Guns N' Roses

When, in October, Guns N’ Roses’ manager Merck Mercuriadis told Rolling Stone that Chinese Democracy “will come out this year. There are ten Tuesdays left before January—it will come out on one of them,” even the most die-hard GNR fans let out a collective snicker. It’s been a 15-year, $13 million wait since Use Your Illusion I and II. Is it possible that, as rumors strongly suggest, one of the most expensive and problematic albums in rock history will simply slip unannounced into stores on November 21?

At press time we didn’t know yet (everyone’s breath is still held, we’re guessing). What we do know is this: Save for keyboardist Dizzy Reed, Axl Rose is the only original member on Chinese Democracy (the other Guns jumped ship long ago, going on to projects like the far less interesting Velvet Revolver). It’s being mixed by Andy Wallace (Nirvana), a master of the Big Rock Sound and fully capable of producing the whomp this album needs. And the unmastered leaks floating around the Web hint at everything from “November Rain”–tinged piano ballads to oddly meshed samples from films like Cool Hand Luke to the dancey industrial that Axl’s supposedly been dabbling in for years (and one—although certainly not the prime—reason Slash quit the band).

But whether or not Axl’s overgrown, bloated vanity project is listenable is beside the point. We’re dealing here with Axl Rose, simultaneously one of the most brilliant and obnoxiously looney characters in rock, the kind of guy who’ll punch Tommy Hilfiger for looking at him the wrong way and cancel a show in Maine because the state’s teetotaling laws dictate his bandmates cannot drink their usual beer and Jägermeister while performing. He’s a nut (Stephanie Seymour, what were you ever thinking?), and this week’s show at Allstate is going to be a circus—especially with opener Sebastian Bach, who has inexplicably devolved into Axl’s lackey, often dueting with him onstage and periodically sucking up to him in the press. If he shows up at all, Axl will be two hours late, exactly the way he was when we saw him at Rosemont Horizon 15 years ago, and he won’t shed one tear into his Jack and Coke over the inconvenience.

So why bother? Here’s why: Because it’s Guns N’ fuckin’ Roses. There are only a few groups today that can induce the state of euphoria in a crowd that even the memory of this band can. And while it may not be Slash and Duff onstage (although Izzy Stradlin has popped in for the occasional show), Axl’s hired Guns have been on salary for nearly a decade practicing these songs—when three guitars can play “Sweet Child O’ Mine” in righteous unison, it’s obvious this is one of the tightest tribute bands in the business. As for Axl, he’s been energetic and in good vocal shape so far on tour, and crowds have been receptive to the new material. But that’s not really why we’re going. When the lights go down, and Axl lets rip his “Do you know where you are?” battle screech, it’ll all become clear.—Antonia Simigis