When Axl Rose finally appeared on the Fargodome stage at 10:15 Friday night and asked, "Do you know where you are," it seemed many in the crowd were ready to ask in response, "Do you know what time it is?"
The lead singer and a new version of Guns N' Roses made the crowd of 6,575 wait nearly an hour after warm-up sets by CKY and Mix Master Mike.
Fans made good use of the wait to pack beer lines and loosen up limbs and vocal chords for the ensuing two-hour set of fist-pumping rock.
Despite being backed by all new Gunners (the sole exception being keyboardist Dizzy Reed) Axl led the group through a faithful set of GN'R classics.
The group exploded onto the stage with "Welcome to the Jungle," then launched into "It's so Easy" and "Mister Brownstone" from 1987's debut, "Appetite for Destruction."
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Though packing the same firepower as the original lineup, the new gunslingers lacked the same sleazy cohesiveness.
When GN'R charged out of L.A. in '87 they were the antithesis of pretty boy glam bands. Schooled in the blues and punk, the founding five rolled through boozy romps like a musical gutter.
The old tunes still carry the same electric charge, but the band's personality is non-existent.
Gone is the cigarette dangling guitar tandem of Slash and Izzy Stradlin, replaced by the gothic Richard Fortus, the Klingon-like Robin Finck and Buckethead -- a man who wears a KFC bucket on his head and a plain white mask.
Adding even starker contrast to the set was a checkered-suited Tommy Stinson, who looked downright over-dressed.
Buckethead was the real revelation to the crowd and delivered the most entertaining moments of the concert. He played Slash's solos with blistering, note-for-note accuracy, then gave a nunchucks demonstration before kicking into a robot dance.
With his guitar strapped on again, he played some wickedly funky solos before blasting into a "Star Wars" medley, then threw out toys to the crowd.
A mystery man wrapped in a cape with a bucket on his head, proficient in martial arts and guitar playing, Buckethead appears to be Maxim magazine's idea of a renaissance man.
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Not to be outdone, Axl never let his faltering vocals get the best of him. He ran from one end of the stage to the other, wailing lyrics off TelePrompTers.
He only seemed to rest when he sat behind a piano for versions of "November Rain" and "Madagascar."
The latter song, expected to be on "Chinese Democracy," the first album from the band in a decade, played with video clips from civil rights demonstrations.
In a way it's nice to see that Axl has matured and developed a sense of social consciousness. In his prime, the one-time bad boy of rock was notorious for spouting politically incorrect epithets in sin-soaked songs.
Now at 40, he seems to have mellowed and subsequently lost his edge. The most controversial part of the show was Axl appearing in a UND Fighting Sioux hockey jersey.
Thankfully, the classic songs haven't changed, no matter who is playing them.
The show at the Fargodome was probably the best GN'R tribute show most people will ever see.
Readers can reach Forum reporter John Lamb at (701) 241-5533
