POP REVIEW : A Great Late, Late Show From Guns N’ Roses

SAN DIEGO â€”  Guns N’ Roses doesn’t just play bass, guitar and drums on stage these days. It also plays the clock.

Lots of rock attractions over the years--from the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin through Bruce Springsteen and U2--have shown that you can add to the drama of a concert either by arriving on stage late or playing awfully l-o-n-g.

Guns N’ Roses, however, may be the first band to consistently do both.

If rock promoters are looking for ways to pick up extra money during this recession cycle, they might consider seeking legislation that would allow them to install wagering machines in arena lobbies.

The obvious bet on Monday at the Sports Arena here: What time will Guns N’ Roses go on stage? The teasing concert tickets said the show would start “around 9 p.m.�

The winning guess Monday (the first of two GNR stops here) would have been 11:40, which wasn’t good news to some of the working adults in the crowd.

Rick Gutierrez, a 33-year-old sheet metal mechanic from Harbor City, knew the celebrated Los Angeles hard-rock group does long shows. Still, he figured that he’d certainly be out of the arena and on his way back up Interstate 5 by midnight.

But he didn’t count on an opening act (Soundgarden) and then a three-hour set by GNR. So it was almost 3 a.m. by the time Guns N’ Roses took its final bow. That meant Gutierrez, with luck, would get home in time to shower and rush to work, where he was due at 6:15.

Still, he took the whole thing with a smile. “Hey, that’s rock ‘n’ roll,� he said before GNR took the stage.

And if a 33-year-old man can appreciate the uniqueness of an all-night rock show, it’s easy to see how the teen-agers, who appeared to compose about 60% of the 13,000 fans, would really have something for their memory banks.

On the way out of the arena, four teen-age girls were talking excitedly, but the topic wasn’t the show. They were trying to figure out how to convince their parents that the show lasted until almost 3.

Eventually, however, it’s the quality of the music that will stick with the fans. In its first California stop since a series of Southern California shows last August, Guns N’ Roses again demonstrated that it is the most exciting hard-rock band in years--a group with more emotional range and personality than Metallica, its only real arena-level rival.

For all the talk about the band’s rebellious, one-dimensional image, the group’s music is refreshingly varied. The guitar-accented, blues-based rock leans heavily on the Stones-Aerosmith tradition, but the themes range from sensitive moments built around emotional and romantic insecurity and regret to furious outbursts of anger and rage.

Lead singer Axl Rose remains one of rock’s most charismatic figures ever and the band--anchored by guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagen and drummer Matt Sorum--is at once tighter and more relaxed than last fall. The big changes since the August shows in Los Angeles involve a new rhythm guitarist (Gilbey Clarke filling the vacancy left when Izzy Stradlin resigned) and an expanded cast that includes three female horn players and two female backup singers--all dressed in the sexy gear favored by many of the band’s young female fans.

Most of the additions are simply musical window dressing, but Clarke, a more aggressive guitarist and performer than Stradlin, fit in well; Rose, however, remained the center of attention as he raced around with his usual energy and flair, drawing cheers from the lively but mostly orderly crowd (there were a reported 97 arrests, mostly alcohol-related).

The most surprising thing was that the band--with all that time on its hands on stage and all the material available from its two recent albums--continues to rely on basically the same set of songs used on its earlier tour leg.

While fans in each city are seeing the set for the first time, the band’s own energy level--and possibly interest level--seemed to sag at times during the three-hour set. Mixing in more songs--�Coma,� “Yesterdays,� “Dead Horse,� “Right Next Door to Hell�--might enable them to more consistently reach the inspired heights of the closing Forum show last August.

Then again, maybe GNR is saving those songs to freshen up its planned summer stadium tour. Among the possibilities: a powerhouse, co-headlining trek with Metallica.

If that hard-rock dream becomes reality, one thing is for sure: Guns N’ Roses will close the show. Metallica’s not going to take a chance of having to go on stage at 4 a.m.