The last album that Guns N' Roses released before the band's original core fell apart was the 1993 covers collection The Spaghetti Incident?. On that one, GN'R paid tribute to the bands that inspired them. Generally, that didn't mean the '70s stadium rockers that one might expect. Instead, GN'R sought to place themselves in a lineage of surly, glammy punks -- the Stooges, the Damned, the Dead Boys, the Sex Pistols, the Misfits. One of the songs that they included was "Human Being," a stomping, honking 1974 deep cut from the New York Dolls -- arguably the band who invented surly, glammy punk. On Tuesday night, GN'R played their version of "Human Being" live for the first time.
Earlier this year, New York Dolls frontman David Johansen passed away at the age of 75. He was the last surviving member of the Dolls' classic lineup. Presumably, Johansen's passing is the reason that Guns N' Roses just trotted out their "Human Being" cover for the first time. They played it near the end of their show at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, a place not especially known as a hotbed of New York Dolls fandom.
Guns N' Roses latest European tour is about to start. At various shows, they'll perform alongside openers like Public Enemy, Rival Sons, and the current version of the Sex Pistols. Before that tour kicks off, the band played special engagements in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, which is not remotely surprising when you think about it. Below, watch fan footage of the GN'R cover and listen to the Dolls original.
