Old GNR News

2.2.07

Guns N' Roses Set For First African Concerts

February 02, 2007, 10:45 AM ET
Diane Coetzer, Johannesburg

Guns N' Roses will play their first-ever African shows when they headline My Coke Fest 2007. The rock group tops a bill that so far includes Evanescence and Hoobastank at Johannesburg's New Market Racecourse on April 27 and Cape Town's Kenilworth Racecourse on May 1.

My Coke Fest 2007 follows on the heels of 2006's Coca-Cola Collab Massive Mix, which saw Metallica play in the country for the first time, along with Simple Plan, Collective Soul, Seether and others.

Seether's Sean Morgan has frequently visited the country with ex-girlfriend Amy Lee, but the Evanescence frontwoman will be performing with her band for the first time at the events.

As previously reported, Guns N' Roses' new album, "Chinese Democracy," is tentatively due March 6 via Interscope, but no news has been heard about the project since Axl Rose's lengthy Internet posting announcing the date in December.

1.12.07

The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city
and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The
previous week’s ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data
provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and
venue managers.

1. (1) Elton John; $1,863,561; $111.15.
2. (2) Cirque Du Soleil - “Delirium”; $1,295,028; $83.58.
3. (3) Eric Clapton; $1,135,060; $86.04.
4. (5) Red Hot Chili Peppers; $1,001,233; $58.04.
5. (6) Aerosmith / Motley Crue; $950,972; $63.59.
6. (7) Mariah Carey; $896,982; $77.61.
7. (8.) Dixie Chicks; $824,014; $65.77.
8. (9) Tool; $686,402; $50.60.
9. (10) Rascal Flatts; $681,413; $50.45.
10. (12) Guns N’ Roses; $500,380; $59.42.
11. (11) American Idols Live; $497,944; $56.98.
12. (13) Sheryl Crow / John Mayer; $494,264; $43.28.
13. (16) Juan Gabriel; $453,085; $82.48.
14. (15) Def Leppard / Journey; $450,230; $51.48.
15. (17) Bob Dylan; $435,687; $57.15.
16. (New) Blue Man Group; $304,930; $51.36.
17. (New) Trans-Siberian Orchestra; $302,828; $38.28
18. (18) The Cheetah Girls; $301,674; $35.64.
19. (19) Paul Simon; $295,938; $73.78.
20. (New) Brad Paisley; $294,738; $44.00.
 

Source: Pollstar.com




HOOKERS 'N' BLOW (a.k.a. HOLLYWOOD BULLDOZER) — the band featuring GUNS
N' ROSES keyboardist Dizzy Reed, guitarist Alex Grossi (ex-QUIET RIOT,
BEAUTIFUL CREATURES), and drummer Troy Patrick Farrell (WHITE LION) —
has tapped Mike Duda of W.A.S.P. to play bass on its upcoming short run
of dates in California and the East Coast. The details are as follows:

Jan. 18 - El Cid (Raven's Heart Benefit) – Los Angeles, CA (billed as HOLLYWOOD BULLDOZER; 9:00 p.m. show)
Jan. 18 - Cat Club - Los Angeles, CA (11:00 p.m. show)*
Jan. 20 - Fender Avenue Bar & Grill (NAMM show) - Fullerton, CA*
Feb. 07 - Webster Theater - Hartford, CT
Feb. 08 - Mark's Showplace - New Bedford, NH
Feb. 09 - The Trocadero - Philadelphia, PA
Feb. 10 - The Ritz - Detroit, MI
Feb. 11 - TBA - Columbus, OH

* Bassist Chad MacDonald of JANI LANE's band will be doing these dates

12.24.06

Live Review: Guns N' Roses in Universal City, CA
December 19, 2006 03:45 PM
by Paul Gargano
LiveDaily Contributor

If
there are any questions regarding the return of Guns N' Roses, any
cynics who still want to doubt frontman Axl Rose, or any suggestions
that the current band is but a shell of the former lineup, they can all
be laid to rest after Sunday night's (12/17) performance at the
sold-out Gibson Amphitheater, in Universal City, CA.

Lay them to
rest alongside grunge, rap-rock and emo, and in the vicinity of every
other fad that has come and gone since Guns N' Roses last ruled the
planet rock more than a decade ago. From top to bottom, the band's
first of three nights in Los Angeles offered a two-hour-and-20-minute
primer in rock-and-roll retribution, cementing the return of Axl Rose
and showcasing a lineup poised to vault Guns N' Roses back atop the
hard rock pantheon.

From
the moment Robin Finck's truncated guitar riffs shot through the
amphitheater like shards of shrapnel introducing "Welcome to the
Jungle," a standing room-only crowd of more than 5,000 hinged on every
note. Notes that Rose nailed with increasing--and
remarkable--proficiency as the late-night set progressed into early
morning.

While the iconic frontman has never been known for his
range, his performance Sunday demonstrated a vocal maturity that
surpassed even the most optimistic of expectations, running the gamut
from the seductive color of "Sweet Child 'O Mine," through the
pissed-off vehemence of "Out ta Get Me." While he hasn't transformed
into a crystal-esque crooner, there was barely a sour note throughout
the 20-song set. Clearly, Rose has markedly increased his command over
his voicesince the band's L.A.-area show in September (at the KROQ
Inland Invasion, their first So-Cal appearance in more than a decade).

"You Could Be
Mine" offered an early highlight, the normally sedate L.A. crowd
ripping through every word like it was 1992 and Nirvana never existed.
Rose offered ample reason to revel, as he cut through a repertoire of
now-classic hits like he'd been rebuilt and recharged in his time out
of the spotlight, with his comeback, until now, serving as little more
than fine-tuning.

It seemed as if nothing would rival the
mid-set, epic build of "November Rain," but the fine showings kept
mounting, Rose whistling the intro to "Patience" before putting in one
of his more memorable performances of the night, then ripping through
set closer "Nightrain" as if he had crossed the Hollywood Hills and
returned to the Sunset Strip circa the late-'80s. All but the final
three songs on Guns' "Appetite for Destruction" debut were performed.

It
can be presumed that the five previously-unreleased songs will be heard
on the upcoming and long-awaited "Chinese Democracy," which Rose
announced last week will be hitting stores March 6. The encore-opening
title track was a turbo-charged adrenaline rush befitting of the
heaviest "Use Your Illusion" moments, while the Asian-tinged intro to
"Better" and the mid-tempo flow of "Madagascar" demonstrated an
understanding that while the punk rock madness of the band's early
appetites may have been tempered by time, the residual grit is still
resounding.

"Knockin'
on Heaven's Door" proved a fitting segue into new ballad "The Blues,"
while "I.R.S." did the same leading into "My Michelle." Opener
Sebastian Bach has become a tour fixture on the latter, but the manic,
metallic onslaught of the duo sharing lead vocals was quickly
overshadowed by the introduction of original GN'R guitarist Izzy
Stradlin, who joined the band for "Think About You," "Patience," "I
Used to Love Her" and "Nightrain," then returned for the encore-closing
"Paradise City."

Of the current band--which features "Illusion"-era
keyboardist Dizzy Reed, ex-Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson,
guitarists Finck, Richard Fortus and Bumblefoot, drummer Frank Ferrer
and keyboardist Chris Pitman--Finck, Fortus and Reed each received time
in the solo spotlight.

Reed manned a center stage piano as he
bled a solo run through The Rolling Stones' "Angie" into the new
ballad, Finck did a commendable job of making people forget about
founding member Slash with a blues-hued solo that led into "Sweet
Child," and Fortus merged an arena-rock shredfest into a blues duet
with Finck, and finally into "Out ta Get Me." As could be said of the
entire band, each paid dutiful respect to the GN'R legacy without
sacrificing their individual flair and unique personalities.

In
an era where nostalgia would be just fine, Guns N' Roses circa 2006
deliver much more. Sebastian Bach, meanwhile, knows the power of
nostalgia and played it to his advantage in an hour-long opening set
that was heavy on Skid Row hits.

Opener
"Slave to the Grind" was delivered in double-time, and followed by "Big
Guns" and "Here I Am," proved more than capable in engaging the packed
house. A handful of new tracks fit nicely with the more recognizable
material; "Stuck Inside" and "American Metalhead" (think Judas Priest
crashing head-on with Accept) embraced his band's heavy metal mindset,
while new ballad "By Your Side" fit better alongside "I Remember You,"
which proved his strongest vocal showing.

Has it been mentioned
that Guns N' Roses went onstage on time, to the minute? Don't bet on
that becoming an everyday occurrence, but take this much to the bank:
Judging from Los Angeles' response to "Chinese Democracy," another era
of Guns N' Roses domination is imminent.

All hail, the triumphant return of Axl Rose.

SETLIST
1. "Welcome to the Jungle"
2. "It's So Easy"
3. "Mr. Brownstone"
4. "Live and Let
 Die"
5. "Better"
6. Guitar Solo (Robin Finck)
7. "Sweet Child of Mine"
8. "You Could Be Mine"
9. Piano Solo (Dizzy Reed)
10. "The Blues"
11. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
12. Guitar Solo (Richard Fortis)
13. "Outta Get Me"
14. "November Rain"
15. "IRS"
16. "My Michelle" (with Sebastian Bach)
17. "Think About You" (with Izzy Stradlin)
18. "I Used to Love Her" (with Izzy Stradlin)
19. "Patience" (with Izzy Stradlin)
20. "Nightrain" (with Izzy Stradlin)
ENCORE
21. "Chinese Democracy"
22. "Madagascar"
23. "Paradise City" (with Izzy Stradlin)



Guns N' Roses Set Fire to the Stage in L.A.
Posted Dec 21st 2006 10:41AM by Steve Baltin
Filed under: Rock

As
symbolism goes, it's hard to think of anything more fitting than what
transpired during Guns N' Roses' finale, 'November Rain,' at the band's
hometown performance Tuesday night. The show, held at L.A.'s Gibson
Ampitheatre, became the second-to-last night of the tour after frontman
Axl Rose announced the band was scrapping the last two weeks of the
tour to concentrate on finishing its long-anticipated album, 'Chinese
Democracy.' 

As the pyrotechnics came flying down, the drums
literally caught fire. Depending on your perspective, the perfect
metaphor was either when the drum kit sizzled behind the explosive
perfomance, with Rose seated at the piano, or when he quipped
afterward, "That's a first: The f***ing drums caught fire. I like that.
We might just 'Spinal Tap' the drummer. Blow him up."

There are
many doubters out there, after the decade-plus wait for 'Chinese
Democracy' and with Rose being the only remaining member from the days
when Guns N' Roses ruled the world -- though original guitarist Izzy
Stradlin joined the band for a few songs Tuesday night -- who would
love nothing more than to relegate GN' R to where 'Spinal Tap' drummers
dwell. 

The reality is, though -- as evidenced by last night's
two-hour-plus perfomance, particularly on fierce versions of 'Mr.
Brownstone,' a scintillating 'Nightrain' and the upcoming album's
furiously paced title track -- that Rose, with his current version of
the band, can still deliver a night of great rock 'n' roll. And, if the
pop-rock sheen of 'Better,' the powerful ballad 'Madasgacar' and the
Queen-influenced 'The Blues' rendered live are any indication, 'Chinese
Democracy' will be well worth the wait. 





12.14.06

An open letter to our fans:

Guns N’ Roses regrets to announce that the following concert tour dates have been cancelled:

January 10th Sacramento

January 11th Bakersfield

January 13th Reno

January 16th San Diego

Due to the schedule of these particular shows valuable time needed by the band and record company for the proper setup and release of the album Chinese Democracy would be lost. Rather than delay the album yet again all involved have decided to remove these shows from GNR’s schedule. We sincerely hope our fans understand and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused anyone. Tickets may be refunded at local point of purchase.

To say the making of this album has been an unbearably long and incomprehensible journey would be an understatement. Overcoming the endless and seemingly insanity of the obstacles faced by all involved, not withstanding the emotional challenges endured by everyone: the fans, the band, our road crew and business team has at many times seemed for all like a bad dream where one wakes up only to find they are still in the nightmare and unfortunately this time it has been played out for over a decade in real life.

The true ongoing behind-the-scenes triumphs and casualties are much more complicated than any negative speculation that media or otherwise has managed to hit upon. For much of the time some form or another of legalities have been taking place that really the best way to deal with publicly was to keep our mouths shut in an attempt to ensure the best outcome and especially one that wouldn’t jeopardize the band or the album. One can easily point to how others have done things or how they themselves feel that they would were they in the same situations but without full knowledge of the various dynamics and circumstances involved, again these types of comments or commentary are uninformed, outside, generally useless and often hindering speculation.

When I agreed to do our recent North American tour I agreed with the understanding that I and my manager Merck Mercuriadis were in full agreement as to our strategy, touring plans and most importantly that any and all things needed to release the album at the latest by Dec. 26th were to be in place. Unfortunately this turned out not to be the case and not only do I regret to say that again the album will not be released by the end of the year but that though many things went extremely well and were very exciting there were in our opinion unnecessary and avoidable complications on our tour having to do with the tour routing, scheduling and album and video plans that played hell on all involved especially our crew. This was compounded by an overall sense of a lack of respect by management for the band and crew and each individual’s particular expertise that has resulted unfortunately in the end of both Guns and my relationship in having a management or sense of band involvement with Merck Mercuriadis.

In regard to a release date for the album itself certain minor and by that I do mean minor things and or additions as well as contract negotiations need to be completed and barring any unforeseen complications these things have now been adequately scheduled. Both the band and I along with our record company feel that this record deserves the proper setup and promotion not the “13 Tuesdays left” and “it may just appear in your record store” approach offered by management. We believe this strategy may have been used in order for management to sell this latest tour to the various promoters. We feel that if this was so, this was obviously unfair to them. The stress of dealing with this situation has been considerable for everyone as well as to the band themselves as a whole but that this was more importantly in our opinion something utterly insane to do to our fans. Our apologies and please know we have been laboring over this with management for the entire North American tour.

It takes approximately 8 weeks for an album to hit the shelves once it has been turned in to the record company. For whatever reasons it appears it may have been mistakenly inferred by management that this could be condensed to three. That being said this is not a promise, a lie or a guarantee but we do wish to announce a tentative release date of March 6th. This is the first time we have done this publicly for this album. Any and all other dates have been made up by others for their own reasons. We would like to assure the fans that though tentative everything in our power will be done to meet this date. Once it is finalized and official you will be notified. If we are delayed for unseen reasons you will also be notified as soon as possible in regard to a new date and the album will be released as shortly thereafter as is possible. We thank you for your patience.

In the end it’s just an album and one that I, the band, our record company and all involved believe and feel is a true Guns N’ Roses album. Ultimately the public will decide and regardless of the outcome our hearts, lives and our passion has been put into this project every step of the way. If for no other reason we feel those elements alone merit your consideration. We do hope you can hold on just a bit longer and if not we hope you would please feel free to take a break and we’ll be more than glad (if you so choose) to see you again later.

Once again, our sincere apologies and our deepest thanks, Guns N’ Roses would also like to thank all the fans who attended the 70 concerts in 21 different countries for their support in 2006. All the best to each and every one of you over this holiday season, thank-you and God bless.

Sincerely,
Axl Rose

12.13.06

GNR has opened an online store on their website.  You can go to it directly from here.


12.13.06

Fans' appetite for new Guns album is undiminished

By Neil Shah
Reuters
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; 6:05 PM

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Axl Rose's fans are hoping for a miracle this Christmas -- the release of "Chinese 
Democracy," the first album of original Guns N' Roses music in 15 years.

Rose, 44, the only original member of the combustible rock group, vaguely told MTV in late August that the 
album would hit store shelves "this year," 12 years after work started. The band is currently on a U.S. tour, 
its first since 2002, but the album still has no official release date.

With only a few weeks left in 2006, most Guns N' Roses fans now believe the only music they will hear on 
Christmas morning will be "Silent Night." During a sold-out performance at New York City's Madison Square 
Garden last month, Rose was mum about the album, which has cost roughly $13 million to make, according 
to a New York Times story in March 2005.

