Guns N’ Roses puts on sweet show at Covelli

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

dastolfo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

On the day the band he has fronted for 25 years was named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Axl Rose demonstrated why it belongs there.

Rose and the current version of Guns N’ Roses gave a two and a half hour concert at Covelli Centre Wednesday night that didn’t end until 1:30 a.m.

GNR was selected as part of the 2012 class of the Rock Hall that morning. So it was good timing for Youngstown —even though Rose barely mentioned it. He briefly acknowledged the rock hall honor before the final song.

Did he simply stick to set list out of humility? Professionalism? Rock attitude, trumping sincerity? Did he downplay the topic because part of the honor must go to Slash and Izzy Stradlin, the integral members who departed the band well over a decade ago?

Who knows. But holy cow -- the hall of fame is only an hour away from the stage, in Cleveland.

At least there were no glaring omissions in the song repertoire, which began with “Chinese Democracy” — the title cut of the underappreciated 2008 album — and ended hours later with “Paradise City.”

Despite his lack of banter, Rose still answered a lot of the criticism that has been dogging him: too old, too sloppy, too ignorant, too arrogant. His act has been called everything short of a GNR tribute band (actually, they have been called that).

While the Rock Hall honor — which impressively came on the first ballot — had to be a shot in the arm, Rose and his band, including guitarist DJ Ashba, still played like they had something to prove, and did it with that glammy LA swagger.

Vocally, Rose can still shriek those high notes, which put the edge on songs like “Sweet Child O Mine”; and like an involuntary reflex, that trademark side-to-side sway kept surfacing.

He brought out the grand piano a couple of times, first for a ripping instrumental version of “Baba O’Reilly” (Rose demonstrated his keyboard command here with an intro that included Elton John riffs), and later for “November Rain.”

It was easily the latest-ending concert ever at Covelli, but just about everyone in the packed hall — was the stage moved forward a few rows to tighten up the house? — stayed until the final out.

The long song list included the stalwarts — “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Mr. Brownstone,” “Patience,” “Knocking on Heaven’s Door, “You Could be Mine” — as well as newer material like “Better” and “Shackler’s Revenge.”

Zakk Wylde and his Black Label Society biker-rock band opened the show.