august 4 

Does Guns N' Roses exist anymore? Sort of. A version is touring Europe this summer. Is Axl Rose the Syd Barrett (God rest his soul) of his day or something less mythic? Open for debate. We saw Guns N' Roses when they first hit town (at the Paradise) and while we weren't really fans of their old-school rockin' hedonism, we had to admit they did it up well. And we saw 'em on their stadium tour with Metallica, too, and found they'd grown and were very much on their way to being a classic rock band until … crap happened. The usual rock 'n' roll stuff like paranoia and drugs and messed-up communication. Axl being Axl. (There's an unofficial fan website called "Here Today … Gone to Hell.'') Axl is the only original member left, which means the tribute band Appetite for Destruction has almost the same number of charter GN'R members as GN'R. Appetite does it up loud n' proud at Harpers Ferry August 4, with doors at 8 p.m. and tickets $12. They may be more authentic than what Europe is now seeing. (Note to cover band enthusiasts: The Joshua Tree - your neighborhood U2 - is at the same club Aug. 25.)

158 Brighton Ave., Allston, 617-254-9743 or harpersferry.com