They came on a few minutes past midnight, an hour late, or really fuckin' early (depending on what you think of Axl Rose). For Use Your Illusion-era converts like myself, who watched the band implode on MTV, this was a miracle, something that's Not In This Lifetime, which is the cheeky title for GNR's North American tour, an obvious riff on the Eagles' Hell Freezes Over, reports LA Weekly correspondent Art Tavana, who attended last night's intimate Guns N' Roses show in Hollywood, CA.

There wasn't a single person at the Troubadour who wasn't pinching themselves into bruises, or wishing they were allowed to document this shit on their cellphone (GNR's management forced attendees to lock their phones in magnetic bags handed out by the venue). 

There were about 250 of us in attendance, including 50 "special guests" who peered down from the balcony of the Troubadour like aristocrats at the opera. Lenny Kravitz, Jim Carrey, Andrew Dice Clay and Nicolas Cage sat unmoved for 17 songs as if they were witnessing a cosmic occurrence.

The set included songs from every GNR era, including the surreal experience of watching Slash play funkier versions of Buckethead and Robin Finck solos on "Chinese Democracy" and "Better".

Slash shredded on all his solos and seemed more serious than usual, rarely showing any emotion and just focusing on his guitar and the occasional acrobatic leap to the front of the stage... Axl looked reinvigorated, never out of breath, triumphant in his aviators, and constantly pushing his vocals to prove that he's still got what it takes to lead this band.

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The setlist on Friday, April 1st was reportedly as follows:

"It's So Easy"
"Mr. Brownstone"
"Chinese Democracy" 
"Welcome To The Jungle" 
"Double Talking Jive"
"Live And Let Die" (Wings)
"Rocket Queen" 
"You Could Be Mine" 
"The Godfather Theme" (Slash)
"Sweet Child O' Mine"
"New Rose" (The Damned)
"Better" 
"Knockin' On Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan) 
"My Michelle"
"Nightrain"
"The Seeker" (The Who)
"Paradise City"

Following months of intense rumour, speculation and feverish excitement from rock music fans around the world, Guns N' Roses has confirmed they will embark on a massive North American summer stadium tour as founder Axl Rose and former members, Slash and Duff McKagan regroup for what will be one of the century's most anticipated musical events. The news follows their previously announced headlining dates at this year's Coachella Music & Arts Festival. The Not In This Lifetime Tour, produced and promoted exclusively by Live Nation, will see the iconic band headline stadium dates throughout the US and Canada starting in Detroit at Ford Field on Thursday, June 23rd and will include shows in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Washington DC, Philadelphia and more. A full list of tour dates is below.

GN'R North American Not In This Lifetime Tour:

June
23 - Ford Field - Detroit, MI
26 - FedEx Field - Washington, DC
29 - Arrowhead Stadium - Kansas City, MO

July
1 - Soldier Field - Chicago, IL
6 - Paul Brown Stadium - Cincinnati, OH
9 - Nissan Stadium - Nashville, TN
12 - Heinz Field - Pittsburgh, PA
14 - Lincoln Financial Field - Philadelphia, PA
16 - Rogers Centre - Toronto, ON
19 - Gillette Stadium - Foxboro, MA
23 - Metlife Stadium - East Rutherford, NJ
27 - Georgia Dome - Atlanta, GA
29 - Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium - Orlando, FL
31 - Mercedes-Benz Superdome - New Orleans, LA

August
3 - AT&T Stadium - Arlington, TX
5 - NRG Stadium - Houston, TX
9 - AT&T Park - San Francisco, CA
12 - CenturyLink Field - Seattle, WA
15 - University of Phoenix Stadium - Glendale, AZ
22 - Qualcomm Stadium - San Diego, CA

Stage banner photo: TMZ.com