Sunday, November 05, 2006

Happenings

Haven't really had time to check in lately... In case you haven't heard, my mom has cancer, yet again. I don't know if this qualifies as being her fourth battle with cancer, or not. I kinda think it has been there since, like, March, when she had ovarian cancer, and the doctors just didn't spot it then... The reason behind my theory is because she has cancer in her breast again, in her liver, in her right lung, and in her bones... It's bad this time... She's in the hospital as we speak. She keeps saying she's going to get better again. But, like I said, it's bad... The only reason she survived cancer the first two times is because of early detection. No one caught it in time this time around. It's had time to spread through, pretty much, her whole body. She's going to have to have chemotherapy again. I think that's pretty pointless, myself. The only thing that's going to save her this time is your prayers.

I've been trying to keep my mind off my mom's sickness, because it's just too much for me to handle... So... In an effort to keep myself distracted, I saw my third concert this year, Friday night. I went with Brother J.R. to see GUNS N' FREAKIN' ROSES!!! Guns N' Roses is probably my favorite band of all time, as you all know. I don't care if it was just Axl Rose, and his side band, and not the original GN'R, this was still a dream come true. Amazing concert, man! I've been kinda idolizing Axl Rose for the better part of 20 years now, and I must say, I've never seen him happier, or more upbeat than he was Friday night. He kept smiling, and joking around, and stuff. It was inspiring. Sebastian Bach opened the show, at 8:00. That was a bit of a surprise, because I didn't even think GN'R was having an opening band. Sebastian rolled out a bunch of my old favorite Skid Row songs, as well as a few of his new songs. He even dissed Ted Nugent for a while. He said, on the VH1 show, "Super Group," Ted put him down for drinking. So, Friday, Sebastian struck back by saying something along the lines of, "Ted Nugent is a weirdo, who gets out and shoots little animals for fun, and he calls me a bad person because I drink." Heh. He seemed a little lost during his show, though. He kept forgetting what song was next, and stuff... In all, Sebastian, and his band played for about an hour and a half... Then, the big moment? Guns N' Roses? Nope, not yet... Papa Roach played for, like, 45 minutes. They're not a bad band... They're pretty decent, actually, but they seemed to annoy me, though, because I was getting tired of waiting for GN'R to hit the stage. FINALLY... Around 11:00, the lights went out, and Axl Rose screamed out, "Do you know where you are???" The place erupted. It made the hair stand on the back of my neck. "Welcome To The Jungle," of course... It was a fairly typical GN'R set list, followed by: "It's So Easy," "Mr. Brownstone," "Live and Let Die," "Knocking On Heaven's Door," "You Could Be Mine," "Sweet Child O' Mine," and "Street Of Dreams." There were a few surprises, like, the next song, a new one... I'd heard a demo of it before, but never heard it live. I think it's called "Better." Kinda weird, and freaky song, but it was okay... Then, "Out Ta Get Me," "I.R.S," and "November Rain." And, in the biggest surprise of the night, they played my favorite song from "The Spaghetti Incident" album... Axl said, "I haven't sung this song for about 13 years..." "Down On The Farm." It was great!!! Then, a cool acoustic section: "You're Crazy, " "Used To Love Her," and "Patience." And... Another neat thing. Axl brought Sebastian Bach out to sing "My Michelle" with him. Good stuff! Umm... "Nightrain," and "Rocket Queen." And, for the encore, they played "Chinese Democracy," and "Paradise City." Really really really good show! So glad I got to see that. I would've never imagined I'd get to see Guns N' Roses in concert. And, even though it wasn't the real Guns N' Roses, with Slash, Duff, and Izzy, it was still really cool. I loved it!







Oh, and the little red, rectangular thing beside my ticket scan is a piece of the red confetti that was dropping from the ceiling at the end of "Paradise City." Yes, I kept it. I'm weird...