"Believing 'Chinese Democracy' is coming out this year is the same as believing in Santa Claus," said a fan 
on the popular HereTodayGoneToHell Web site (http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com) earlier this month.

Rose's manager, Merck Mercuriadis, who further stoked fan anticipation in early October when he told 
Rolling Stone magazine that fans "might walk into (their) record shop one Tuesday and find it there," 
declined to comment for this article. Interscope Records, the band's label, referred inquiries to Mercuriadis. 
(Albums usually go on sale on Tuesdays in the United States, a day earlier elsewhere.)

NEW SONGS, TOUR

Most of Rose's bandmates on Guns N' Roses' last album of new material, the two-volume "Use Your Illusion" 
set, either quit or were fired as the singer took control of the group, and then took his time recording a 
followup. Several waves of replacements also came and went.

Fortunately, the die-hard fans have more staying power. In January, they were sent into a frenzy when a 
casual Rose broke his silence to talk to Rolling Stone about the album, describing it as "complex."

That was followed in February by Internet leaks of four new songs, "Better," "I.R.S.," "Catcher in the Rye," 
and "There Was a Time." Two months later, Guns N' Roses announced a summer European tour, and then 
played four sold-out warm-up shows at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom in May.

"For the first time, we had proof that there was new material," said Eric Romano, 33, a Montreal computer 
technician and webmaster of http://www.MyGNRForum.com.

Finally, on August 31, Rose appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York, where he said "it is this 
year," in response to a question about the "Chinese Democracy" release.

"That's what did it for a lot of fans," said Brian Sharma, 28, a Philadelphia lawyer and owner of two cats 
named "Axl" and "Rose." "Axl (had) never said that before."

"This year the excitement level hit an all-time high," said Mark Strigl, 37, co-host of "Talking Metal," a pod-
cast about heavy metal. "I don't know if that excitement will ever be topped again with the hard-core fans."

A NEW HOPE?

Disappointed fans now expect the album to arrive sometime in 2007, possibly timed with the 20th 
anniversary of "Appetite for Destruction," the band's 1987 blockbuster debut. Some expect an official 
announcement in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Guns N' Roses' global audience remains formidable. The band has sold 38.5 million albums in the 
United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, while worldwide sales are 
estimated at more than 90 million. Guns N' Roses' "Greatest Hits," released in 2004, has sold more than 3 
million copies in the U.S.

In a way, however, the absence of "Democracy" makes the online fan community that much more cohesive, 
Strigl said. It "gives them something to hope for."

And Rose's dependable unpredictability is part of Guns N' Roses' lasting appeal.

"He's doing it his way, which is the rock n' roll ethos," Sharma said.




12.10.06

Check out this review/article from the Chicago show here!





11.20.06

Izzy Stradlin' has a new video out from his last album Like a Dog and you can see it here!




11.18.06


Gabe Caggiano sent in this review that was for a local Washington DC paper of the Baltimore show:

Just when I thought rock ‘n roll was all but completely dead and buried, the reconstituted Guns N’ Roses band blew through Baltimore’s 1 st Mariner Arena and shredded the place Monday night. There was high drama before this show because eccentric frontman Axl Rose cancelled a concert in Portland, Maine a few days earlier. Portland city officials told the band they couldn’t drink alcohol on stage. What? I wondered if anyone would have had the balls to tell that to Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack before political correctness began creeping into every facet of our lives and sucking the joy out of a harmless good time. like a rock concert. Nobody told Frank what to do. Nobody tells Axl what to do. Bravo, aging waster.

Fortunately, town fathers in Baltimore were not on some sanctimonious crusade like their provincial downeast counterparts in Maine. As expected, Axl and the new boys were fashionably late taking the stage. They didn’t start ripping and tearing until 11:15PM , but it was worth the wait.

The first song? Take a guess. It was ‘Welcome to the Jungle” at 110 decibels, with Axl coming out of the smoke and flames like a cross between Jim Morrison and Eddie from “Eddie and the Cruisers.” I thought to myself, “Axl has lost at least 30 pounds, his voice sounds good and he actually appears…happy! Gosh, his meds, legal or illegal, must be working just fine tonight.”

To be honest, the on again, off again career of Axl Rose over the past decade has inspired more contempt than endearment from this fan and I was ready to walk away from the show thinking, “ This prick needs to pack it in and get a job selling flat screens At Best Buy.” Instead, Axl’s inspired performance sent this clear message to fans at the 1 st Mariner Arena and beyond: “I perform when I am good and ready and when I do you’ll be glad you came or wish you did. Either way, I don’t really give a damn”.

The new Guns N’ Roses has a three guitar lineup which added extra fullness to “Sweet Child o’ Mine”, “November Rain”, “ Live and let Die” and the killer encore finale, “Paradise City.” I loved the fact all of Slash’s lead guitar runs were played note for note. Every song sounded like they did on record going back to “Appetite for Destruction.” Perhaps even better. This band was not gacked to the 9’s on smack and played with discipline and focus. Would you want to be onstage with Axl Rose and miss a note or a cue? I wouldn’t.

Fear can be a good thing and the guys on guitars did their job as if beefy roadies were waiting to pummel them offstage if they let psycho boy down. Fortunately, I would guess they were allowed to die another day. Late in the show Axl told the audience , “Its great to be playing Baltimore, the setting of my favorite show ‘The Wire”. Big applause from the crowd. It figures “The Wire” is an Axl favorite. Its all about drug dealing, corrupt cops and murder. Welcome to the Jungle, indeed.

At the end of the show the crowd was covered in little paper rose petals fired from wind cannons as “Paradise City” came to a screeching end. The band locked arms and took a collective bow like rock gods from the mid-70’s. I saw Aerosmith 15 times before 1980 and this concert had the same feel as those shows when it was over. My ears were ringing. I looked at my watch. It was 1:45AM. Axl and his friends drank onstage all night and held nothing back. I never thought Axl or the reconstituted Gunners band would be this good. I’m sure Axl was smirking to himself as he walked offstage, like a

11.14.06

Eagles of Death Metal to open for GNR!  For dates check this site!





11.13.06


Listen to a recent Izzy Stradlin' interview on this site!




Michael J. Fox Rocks with Sheryl Crow, Axl Rose at Fundraiser
MONDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2006 08:45AM EST

By Mark Dagostino

Michael J. Fox raised more than $5 million for his Foundation for Parkinson's Research at a Beatles-themed fundraiser in Manhattan on Saturday night, thanks to a crowd that included emcee Denis Leary, Sheryl Crow, Martin Scorsese, Mohammed Ali, Famke Janssen, Rob Thomas and Susan Sarandon.

Rose, a surprise guest, took the stage at the Waldorf-Astoria Ballroom to sing McCartney's "Live and Let Die." Why the performance? "Michael had asked," Rose told PEOPLE. "We actually used a sample of Michael J. Fox from (his film) Casualties of War in one of our songs that will be on the new album. So I felt, one, I've always been a fan of his. And I also feel for the guy and his situation. I'm for stem-cell research, so I just thought it would be wrong not for me to come when I was asked."

Elvis Costello attended with wife Diana Krall, who's due to give birth in December. "But it's twins," said Krall, "so maybe sooner!"

Fox's wife Tracy Pollan said the annual fundraiser got a shot in the arm from last week's wins by Democrats – and candidates favoring stem-cell research: "It definitely has an extra little feeling of excitement. But this is always a really important night, and a really fun night for us."

Pollan also said she was "sort of floored" by Rush Limbaugh's accusation that Fox exaggerated his symptoms in a campaign ad."But having watched (Limbaugh) before, maybe not as surprised as maybe I would've hoped to have been. Actually, the first thing I thought was this is really going to turn on him – which it did."

Crow, who sang the Beatles' "Blackbird" and "Eight Days a Week," told PEOPLE, "I'm really here to celebrate what Michael J. Fox is doing and what he's done so far, and the great hope he's giving everyone."

She added, "I'm so lucky, because I am now a breast cancer survivor. Obviously only six months, but I believe that I'm cancer free. (In Michael) we're watching somebody who's really fighting for his life, and the fact that he's sharing that with us I think motivates the best part of all of us to really tap into the human spirit and feel that kind of empathy and want to do something about it."

On a personal note, Crow revealed, "I'm dating." Anyone we should know? "I always feel like it's no one anyone should ever know," she said, laughing. "I like to keep my secrets."

For his part, Fox was just excited to know he had some effect on politics. "In the last week of the election, when people are chucking garbage around and it's the most brutal part of the campaign, people were actually talking about stem cells," he said. "Whatever side they came down on was great by me, as long as they talked about it."

He added: "The attention was great. And we went into that conversation knowing that 70 percent of Americans support this research."

The night ended with an all-star jam session: Fox strapped on a guitar to join Crow, Costello, Rob Thomas and Leary on stage for the Beatles' "Revolution," "Back in the U.S.S.R." and "Twist and Shout."

And when it was all over, guests went home with a unique gift basket: A Beatles lunch box stuffed with goodies.

10.26.06

Here is a review of the opening night of the tour:

Guns N' Roses: Welcome to the Awesome

Before we commence to embarrassingly gushing over last night's Guns N' Roses "Chinese Democracy" tour opener at Sunrise's BankAtlantic Center, it is necessary to give Axl Rose a strict finger-wagging.

It is completely inexcusable to make your fans wait more than an hour after the last opening act for you to deign to come onstage at 11:20 p.m. Especially since the bulk of your demographic is in their late 20s and early 30s, have jobs and/or families, and are going to be completely wiped out and useless at work the next morning because your portion of the show didn't end until 1:30 a.m. So, shame, shame, shame.

However, the show was pretty much the most exciting, gut-pumping, lighter-flicking thing seen so far this year in South Florida.

Yes, it's true - long the butt of jokes for his stage shenanigans, band line-up shuffling, creative hairdo and long-delayed "Chinese Democracy" album, frontman Axl Rose and his reconstituted Guns delivered a more than two-hour set that covered most of their older hits and at least one new number.

The relaxed, friendly and cheerfully profane Rose admitted to being a little worse for wear following some debauched evenings in Miami ("I'd like to know where I was in the wee hours of this morning"), which may have explained his many departures from the stage to allow various band members solos that occassionally slowed the evening down.

But those solos, including a strong guitar jam by former Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck and an almost Jim Brickman-esque piano piece by longtime keyboardist Dizzy Reed, still couldn't zap the energy of Capt. Axl and his still-seductive stage snakiness.

The concert started strong and mostly stayed that way. After the hideous wait (and there's still no excuse for that) the lights went down on a stage flanked by the letters G N'R in Chinese-like characters. Ominous storm trooper-type music began to play as the restless fans began yelling things like "Come on!"

And BOOM!, just like that, the staccato strains of "Welcome To The Jungle" greeted geysers of pyrotechnic flare-ups and the appearance of the strutting Rose, his multi-colored braids tied back behind his head.

"You know where you are?" Rose screamed along with the crowd. "You're in the junnn-gal, bay-BAYY!"
Why, yes we are. Grab that pith helmet and stun gun and elaborate, my friend.

Rose's voice has always been something of a contradiction - a pleasant raspiness that turns into a seductively dangerous shriek. It was in evidence during "Jungle," as well as the intense "You Could Be Mine," "Mr. Brownstone" and "It's So Easy." By the end of the show, he sounded like he'd over-extended himself, but he never stopped throwing himself into it, even with the probable hangover pounding on his cornrows.

The band did pretty much everything you'd think they would - the strongest bits included the expert bombast of Wings' "Live And Let Die" (and did you remember how good that thing was?), the welcome whistle of "Patience" and a gleeful "Sweet Child O' Mine."

Oddly, for a tour named "Chinese Democracy," there was very little evidence of the still-unreleased album that lends it its name. Toward the end, before the stomping encore of "Paradise City," Axl and company did the title song, a loud and solid number that invokes the importance of thinking for yourself and not letting them fool ya and what-not.

It's OK, although it's no "November Rain." However, it blended seamlessly into the rest of the Guns N' Roses canon, and the modern Guns N'Roses blends seamlessly into the band's legend.

10.24.06

21 Nov 2006 , 8:00 PM

Saint John, NB at the Harbour Station
Doors Open: 7:00 PM

Tickets go on sale on 28th of October and are priced $57.50 or $72.50.

10.18.06

Izzy's album Like a Dog (never before released in the US) is now available on ITunes.




10.14.06

The first two shows that were to take place on October 20th and 22nd have been moved.

The Jacksonville, FL show is now scheduled for October 31st and the Nashville, TN show will take place in January 2007 (new date TBA).

The tour starts on October 24th in Sunrise, FL at the BankAtlantic Center.

10.11.06


GUNS N' ROSES

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN - SOLD OUT!

TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE FOR CONTINENTAL AIRLINES ARENA NOVEMBER 5th

GUNS N' ROSES OWN NY !!!

Hot on the heels of their 4 sold out shows at Hammerstein Ballroom in
May, Guns N' Roses have just sold out the world renowned Madison
Square Garden (Nov 10). It won't be long until New Jersey's
Continental Airlines Arena (Nov 5) reaches capacity as well. The 2
New York area concerts are part of a just-announced 36 date North
American tour, set to kick off October 20 in Jacksonville, Florida.
Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach has been tapped as opening
act. With stellar concert reviews and strong ticket sales across the
country, Guns N' Roses are currently ranked Number 1 on Pollstar's
Top 50 chart ahead of The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Red Hot Chili
Peppers and Aerosmith who round out the top 5.

Friday, November 10 - 8:00pm

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN - SOLD OUT!

Sunday, November 5 - 8:30pm

TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE FOR CONTINENTAL AIRLINES ARENA

East Rutherford, NJ

Tickets: $89.50, $59.50 & $39.50

Tickets available at the Continental Airlines Arena box office,
Ticketmaster locations, online at Ticketmaster.com or charge-by-phone
at 201-507-8900, 212-307-7171, 631-888-9000.

All dates, acts and ticket prices subject to change without notice.

A service charge is added to each ticket price.

10.7.06

A 3rd show in LA has been added in the same venue, December 20th and its on sale now!



10.6.06

The GNR Website has been updated with a 3rd video from the European tour, check it out here!




10.4.06

The GNR Website has been updated with another from the European tour, check it out here!



10.2.06

The GNR Website has been updated with a video from the European tour, check it out here!



9.29.06

GUNS N' ROSES ANNOUNCE "CHINESE DEMOCRACY" NORTH AMERICAN TOUR AND STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP WITH MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ADVANCED MEDIA

Hot on the heels of their sell out shows last week in Las Vegas, San Francisco and KROQ's Inland Invasion in Los Angeles Guns N' Roses announce the first leg of their "Chinese Democracy" North American Tour.

The tour which will kick off on the 20th of October in Jacksonville, Florida finds the band in top form having spent the summer in Europe playing to 700,000 plus people over 32 shows in 18 countries, making it one of the biggest tours of the year on the continent and in the UK. Concert goers were not let down as Axl Rose and his band mates Dizzy Reed, Robin Finck, Richard Fortus, Tommy Stinson, Chris Pitman, Brain and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal burned through classics such as "Welcome to the Jungle," "Paradise City," "Nightrain," "Mr. Brownstone," "November Rain" and "Sweet Child O' Mine" as well as highlighting soon to be favourites from the forthcoming "Chinese Democracy" album.

Just this week, the Hollywood Reporter's concert review of KROQ's Inland Invasion observed, "when headliner Guns N' Roses took the stage everything old became new again - and everything new on the bill, just couldn't hold a candle in comparison... the night belonged to Guns N' Roses!"

Axl Rose commented, "We had an amazing tour in Europe this summer and last week’s shows here in the US were great. It's been a long time getting here but we look forward to coming to your town and having a lot of fun."

Sebastian Bach who has been guesting with Guns N' Roses on "My Michelle" will open the entire tour with the Special Guest slot going to a number of great bands starting with Papa Roach for the dates through the 3rd of November. The shows have been planned to cater to a Guns N' Roses rock n' roll party atmosphere with Sebastian hitting the stage every night at 8 pm followed by the Special Guest at 9 pm and Guns N' Roses shortly after 10 pm and lots of great music in between.

