Guns N’ Roses Played Another Secret New York Show, We Think

Did we just see what we think we saw? Last night our sisters at the Cut sneaked us into something called DeLeon Tequila’s Special Presentation of Nur Khan’s Famous Rose Bar Sessions, a top-secret Fashion Week—pegged concert at Gramercy Park Hotel’s Rose Bar by a group of musicians purporting to be Guns N’ Roses, at which a person bearing a similar description to this man sang several songs from Appetite for Destruction, the Lies EP, and Chinese Democracy (but only one from the Use Your Illusions and none, obviously, from The Spaghetti Incident?). Was it really Axl Rose? He wore a hat and sunglasses for most of the encore-less set, and his singing was barely audible, but his dancing, demeanor, and tardiness (the band took the stage at around 1:30 a.m.) made us pretty sure it was.

From where we were listening we could barely tell the vocals from the guitars, which certainly didn’t deter Fabrizio from the Strokes and Waris Ahluwalia from shoving past us to be nearer the unicorn on stage. In the rare moments when we could hear it, Axl’s voice did sound pretty terrific —  but how could the guy who spent 15 years fussing over the overdubs on Democracy have been okay with such a poor mix? The speakers must have been working better in the back, where a booth-dwelling Mickey Rourke seemed to be enjoying himself. To the best of our recollection, here are the songs that Guns N’ Roses, or a reasonably convincing simulacrum thereof, played:

Earlier: Guns N’ Roses Played New York Last Night

“You’re Crazy�
“Mr. Brownstone�
“Used to Love Her�
“Welcome to the Jungle�
“Street of Dreams�
“Sorry�
“It’s So Easy�
“Patience�
“Rocket Queen�
“Catcher in the Rye�
“My Michelle�
“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door�
“Whole Lotta Rosie�
“Sweet Child o’ Mine�
“Nightrain�
“Paradise City�

Earlier: Guns N’ Roses Played New York Last Night