It's extremely cool that Gun N' Roses are now a perfectly functional stadium act with Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan back in the fold and co-existing relatively comfortably. But that's not exactly a true Guns N' Roses reunion. Even in their classic era, before things got all weird, the band had a ton of members coming in and out, and those guys were characters. Izzy Stradlin? Matt Sorum? Guys like that were key to the mythology, and most of them aren't back in the band now. But on Monday night, a bunch of them got together in Los Angeles.
Last night, storied West Hollywood venue the Troubadour hosted the benefit show Rock For Jennifer - Loud And Legendary, a fundraiser dedicated to the late LA scenester Jennifer Perry. During the show, as Blabbermouth reports, current GN'R members Slash and Duff McKagan reunited with founding drummer Steven Adler and with Gilby Clarke, the guitarist who replaced Izzy Stradlin after he left in 1991. Adler was fired from GN'R a year before Clarke joined, so they actually never overlapped. Whatever. Doesn't matter. It's still cool, especially after Adler was reportedly hospitalized for stabbing himself in 2019.
Axl Rose wasn't there, obviously. It would've been cool if he was. (Adler did briefly rejoin Guns N' Roses onstage in 2016, so he and Rose have performed together in the past decade.) Last night's show was the first time that Slash, McKagan, Adler, and Clarke were onstage together since Guns N' Roses' 2012 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction, another event that Rose skipped. At the Troubadour, they played GN'R's Appetite classic "It's So Easy," with Faster Pussycat frontman Taime Downe on lead vocals. Adler got an especially warm reception. Watch a couple of fan videos below.