Guns N' Roses are also delighted to announce that they have partnered with Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLB.COM) to provide their fans with premium ticketing opportunities and up to the minute information on the tour and the band's other activities via gunsnroses.com which will be launched as of tomorrow.

As for Guns N' Roses forthcoming "Chinese Democracy" album the only comment at this time is that there are 13 Tuesdays left between now and the end of the year.

The itinerary for the "Chinese Democracy" North American Tour is as follows. Tickets for most dates go on sale on the 30th of September with up to the minute information and pre-sales available now at gunsnroses.com.

October

10/20/06 Jacksonville, FL Vets Memorial Arena
10/22/06 Nashville, TN Gaylord Entertainment Center
10/24/06 Sunrise, FL BankAtlantic Center
10/25/06 St. Petersburg, FL St. Pete Times Forum
10/27/06 Estero, FL Germain Arena
10/29/06 San Juan, Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum

November

11/2/06 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
11/3/06 Huntington, WV Big Sandy Superstore Arena
11/5/06 East Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena
11/6/06 Portland, ME Cumber County Civic Center
11/8/06 Worcester, MA Worcester Centrum
11/10/06 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
11/13/06 Baltimore, MD 1st Mariner
11/15/06 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
11/17/06 Ottawa, ON Scotiabank
11/18/06 Quebec Colisee Pepsi
11/20/06 Halifax, NS Halifax Metro Centre
11/24/06 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
11/25/06 Auburn Hills, MI The Palace of Auburn Hills
11/27/06 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
11/29/06 Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center

December

12/1/06 Ames, IA Hilton Coliseum
12/2/06 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
12/4/06 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre
12/6/06 Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome
12/7/06 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
12/10/06 Everett, WA Everett Events Center
12/11/06 Portland, OR Rose Garden
12/13/06 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center
12/15/06 Oakland, CA Oakland Coliseum
12/17/06 Universal City, CA Gibson Amphitheatre
12/19/06 Universal City, CA Gibson Amphitheatre

January

1/10/07 Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena
1/11/07 Bakersfield, CA Rabobank Arena
1/13/07 Reno, NV Reno Events Ctr
1/16/07 San Diego, CA iPayOne Center

9.27.06

November 18th, 2006
Quebec City, QC @ Colisée Pepsi

On sale Saturday, September 30th at 10:00AM.

9.26.06

Tickets go on sale this Saturday, September 30th.

November 5th, 2006 - East Rutherford, NJ @ Continental
Airlines Arena (on sale Saturday, September 30th at
9AM)

November 8th, 2006 - Worcester, MA @ DCU Center (on
sale N/A)

November 10th, 2006 - New York City, NY @ Madison
Square Garden (Tickets on sale Saturday, September
30th at 9AM)

December 4th, 2006 - Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre (Onsale
to General Public: Sat, 09/30/06 10:00 AM CDT)

December 7th, 2006 - Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place (on
sale Saturday, September 30th at 10:00 AM MDT)

The Guns N' Roses concert at the Greensboro Coliseum
has a new date: Nov. 2 at 8 p.m.

The originally announced concert date (Oct. 31) was
amended due to a change in the tour's routing, the
coliseum announced today.

Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at the
Greensboro Coliseum advance box office, online at
www.tickets.com, at Tickets.com outlets at
participating Triad area Lowes Foods locations and by
calling Tickets.com toll free at (888) 397-3100.

Two types of tickets will be offered: general
admission tickets on the arena floor that allow
patrons to stand in a club-style atmosphere and
reserved arena seating around the perimeter of the
coliseum in the lower and upper levels.

Tickets are $39.50, $49.50 and $75

9.25.06

More Dates!!!!

Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
Wed, Nov 15, 2006 08:00 PM

Tickets: CA $35.00 - CA $85.00
Onsale to General Public: Fri, 09/29/06 12:00 PM EDT

November 17th, 2006: Ottawa, ON @ Scotiabank Place

Tickets. $49.50 - $85.00 (on sale September 29th)

November 20th, 2006: Halifax, NS @ Halifax Metro Centre

Tickets. $54.50 - $69.50 (on sale Saturday, September 30th at 9am)

Fri, Nov 3, 2006 08:00 PM @ Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, WV

Tickets: $37.00 - $63.00
On sale: Sat, 09/30/06 12:00 PM EDT

Dec 10 @ Everett Events Center in Everett, WA

Tickets: $39.50 - $75.00

On sale: September 30th.

Dec 11 @ The Rose Garden Arena in Portland, OR

Tickets: $39.50 - $75.00
On sale: September 30th

Welcome to the Desert: Axl & Co. Rip it Up

The KROQ Inland Invasion in the desert east of Los
Angeles may have been an all-day affair Saturday, but
by the time the dust settled early Sunday morning,
there was only one band that mattered.

Yes, the summer-ending festival hosted by America's
trend-setting rock radio station featured many of the
boldest and brashest bands of the modern rock
movement, but when headliner Guns N' Roses took the
stage shortly before 11 p.m. at the Hyundai Pavilion,
everything old became new again -- and everything new
on the bill, well, just couldn't hold a candle in
comparison.

Make no mistake, Axl Rose knew the magnitude of the
night's show, and few in attendance could argue that
the iconic Guns N' Roses frontman didn't rise to the
occasion. No, his vocals weren't pristine, but they
never were. And topping a bill that featured as much
screaming as it did singing, they didn't have to be.

With the pacing of the show impacted by the at-times
illogical progression of bands, the day's preliminary
highlights had been scattered. Buckcherry's gritty,
glam-rock explosion would have been better suited
prior to Papa Roach's punk-powered, radio rock riffs,
as opposed to working between the hardcore screaming
and emo teasing of Atreyu and the punk rock uprising
of Rise Against. Muse benefited from playing after the
sun had set, but other bands would have benefited
more, as the back-to-back billing of the unassuming,
prog-flavored U.K. power trio and the dark and dreary
(though well-received) return of Alice in Chains
resulted in a notable letdown in energy prior to the
night's marquee attraction.

It would have been fitting for Avenged Sevenfold to
have taken the stage immediately before Guns N' Roses,
but the spacing between the Orange County heavy metal
revivalists and their heroes served them well, as it
gave the crowd ample time to forget just how similar
its latest single "Seize the Day" was to Guns classic
"November Rain." Papa Roach boasted the daylight's
most anthem-heavy return to arena-rock splendor,
frontman Jacoby Shaddix's over-the-top charisma
offering a power-packed counterpunch to the memorable
set of 30 Seconds to Mars, whose art house approach to
hard rock opened with the band -- fronted by actor
Jared Leto -- marching through the crowd with an army
of flag-waving fans before taking the stage in China
doll masks and ninja-white get-ups.

But the night belonged to Guns N' Roses. When the
house lights dimmed a scant 45 minutes later than the
scheduled set time and the opening shards of "Welcome
to the Jungle" pierced the packed pavilion and
shoulder-to-shoulder lawn section, the mood became
manic.

The 19-song, 130-minute set featured all but three of
the tracks from Guns N' Roses' classic debut "Appetite
for Destruction," as well as four new songs. While
Rose's ever-evolving band has become a punching bag
for cynics, tonight they lived up to the band's
storied past.

Lead guitarist Robin Finck injected a personality to
rival Slash, even if his guitar tones sometimes
strayed slightly from the originals (most notably
during "Patience"), and keyboardist Dizzy Reed jazzed
up "Night Train." One of the night's most memorable
performances was "November Rain," which featured Rose
on piano at center stage and Finck and guitarist
Richard Fortus trading leads.

Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach joined Rose
onstage to tear through "My Michelle," and received a
notably louder ovation upon his introduction than
Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, who joined
Alice in Chains for their signature "Man in the Box."
The Inland Invasion may have been a long way from the
Sunset Strip, but the rock stars still ruled. Even the
almighty KROQ couldn't have planned that.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

9.24.06

The 2 LA shows on December 17th and 19th are on sale now !!!!

GN'R have postponed the US dates that were to take
place between September 27th and October 5th. The
dates have been moved to fit into the main body of the
tour, which starts on October 20th in Jacksonville, FL
at the Veterans Memorial Arena.

The rescheduled dates will take place later this year
or early next year (depending on show).

The shows with new rescheduled dates known so far are:

Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center: September 27th, 2006 ->
December 13th, 2006
Bakersfield, CA @ Rabobank Arena Theater and
Convention Center: September 29th, 2006 -> January
11th, 2007
Reno, NV @ Reno Events Center: September 30th, 2006 ->
January 13th, 2007
Sacramento, CA @ ARCO Arena: October 2nd, 2006 ->
January 10th, 2007

This is currently listed on Ticketmaster.com:

Guns N' Roses
1st Mariner Arena, Baltimore, MD
Mon, Nov 13, 2006 08:00 PM

US $39.50 - US $75.00

Onsale to General Public:
Sat, 09/30/06 10:00 AM EDT

9.21.06

some more dates added!!

http://www.ticketmaster.com/artist/735218

12/17 and 12/19 at Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk Universal City, CA

They are also apparently playing the Oakland Arena on December 15th.

9.19.06

A new show at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH
on Friday, November 24th was announced today on
ticketbastard!
Tickets are $39.50 - $77.00 and go on sale on
 Saturday, 10/07/06 at 10:00 AM EDT.

The latest addition to the 2006 North American tour
itinerary is Worcester, MA on Wednesday, November 8th
at the DCU Center. Tickets are $38.25 - $73.75 and go
on sale Fri, 09/22/06 10:00 AM EDT.

9.15.06

9.14.06

Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, TN will be
the place where GN'R is playing on October 22nd.

Tickets are $32.50-$75.00 and go on sale Saturday,
September 16th at 10am.

http://www.1059.com/

Also, the Inland Invasion show will be webcast! Check this site to see it on the show date.

9.12.06

Tickets are $76.00 / $49.50 / $39.50 (Service Charges
May Apply)Fri - 10/27/0608:00 PM 96-1 Krock 20th Birthday Bash with Guns and
Roses
Germain Arena
Estero, FL http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0D003D2989A54ECE?artistid=735218&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1

9.11.06

Tickets are priced $39.75, $49.75 and $77.75. On sale
date TBA.http://www.bankatlanticcenter.comOn October 25 at 7:30 pm, GN'R will stop at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. FL.Tickets for this event go on sale Saturday, September 16, 2006 at Noon at the St. Pete Times Forum box office and all Ticketmaster Outlets.Tickets are priced at $76.75, $49.75 and $39.75. Prices do not include service charges.http://www.icepalace.com/prdetail.cfm?pressreleaseID=1458&category=6

8.31.06

8.24.06

8.22.06

8.21.06

GN'R is scheduled to play at the Reno Events Center in
Reno, NV on Saturday, September 30th and at the ARCO
Arena in Sacramento, CA on Monday, October 2nd.Tickets for both shows go on sale on Saturday, August
26th at 10:00 am PDT.
Source(s): http://www.livenation.com/
According to 91X in San Diego, CA, GN'R will be at the
iPayOne Center at the Sports Arena in San Diego, CA on
Tuesday, October 3rd. 8.18.06Axl Rose recently called KROQ and gave a short interview; you can listen to it on the site. 8.17.06Guns N' Roses dates surfacing - a livedaily article KROQ's Inland Invasion 2006 details

Saturday September 23 @ Hyundai Pavilion

Guns n' Roses
Alice in Chains
Muse
Papa Roach
Avenged Sevenfold
30 Seconds to Mars
Rise Against
Atreyu
Buckcherry

Tickets on sale Saturday (August 19) @ 10AM @ all Ticketmaster locations including Tower Records, Ritmo Latino, Robinsons May and select Wherehouse locations. The Hyundai box office will also be selling tickets that day (but Family Values is that day so it could be a little busy @ that box office)

No ticket limits

Seats are $75 for pit and orchestra, $55 for loge and $35 lawn.8.15.06The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas will play host to Guns N' Roses for two shows at the Joint, scheduled for September 16 and September 17. Tickets for those dates will also go on sale August 19. According to Livenation.com, GN'R are playing at The Warfield in San Francisco, CA on September 20th and 21st.
Tickets go on sale on Sunday, August 20th at 10:00 am PDT.8.11.06Axl Rose visits Cancer Patients in London - article here. 8.8.06On Friday August 11th starting at 0:30, GN'R's show at
this year's Rock Am Ring festival will be shown on
German TV channel WDR.

The show is called Rockpalast.


Source(s): http://www.rockpalast.de/ 7.31.06Guns N' Roses Win Big in Europe - read the press release here. 7.23.06Guns N' Roses Heat Wave Guns N' Roses want the people of Newcastle to know that the crowd at their sold out show Wednesday night was terrific. The band played a sweaty two hour show on the hottest night in a lifetime bolstered by the audience's incredible support. Unfortunately, the band was not able to give the crowd the encore they deserved due to the behaviour of a couple of cowards in the audience. Guns N' Roses keyboard player Dizzy Reed explained "Newcastle was one of the best gigs of the entire tour. I had puddles of sweat underneath my keyboards and loved every second of it except when some idiots decided to throw things at the stage. When Axl got hit the first time, the audience pointed out who threw the object and security tossed him out so we came back. Then Axl got hit in the mouth with another object, so thanks to the behavior of two morons who obviously don't know how to behave at a rock concert, the show ended with no encores. I've been in this band for sixteen years and stupid shit like throwing stuff at the stage is something we won't tolerate. We're not targets, we're musicians." Guitarist Robin Finck stated, "We had a great time Wednesday night and Axl sang his ass off but you do not wait around to get hit in the mouth for a third time." Guns N' Roses vocalist Axl Rose had this to say, "Getting hit wasn't a big deal. We stopped the song and gave a warning. We came back and started the song over and completed it. We then said goodnight. The house lights went down and I got hit a second time, in the mouth, by a solid object thrown by someone in the audience. After having warned the crowd that we would leave, and having played more than two hours, we left the stage and called it a night with the full support of everyone in the band, our guests and Management. Izzy was the first to immediately support the decision verbally to me personally before I had physically left the stage area. Tommy and Frank came to my dressing room to say how much they appreciated the decision to not continue under those conditions, and express their support for not tolerating anyone throwing items at the stage with a negative intent. This has been GNR's policy since playing Donnington in 1988. We thank everyone for coming, we hope everyone got home safely and we hope to play Newcastle again - hopefully without those looking for enjoyment at others expense. Cheers!" Guns N' Roses look forward to continuing their sold out UK tour in Glasgow tonight.6.30.06GUNS N' ROSES manager Merck Mercuriadis released this statement following the band's sold out show in Oslo, Norway last night (June 2 — their first since frontman Axl Rose was released from jail in Stockholm on Tuesday:

"We are very unhappy about Tuesday's events in Stockholm. To put this in context, we are in the middle of a tour — with sold-out shows last night in Oslo, tomorrow in Copenhagen, and Saturday in Zurich rounding out this week alone — and continuing until the beginning of August.

"The Swedish authorities were very aware of this, yet continually threatened us over a 12-hour period with between 5 days and 3 weeks incarceration without bail if Axl did not 'cooperate.' They were fully aware that there were millions of dollars at stake, not to mention the hopes of tens of thousands of fans who had paid for tickets to see GUNS N' ROSES.

"The point is, the police report should not be taken at face value, and if one were to be explicit, this experience is tantamount to being held for ransom. If the context were any different, Axl would probably have preferred to spend the time in jail in order to ensure that all the facts were a matter of public record.

"In addition to this, we are also not happy at the treatment he received. He was arrested after being accosted by a security guard in his hotel, following which he was physically mistreated by the arresting officer in the process of which a valuable bracelet went missing not to be returned. While in custody, he was held down by 5 police officers while a doctor tried to take blood to administer a drug test 3 different times. This illustrates not only the level of incompetence, but malice involved. The results of the test were negative, but the exercise was a clear example of an authoritarian approach trying to flex its muscles. This is the same draconian approach that assumes the security guard in question is telling the truth just because he has a badge.

"Here you have a situation where authorities are skewing information their way, with the media all too ready to run with the biased reports. I did not receive a single phone call Tuesday to verify or comment on any of the reported events. There is a long history of claims by law enforcement, media and others against Axl that have not held up against scrutiny, legal or otherwise. He has had countless baseless lawsuits brought by numerous attorneys and nothing of any merit has ever held up.

