American rockers from Texas , Brand New Machine opened for GN’R ... and by the time the main act came on stage, Gurgaon’s Leisure Valley ground was already primed and high on the incredible sound system ... then the new GN'R line up took the stage with Frank Ferrer on drums, a Jesus Christ looking Ron Bumblefoot replacing Buckethead on lead guitar, an Afro less patched up tophat wearing Slash-lookalike-from-a-distance DJ Ashba on lead guitar, a DJ Ashba-twin-without the-tophat Richard Fortus on rhythm guitar, red jacket wearing Tommy Stinson on bass and backing vocals , Chris Pitman on keyboards, Dizzy Reed in a suit n tie ( the only other member from the Illusion era) and Axl Rose with at least 6 jacket changes, one shiny black plastic hair wig, one creepy Axl Rose mask, his famous snake dance ( with age limited hip side thrusts), his famous slamming of the mike stand and oh yes ... at 50 years old ... with his famous voice and energy more than intact !! ... ( trivia: did you know that Teen Mag USA has listed Axl Rose as number 2 behind grandparents”on the list of 100 coolest old people :p) ... They played a super memorable 3 hour set .... and then an extra one beyond Gurgaon’s 10 pm curfew limit ... with AXL saying ... "if there is trouble, don’t blame me, allrite !!" ... with the crowd roaring with approval !! .... Axl dedicated the Gurgaon concert to sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, who passed away the same day.

Axl Rose – lead vocals, primary songwriter (1985 - present)

Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano, percussion, backing vocals (1990 - present)

Tommy Stinson – bass, backing vocals (1998 - present)

Chris Pitman – keyboards, backing vocals (1998 - present)

Richard Fortus – rhythm guitar (2002 - present)

Frank Ferrer – drums (2006 - present)

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal – lead guitar (2006 - present)

DJ Ashba – lead guitar (2009 - present)

The first thing we were told on reaching the venue, was that we had permission to photograph only 3 songs with our cam, after that only mobile devices were permitted .... this was as per the GN'R managements instructions ... Axl’s dislike about being photographed during concerts is legendary ... (One thing Axl Rose does not like is cameras, especially at Guns N’ Roses concerts. When he sees one in the audience, he points it out to security immediately – even if he’s in the middle of a song. That’s precisely what happened during a 1991 concert in St. Louis in one of the more memorable Axl Rose meltdown moments. "Take that! Get that guy, and take that!” Rose yelled to security after spotting a camera pointed in his direction. Unfortunately, security took longer than Axl would have liked, so he took matters into his own hands. “I'll take it!” Rose yelled, and hurled himself into the crowd to claim the offending camera. Axl was eventually hauled back onto the stage, where he hurled insults at the venue’s security crew before tossing his mic and fleeing the stage. The drama didn’t end there. When the house lights went up 10 minutes later, fans rioted, damaging the venue and sending 60 people to the hospital. —Jeff Royer) 

Phew !! Thank God, we have some great shots as keepsakes .... in fact our brave S (the only female photog in the media pit) also got a very public flying kiss from DJ Ashba ... i don't think she will ever forget THAT till her dying days :) ... Enjoy the photographs ...... and if any of you would like a hi resolution print, you can contact Shima@delhistyleblog.com :)

Delhi Style Blog interviewed Adil Manuel (musician from New Delhi band Adil n Vasundhara ) who attended the Gurgaon GN'R concert about his experience :

DSB : What did you think about the concert and the present line up?

AM : The concert was slamming ! It is very tough to pull off a 3 hour concert and they did just that. Entertaining from start to finish. The new lineup brings to the table the vitality and raw energy that one saw during the Use Your Illusion period both on record and live.

DSB : Your opinion on Ron, Asbha, and Fortus ?

AM : I am a huge fan of Ron's playing and have known his music way before he was associated with GN'R. He brings the virtuosity element into the band.

Ashba and Fortus are tremendously skilled & tight players. The powerful trio give GN'R that new huge sound that I so enjoy ! I must also mention that it is very difficult for 2 guitarists to work together live, leave alone three and these three vibe and blend effortlessly on stage. A lot of hard work has gone in to that !

DSB : Did you miss the old logo with the two 44 magnum guns and 2 roses intertwined?

AM : I am ok with them, not much into logos honestly so there u go ....

There are a few new versions. The magnums & roses version was designed by Slash so the new one is probably a departure from that image and more.

DSB : As a musician did you like this older version of Axl Rose ?

AM : Axl did a fab job at the gig in Gurgaon. All respect to him. I like where he is now and he makes no bones about it too !

Surojit Dev (Drummer, Them Clones) who went along with me for the concert couldn't have put it better by stating at the end of the concert that "Axl is a survivor !" Besides a lot of other music, he and I also grew up on a lot of music from the 80's and 90's. To have seen them then and now, I couldn't be more in agreement with him ... GN'R sounded fresh, raw, tight and loud. Arena rock revisited !!! Thank You Mooz and hope to see a lot more !!

Adil n Vasundhara

(Adil Manuel and Vasundhara Vidalur spearhead a collaborative outfit based out of New Delhi. Their musical spectrum spans Jazz Fusion, Funk, RnB, Blues and Gospel. Extensively working with artists based in India and abroad, their focus has been the creation of new sounds and energies through collaboration, exchange and cross-influence. Find out more about them here Adil N Vasundhara Facebook )

Samuel Berlie

People talked and talked about Slash missing from the line up ... But frankly, the present one gave us one hell of a show ... To quote Samuel Berlie, (rhythm guitar and vocals), from Mumbai based band The Other People .... 

"Well i know of these guitarists and believe that having such talented musician playing in India definitely acts as inspiration for young musicians. These are guitarists that have absolute knowledge on playing technique and music theory. They are absolute entertainers when it comes to performing on stage. A lot can be learned from guitarists like them."

(The Other People is The Grand Prize Winner of the Pixel Project's Fall 2012 YouTube Cover Carnival ... read more about them here The Other People Facebook )

We would like to thank Six Degrees PR ( About Six Degrees PR  ) for enabling us to cover this once in a lifetime dream concert and Mooz Entertainment ( About Mooz Entertainment  ) for the excellent arrangements and security ... as a female team we are happy to state that it was a very safe and well patrolled venue .... and also thank you Mooz for getting GN'R to India .... it was such an unbelievably fantastic experience .... its not the bands hell raising bad boy antics that draw new fans and make worshipers of the old ones .... its those vulnerable lyrics sung by a bad ass survivor of life that one can't get over .... Sweet Child, November Rain, Patience, Don't Cry, Estranged .... a trip to Paradise City no less !!!

DS