Guns'n'Roses, you will remember if you're between 25 and 40, used to be big. Now, thanks to Mark Malkoff, they're Li'l.

As with many strokes of genius, hindsight makes Malkoff's idea seem just so obvious: audition a bunch of 6-to-11-year-olds to dress up as a kiddie tribute to a preposterous has-been rock band.

So now we have a Li'l Duff, a Li 'l Izzy, a Li 'l Steven Adler, and of course a Li'l Axl Rose and a Li'l Slash.

Axl Rose, of course, was the man who made anagrams cool by choosing one for his name, although oral sex lost some of its cachet in the process. Slash, more straightforwardly, named himself after having a pee - a Stokie to the end.

Today's ensemble play the same songs as their forebears, but with more respect for the concept of bedtime. If you 're in New York on Sunday, I dare you find a better way to waste your evening.

Li'l Guns play on Sunday at CBGB's Gallery, 313 Bowery, New York City


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I'm afraid this one is going to be short-lived, too.  It looks like 3 of the kids are girls, and 2 are boys.  One of the girls playing a boy's part has also appeared as Tiny Tim before, too. 

The cutest one...  (Well, since we're talking boy actors here I say that, but the girls playing "boy" parts are cute, too.  I just thought this one was the cutest, but it's hard to tell with the wigs and sunglasses. I couldn't get the audition video on the site to work, so I have no idea about their musical talents.)

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<i>Li'l Slash

My name is Joshua James. I'm 6 years old and go to kindergarten at PS 6 in Jersey City. I love being in the band, but I have to do well in school just in case Mark was kidding about dropping out. I like all kinds of music and it makes me want to dance like Michael Jackson. My favorite movies are Spiderman and Harry Potter & the Sorcerer. My favorite food is really broccoli and I don't have a chocolate problem. But I do like being with my Daddy because he lets me eat more sweets and watch all the cartoons my Mom thinks are stupid when she's not home.</i>

He seems to have his head on straight for a 6-year-old, except for that part about liking broccoli better than any other food. 

Love,
Sir J