It was a throwback to the heyday of Guns n’ Roses Friday night in Long Island, as former drummer Steven Adler and his new band, Adler’s Appetite ripped through new original songs as well as plenty of Gn’R classics for a screaming crowd of old school fans.
The legend of Guns n’ Roses occupies a strange place in the year 2011. With the Velvet Revolver fiasco hopefully firmly in the past, Slash has seen significant success with his solo album and tour, while Duff McKagen’s band Loaded has received critical acclaim as well. Meanwhile, Axl hasn’t played domestically since 2006, but his rebuilt version of Guns n’ Roses seems to be going strong, if only overseas. Enter Steven Adler: after a twenty year drug binge and life-saving stint on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab, the drummer has formed a new band, and is playing the generation-defining hits from Appetite For Destruction as he hits clubs around the country.
Adler’s Appetite played New York last summer at Brooklyn’s Bell House (read my review of that show here, and watch my interview with Adler here), and an enthusiastic crowd cheered wildly as the band took the stage at the Crazy Donkey, easily one of Long Island’s best venues for rock and metal. Appetite for Destruction may have come out almost 25 years ago, but opening songs Nightrain and Out Ta Get Me sounded as spectacular as ever, with virtually every fan singing along and the band, especially Adler, right on point.
The group recently made some lineup changes, and new singer Patrick Stone proved to be an engaging frontman, deftly paying homage to Axl’s sound and even dancing style, without seeming like he was directly imitating the notorious Rose. He nailed all of the piss and spite in tone on songs like My Michelle and Mr. Brownstone, and faltered only on the end of Rocket Queen, when the super-high octave proved to be too much to force his voice through. But with the Crazy Donkey’s resident leather-clad go-go dancers joining the band on stage for the song, it’s possible no one else even noticed.
But while Stone did the singing, dancing, and bantering, it was obvious that this was still Steven Adler’s band. The drums were clear and front in the mix for the entire night, and Adler’s enthusiasm was practically contagious, a giant smile on his face as he pounded his way through a dozen of the greatest rock songs ever written, and gesturing at the crowd to sing along, as well as jumping out of his seat between most songs.
While group played a couple of originals tracks, it was the Guns n’ Roses material that clearly ruled the night. After playing half of the Appetite for Destruction album, the opening notes to Sweet Child O’ Mine elicited screams of delights from the women in the crowd, and Adler, Stone, and guitarists Michael Thomas and Lonnie Paul absolutely tore up the Donkey as they blasted through the hit song and piercing solo. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door also proved to be a high point of the night as the band jammed out and Stone had the audience roaring along to the timeless lyrics, fans swaying together as the group of rock veterans more than did justice to both Dylan and Axl’s visions of the song. The only complain would be that the hour-long set could’ve been longer, and favorite songs like It’s So Easy and Paradise City were left out before the night’s final tune, Welcome to the Jungle.
Appetite For Destruction will always stand as a landmark album, a record of the sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll of 1987 Los Angles, and as Axl, Duff, Slash and Izzy move on in their careers, it’s a fortunate for the fans that Steven Adler is determined to play club after club with the energy of his 18 year old former self. He’s put together a top notch band in Adler’s Appetite, and any Gn’R fan owes it to themselves to catch this act when they come around next.
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