G N’ R, Blizzards & Fist Fights (Prompt: 01/12/24)

So, it wasn’t really a road trip per se, but it was memorable.

Me and three of my friends got tickets to see Guns N’ Roses at a venue about an hour away during their Use You Illusion Tour.

It was during the winter, and there was snow in the forecast, but it wasn’t supposed to start until very late and it originally wasn’t supposed to be that much.

The drive to the venue was totally fine and we got there in a little bit under an hour. Got inside, got our seats and a few minutes later Soundgarden took the stage to open the show (RIP, Chris Cornell). They were out supporting their Badmotorfinger album and it was a damn good set.

After they played their 45 minutes, the roadies got to work setting up for G N’ R. That was done in relatively short order, and then we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Now, for those that don’t know, Guns N’ Roses were notorious for starting late. Axl Rose pretty much went on stage whenever he felt like it, if he felt like it, back then.

Honestly, the wait was nowhere near as long as it could have been. They were supposed to come on at 9 PM, and ended up hitting the stage around 10:10. For Axl and Co. that was pretty damned good!

The show kicked serious amounts of ass and we had one hell of a good time. They played for about two hours, so it was after midnight when it ended. No biggie. We knew they’d likely go on late anyhow.

Well, that snow I mentioned? It started earlier than anticipated and was a lot heavier than forecast. There was already about 4″ of powder on the ground when we left the venue and it was windy as all get out.

The one hour drive home then turned into a three-hour trek down unplowed streets and barely plowed highway.

Most of the ride we were just listening to music and shooting the shit, but about the last 30 minutes or so, my friend Mark, who was sitting in back with me, starts bitching about how long it’s taking, his parents are gonna be pissed, etc. And he would not shut up.

We were all getting pissed, but my friend Jason, who was driving, finally got so pissed off that he started screaming, let go of the steering wheel, and starts climbing over the seat throwing punches at Mark!

My buddy Don tried grabbing the wheel to control the car, but the roads sucked so bad that we were all over the place,weaving and damn near spinning clear around.

There was so much snow, that the car finally just stopped there in the middle of the road. Now, unbeknownst to us, there was a State Trooper who had pulled out behind us right as we started spinning around.

He threw on his lights, got out and came over to the car to see just what the hell was going on.

We told him Jason was a new driver and had never driven in snow before and he panicked when we started to skid a little. Luckily for us, he bought it. He told us just go slow, be careful and so on and let us go. If he knew what the hell really happened, God only knows the shit we’d have been in.

Anyhow, Mark was quiet the rest of the ride home and we all arrived more or less in one piece.

Needless to say, Mother Nature and Axl Rose combined to make for one memorable night.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far!

G N’ F’N R!!