If Axl died on stage, where would our whipping boy be then? All I’m saying is, strep’s no joke. So when everyone in Blogville heads to the crapper to drop a two-paragraph bomb on the “Chinese Democracy” dictator’s sickly performance during last weekend’s Bridge School Benefit, well, I dunno — can’t we give the man a pass this once? Sorry. Maybe I’m too much a sucker for anything Neil Young. You could book a flock of ducks in the park to fart side B of “Tonight’s the Night,” and I’d camp out for tickets.

Axl’s “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” duet with Young is hardly hair-raising, granted, but it’s well worth a listen:

[Billboard/video: Stereogum]