48 Hours in Vegas for Guns N’ Roses

When Guns N’ Roses was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, I thought if the original lineup was ever going to reunite, it would be then. So my good friend Brian (a walking, talking late ‘80s/early ‘90s music historian whom I met writing on MTV’s Total Request Live) and I flew to Cleveland in the hopes we would see Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steve Adler on stage for the first time in two decades.

That didn’t happen.

Instead, we got Myles Kennedy fronting GNR, which I imagine is the equivalent of patiently waiting for months to see Hamilton and instead of Lin-Manuel Miranda, getting his understudy. (No offense to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s understudy.) Axl’s “not in my lifetime” quote to TMZ about a reunion was becoming a sad reality.

Four years later, that all changed, when in early January GNR announced they would be headlining Coachella. A few weeks later, two warm-up shows in Las Vegas were announced which would become the kickoff to the Not In This Lifetime Tour. Unfortunately, Forrest Gump had an easier time finding a seat on the school bus than I had getting a seat during a pre-sale process that seemed to be an exercise in refreshing your computer screen. But my friends and I were determined. And if we were willing to fly to Cleveland for GNR, you bet your sweet child of mine we were headed to Sin City.

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