I picked four big, accomplished acts for my favourite rock shows of 2006. After all, they don't call them entertainers for nothing, and though some people might prefer grotty clubs and up-and-comers, I'm a rock spectacle girl myself.

Guns N' Roses, Scotiabank Place, Nov. 18 - 4 1/2 out of 5

Guns N' Roses, which is really just Axl Rose and a bunch of excellent guitar players, had to be the best show of the year. And that's coming from one dead sober music critic surrounded by 11,000 drunk people who had to stop boozing when the bar closed at 10:30 p.m. and wait until after midnight for Rose to actually perform. The 44-year-old put on one bad-ass rock show, riveting from start to raucous, fireworks-laden Paradise City finish.

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