Faded Memories (Guns N Roses - Izzy / Axl / OC)

Old dudes kick ass

November 23. 2012
Las Vegas – Melissa

Most awkward situation ever? Meeting my old man on a stairway in Las Vegas.
This was definitely right on top of my list. Right above my mom walking in on Brian banging me on the bathroom sink. I never thought that anything could top this.
But this one did. Not that he had any clue who I was and not that I'd give a shit. But mom behaving like a blushing teenager was scarily awkward. And really sweet at the same time.

She had been really nervous the whole day. We were sitting in the hotel lobby, sipping a drink right before the show, when he walked into the building. Mom gasped the second she saw him. Man, she really was hung up on him. All the things I learned the last two days made me see things clearly now.
The thing with my dad – uhm... Robert – and all these years she didn't even date or have a boyfriend. She must have really loved him.

It made me really angry that he didn't even recognized her. She was my fucking mom. Not some bimbo that went all groupie on him just to screw the next rock star on her list.
But at least he promised to call, right? I just hoped he really would.
Mom was totally confused as he left. I grabbed her arm and led her towards the entrance of the concert hall.
'You okay, mom?' I looked at her pale face. 'You wanna sit down for a minute? It's okay if we miss the opener.'
She shook her head. 'No, I'm fine. I think I'm just a little overwhelmed. I really didn't think I would ever see him again.'
When I looked at her I saw tears in her eyes. That fucker made her cry. I wanted to beat the shit out of him for not recognizing her. How could he? My mom was the loveliest person on earth. Jackass.

The show was awesome. Wow. I couldn't imagined that old dudes could rock like this.
I'd seen some clips on youtube before but nothing could ever have prepared me for Axl Rose rocking on stage live in front of me. Holy shit. He was still hot as hell. Well... for an old guy.
Mom was dancing her ass off. I'd never seen her losing it. Seriously. She seemed really happy and I was glad I managed to get those tickets. This would be the best day ever!
All this was topped as Axl introduced Izzy Stradlin. The audience went fucking nuts. Everybody was like "Oh my god, this is Izzy Stradlin." This was crazy, right? He was the fucking rhythm guitar player of GNR. That was decades ago and people were still nearly fainting just because he walked on stage. Really?
I threw a look at mom because I was afraid she could be fainting, too. You never know, all these people were acting crazy because of him.
But mom just stood there with a big smile on her face and a glimmer in her eyes. God, I should've taken her to every god damn GNR show all these years. I have never seen her so happy before. She looked at me, still grinning like a Cheshire cat.
I knew that she wanted to tell me something. Something like "Look at him. That's your dad." or "Look, Melissa. Your dad's a rock star." But it was too loud to speak. So I gave her a nod that I understood what she was trying to tell me.

And then Axl left the mike for him and he started to sing. He was awesome. I knew he did some records after he left GNR but I really didn't have time to hear what he did the last years. I had been too busy looking for some private stuff on the internet.
I was completely unprepared of his talent. God, no wonder mom was idolizing him like that. No wonder everyone was going fucking nuts just because he got up on that stage with his guitar. He was a fucking epiphany.
These young guitar dudes were jumping around on stage trying to get some show done. Axl Rose was swaying in the back of the stage. Everyone was trying to do something cool. Everyone but Izzy.
He was just standing there with his guitar looking like the coolest motherfucker on earth without even trying.
At that moment I felt like a ten year old girl that had a huge crush on her dad. I just wanted to scream "When I grow up I wanna marry my dad." Izzy Stradlin was the coolest dad ever! A shame he didn't know that.