Guitar Hero !

Rock n roll ! I love it. My music tastes genuinely transcend genre - anything from Michael Bubble or a bit of Take That right through to Metallica. A great tune is vital but I like a realy strong vocalists (Chris Cornell is my current fav, YouTube his name with "You know My Name" if you don't know him) but a great guitar riff always gets me.

Back in my undergrad days Guns n Roses released their seminal album Appetite for Destruction. It was a monster hit across the world and more importantly with me! I became an instant GnR fan and loved the their follow-up double ablums Use Your Illusion 1 and 2. I was never a big fan of the lead singer Axel Rose, don't like his voice and his childish throwing of the teddy out of the cot got tiresome very quickly. The lead guitarist, Slash, on the other hand with his awesome playing, definitive style and grounded personality was more my scene. Axel tore GnR apart and after a while Slash reformed with some of the band members as Velvet Revolver. Their first album was very very good but the second one did not reach the same heights. After they split slash released a solo album in 2010 with a range of guest vocalists. It is back to his best.

So, in May I came across the fact by chance that he was touring in the uk. I paid 3-times the face vlue for a ticket to see him at the Birmingham O2 Academy and went last week. it was a great night. I pushed my way down the front to within 4 or 5 rows from the stage and got a great view. Got to see one of my guitar heros right up close and his was on top form.

I ended the night dripping wet from a combination of sweat (mostly) and lager being thrown about. Required a t-shirt on the way out just to have something dry to wear for the drive home!

That's another thing I can tick off from my list of things to do before I die :-)