Back on his throne
Our resident Kiss92 DJ/journo is happy to see Axl Rose clawing his way back to relevance
On Monday morning, I did a good deed.
I showed a young colleague of mine a concert video of US rock group Guns N' Roses performing at the New York City rock club The Ritz in 1988.
This colleague is 21, a millennial, and I honestly believe she's never seen anything quite like it.
Since the day she was born, rock music has been on a slow, steady decline.
To her, Ed Sheeran is a rock star.
I can't think of anything sadder.
Anyway, it was amazing to see the way her face lit up as she watched the young Axl Rose do his thing on stage. It was an OMG moment for her.
Guns N' Roses were maybe the last truly great rock band.
After them, the pop music world became increasingly hip-hoppified, ultimately all but denuded of guitars.
I think it's possible that a lot of millennials don't even know what rock music actually is.
The hardest rock they hear on a daily basis is Coldplay.
Some have no clue as to the past greatness and vast potential of the genre.
That might be changing, however.
This past weekend, three of the original members of Guns N' Roses, including singer-frontman Rose, reunited for a concert at the Coachella Music Festival in California.
Coachella is the farthest thing from a rock-oriented festival, but the crowd was huge and enthusiastic for GNR.
At one point during the show, co-founder and lead guitarist Angus Young of Australian hard rock elders AC/DC joined them to perform a couple of songs.
If you haven't heard, Rose will be replacing AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson, who is suffering from hearing loss, as they close out their current tour.
He will then embark on the Not In This Lifetime tour with the almost-original line-up of Guns N' Roses.
At 54, Rose is finally reclaiming his rightful place as a hard rock god.
It was weirdly appropriate that he was confined to an actual throne - a guitar-festooned throne - during his Coachella show.
He was stuck there due to a broken foot, but in fact the dude deserves to sit on his behind and be worshipped after the decades he's spent bringing euphoria and catharsis to his fans.
Bow down, millennials.
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