"This is not a criticism of the people of Stockholm. The 15,000 people at the show Monday night were amazing, and everyone we met before and after were terrific, until the encounter with the over exuberant security guard. That is where encounters with real people stop and the authorities attempt to take over. There were a number of people involved who treated Axl well, while the conduct of some was questionable and others still deplorable. Regardless, GUNS N' ROSES will return to Sweden where they will play once again for the people, not the authorities.

"Love him or hate him, don't get it twisted." 6.24.06Press Release: THE RETURN OF GUNS N' ROSES Phenomenal rock giants Guns N' Roses, one of the greatest bands of all time, have been confirmed as the headliner for Istanbul at Kurucesme Arena at July 12 , 2006. Guns N' Roses' performances over the past decade have been an extreme rarity and Rock Istanbul Org./Supernova Concerts by arrangement with John Jackson at K2 Agency can confirm they will be exclusively providing the only Turkish show by Guns N' Roses in 2006. With this confirmation and the forthcoming release of Guns N' Roses' long-awaited new album, this certainly promises to be a great year for GN'R and their devoted fans. Guns N' Roses' vocalist Axl Rose said, "The UK and Europe have always been special for me. After our last great shows there, we are all very excited and looking forward to getting back over there and in front of such great audiences. It is for me an honour and a privilege that none of us take for granted. We look forward to seeing all of you this summer!"

6.22.06

6.21.06

6.12.06BBC has posted a review of Download here. NME has posted a review of the Download festival show on their site. 6.3.06According to the official Rolling Stones website the
two German dates, where GN'R were scheduled to be the
opening act, have been cancelled:

The 2006 Rolling Stones Concerts in NURNBERG & LEIPZIG
are CANCELLED

---

GN'R has added a second Wembley Arena show on Saturday
July 29th due to demand!

5.25.06

5.24.06

5.22.06

Guns N' Roses - whose shows at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom sold out in less than 3 minutes - have reclaimed the throne that was always theirs. From stellar reviews to audience adulation, Guns N' Roses' New York shows proved that they are back in a big way. Concert goers weren't let down as Axl Rose and band mates Tommy Stinson (bass), Richard Fortus (guitar), Robin Finck (guitar), Chris Pitman (keyboard), Dizzy Reed (keyboard), Brain (drums) and new guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (who has only been in the band for two weeks!) burned through Guns N' Roses classics such as "Welcome to the Jungle," "Paradise City," "My Michelle," "Mr. Brownstone," "November Rain" and "Sweet Child O' Mine." The final show at Hammerstein found the band joined by one time Guns' guitarist Izzy Stradlin on "Think About You," "Patience" and "Night Train," which also included an enthusiastic Kid Rock coming onstage to join the band. Over the four nights, audiences were also treated to nearly half of the band's upcoming new album, Chinese Democracy, with live performances of "Chinese Democracy," "Better," "There was a Time," "Madagascar," "IRS" and "The Blues." The four shows, which took place on May 12, 14, 15 & 17th, were the talk of New York City, with fans and famous faces such as Matthew Perry, Mickey Rourke, Drea De Matteo, Lenny Kravitz, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Fred Durst, Sebastian Bach, Ethan Hawke, Jay Z, Jimmy Fallon, Maxwell and Sean Penn to name a few, paying homage to one of the greatest bands in Rock n' Roll. Each night was a celebration on stage, which would then continue off stage with parties at Sixes and Eights, Bungalow 8, Butter, G Spa, The Marquee Lounge and The SoHo House. The band ended their New York jaunt with a surprise acoustic performance at The Plumm for actress Rosario Dawson's birthday party. The band's scorching performance, which left the way beyond capacity crowd screaming for more and gasping for air well into the wee hours of the morning, had birthday girl Dawson commenting of Rose: "They've never played all acoustic, this is history in the making, how much does this fucking man rock?!" The N.Y concerts were warm up shows for the European leg of the band's forthcoming tour, which starts May 25th in Madrid at Juan Carlos Arena. For the upcoming tour, Guns N' Roses are playing a mixture of headline Festival appearances including Rock In Rio in Portugal, Download at the UK's famed Castle Donington, Rock Am Ring in Germany, Gods Of Metal in Italy, Novarock in Austria, Graspop in Belgium, Roskilde in Denmark, A Heavy Day In The Park in Holland as well as their own headlining indoor shows in Madrid, Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, Paris, Zurich, Stockholm, Oslo and Helsinki, most of which have been instant sellouts. But nothing beats the home turf of the US or New York City. W. Axl Rose commented, "We've just finished our 4 shows in New York and had an amazing time. New York has always been special and it feels great to be doing this again particularly in front of so many friends. I am very excited about Europe and getting back over here in September."

5.19.06

GNR also played a surprise acoustic gig at Plum in NYC last night for the birthday party of Rosario Dawson!!!
Here is a press release about that night! the setlist was: 01. Used To Love Her
02. Mr. Brownstone
03. Welcome To The Jungle
04. You're Crazy ('Lies' version, not the 'Appetite' version)
05. Patience
06. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
07. The Blues
08. I.R.S.
09. Sweet Child O' Mine
10. November Rain (Axl on keyboards)
11. Paradise City 5.18.06The Rock in Rio show should be webcast on this site. Izzy Stradlin Rejoins Guns N' Roses — For Three Songs
During New York Gig
Band closes out four-show NYC stint with a bang.

Leave it to Axl Rose to save the best for last.

On Wednesday night, during the band's fourth and final
warm-up show at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, the
much-rumored reunion of Axl with erstwhile GN'R
guitarist Izzy Stradlin finally came to pass.

Izzy's appearance led many in attendance to believe
that former lead guitarist Slash, who was similarly
touted by insiders as a possible guest performer
before the band's first New York gig on May 12,
wouldn't be far behind — but no joy.

Stradlin, who quit the band mid-tour in late 1991 and
has since released four albums (solo or with his
short-lived group, the Ju Ju Hounds) joined GN'R for
three tunes: "Think About You," "Patience" and "Night
Train."

The concert, which concluded shortly after 2 a.m.,
also featured guest vocalist Kid Rock on "Night
Train." The four sold-out shows acted as a warm-up for
GN'R's European festival appearances this summer. No
other North American dates have been scheduled so far.

Rose introduced Stradlin before "Think About You" —
although his comments were almost immediately drowned
out by screams from the audience as the guitarist
strutted onstage. The two hugged before launching into
the number, and one eyewitness reported seeing
Stradlin's eyes welling with tears during "Patience."

Various online GN'R messageboards have been buzzing
with speculation of a full-band reunion since word of
Stradlin's arrival reached fans via text message.
"There's going to be a reunion for sure," wrote one
fan. "There's too much money involved for it not to
happen. Izzy will bring the rest of the guys around,
you watch."

— Chris Harris5.16.06

Guns N' Roses to play London

Axl Rose's band return for an intimate summer show

Guns N'Roses have announced a very special one-off date in the UK as a warm up for their appearance at this year's Download Festival.

The band will return to London Hammersmith Apollo on June 7 for their first show at the venue in almost 20 years.

Last time they performed at the indoor venue was during their 'Appetite For Destruction' tour under G N'R's original line-up in 1987.

The gig will be Guns n' Roses first in the UK since they performed at the London Arena on August 26 2002.

Tickets for the show are priced £37.50 and will go on sale on Friday May 19 at 9am.

Support will come from Californian rockers Avenged Sevenfold.
Here is an article from the Rock in Rio website! Here is a review from Daily Variety:

True to form, Rose tested aud patience by taking a -- to say the least -- relaxed attitude towards timely performance, taking the stage a full 90 minutes after opening act Bullet for My Valentine finished. Having waited more than a decade for the chance to glimpse the new-model G n' R in action, however, fans didn't seem prone to grumbling about the additional delay. The singer wasted little time in breaking out the red meat, firing off a feral opening salvo of "Welcome to the Jungle" and "It's So Easy" that crackled with live-wire intensity. Impressive though Rose's voice was during the bulk of the set, he did come up noticeably winded after a few of his stage-crossing sprints. This version of the band -- other than Rose, only keyboardist Dizzy Reed has appeared on officially-released studio material -- didn't add perceptibly to the arrangements of the set's battle-tested tunes. On the other hand, the musicians didn't slip into tribute-band mimicry -- primary guitarist Robin Finck, in particular, made an impression through leads that bristled with steely cool, a stark contrast to the sensual bluesiness of the departed Slash. For most of the house, of course, the elephant in the room was "Chinese Democracy" -- the album Rose has been tweaking fanatically lo these many years. The set -- which didn't end until well after one A.M., featured a surprisingly generous helping of the disc's songs, which ran the gamut from gripping to baffling. The tense, menacing "I.R.S." fell squarely into the former category, its dark progressions enhanced by a throbbing keyboard underpinning and an infectious chorus that had many in the aud singing along -- a fact Rose acknowledged with a wry "you fuckers sure know how to download." Other new offerings, however, dragged palpably, particularly the aimlessly sprawling "Madagascar" and a sloppy version of "Better," neither of which yielded a memorable moment. That disjointed quality stemmed in part from the unwieldiness of the three-guitar lineup, of which new addition Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal -- who was granted two solo spotlights, which proved two too many -- seemed the most out of place. While there were certainly moments of unfettered nostalgia -- like Rose duetting with fellow '80s survivor Sebastian Bach on "My Michelle" -- the show didn't feel like a Vegas spectacle. That's due in large part to Rose's force of will. The singer seems to have shed his "most likely to incite a riot" baggage, but the edginess that remains could clearly fuel a conflagration should the need arise.

Here is a review from Blender magazine:Hammerstein Ballroom
5/12/06, 5/14/06Rocky. Lance Armstrong. The 2004 Boston Red Sox.
Colonial America. They all had their detractors; they
all triumphed over them. Perhaps the same can be said
for a long-dormant rock band that, save for a handful
of one-off shows, an ill-fated tour in 2002 and a song
on a 2000 movie soundtrack, has not performed or
released original material in roughly 13 years. By
most counts, their career should be over, but judging
from audience reaction at the first two nights of
their four-night stint at New York's Hammerstein
Ballroom, the final chapter in the GN'R saga remains
unwritten.Sold-out audiences crowded into the mid-size venue to
witness the resurrection of the group largely defined
by mythic, and now reclusive, frontman Axl Rose.
Unearthed at Hammerstein, he appeared to be as
comfortable as ever, delivering powerful vocal
performances on GN'R classics like "Welcome to the
Jungle," "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Nightrain." It's
clear that either Rose had been practicing hard for
this moment or he's not lost much of the swagger that
earned him such well-deserved notoriety nearly 20
years ago. In fact, if you closed your eyes during
these performances, it wasn't hard to imagine that it
was 1988 all over again (assuming you weren't in
diapers, of course). Upon pointing this out to the
concert attendee directly to my right, who happened to
be former Skid Row vocalist Sebastian Bach, he
succinctly replied, "Yeah, but this is 2006 and this
is f*cking rock!"Guns N' Roses now sport a full lineup with no less
than three guitar players, the latest in the rotating
cast being Ron Thal, a.k.a. "Bumblefoot." While it
wasn't what you might expect to see, these relative
unknowns proved capable of integrating new standouts
like "Madagascar" and "Better" in with the old
classics. Large stretches of shred time were afforded
these guitarists not named Slash, but it was the
sing-along staples of the GN'R songbook that stole the
show - a fact that an impressed Rose acknowledged was
keeping him from hearing himself on occasion.Other highlights include near-flawless vocal
performances of "Patience" and well-executed duets
with the aforementioned Mr. Bach on both nights. On
the second night, Axl thanked Sebastian at length for
helping to get his voice in order for the show and
went so far as to comment that he's "the man who saved
my life."Support for all four scheduled shows came from
rapidly-rising U.K. metal outfit Bullet For My
Valentine, a group whose sound is a refreshing,
on-point mix of originality and influence from acts
like Iron Maiden, Metallica and the headliners
themselves.After a rousing, confetti-laden version of "Paradise
City" closed the show to a raucous ovation from the
crowd, it became clear that Axl Rose's destiny is to
be the frontman of Guns N' Roses. And as with all
resurrections, the specter remains: While more
improbable band reunions have taken place in the past,
die-hard fans will always be checking the wings
backstage for a glimpse of that tall black top hat.In the meantime, if it sounds like Guns N' Roses and
rocks like Guns N' Roses...Reviewed by Joe KnausShow Rating - 4/5
5.15.06Last Tour International, the promoter of the Bilbao
Live Festival in Spain, have confirmed that Guns N' Roses will headline the festival on July 14th.Other acts scheduled to perform are Placebo and Ben Harper.
Here is a review of the first Hammerstein show from KNAC. Rolling Stone website also posted up a good review of the show recently!Here is a link to the Talking Metal review and a review from MTV's website. GUNS N' ROSES: New Guitarist RON THAL Makes Live Debut With Band Guitar shredder Ron Thal of the New York City-based alternative-rap-metal project BUMBLEFOOT has joined GUNS N' ROSES as the replacement for Buckethead. Thal is making his live debut with Axl Rose and company Friday night (May 12) at the opening night of a four-date stint at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. Ron Thal started as a solo artist on Shrapnel/Roadrunner Records with the instrumental guitar-oriented CD "The Adventures Of Bumblefoot" in May 1995 (voted one of the Best Newcomers in Young Guitar magazine's Readers' Poll in January 1996) and the vocal "Hermit" CD in January 1997. Through his own production company, Hermit Inc., Thal (a.k.a. Bumblefoot) has released his own music, and has worked as a producer, songwriter, and hired musician. Credits include CNN, MTV, Jessica Simpson, Cher, LeAnn Rimes, and many more.Axl Rose Welcomed to the Jungle in New York
By REUTERSNEW YORK (Reuters) - Reclusive rocker W. Axl Rose was on his best behavior as the new-look Guns N' Roses played its first concerts in more than three years over the weekend and dusted off a few songs from its long-delayed album.His trademark shriek complemented by a trim goatee, the 44-year-old vocalist is the only holdout from the original lineup of the self-destructive band that ruled MTV and the pop charts in the late 1980s and early 1990s.As Guns N' Roses struggled to record its follow-up to the two ``Use Your Illusion'' albums from 1991, Rose took control of the band and either fired his bandmates or watched them leave in frustration. His efforts over the last decade to record the new album ``Chinese Democracy'' with a revolving cast of hired hands have become something of a music industry joke.In his early days, Rose had a penchant for antagonizing pretty much everyone, but on Sunday he repeatedly thanked the sold-out 3,300-strong audience at the Hammerstein Ballroom for its support, and shook hands with fans.Guns N' Roses performed nine of the 12 songs from its 1987 debut album ``Appetite for Destruction,'' including ``Welcome to the Jungle'' and ``Sweet Child O' Mine.'' Other crowd pleasers included ``You Could Be Mine,'' ``Live and Let Die,'' and the ballads ``November Rain'' and ``Patience.''It was the second of four sold-out shows scheduled at Hammerstein. After Friday and Sunday, the band will play again Monday and Wednesday before a series of European festival appearances that will begin May 25 in Madrid and will include two dates opening for the Rolling Stones in Germany.While the crowd came to hear the old hits, Guns N' Roses also played several songs from ``Chinese Democracy,'' including ''Madagascar'' and ``IRS.'' Rose told a New York radio station last week that the album might come out this fall. During the show, he thanked the crowd for its patience.``You can hold your breath a lot longer than David Blaine. I want to thank you for that,'' he said, referring to the New York stuntman who last week failed in an attempt to break the world record for holding his breath underwater.Rose is no longer the scrawny kid who ruled Los Angeles' Sunset Strip in the 1980s, but he displayed a surprising amount of energy. He wore his braided long hair tied up in a pony tail, designer sunglasses, blue jeans and a leather shirt unbuttoned to reveal a crucifix hanging from a large necklace.He dedicated the show both to his mother and to former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach, whom he credited for finding a vocal coach and a throat doctor when Rose lost his voice after the Friday show. The two reunited after not talking to each other in 13 years.``I was busy trying to save my life, he was busy trying to destroy his,'' Rose said, before inviting Bach on stage to sing along on ``My Michelle.''Rose's previous comeback fizzled in late 2002. After a triumphant performance at New York's Madison Square Garden, he failed to show up for the following day's show in Philadelphia. The crowd rioted and the promoters canceled the rest of the tour.
Despite rumors that Guns N' Roses refugees, such as equally reclusive guitarist Izzy Stradlin, might appear at Hammerstein, none materialized. With one exception, the seven musicians backing Rose played with him in 2002.They were keyboardist Dizzy Reed (who has been with Guns N' Roses since the ``Use Your Illusion'' days), guitarist Robin Finck (formerly of Nine Inch Nails), drummer Brian ``Brain'' Mantia (formerly of Primus), guitarist Richard Fortus from the Psychedelic Furs, keyboard player Chris Pittman, and bassist Tommy Stinson from the Replacements.The new addition was Ron ``Bumblefoot'' Thal, an obscure New York City musician hired last week to replace enigmatic guitar wizard Buckethead. Occasionally, Bumblefoot played an unconventional guitar modeled to look like a hybrid between a bee and a foot, complete with retractable wings.Reuters/VNU5.9.06The Village Voice just has posted a new article about GNR and Chinese Democracy!!!!! 5.8.06Axl Rose Heralds New Guns N' Roses Album
Axl Rose Says New Guns N' Roses Album 'Chinese Democracy' Coming Soon

By JANET MORRISSEY
The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Rock recluse Axl Rose made a surprise radio appearance to proclaim that Guns N' Roses 10-years-in-the-making "Chinese Democracy" album will finally hit store shelves this fall.

