."

The thing that kind of pisses me off is that G 'N R had a lot of promise in the hard rock arena. Don't get me wrong, they brought it, and brought it well for a long time. But, I was pissed when it all dissolved. It just seemed like there was a lot of talent there. Too much to go to waste. In the end, I guess it works out that there are now two bands and one of those is a place that a guy like Weiland can get his shit together in.

I never really understood the backlash STP felt. They weren't from Seattle (hailed from San Diego I believe) and Weiland was pegged as a Vedder-wannabe from the get go, but they have an intense catalog that I feel will age well with time. "Plush" has one of my all-time favorite chord progressions and "Interstate Love Song" is a magnificent pop song. Am I out of line in saying this? Just to speak of Weiland's versatility, I was hanging out on a Saturday morning watching VH1 Classics and out of nowhere Cyndi Lauper brings Weiland out to do the last three or four songs on this live concert of hers. It was ridiculous, and the gem of the whole thing was "Barbarella" (scroll down to find it). There was also a priceless interview with Weiland talking about the importance of 80s music despite the beatings it takes. I guess I feel the same way about his band's catalog.

That's right, I just tossed props to Scott Weiland, Guns 'n Roses, Velvet Revolver, Cyndi Lauper and Stone Temple Pilots in no particular order.