Last night’s Odyssey Arena show by Guns n’ Roses was the LA rockers’ debut Northern Ireland performance.

Fiery frontman Axl Rose, who made headlines over the weekend with late appearances and onstage outbursts at the Reading and Leeds festivals, is clinging to the Gn'R name, despite the absence of the other band members who made it great.

This was more like Hired Guns n' Rose.

When he eventually made it onto the extravagant stage set-up, a mere 47 minutes late, Axl looked like Mickey Rourke and sounded like a dying cat.

Wearing a sparkling silver jacket and a fedora, and sporting a beer gut and the ill effects of too much Botox, he cut a tragic figure.

The vocalist and his seven backing musicians started with the title track of 2008's 15-years-in-the-making Chinese Democracy. The wait endured for this album is nothing compared to having to sit through the stuff.

Few in the audience seemed familiar with the new material, and fewer still wanted to hear it.

And no-one had forked out over 49 quid to watch Axl's guitar goons noodle while he changed costumes backstage.

Belfast could go down as the beginning of the end for one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Well, at least until the reunion.

ANDREW JOHNSTON

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