The comments Saturday on Eddie Trunk's syndicated radio show marked the first interview the painfully private Rose has given since his failed 2002 comeback tour, which was abruptly scrapped midway amid riots and canceled shows.

Roses impromptu appearance came when former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, who was co-hosting the show, called Rose's cell phone and patched the call through the studio.

Quizzed on when the near-mythical album would come out, Rose said, "Sometime this fall or late fall." His band could be heard rehearsing in the background. "It will be out this year."

Trunk invited Rose to drop by the studio, and about an hour later he did.

Asked about the aborted 2002 comeback tour, which ended when Rose failed to appear for a gig in Philadelphia, Rose told Trunk he felt pressured into doing it before he was ready. But he insisted he has no regrets, since the short-lived tour helped the new band members to gel. (The 2002 lineup included keyboard player Dizzy Reed from the original GNR, former Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck, bassist Tommy Stinson from the Replacements, guitar shredder Buckethead, drummer Brian "Brain" Mantia formerly of Primus, guitarist Richard Fortus from the former Psychedelic Furs and Love Spit Love, and keyboard player Chris Pittman.)

"Can you tell people why the tour ended at that point?" asked Trunk.

"Umm, no, not exactly," said Rose, declining to discuss it.

Plans are currently in the works for Rose to relaunch his comeback by playing four shows at New Yorks Hammerstein Ballroom over the next 10 days, then head to Europe to play several music festivals.

Rose said the band at the Hammerstein shows will be similar to the one that played the 2002 tour, except for a new lead guitarist, whom he declined to identify except to say it's not an old GNR member. Buckethead left the band in 2004.

However, later in the broadcast, Rose seemed to contradict himself when he said hes been hobnobbing with former GNR guitarist and songwriter Izzy Stradlin, and strongly hinted that Stradlin may show up for the Hammerstein shows.

5.6.06Axl just did a live radio interview on the Trunk show! He said the album will be out this year in fall and he is having a great time in NYC.
He also played over the phone some bits of rehearsal of Nightrain. He seemed like he was in a great mood and it looks as if the shows
are going to be awesome!!!Thanks to Mike B in NYC! According to the German GN'R fan site,
gunsnrosesonline.de, GN'R are scheduled to play at the
Hallenstadion in Zürich on June 21st.GN'R's show at the Hallenstadion in Zürich,
Switzerland has now been confirmed.The tickets go on sale on Monday, May 8th at 8am and
are priced CHF 75.– / CHF 65.–.5.5.06Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses reunite in Europe

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Guns N' Roses will open two German dates on
the Rolling Stones' upcoming tour of Europe, a role they last
performed during the Stones' 1989 U.S. trek.According to the Rolling Stones' Web site, the Axl Rose-rose led rock
band will warm up the crowd in Nuremburg on July 10 and Leipzig on
July 12.The tour is still set to begin on May 27 in Barcelona, despite
continued speculation about guitarist Keith Richards' health. He was
released from a New Zealand hospital earlier this week after suffering
mild concussion when he reportedly fell from a tree in Fiji. News
reports have said he may require surgery, but the band's publicist
said on Wednesday that Richards was fine and his condition was being
monitored.The original Guns N' Roses lineup -- Rose is now the only veteran --
opened for the Stones during their four-night stint at the Los Angeles
Coliseum in October 1989. One of their sets was highlighted by a Rose
monologue in defence of racist and homophobic lyrics in the song "One
in a Million," a bitter complaint that too many people in the Guns
organisation were "dancing with Mr. Brownstone" (i.e. doing drugs),
and a pledge that he would never perform again with Guns N' Roses.Reuters/VNU
Guns N' Roses Storm New York
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 4, 2006--They're
back!!!Guns N' Roses' 4 warm up shows at New York's
Hammerstein Ballroom have sold out in less than 3
minutes.The 4 shows on the 12, 14, 15 and 17 of May are warm
ups for the European leg of the band's forthcoming
tour which starts on the 25th of May in Madrid at Juan
Carlos Arena.Axl Rose commented, "New York has always been so great
to Guns and myself. The response to our last show at
Madison Square Garden was nothing short of amazing.
I've spent the last couple of months here in New York.
I've had a great time, met a lot of great people and
the band and I are excited that we get to play New
York City and play for the friends - both old and new
- that we've made before we head to Europe."The band are playing a mixture of headline Festival
appearances including Rock In Rio in Portugal,
Download at the UK's famed Castle Donington, Rock Am
Ring in Germany, Gods Of Metal in Italy, Novarock in
Austria, Graspop in Belgium, Roskilde in Denmark, and
A Heavy Day In The Park in Holland as well as their
own headlining indoor shows in Madrid, Budapest,
Prague, Warsaw, Paris, Zurich, Stockholm, Oslo, and
Helsinki, most of which have been instant sellouts.Following their strongest ticket sales for the event
ever Download promoter Stuart Galbraith of Live Nation
enthused, "The comeback of GN'R into the UK live
market place has been quite phenomenal. GN'R along
with Metallica and Tool will be headlining the biggest
Download festival ever at Donington that for the first
time in its history will sell out and in addition will
also play to a sell out audience at Download Dublin -
it's been a very long wait but it's certainly been
worth it - GN'R are back!"Guns N' Roses have sold over 65,000 tickets in
Stockholm, Oslo and Helsinki in just a couple of
hours. Promoter Thomas Johannson of Live Nation
commented, "Guns N' Roses, the cornerstones of Rock,
will forever and ever do sell outs."New York promoter Randi Henner at Live Nation
commented, "GN'R is as hot a ticket in NYC as anything
I have seen in recent memory. It blew out in 3
minutes."As part of the European tour, Guns N' Roses will also
be reunited with the Rolling Stones for two special
shows in Germany. Guns N' Roses will be the Stones'
special guests on the 10th of July in Nurnburg and the
12th of July in Leipzig. They last played together in
1989 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.Additional dates will be announced in due course.4.22.06According to Live Nation, GN'R will play two additional shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. The two new dates are May 12th and 14th. All four shows are now Sold Out!!4.14.06

Guns N' Roses Line Up Two New York Shows

Before Axl Rose's current incarnation of Guns N' Roses heads to Europe for a string of festival appearances, the band will perform a pair of concerts at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, according to concert promoter Live Nation.both shows — set for May 15 and 17 — will set fans back $63 and go on sale April 21 at 10 a.m. Doors open for both nights at 7:30 p.m. There's no word yet on who might be opening for Guns N' Roses, or whether there will be an opener at all.Velvet Revolver kitman Matt Sorum, who was also a member of Guns N' Roses, wrote in his online blog that he'd had a recent run-in with Rose while in New York, where the drummer performed with Camp Freddy, an all-star cover band featuring ex-Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro; Alice in Chains' Jerry Cantrell; Revolver's Scott Weiland and Duff McKagan; Moby; Gina Gershon; Shooter Jennings; and former Fuel frontman Brett Scallions also played with the band that evening (see "Velvet Revolver Bassist Promises 'Stinky' Pharrell Collabo").Sorum said he spotted Axl at a party. "I hadn't seen him in at least six years," he wrote. "I walked over and said 'Hello.' We shook hands and it was pleasant. Later that evening, I ended up in a loft somewhere in the East Village where Axl was again. We spoke for quite some time, and it was nice to clear some things up. I told him how great of a frontman he was while I was in the band and no hard feelings from me at all" (see "Axl Files Suit Against Slash, Lashes Out At Ex-Bandmates"). "It was an all-around good vibe, I think."Guns N' Roses are set to perform the first of 17 European festivals on May 27, when they take the stage during Rock in Rio in Lisbon, Portugal. The last of GN'R's overseas gigs will take place on July 8 in Oslo, Norway, at Spektrum.In February, several songs said to be from the Chinese Democracy sessions leaked online (see "Are Guns N' Roses Finally Coming Back? The Signs Are There ..."). There's still no word on when Rose's decade-in-the-making LP will see release.The two New York concerts will be Guns N' Roses first American shows in more than three years. Back in 2002, the band played a number of dates before pulling the plug on what was to be a global trek (see "It's Extra Official: Promoter Says GN'R Tour Totally Off").— Chris Harris3.27.06GN'R have been added to the Rock Am Ring line-up and
are appearing at the festival on June 2nd (according
to the festival's official website, GN'R will actually
play in the early hours of Saturday June 3rd).The band will only play at the Rock Am Ring festival
and not its twin festival Rock Im Park.The band are also playing in Budapest, Hungary at the
Budapest Sportaréna on May 31st. -----GN'R are playing in Madrid, Spain at the Auditorio
Juan Carlos I on May 28th.Tickets will be on sale from March 29th.-----GN'R will be playing a show in the Netherlands at
Goffertpark in Nijmegen.Opening the show will be Stone Sour and Alice In
Chains.Tickets will go on sale on March 25th at 10 and will
cost 45 Euros (plus fees).----- Norwegian promoter Gunnar Eide announced today that Guns N' Roses will play a second show at the Spektrum in Oslo, Norway on Saturday July 8th.Tickets for the first show (June 28th) were sold out in less than 30 minutes when they went on sale.Tickets for the added show will go on sale tomorrow (March 25th).3.16.06Gilby Clarke is on the next season of ROCKSTAR on VH1! Read more at Billboard. 3.15.06GN'R adds second Helsinki show as well as a show in
Oslo, NorwayAfter selling out the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki,
Finland in about eight minutes, GN'R have added
another show at the same venue the following day (July
6th).Tickets will go on sale on Friday March 17th at 9:00.The opening act for the Helsinki shows has also been
announced, Bullet For My Valentine will be playing
before GN'R for the Finnish audiences.GN'R will also be playing at the Spektrum in Norway's
capital Oslo on June 28th.Tickets for this show will go on sale on March 18th.
3.8.06GN'R to play Czech Republic and FranceGN'R will play in Prague Czech Republic on June 13th
at Sazka Arena. Tickets go on sale on March 20th and
the opening act for this show will be Avenged
Sevenfold.The band is also playing at the Palais Omnisports de
Paris-Bercy in Paris, France on June 20th.
Source(s): http://www.ticketpro.cz/ , http://www.ticketnet.fr/3.6.06Guns N' Roses are playing at the Globen Arena in Stockholm, Sweden on June 26, at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark on the 29th and at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland on the 5th of July. Tickets for the Stockholm and Helsinki shows go on sale on March 9th at 9.00. 3.4.06Guns N' Roses will play at the Graspop Metal Meeting festival in Dessel, Belgium on June 24th.Tickets will be available as of March 9th by Proximus Goformusic and Ticketservice Nederland.

GN'R are also rumored to play shows in Norway, Sweden and France during June.

3.1.06GN'R Polish show on June 15th?

According to Polish concert promoter Odyssey, Guns N'
Roses are scheduled to perform at the Legia Stadium in
Warsaw on June, 15th.

Tickets are on sale now.


Source(s): http://www.odyssey.pl/2.23.06MTV News Article on recent GNR Events--------------Guns N' Roses have been confirmed for for a summer gig
in Dublin later this year.

Performances from Guns N' Roses have been few and far
between in the last decade and it is expected that
tickets will be snapped up quickly when they go on
sale next Saturday at 9am, priced form 54.50.

The rock giants will be joined by special guests
Motley Crue for the concert on Friday, June 9 in the
RDS Arena.

The announcement that rock giants Guns N' Roses will
play the RDS will be welcomed by their Irish fans.
Guns N' Roses burst onto the music scene in 1985 with
their own ferocious brand of rock and roll and since
then have been thrilling audiences the world over.
Having already sold over 80 million records, Guns N'
Roses are planning the release of their forthcoming
studio album.


Source(s): http://www.iol.ie/

---------------

Festival appearance confirmed Guns n' Roses have been
confirmed to headline the Download 2006 festival.

The band will join the already announced Metallica at
the top of the bill for the summer event, which is set
to take place at Donington Park between June 9-11.

The festival will provide the only UK shows for the
two bands.

Guns n' Roses will take to the stage on the Sunday
(June 11), while Metallica will play the previous
night.

The last time Axl Rose and co graced Donington was in
1988, where they played in front of over 100,000 fans
following the release of their seminal album 'Appetite
for Destruction'.

Rose said of the appearance: "The UK and Europe have
always been special for me. After our last great shows
there, we are all very excited and looking forward to
getting back over there and in front of such great
audiences."

He added: "Donington has always meant a lot to me
personally, way before I ever played there. To be
asked to headline is for me an honour and a privilege
that none of us take for granted. We look forward to
seeing all of you at Download!"

Guns n' Roses are expected to showcase new songs from
their long-awaited 'Chinese Democracy' album, which
has been over ten years in the making.

As well as the two confirmed headliners, the bill for
Download 2006 now includes Korn, The Prodigy,
Deftones, Clutch, Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine,
Lucuna Coil, InMe, Hatebreed and Within Temptation.


Source(s): http://www.nme.com/ 2.21.06Guns N' Roses are now confirmed on the Rock in Rio website!!!!!
According to the official web site for the Download
festival in the UK, GN'R are playing the festival
which takes place June 9-11th at Donington Park.

Source: http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk
Here is an article about many of the recent GNR events/news from Antimusic.
According to the Nova Rock web site, GN'R are scheduled to appear at the festival.The festival will take place from Thursday June, 15th to Saturday June, 17th at the Pannonia Fields II. Which is located in Burgenland, near Nickelsdorf and the Hungarian and Slovak borders.GN'R is also scheduled to play at the Gods of Metal festival in Italy. The festival takes place on June 3-4.

Source(s): http://www.novarock.at/ , http://www.thenewguns.com/2.15.06February 12, 2006 -- STEREO nightclub owners Barry Mullineaux and Mike Satsky were closing up their Chelsea hotspot at 5:30 a.m. the other morning when they encountered elusive Guns 'N' Roses frontman Axl Rose at the front door. The braided rocker was with bandmates and a bevy of beauties wanting to keep his 44th birthday bash going. Rose was so eager to get inside the club that he offered the owners a little bribe - an exclusive listening party for his yet-to-be released album, "Chinese Democracy." Axl dispatched his driver to retrieve the unreleased CD and the owners proceeded to play host, bartender and DJ to the posse till 8 a.m.1.23.06Click here for some Izzy news! 1.17.06

1.11.06Launch Radio Networks reports: Although former GUNS N'
ROSES guitarist Slash told a Philadelphia radio
station two weeks ago that he heard a March release
date was on tap for the long-delayed new GUNS album,
the band's management has told Launch that no release
date has been set. Slash said that he had learned
about the March date from sources inside the GUNS
camp. A management spokesperson said that the new
album, titled "Chinese Democracy", "is coming," but
its official arrival date has yet to be determined.Slash also said in his interview that he has no feud,
or any relationship for that matter, with GUNS
frontman Axl Rose. Slash explained, "I haven't really
talked to him directly, but we're not at each others
throats or anything like that, just to kill all of
that bad blood that people keep recreating. God, it's
been going on for 10 years. He and I have never had a
conversation, an argument...over that whole 10 years,
and people have been generating all this animosity.
But at this point there's no friction going on."

