Rock and roll masterclass for the ages

WAY back in 1988 at the tender age of 12 years old, I heard a noise that changed my life forever.

- STEVE WOLLASTON

The hell-raising, high-pitched sound of Axl Rose - lead singer of the 'most dangerous band in the world, Guns N' Roses.

Appetite For Destruction was the album that reinvented rock and roll music and lit a fire inside me and shaped a music obsession that has stuck with me throughout my life.

At Villa Park for the first of the football club's series of summer live shows, this 49-year-old 'G'N'R' fan was back to see the Hollywood rockers in action on British soil, and it was something to behold.

At the tender age of 63, Axl Rose somehow manages to get through an incredible 31 songs over the course of a blistering three hour set.

I will admit to being slightly nervous about the vocal display because after watching many YouTube videos over the years, I'd seen some examples of Axl's inability to hit the treacherous high notes.

That was not evident in Birmingham on Monday night with a vocal display that rolled back the years and actually peaked on the penultimate track of the evening, Nightrain.

You could have closed your eyes and been back in the 90s as that trademark voice shredded the night sky.