Few bands have spent as much time at war with their own legacy as Guns N' Roses. More than a decade after the collapse of the classic line-up, Axl Rose is still leading a version of the band that remains oddly divisive despite its obvious musical strengths. To some, it is little more than an elaborate tribute act bearing the original name. To others, it represents the continuation of a story that has never truly ended.
Whatever one's position on that debate, the musicians on stage leave little room for criticism. The setlist balances the untouchable classics with material from Chinese Democracy, an album that remains one of the strangest major-label releases ever produced. It may share little musical DNA with Appetite for Destruction or Use Your Illusion, but its refusal to conform to expectations gives it a character all its own. Hearing those songs alongside the older material highlights just how unusual the band's trajectory has become.
The production is enormous, the performances are tight, and the audience receives exactly what it has come for. Yet the evening unfolds beneath the long shadow of the band's history. By 2012, discussion surrounding Guns N' Roses often extends far beyond the music itself, encompassing public controversies, missed opportunities and seemingly endless disputes over the band's identity. Those questions remain unresolved long after the final encore.
What can not be disputed, however, ias the enduring power of the songs. Whatever shape Guns N' Roses happens to take at any given moment, that catalogue continues to fill arenas and command attention. On this particular Parisian night, it'll have to do.