8.29.05

W.Axl Rose Responds to Frivolous Copyright Suit by
Former Guns N' Roses Members

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 29, 2005--In
response to a "frivolous" lawsuit filed against Guns
N' Roses leader W.Axl Rose by two former band members
claiming Mr. Rose attempted to change the copyright
status and the royalty stream earned by the
disgruntled pair when they worked with the band Mr.
Rose's attorney, Howard Weitzman stated: "This is a
classic case of premature accusation. If someone had
taken the time to investigate or ask about this
situation before rushing to judgment they would have
learned that ASCAP (the entity that collects money for
songwriters) made a clerical error and failed to
appropriately divide and distribute the royalty's owed
for the first quarter of 2005 to Axl and the former
Guns N' Roses musicians. The amount ASCAP mistakenly
sent to Axl's publisher was never received by Axl nor
was he ever made aware of the error. The publisher
alerted ASCAP to the error, returned the money
immediately and asked ASCAP to remedy the situation by
distributing the funds appropriately."

Weitzman further comments: "Rather than pick up the
telephone and contact Axl or his representatives, his
former partners scurried to file a lawsuit that
contained false statements about Axl rather then
making an effort to learn the truth regarding ASCAP's
mistake. Slash and Duff have an unfortunate pattern
over the past few years of filing sensational but
baseless lawsuits for the purpose of generating
anti-Axl propaganda. It is clear that Slash and Duff
are looking for another opportunity to spread untruths
about Axl in an effort to hurt his reputation and to
alienate his fans while at the same time creating a
profile for themselves.

"Contrary to allegations in the lawsuit, Axl has never
denied that others made substantial contributions
towards the success of Guns N' Roses, but there is
little doubt as to who was the creative catalyst
behind the group's success."


Source(s): http://www.businesswire.com

8.25.05

Ross Halfin mentions Chinese Democracy on his website!!

8.22.05

Slash, Duff sue Axl over GNR Publishing Royalties - article on mtv.com

7.9.05

Here is a new interview with Jimmy Ashhurst, it is very interesting. Enjoy!!

6.8.05

Velvet Revolver cuts European Tour Short - story on billboard.com

6.1.05

Robin Finck's website has been overhauled, check it out here.

4.13.05

Some Gilby Clarke Dates:

Gilby, Slim Jim and John Corabi:

Apr. 22 - Club Rain - Costa Mesa, CA
Apr. 24 - Freak Fest - Bakersfield, CA

Gilby solo shows:

May 06 - Mr. Cues - Lancaster, CA
May 11 - Elbo Bar - Dayton, OH
May 12 - Crazy Donkey - Farmingdale, NY
May 13 - Jaxx - Springfield, VA
May 14 – Dingbatz - Clifton, NJ
May 15 - Continental - NY, NY
May 16 - Pirates Cove - Cleveland, OH

4.11.05

Richard Fortus has an official website now, check it out!

A few new Tommy Stinson tourdates here.

2.24.05

Coming off their Grammy Award for "Best Hard Rock Performance" ("Slither"), VELVET REVOLVER are set to launch their headlining North American "Electric Wonderland Show" arena tour March 22 in Montreal. Special guests HOOBASTANK will open the West Coast leg of the tour. This trek will follow the explosive rockers' sold-out shows in America, Canada, Europe and Japan as well as in New Zealand and Australia where they’re currently touring through February 27. VELVET REVOLVER has teamed with I Love All Access to provide a variety of VIP ticket packages. Go to VelvetRevolver.com for details.

VELVET REVOLVER are on the road in connection with their platinum-plus debut "Contraband" album, which has sold over three million copies worldwide. It features the #1 rock single "Slither", as well as the band’s other #1 rock hit "Fall To Pieces", plus the blazing new single "Dirty Little Thing".

In other news, VELVET REVOLVER's new video for "Dirty Little Thing" was premiered on Fuse Friday, February 18. The clip — directed by Motion Theory — features live performance and animation by famed Japanese illustrator Rockin' Jellybean, who's known for his edgy illustrations of sex goddesses and muscle cars. VELVET REVOLVER is seen performing live inside an animated runaway train while the exterior and surrounding environment are animated. The train flies around the world, burning through Japan, the UK, New York and Hollywood.

Current tour dates are as follows:

Mar. 22 - Montreal, PQ @ Bell Centre
Mar. 23 - Ottawa, ONT @ Corel Centre
Mar. 24 - Hamilton, ONT @ Copps Coliseum
Mar. 27 - Saskatoon, SK @ Credit Union Centre
Mar. 28 - Calgary, AL @ Pengrowth Saddledome
Mar. 29 - Edmonton, AL @ Rexall Place
Mar. 31 - Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum
Apr. 12 - San Diego, CA @ Coors Amphitheatre
Apr. 13 - Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center
Apr. 15 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl
Apr. 16 - Anaheim, CA @ Arrowhead Pond
Apr. 17 - Reno, NV @ Reno Events Center
Apr. 19 - San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic
Apr. 21 - Portland, OR @ Rose Garden
Apr. 22 - Everett, WA @ Everett Arena
Apr. 23 - Boise, ID @ Taco Bell Arena
Apr. 25 - Salt Lake City, UT @ E Center
Apr. 26 - Denver, CO @ Magness Arena
Apr. 28 - St. Paul, MN @ Excel Energy Center
Apr. 29 - Rockford, IL @ Rockford MetroCentre
Apr. 30 - Auburn Hills, MI @ Palace of Auburn Hills
May 02 - Buffalo, NY @ HSBC Center
May 03 - Amherst, MA @ Mullins Center
May 05 - Raleigh, NC @ Verizon Wireless
May 06 - Atlanta, GA @ Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre
May 07 - Orlando, FL @ Lee Vista Park
May 13 - Scranton, PA @ Montage Mountain
May 14 - Wantagh, NY @ Jones Beach
May 15 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless
May 17 - Cleveland, OH @ Tower Amphitheatre
May 18 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Chevrolet Amphitheatre
May 20 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC
May 21 - Washington, DC @ Merriweather Post
May 22 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless
May 24 - Tampa, FL @ St. Pete Times Forum
May 25 - Miami, FL @ Sound Advice Amphitheatre

2.13.05

I added a lot of new Izzy pictures to the pictures section thanks to Tiffany!

1.26.05

Axl Rose Signs To Sanctuary Publishing
26 January 2005

Sanctuary Music Group has signed Axl Rose to a publishing deal. Until
recently, Warner Chappell published the Guns N' Roses frontman's works.

The deal covers both future material and catalogue. Rose's contribution
to
such hits as "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Paradise City" and "November Rain"
are
covered under the deal, as are dozens of new tracks Rose has recently
recorded for Universal Music.

http://www.sanctuarygroup.com/

Axl Rose signs new deal

25 Jan 2005

Guns N' Roses main man Axl Rose has signed a new publishing deal with one
of the fastest growing music groups.

In recent years, Sanctuary Music Group have followed an aggressive
strategy of signing established acts to its catalogue to gain market share and
publishing rights.

Axl Rose follows a string of high-profile artists including Lou Reed,
Fun Loving Criminals, UB40, the New York Dolls and Morrissey onto
Sanctuary's roster.

The deal, confirmed by the label yesterday (January 24), will include
all Guns N' Roses back catalogue and new material.

A spokesperson for Sanctuary Group told Music Week the deal represents
the latest step in building the Sanctuary Music Publishing portfolio,
adding 'publishing is a strategic priority for the group.'

Axl Rose's now legendarily overdue new album 'Chinese Democracy' is
thought to be due out this year and the new deal suggests that a release may
well be imminent.

1.18.05

Some overseas VR dates:

January

19 - Cardiff, UK @ International Arena
21 - London, UK @ Carling Brixton Academy
22 - London, UK @ Carling Hammersmith Apollo
23 - London, UK @ Carling Hammersmith Apollo

February

2 - Nagoya, Japan @ Club Diamond Hall
3 - Osaka, Japan @ Zepp
5 - Osaka, Japan @ Sonic Mania festival
6 - Tokyo, Japan @ Sonic Mania festival
8 - Tokyo, Japan @ Zepp
9 - Tokyo, Japan @ Zepp
17 - Christchurch, New Zealand @ Westpac Centre
19 - Auckland, New Zealand @ Supertop, Ericsson
21 - Brisbane, Australia @ Entertainment Centre
23 - Sydney, Australia @ Hordern Pavilion
24 - Sydney, Australia @ Hordern Pavilion
26 - Adelaide, Australia @ Entertainment Centre
27 - Melbourne, Australia @ Vodafone Arena

1.14.05

Rollingstone.com has posted a new article called Velvet Revolver Reloading.

12.19.04

New Tommy Stinson dates have been announced on his page!

11.23.04

some potential news from here today gone to hell:

Acclaimed orchestral arranger and Grammy-award winner Paul Buckmaster has apparently worked on arrangements for four songs that are slated to appear on the long-awaited GUNS N' ROSES album, "Chinese Democracy". According to Buckmaster's official discography/list of credits, which can be viewed at this location, he has served as the arranger and conductor on the tracks "Blues", "Twat", "Madagascar" and "Prostitute", all of which are expected to surface on the much-anticipated CD, due next year via Interscope.

As previously reported, legendary Italian film composer Marco Beltrami ("Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines", "Resident Evil", "Scream", "Blade 2") has also provided orchestral arrangements for four tracks that are tentatively set to appear on "Chinese Democracy". According to Beltrami's official web site, MarcoBeltrami.com, the four cuts the composer was asked to work on have the working titles of "Seven", "Leave Me Alone", "General" and "Thyme".

11.20.04

Here is a pretty interesting interview of Chris Weber of Hollywood Rose!

Also, some new Stinson dates:

December
08 - Philadelphia, PA @ Khyber Pass
09 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza (With Jesse Malin)
13 - Hollywood, CA @ Hotel Cafe (Solo, acoustic)

10.26.04

Axl Rose lends his voice to the new Grand Theft Auto game!!

10.24.04

Josh made his own video for Welcome to the Jungle 2004, you can download it here or here !

10.12.04

Jarmo has just interviewed Tommy Stinson and you can read the interview here.

9.24.04

Some new VR Tourdates:

October 2004
16 - Nashville, TN - Starwood Amphitheatre
17 - New Orleans, LA - Voodoo Music Festival
19 - Tulsa, OK - Edgefest
23 - Phoenix, AZ - Veteran's Memorial Coliseum
24 - Dallas, TX - Smirnoff Music Centre
25 - Hidalgo, TX - Dodge Arena
26 - Selma, TX - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
30 - Woodlands, TX - Woodlands Pavilion
31 - Little Rock, AR - Alltel Arena

November 2004
23 - Mt. Clemens, MI - Emerald Theatre

9.9.04

TOMMY STINSON - New GUNS N' ROSES Album Is "A Lot More Complex" [Rock Hard - 04.09.10 16:18:35]

Special Report By Martin Popoff

Bassist TOMMY STINSON is best known for being one of THE REPLACEMENTS - start of the band to finish - but he's beginning to be a regular in the metal press given his now long-standing relationship with Axl Rose as part of the aggregate GUNS N' ROSES. If all goes according to plan (and there's no assurance that it will), the eon-awaited Chinese Democracy will be out this fall and GN'R will be touring "for the next year and a half or so."

Stinson was in Toronto recently to promote his new solo album called Village Gorilla Head, a collection of quirky hard and soft pop songs with an appropriately artsy, even Replacements-like flair. "I think the hardest thing was to just finely get it done," says Stinson of the lush yet emotionally edgy album. "I worked on it for about a year, toured a little bit in between, and I wasn't really under any pressure from anyone to finish it in any particular amount of time. But after awhile, after you've done all the instruments yourself, you start to burn out. You get to a point where you go, 'I really wish I were done with this now, because I'm kind of tired.' It got a little much. Because I was recording everything in my home studio, which is basically in my apartment, in my bedroom, in Burbank, California. So the idea of recording and living and sleeping and breathing all in the same three or four rooms was a little bit much after awhile."

Well, rest up, because it sounds like life is gonna get complicated soon. Tommy offers a few elliptical remarks on the looming Chinese Democracy opus.

"Stylistically speaking, if I were to take a stab at it, it would probably be something more focused than Use Your Illusion. I think Use Your Illusion was going in a couple of other musical directions, but not fully realized. I think there were some limitations to where the band was maybe willing to go? That has been taken out of the mix. More focused, but also more diverse. I think the music on the new GN'R record will be a lot more complex, a little more far-reaching probably? As well as there will be some rock there that will be reminiscent of the older records. But for the most part, stylistically speaking, there's a lot more going on. And I would say lyrically, definitely there is a lot more going on than old Guns. There's a lot more introspection, a lot more social commentary involved."

After intimating that most of the lyrics and vocals are Axl's, but that he and Dizzy Reed do a lot of the back-up vocals, Tommy states that songwriting-wise, "there'll probably be compositions that started with each of us and were compiled by all of us, on the whole record, yeah. I would be willing to wager that that is how it turns out, because Axl is the kind of guy who is always looking out for the fairest way to do it so everyone's happy. Because obviously, that's the kind of thing that screwed up the old band. Everybody had songs they wanted to write, and have Axl sing, and then there got to be infighting, I think, with whose songs were going to be on the record. He's really conscious of that, so it ends up being a bit of everyone on there."

Stinson also says that he listened to the final mixes recently and "added his two cents," noting that the songs were mostly quite long and epic, but "mind-blowing and fucking huge."

In closing, I had Stinson reflect on Axl's personality these days, his state of mind, his strengths and weaknesses...

"Wow. I would say his strengths are definitely his heart and his loyalties. He's incredibly loyal and totally has your back if you're straight with him and are loyal back. Which is why him and I have gotten along so well. I'm the same sort of person. I don't fuck around or waste my time with people who waste my time, and I don't really take up people's time if they don't want it. I would say those are his strengths. Other than that, he's a fucking awesome singer and an amazing songwriter. The weaknesses part? Maybe he still thinks too much of what people are expecting of him. Maybe he could try just fucking exist, and not worry about the way people want him to be? Maybe a little bit of that? Might be hard for him, because he's got a lot riding on it. I've got a lot riding on it, but he's obviously got way more (laughs). What I see with the Guns N' Roses thing... you know, I've hung out with him so much to know that it's hard to be him, just because people are rabid. They get pretty weirded out. He's got some crazy fans, and people that have been there for a long time. And I think if he could just exist, if he could get up in the day and go cruise around like I cruise around and see the world in a non-stressful environment like that (laughs), it might do some good for his fuckin'... his self. He's a huge fucking rock star, man. He can barely go down the street without someone fuckin' throwing some curveball at him. It's a bummer."

9.9.04

Brain is touring with Colonel Claypool's Bucket Of Bernie Brains:

09/24 - Minneapolis, MN @ Quest
09/25 - Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
09/27 - Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Theatre 09/28 - Washington, DC @ Nation
09/29 - Boston, MA @ Roxy
10/01 - New York, NY @ Roseland
10/02 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
10/03 - Providence, RI @ Lupo's
10/05 - Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel 10/06 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
10/21 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Velvet Room 10/22 -Denver, CO @ Fillmore
10/23 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
10/25 - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
10/26 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
10/27 - San Diego, CA @ 4th & B
10/29 - Los Angeles, CA @ Avalon
10/30 - San Francisco, CA @ Warfield
11/01 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst
11/03 - Sacramento, CA @ TBA
11/05 - Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theatre
11/06 - Portland, OR @ Roseland
11/07 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox

9.2.04

GUNS N' ROSES bassist Tommy Stinson has told the Rocky
Mountain News that the group's long-delayed,
well-over-budget album, "Chinese Democracy", is almost
out.

