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As we all wait with baited breath for Guns n’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy to satisfy our appetites for ironic destruction, the band’s former guitarist Slash, man of many guest appearances and maintainer of one of rock’s most iconic silhouettes, has just kind of been ho-hummin’ around, recording his first solo album and not really giving a heads up about it until just recently.

In the fourth grade, when I first became curious about rebellion and rock ’n’ roll, Guns N’ Roses seemed like the perfect fit. A friend of mine had a poster featuring the longhaired, tattooed rockers strewn drunken and shirtless behind police crime-scene tape, clad in leather pants and leather jackets, clutching bottles of Black Death vodka and looking like they did not give a shit about anything. Damn, I thought, these guys are pretty cool!

Above: Bang Camaro

Another Lollapalooza weekend has come and gone and music fans of all stripes left happy (unless, of course, they were fans of the Weakerthans, who had to cancel as a result of travel problems). Despite a record attendance of 225,000 fans, festivities and rock went on seamlessy under sun-filled skies each day. The festival's organizers outdid themselves this year with opening acts, starting the weekend out with a bang. Bang Camaro, that is. Other rising stars followed suit on days two and three with the Ting Tings belting out their infectious pop tunes (we overheard Love and Rockets' Daniel Ash mentioning that they were the only reason he was at Lollapalooza) while Austin's Octopus Project wowed us with a 500 balloon salutes and Yvonne Lambert's mesmerizing theremin skills.