Guns N' Roses Review

H-Town is Paradise City for Guns N' Roses, but the night belongs to Slash

In many ways, the night belonged to Slash, pictured here at left in file photo. The guitarist, sporting his signature top hat and sunglasses, dropped a number of impressive solos throughout the set.

Photo courtesy of Guns N' Roses

“Do you know where the fuck you are? You’re in the jungle, baby. And you’re gonna die!”

A threatening statement to be sure, but one that was met with cheers from the almost sold-out crowd at the Houston stop of Guns N’ Roses Not In This Lifetime tour Friday night.

Sure, the band played “Welcome to the Jungle” fourth in their 25-song, two-and-a-half hour set, but opening songs “It’s So Easy,” “Mr. Brownstone,” and “Chinese Democracy” didn’t engage the crowd in the same way as the familiar opening riff to “Jungle.”

For those in the crowd — mostly 35 to 50 — songs like “Jungle,” “Sweet Child of Mine,” and set closer “Paradise City” provided part of the soundtrack of their collective adolescence. For those fans, Guns N’ Roses harkens back to a time when CDs came with parental warning stickers and a rock band from Los Angeles could seem legitimately dangerous.

With the band's debut album Appetite for Destruction set to turn 30 next year, those days are gone, but the music still resonates.

As promised by tour production manager Dale "Opie" Skjerseth during a media preview on Thursday, the stage had been designed to "present the band." Two giant video screens on either side of the stage spotlighted different performers throughout the night, and three center screens alternated between showing the band and a series of graphics matched to the song. And, yes, there was “a lot of pyro” boomed throughout the set.

Overall, the band turned in an impressive, high energy performance that utilized the multi-level stage well. Lead singer Axl Rose, bassist Duff McKagan, and guitarist Slash moved from the center stage to two side stages and elevated platforms in the rear of the center stage. Maybe Rose and Slash didn’t stand very close to each other more than a couple of times, but they don’t have to be buddy-buddy to deliver the thunderous spectacle the crowd expected.

Rose’s voice displayed power and range throughout the set as he held notes on tracks ranging from “Estranged” to “The Seeker.” Ever the showman, he even swapped T-shirts throughout the set, mixing in a few jackets (white alligator for “November Rain,” a weird, fringy western thing for “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”).

In many ways, the night belonged to Slash. The guitarist, sporting his signature top hat and sunglasses (and the same shirt throughout, natch) dropped a number of impressive solos throughout the set. Highlights included long intro and outro solos for “Rocket Queen,” a solo performance of the Love Theme from The Godfather, and busting out a double-necked guitar for “Civil War.” The cameras provided numerous close-ups of the guitarist's hands as he wrung every note out of his instrument.

McKagan got his own opportunity to shine when he took over lead vocals a cover of the Misfits’ song “Attitude” while wearing a shirt with the image of Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister.

The setlist followed the one played two nights before in Arlington pretty closely, but the band mixed in “Catcher in the Rye” and “Don’t Cry” into the encore. Shortly thereafter, the final notes of “Paradise City” mingled with the last explosions, and it was time to go home. Judging by the cheers echoing off NRG Stadium’s ramps as people headed to the parking lot, just about everybody had a great time.

Setlist (via setlist.fm):

It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
Double Talkin' Jive
Estranged
Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
Rocket Queen
You Could Be Mine
Attitude (Misfits cover)
This I Love
Civil War
Coma
Love Theme from the Godfather
Sweet Child O' Mine
Better
Out Ta Get Me
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd cover)
November Rain
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan cover)
Nightrain

Encore:
Catcher in the Rye
Don't Cry
The Seeker (The Who cover)
Paradise City

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Movie Review

Reminders of Him taps into grief, grace, and the power of moving on

Photo by Michelle Faye / Universal Pictures

Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers in Reminders of HIm.

Texas author Colleen Hoover has gone from being a popular writer to a full-on celebrity in the 2020s. The new film Reminders of Him marks the third adaptation of her books in just 19 months (a fourth, Verity, is scheduled for release in October 2026). All of her books that have been adapted so far — most notably It Ends With Us — are female-led stories that feature elements of romance and trauma, catnip for studios looking to appeal to the underserved demographic of women.

Leading the way in this film is Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe), who returns to her hometown of Laramie, Wyoming after spending years in prison for killing her boyfriend, Scotty (Rudy Pankow), in a car accident. That relationship resulted in a daughter, Diem (Zoe Kosovic), whom Kenna gave birth to while imprisoned and is now being raised by her grandparents, Patrick (Bradley Whitford) and Grace (Lauren Graham).

Yearning to be a part of Diem’s life, Kenna tries to reconnect with Patrick and Grace, only to be rebuffed by Scotty’s best friend, Ledger (Tyriq Withers), a former NFL player who now owns a local bar. In running interference, Ledger starts to become closer to Kenna, discovering that her tragic mistake shouldn’t be the only thing that defines her.

Directed by Vanessa Caswill and written by Lauren Levine, the film features mostly surface level examinations of its themes and average performances, yet it winds up being effective thanks to a willingness not to rush through its storytelling beats. The filmmakers take the slow and steady approach toward the coupling of Kenna and Ledger, setting up their bond through a series of heart-to-heart conversations that makes any romance feel earned.

The majority of the focus is on Kenna reclaiming her place in the world, and on Ledger coming to terms with the fact that the person who killed his best friend is not inherently a bad person. The film definitely could have gone deeper in its explorations of grief and anger, but the sheer amount of time it takes in addressing the characters’ doubts and fears turns out to be sufficient for a film that’s not aiming to be considered a dramatic masterpiece.

It also helps that Caswill and Levine do a solid job of establishing the variety of characters that inhabit the film. Kenna and Ledger don’t always feel like fully-formed people, but they become so through their interactions with each other and the other townspeople. Lady Diana (Monika Myers), a girl with Down syndrome who lives in Kenna’s apartment complex, and Roman (Nicholas Duvernay), Ledger’s co-worker at his bar, help to broaden the appeal of the two leads.

Monroe has, to this point, been best known for starring roles in horror films like It Follows and Longlegs. While she does somewhat well in this role, her delivery is often more flat than you’d expect for a character going through what she does. Withers thankfully doesn’t remind viewers of his recent bomb Him, demonstrating a crossover appeal that should serve him well in the future. Whitford and Graham don’t get to do much, but their combined experience gives their roles exactly what is needed.

It may sound like damning with faint praise, but Reminders of Him is a competently made film that knows how to serve its core audience without insulting anyone who may not automatically be all-in for such a story. The filmmakers don’t try to force any of the key moments down the audience’s throat, and that stands out in a genre that’s not always known for its subtlety.

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Reminders of Him opens in theaters on March 13.

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