"I'll probably be touring [my solo] record up till the
end of the year," he said. "Then I'm thinking the GNR
record will be coming out real soon after that. Then
I'll be touring behind that record. I'm anticipating
being on the road for the next year and a half, two
years."

According to Stinson, "Chinese Democracy" "is almost
done. Closer than it has ever been, for certain. I
went and listened to some of the songs before I left
L.A. to make sure my two cents were thrown in, so to
speak. I was pretty stoked about it. I heard some
really, really great stuff that I hadn't heard in a
long time."

Stinson is currently touring in support of his solo
debut, "Village Gorilla Head", which was released in
July through Sanctuary Records.

The founding REPLACEMENTS member recorded the material
for the set in a Los Angeles studio owned by Charles
Thompson (a.k.a. Frank Black) with contributions from
A PERFECT CIRCLE drummer Josh Freese, his brother
Jason Freese on saxophone, CATHOLICS guitarist Dave
Philips, and GNR guitarist Richard Fortus and
keyboardist Dizzy Reed.

8.22.04

Colonel Claypool's Bucket Of Bernie Brains tourdates!!

Brain is going on tour with Colonel Claypool's Bucket Of Bernie Brains:

09/24 - Minneapolis, MN @ Quest
09/25 - Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
09/27 - Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Theatre 09/28 - Washington, DC @ Nation
09/29 - Boston, MA @ Roxy
10/01 - New York, NY @ Roseland
10/02 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
10/03 - Providence, RI @ Lupo's
10/05 - Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel 10/06 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
10/21 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Velvet Room 10/22 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore
10/23 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
10/25 - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
10/26 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
10/27 - San Diego, CA @ 4th & B
10/29 - Los Angeles, CA @ Avalon
10/30 - San Francisco, CA @ Warfield
11/01 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst
11/03 - Sacramento, CA @ TBA
11/05 - Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theatre
11/06 - Portland, OR @ Roseland
11/07 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox

8.21.04

Check out this new Dizzy Reed Interview !

8.15.04

Tommy Stinson European dates with Jesse Malin and some with Alien Crime Syndicate:

Monday September 20 @ Manchester Academy 3 Manchester, UK
Tuesday September 21 @ Liquid Rooms Edinburgh, Scotland
Wednesday September 22 @ Glasgow Garage Glasgow, Scotland
Thursday September 23 @ Limelight Belfast, Ireland
Friday September 24 @ Village Dublin, Ireland
Sunday September 26 @ The Cockpit Leeds, UK
Monday September 27 @ Cluney Newcastle, UK
Tuesday September 28 @ Fez Club Sheffield, UK
Wednesday September 29 @ Electric Ballroom Camden, London, UK
Thursday September 30 @ Rescue Rooms Nottingham, UK
October
01 - Reading, UK @ Fez Club
02 - Birmingham, UK @ Birmingham Academy 2
04 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg
05 - Paris, France @ TBA
06 - Brussels, Belgium @ Rotunde@Butanique
07 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Loppen
08 - Aarhus, Denmark @ Vox Hall
09 - Lund, Sweden @ Mejeriet
10 - Gothenburg, Sweden @ Pusterviskbaren
11 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser
12 - Oslo, Norway @ John Dee
13 - Bergen, Norway @ Garage

8.8.04

Tommy will be on the Craig Kilborn Show on August 18th

8.7.04

http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000600689

Slash, matchbox twenty's Kyle Cook, Living Colour's
Vernon Reid, Stone Temple Pilots' Dean DeLeo and Marc
Ford are among the guitarists appearing on "Sing a
Song With Six Strings," a collection of tracks
inspired by children. Due Oct. 5 via Sony Wonder, the
13-track set also includes contributions from Peter
Frampton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, the
late Carl Perkins and Jorma Kaukonen.

"They've either written songs or picked a song that
they liked to sing to their kids," album executive
producer Eddie Kramer tells Billboard.com. "We've done
rocked out versions of them. It sounds fantastic. It
is really a smokin' little album."

Among the cuts penned specifically for the album are
Slash's "Sing a Song of Sixpence," of which he says,
"When it was finished, I played it for my then 1 year
old son London and I got smiles of approval. I figured
it must have hit the mark!"

Cook's "Always This Near" is his first solo recording.
The guitarist is working with Kramer on his impending
solo debut, under the moniker the New Left. Rounding
out the album are tracks by Santana, Craig Ross, Keb'
Mo' and Chet Atkins with Tommy Emmanuel.

Here is the track list for "Sing a Song With Six
Strings":

"Always This Near," Kyle Cook
"Mia Rose," Peter Frampton
"Elijah," Marc Ford
"Grandma's Hand," Keb' Mo'
"Up From the Skies," Vernon Reid
"Sing a Song of Sixpence," Slash
"All Mama's Children," Carl Perkins
"Let the Children Play," Santana
"Mary Had a Little Lamb," Stevie Ray Vaughan and
Double Trouble
"You and My Old Guitar," Jorma Kaukonen
"The Colors (Are Always Changing)," Craig Ross
"Once Upon a Tribe," Dean DeLeo
"Smokey Mountain Lullaby," Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel

8.3.04

Check out the latest Dizzy Reed tourdates here!

7.29.04

Tommy Stinson is going on tour, check out the tourdates here!

7.23.04

Check out a song sample from Tommy Stinson's new album coming out next tuesday on this site!

Here are some Dizzy Reed tourdates from Pollstar:

July:
Thu 22 - West Hollywood, CA @ Cat Club
Thu 29 - West Hollywood, CA @ Cat Club

August:
Thu 26 - San Francisco, CA @ The Pound SF
Fri 27 - McKinleyville, CA @ Six Rivers Brewery

September:
Thu 09 - Burlington, VT @ Club Metronome
Fri 10 - Worcester, MA @ Lucky Dog Music Hall
Sat 11 - Cambridge, MA @ Brother Jimmy's Barbecue
Sun 12 - Princeton, NJ @ Princeton University
Wed 15 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Fire @ Philadelphia
Bar & Grill
Thu 16 - New York, NY @ Lion's Den
Fri 17 - Lexington, VA @ Washington & Lee Univ.
Sat 18 - Lexington, VA @ Washington & Lee Univ.
Sun 19 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Harry's Roadhouse

October:
Fri 22 - Lexington, VA @ Washington & Lee Univ.
Fri 29 - Charlottesville, VA @ University Of Virginia
Sat 30 - Herndon, VA @ Ned Devine's

7.13.04

Here is a new interview with Dizzy Reed:

Source - Rock Journal/GNR newsgroup

Dan: How did you wind up joining Guns N' Roses in 1990?
Dizzy: In 1990 I joined Guns N' Roses when they decided to add a keyboard
player. I had known Axl and actually the whole band for a long time, like
five years. Axl would always tell me when they added a keyboard player that
I was going to be the guy. And when it was time, he found me, tracked me
down, and said, "Its time to do it."
Dan: What were you doing before that?
Dizzy: I was in a band in L.A. called The Wild. I had been in that band for
about five years. We were just trying to get a deal. I had a few deals,
they fell through, but we were doing really good playing the clubs. We were
basically just drinking a lot and chasing girls.

Dan: What, in your opinion, was the downfall of the original line up of GNR?
Dizzy: The downfall? I don't think there was an actual downfall as much as
everybody sort of outgrew what was going on. People lost track of how they
got there. Sometimes when you're that young and you have that much success
that fast you grow out of it. I think that had a lot to do with it. There
was a definite lack of communication also, which when you have a group of
people that work together that closely all the time, communication is
extremely important. When there is a lot of money to be made, sometimes the
powers that be will keep that communication from happening for fear that it
might break up what's going on. Thus, the money machine will shut down.

Dan: There are a lot of rumors that go around, and its hard to tell what is
really true, but is there any animosity between the current line-up and the
guys that aren't there anymore?
Dizzy: Other than common members, i.e. Axl and myself, none of the other
guys really know any of the old guys.

Dan: I pretty much meant you and Axl.
Dizzy: To me its like that chapter of my life is currently closed,
apparently. And that's that. I wish the best for them and hopefully the
best for us.

Dan: While we're talking about them, have you heard any of the Velvet
Revolver stuff?
Dizzy: I honestly haven't heard it. I seriously haven't. Its not that I'm
trying to avoid it, I just haven't heard it. I mean, I'm going to go out
and buy it, you know? Do you have it?

Dan: The CD is actually not out yet. It comes out next week.
Dizzy: (Laughing) Maybe that's why I fucking haven't heard it!

Dan: Well the single is out on the radio.
Dizzy: I never listen to the radio. Very, very, very rarely do I listen to
the radio. I just don't like what the radio forces people to cram down
their throats. Radio sucks right now. Its at an all time low. That's
probably why I haven't heard it. Not that its bad because they play it,
because they play some good things, but if I want to listen to that, I'd
rather just put in a CD.

Dan: Do you talk to any of the guys from the old band anymore?
Dizzy: You know, I ran into Matt Sorum recently and said hi. It was cool.
But other than that, no. I don't talk to them, but if I did see them, I'm
sure it'd be cool.

Dan: With the way all the other guys came and went from the band over the
years, not just the original line-up, but like Dave Navarro was in and out
at some point, and a bunch of others guys. How is it that you have lasted
so long?
Dizzy: That's a good question. I really believe in what we're doing. And I
think the longer its gone on, the more I've had to invest in what I'm doing.
I want to see it through. I still think I have a lot to prove with this
band. I have a lot invested in it and I want to see it happen. It always
seems like its just around the corner that its going to come, so why quit
now? And then you get around the corner, and its around the corner again
(Laughs). But still, at this point, its the same thing: Why quit now? And
I guess I haven't done anything stupid to get fired.

Dan: You said that it keeps seeming like its right around the corner and it
keep seeming like you're almost there and then it fades away, then the
rumors come again and fade away. What's the deal with that? Why does it
keep seeming like its so close and then fading away?
Dizzy: My opinion is that a lot of it has to do with people quitting and
obstacles that are thrown our way, and just different things, man. There's
always something. You never know what's going to happen. I really think
its going to happen very soon. I really feel that now.

Dan: Is there any kind of a timetable? I know its so hard to say because
there are so many dates that have been thrown around, but is there any idea
at all?
Dizzy: There isn't unfortunately. I would say this year.

Dan: Is it frustrating, since its been like an endless recording process?
Dizzy: Of course. Its extremely fucking frustrating. And that's why I come
do stuff like this, to keep me from going crazy.

Dan: Is the record set up as its going to be released? Has it been decided
what songs are going to be on it?
Dizzy: Pretty much.

Dan: How long have those songs been around?
Dizzy: Some of them have been around for five or six years. Others are
fairly new.

Dan: The ones that have been around for a few years, have they changed a lot
over the years? Is that one of the things that holds up the release?
Dizzy: They change a little bit, yeah. And as is the modern way, some of
the songs have two or three different versions. You know, remixes and what
not. There's so many great players in the band now and there are so many
great parts that have been laid down now for all the songs, unfortunately
its impossible to put them all on there. The obvious thing would be to have
a couple versions of each song. I don't know if that's going to happen, but
its definitely possible. And I have heard several versions of some of the
cooler songs, and they all sound great. All the players that have come in
and out of this project are phenominal players. So there's a lot of great
stuff to choose from. Its an unenviable task for whoever is going to mix
it. BUT THEY BETTER PUT MY SHIT IN THE MIX!

Dan: Its been like eleven years since the last album now, and everybody is
still talking about it. Can it possibly live up to the hype?
Dizzy: Yes.

Dan: Its that good, in your opinion?
Dizzy: In my opinion, absolutely. I think it will actually exceed
expectations.

Dan: It seems like the band was close before. You went out and did a world
tour, there was the MTV Awards, does it seem like you were closer than ever
before, or does it seem like there were times when it was closer and now you
have kind of taken a step back?
Dizzy: I think it feels closer now than it did then.

Dan: There was a song that leaked out to radio, I.R.S., is that definitely a
GNR song? As far as I know, nobody ever confirmed it. Is that one of the
songs?
Dizzy: Yes. Its a good song.

Dan: I never got to hear it. It was only on one time then the guy that
played it had to take it out of the replay of the show. I couldn't find it
online or anywhere.
Dizzy: I think Mike Piazza was the guy.

Dan: Yeah, that's what it was.
Dizzy: How bizarre is that?

Dan: Of all people, right?
Dizzy: What???

Dan: With all the time that's been put into this record, the cost must be
some insane amount of money. Is this going to be one of the most expensive
records in music history?
Dizzy: Do you think Smarty Jones is going to win the Triple Crown?

Dan: (Laughing) Don't want to go there?
Dizzy: That's a change of subject.

Dan: Gotcha. Is Buckethead out? Is that official?
Dizzy: For the time being, yeah.

Dan: Are you going to replace him or go with two guitars?
Dizzy: That I'm not sure about.

Dan: What actually happened with the Philadelphia gig?
Dizzy: I really can't talk about that. There's still a lot of shit going
on.

Dan: Legal stuff?
Dizzy: Yeah.

Dan: What about the cancellation of the tour? Is that the same deal?
Dizzy: Its really the same thing.

Dan: Axl seems to get a very bad rap. How do you get along with him
personally? How do you get along with him?
Dizzy: I think he's one of the coolest, most giving, warmest people I've
ever met. Sure he's tempermental, but he's a good friend. Seriously
though, he's a good guy.

Dan: Is the way he's treated by the media unfair?
Dizzy: Its ridiculously unfair. Its just total creation of the media. For
some reason, when the media turns on someone, they just let him have it and
its completely unfair. The thing is, a lot of it happened when he kind of
disappeared for a long time. So he wasn't around. Rolling Stone put out a
whole article based on interviews of people that... well they put him on a
cover and never spoke to him at all about anything to sell their fucking
magazine. They basically just collected a whole bunch of negative comments.
You could go around with you or me or anyone in this room and talk to people
that they've known their whole lives and say, "Come on, give me some dirt,"
and there'd be something and then you could write a fucking article about it
and make them look like shit, and it would all be factual. They just did it
to sell their fucking magazine. That's so fucked up. So its all bullshit.

Dan: Why is it that everything about the band is always kept very secret?
There are always rumors flying around about the band, but there is rarely
any official word to confirm or deny anything.
Dizzy: Um... hmm... I don't know, man. Haha.

Dan: Is there going to be any album coming out with this Hookers & Blow
thing?
Dizzy: I don't know. We've talked about putting some stuff together. I'm
sure we will do something.

Dan: A lot of the guys in GNR, like Stinson, Bucket when he was with the
band, were doing solo stuff. What kind of schedule is the band on?
Dizzy: Well, we have a lot of free time right now. So everybody pretty much
went and did their thing, but we're always on call.

Dan: During that time in the mid and late 90's, when there wasn't much talk
of anything going on, was there a lot of down time?
Dizzy: I was down in a rehearsal studio recording ideas with a couple other
guys, a guy named Paul Huge who was in the band for a little while, and
basically that's what I did five days a week. Five or six days a week, I
was just down there recording ideas. A lot of great songs came out of that.
Its all still there. Something will happen with that stuff eventually.
That was a very cool creative period and it was great working with Paul.

Dan: So as far as down time goes, there's been more later than earlier?
Dizzy: When you're in a rock band, there's never any down time.

Dan: What's the deal with the Hookers & Blow? What's going on with it?
What songs are you doing? Is it original stuff? Covers?
Dizzy: Right now we're doing just all cool covers.

Dan: And how did the band come together?
Dizzy: (Turning to the group) How did we come together?
Alex Grossi: You ever see a five car pile-up?
Dizzy: Yeah, that's pretty much how it was.
Alex: No, we met like six months ago. We played at the Cat Club.
Dizzy: Yeah, last year we met. There's this place called the Cat Club in
L.A. where all of us appear from time to time. I appear there every
Thursday with the Starfuckers.
Alex: And you played on the Creatures record.
Dizzy: Yeah, that's right.
Alex: Yeah, he came in and played keyboards on a couple songs on the new
Beautiful Creatures record.

