I went to the Roosevelt Mall. I grew up in NE Philly. I believe at that time there was a West Coast Video that sold concert tix. The whole mall was an outdoor mall, but WCV was located in little strip mall down the street. I still remember hoping the line wouldn't be too long since it was just announced the night before and maybe a lot of the philly school kids would still be in class (not all schools had a half-day that day). then I turn the corner and couldn't see where it ended. it wrapped all the way around the building.

do you still live in the area? I live in Churchville now and I go the Willow Grove mall all the time.

I was at both shows. thanks for the recognition!! glad you noticed because the show in 1991 was the greatest of my life, and I have sent this show to various friends and family and specifically point out how insane the crowd was that night, and how much energy Axl had on stage. he ran around like a caged animal and you could tell he was feeding off the crowd. I remember the energy in that building being unbelievable, and I was glad when I saw this on youtube a few years ago because you can hear the crowd non-stop throughout most of the show. people were so fired up they were just screaming the whole time. I remember my buddy saying that it was almost scary how energized the crowd was. we always comment how we've never seen anything like it. metallica shows have come close, and my buddy says some pearl jam shows have come close as well (I'm not a huge fan), but I'm sure i'll never see anything like that again.

initially, GnR did not announce a philly show. then sunday night, they announce a show at the spectrum for that Thursday. Tickets went on sale Monday at 4PM. that was exam week at most schools in philly, so most got out around noon. i went to the mall for tix by 1PM and there was a line around the block, but i still was able to get tix. that Thursday was also the last day of the school year for a lot of people. i think that was a factor as well...we were basically kicking off our summer with that show.

in the middle of WTTJ, Axl stops the show and starts yelling at someone up front for starting fights and being obnoxious. St. Louis hadn't happened yet, but i remember thinking "oh shit, this could get ugly". But then Axl says to start the song over. so we got to hear the first half of the song twice. it was an incredible moment.

a small warm-up gig where they play 8-12 songs wouldn't shock me. but hopefully there is something in their agreement that Vegas needs to be their first show.

I keep telling myself that even if other shows are announced, the Vegas show could be the only chance to see them in an arena in 2016. if the rumors are true, it could be all stadiums this year. 25 shows sounded a tad ambitious, but if a few are in mexico and maybe a couple in Canada, that would leave 15 or so for the U.S. which I think makes sense for them.

just booked my airfare and hotel!! I'm flying in on Wednesday. going to at least the first show, maybe both. hopefully I get to meet up with some of you.