Dan: That leads me to another question, when is that one coming out?
Alex: I don't know. That one's done, its in the can. Its just legal stuff
that has to be worked out.
Dizzy: Yeah, so we talked about getting back here and doing some shows.
Matt, Curtis, and Troy are in a band called Fastmaster. So it just all
worked out and made sense. We came out a few months ago and did like four
shows, played a few shows in L.A. and it felt great, we had a good time, so
we decided to come back and do it again. So hopefully we're going to round
up some more dates around the country... AND MAYBE EVEN THE WORLD!!!

Dan: Is there anything else you want to add? Any plugs?
Dizzy: Buy Tommy Stinson's new record. Its amazing. Its beautiful. Its
incredible. Its one of the best records of the year.

Dan: Thanks.
Dizzy: Thank you, Dan. Oh yeah! Go to HookersAndBlowMe.com and you can buy
a Hookers & Blow t-shirt. And that will be a collector's item. So you can
be the first on your block to get one.
Alex: And the last.
Dizzy: And Lisa, my wife, has a new book out. Its called Embra's Flame by
Lisa Reed, and its available on Amazon.com. She also has another book out
called Sabra's Soul. They're both kind of based in the rock world, so
they're pretty cool. Check them out.

7.5.04

GNR Behind the Music premiers this week on VH1. Here are the times:

All times Eastern:

July 4: 12:00PM

July 5: 12:30PM, 10:00PM

July 6: 12:00AM, 11:00AM, 7:00PM, 11:00PM

July 7: 9:00PM

July 9: 1:00AM, 6:00PM, 11:30PM

July 11: 11:00AM, 3:00PM

July 13: 2:00AM

For more information, see the VH1 website.

6.10.04

GN'R Bassist Works Solo While Awaiting Chinese Democracy

Once the public pegs you as something, it's hard to break out of the box. For proof just look at Tommy Stinson, who's performed on more than 10 projects since 1991 but always seems to have his name preceded by the words "ex-Replacements bassist."

Stinson wouldn't mind the association if it were simply a reflection of how evocative, forward-thinking and influential he is as a musician. However, when most people draw the Replacements connection, it's coming from a completely different place.

"When I'm out, people literally come up to me and go, 'Dude, I saw you. You guys played, and you were so f---ed up you couldn't stand up. You were falling down and it was the greatest show I ever saw,' " Stinson said. "I think we made some great records, but no one ever says, 'Man, I think your music was amazing.' "

After forming the groups Bash & Pop and Perfect in the mid-'90s, Stinson joined Guns N' Roses in 1998 and has worked with them in the studio and on the road. And in his abundant spare time, he wrote and recorded his first solo album, Village Gorilla Head, due July 27.

The disc contains 11 songs Stinson has written over the past 10 years, and it covers a variety of styles. "Without a View" is acoustic and melancholy, "Something's Wrong" features serrated guitar chords that mingle with classic pop melodies, and "Couldn't Wait" is bristling and agitated, conjuring the brazen spirit of punk before the rise of Green Day.

"I didn't set out to make a certain kind of record," Stinson said. "I like to hear albums that have peaks and valleys, and different musical textures going on that maybe have nothing to do with the song before."

Stinson named the album Village Gorilla Head after an electronic-flavored song colored with horns and strings, which was cobbled together from three musical pieces, each of which illuminated different areas of the musical spectrum. "One of them kind of sounded like the Village People, one sounded a bit like Gorillaz, and the bridge on the other one sounded like Motörhead," Stinson said.

While Stinson explores various musical styles, his lyrics are fairly dark. Over the course of the record, Stinson obliquely addresses his marriage, his divorce, being a father, and numerous romantic relationships that didn't last. But even in the darkest lines, there's always a glimmer of light.

"I think these are a lot of bleak stories being told with hopeful endings," Stinson said. "The vibe of it is, as bad as things are, they're gonna get better."

Stinson plans to tour for Village Gorilla Head, but his road trips may be somewhat limited by Guns N' Roses, who are finishing up their long-awaited album, Chinese Democracy, in fits and starts.

"There are just so many little aspects that are being finalized on that record that every once in a while someone will go, 'God, I just realized you hit a bad note in this one place. We just found it.' And I'll go in and sort it out."

Aver having worked with a long list of producers — including Roy Thomas Baker, Bob Ezrin, Sean Beavan and Moby — Axl Rose has taken over production duties for the album, Stinson said. The reason the disc isn't done yet, he added, is because Rose is a methodical perfectionist who wants to make the creation of Chinese Democracy as democratic as possible.

"He likes to take all the members of the band and get the best out of each guy for each song," Stinson said. "It's a brilliant process that gets everyone involved so everyone owns a piece of the song because they've put themselves into it. That way you don't have people going, 'Well, I'm not gonna play on his song if you're not gonna sing on my song.' And that's a lengthy process because you have to get eight people to basically write a song together that everyone likes."

Stinson added that he thinks the record is finally almost done, and the only thing that's holding back its completion is legal issues. Even the recent departure of guitarist Buckethead isn't slowing anything down. "As far as I know, he hasn't been replaced, but we already have enough guitarists," Stinson said. "We have Robin Finck and Richard Fortus, and Buckethead will be on the record, too. I really have no idea why he decided to leave, but it didn't come out of left field because he's always come and gone. Even when I do see him, I don't know what he thinks."

6.8.04

The new Velvet Revolver album is out in stores today!

5.12.04

Here is an article about Tommy Stinson's upcoming solo album.

4.28.04

The album by Hollywood Rose called "Roots of Guns N Roses" is scheduled for release on June 1st according to Amazon.com.

Additional info from navarre.com:

Title: ROOTS OF GUNS N ROSES,THE
Publisher: CLEOPATRA RECORDS INC
Label: CLEOPATRA
Artist: HOLLYWOOD ROSE
Format: CD
UPC: 741157138221
Selection: CLP 1382
Release Date: 06/01/2004
MSRP: $14.98

Track Listing:

Original Demo Versions:
1. Killing Time
2. Anything Goes
3. Rocker
4. Shadow Of Your Love
5. Wreckless Life

Newly Remixed By Gilby Clarke:
6. Killing Time
7. Anything Goes
8. Rocker
9. Shadow Of Your Love (Feat. Tracii Guns - over dub guitar)
10. Wreckless Life (Feat. Tracii Guns - over dub guitar)

Newly Remixed By Fred Coury:
11. Killing Time
12. Anything Goes
13. Rocker
14. Shadow Of Your Love
15. Wreckless Life

4.21.04

Check out this Rollingstone article about Izzy and the NY Dolls.

4.15.04

VELVET REVOLVER will jump-start the June 8 release of their much-anticipated debut album CONTRABAND (RCA) with their first-ever tour. Launching May 13 in St. Louis, the intimate venue trek will take the band--who’ve only played one show before (last year in Los Angeles)--across the U.S. into such cities as New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco and Detroit, among others.

“Slither,” the album’s first single, exploded at radio in its first week of release, airing on over 130 stations. The song was #1 Most Added at Modern Rock, Active Rock and Mainstream Rock.

For the “Slither” video, VELVET REVOLVER--lead vocalist SCOTT WEILAND, guitarist SLASH, bassist DUFF McKAGAN, drummer MATT SORUM and guitarist DAVE KUSHNER--joined forces with video director Kevin Kerslake (Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iggy Pop). The band performed the powerful song in an underground "catacomb party" in front of hundreds of fans packed into the sprawling basement of a downtown Los Angeles warehouse. Other portions of the “Slither” video are being shot in Europe, where “catacomb parties” take place underground, reachable only by following a series of clues and traveling through the maze of tunnels that lay nearly a half-mile underneath the city. Look for the “Slither” video to premiere Tuesday, April 27 at 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific as part of MTV2 “Makes The Video.”

While VELVET REVOLVER inevitably offers a few echoes of its members’ illustrious pasts, their sound is defiantly forward-looking and truly fresh in all senses of that word. “Slither” is an epic rock song that merges musical ferocity with the urgent drama of such lines as “Yeah, here comes the water/It’s come to wash away the sins of you and I/This time you see/Like holy water/It only burns you faster than you’ll ever dry/This time with me.”

Stay tuned for future news and additional tour dates and check out velvetrevolver.com.

Date City Venue

Thur May 13 St. Louis, MO Pagent

Fri May 14 Kansas City, MO Memorial Hall

Sat May 15 Minneapolis, MN Quest

Wed May 19 Chicago, IL The Riviera

Thur May 20 Detroit, MI TBA

Fri May 21 Toronto, ONT Kool Haus

Wed May 26 New York, NY Roseland

Thur May 27 Washington, DC 9:30 Club

Fri May 28 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory

Sat May 29 Boston, MA TBA

Fri June 4 Portland, OR Roseland

Sat June 5 Seattle, WA Moore Theater

Mon June 7 San Francisco, CA Warfield

Tues June 8 Los Angeles, CA Wiltern Theatre

Wed June 9 Los Angeles, CA Wiltern Theatre

4.12.04

VELVET REVOLVER guitarist Slash has told Launch Radio
Networks that the band will kick off their first
nationwide tour on May 13 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Dates and venues for the trek, which will run through
July 22, could be announced as early as Tuesday (April
13).

As previously reported, VELVET REVOLVER singer Scott
Weiland got the green light last week from California
authorities to tour with the band after completing a
six-month stay in rehab following last October's drug
arrest.

Slash told Launch Radio Networks that Weiland will
have few restrictions on him once the group hits the
road. "I know that there's gonna be somebody with him,
as there is probably for the whole lot of us," he
laughed. "Scott's not the only troubled guy in the
band when it comes down to it — but all things
considered, he's free to do whatever he wants to do."

VELVET REVOLVER's debut album, the 13-track
"Contraband", is led by the single "Slither", which is
being sent to radio outlets today (April 12). Slash
told Launch Radio Networks how Weiland added the
finishing touch to a song that was written before the
singer was even in the band. "I went into the studio
and had this idea, this riff, and so we jammed on it,
and I taped it, and then we revisited it probably a
couple of weeks later and realized, 'Hey, that's a
fuckin' cool piece of music,' " Slash explained. "So
we had this arrangement going, and when Scott came
into it, he took the music home and he came back with
this really dark sort of relationship-driven song,
sort of a failed relationship kind of thing, and it
just fit perfectly."

VELVET REVOLVER is rounded out by two of Slash's
former GUNS N' ROSES colleagues, bassist Duff McKagan
and drummer Matt Sorum, and guitarist David Kushner of
LOADED/SUICIDAL TENDENCIES. "Contraband" arrives in
stores on June 8.

3.30.04

Press Release Source: Sanctuary Records Group

Guns N' Roses Not Able to Perform at Rock in Rio
Tuesday March 30, 6:00 am ET
A Message from W. Axl Rose

LISBON, Portugal--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2004--Guns N' Roses will not be performing as scheduled at Rock In Rio - Lisbon.

The band has been put in an untenable position by guitarist Buckethead and his untimely departure. During his tenure with the band Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behavior and commitment - despite being under contract - creating uncertainty and confusion and making it virtually impossible to move forward with recording, rehearsals and live plans with confidence. His transient lifestyle has made it impossible for even his closest friends to have nearly any form of communication with him whatsoever. Last time I talked to Bucket, he called to tell me he had bought a bootleg DVD off EBay and how proud he was to be in Guns and how impressed he was with everyone's performance. Then, in February we got word from Brain that Bucket had called him and said he was back in Guns!? Apparently, according to Bucket he had been "Gone" but had turned himself around and was really excited to do Rio-Lisbon and a European tour. Somewhere in the following month things changed once again. According to those who have actually spoken with Buckethead it appears his plans were to secure a recording contract with Sanctuary Records which I encouraged my management to make available to him, quit GN'R and to use his involvement in the upcoming Guns release to immediately promote his individual efforts...Nice guy!

There is not a member of this camp that is not hurt, upset and ultimately disappointed by this event, and more to the point - if not this individual, certainly this individual's choices. Regardless of anyone's opinions of me and what I may or may not deserve, clearly the fans, individuals in this band, management, crew and our support group do not deserve this type of treatment. We as a whole, definitely feel that we afforded Bucket every accommodation perhaps so much so that it may be that we or more precisely, I may have done Guns a disservice and unintentionally allowed Guns to be put in this position.

On behalf of Guns N' Roses and myself I apologize to the fans who planned to see us at Rock In Rio - Lisbon. The festival and its tradition mean a lot to me personally and I sincerely do not enjoy being robbed by one of our own of the opportunity to be the first artist to play it for the third time. I would also like to express my gratitude to those who chose to embrace Buckethead's role in Guns and support our new line up. We greatly appreciate Bucket's contributions and remain open to "discussions" as there are obviously several issues to resolve. In the meantime rather than dwelling on the negative, Guns will be moving forward and surprisingly (without giving away any details) this unfortunate set of circumstances may have given us the opportunity to take our recording that one extra step further. Regardless we hope to announce a release date within the next few months.

Sincerely,

W. Axl Rose

The Festival will shortly announce the name of a new headliner to perform with EVANESCENCE, KINGS OF LEON and XUTOS E PONTAPES amongst others

Source: Sanctuary Records Group

3.15.04

GUNS N' ROSES bassist Tommy Stinson has set a July 27
release date through Sanctuary Records for his debut
solo album.

The founding REPLACEMENTS member told Billboard.com
last summer that he recorded the material for the set
in a Los Angeles studio owned by Charles Thompson
(a.k.a. Frank Black) with contributions from A PERFECT
CIRCLE drummer Josh Freese, his brother Jason Freese
on saxophone, CATHOLICS guitarist Dave Philips, and
GNR guitarist Richard Fortus and keyboardist Dizzy
Reed.

The track listing for the album is as follows:

01. Without a View
02. Moment Too Soon
03. Someday
04. Something's Wrong
05. Motivation
06. Village Gorilla Head
07. Hey You
08. Bite Your Tongue
09. Light of Day
10. O.K.
11. Couldn't Wait

GUNS N' ROSES will perform at Portugal's Rock in
Rio-Lisbon festival as a main-stage headliner on May 30.

3.14.04

Buckethead is doing a short tour soon, check here for more information.

3.11.04

Hollywood Rose demos to surface according to this article.

3.1.04 - VR/RIR4

Rock in Rio 4 tickets are now on sale here.

Check out a preview of the new Velvet Revolver album here.

2.24.04 - Tourdates

Gilby Clarke:
3/06 Tucson, AZ @ The Rock
3/05 Scottsdale, AZ @ Chasers
3/11 Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
3/12 Wallington, NJ @ The Wreck Room
3/13 Orange, CT @ Corner Pocket Cafe
3/14 New York, NY @ Tribeca Rock Club

DIZZY REED w/ FASTMASTER:
Mar. 18 – Orange, CT @ Corner Pocket
Mar. 19 - Worcester, MA @ Lucky Dog Music Hall
Mar. 20 - Windsor Locks, CT @ Cargo's Cafe

1.31.04 - Buckethead

Buckethead is playing a show with Giant Robot on Feb. 27, click here for more information.

1.20.04 - VR

Velvet Revolver, [...] have selected "Slither" as the first single from
their forthcoming debut album, "Contraband", due on May 11 through RCA
Records. "You Got No Right" , the mellow, BEATLES-esque ballad the
group performed at the Smashbox Fashion show last October, is believed to be
a strong candidate for the album's second single. Other tracks set to
appear on the CD include "Trainsucker Blues", "Headspace", "Falling to
Pieces", "Superhuman", and "Illegal Eye"

The band, who are in the middle of doing international press in Los
Angeles, are said to be preparing to embark on a six-week promotional jaunt
beginning in early March. In addition to doing more press at each stop, the band
are expected to perform a short set at a local venue in each city.

The following is a tentative/preliminary list of dates and cities where
VELVET REVOLVER are expected to play as part of their promotional tour:

Mar. 12 – Toronto, ONT @ TBA
Mar. 16 – Madrid, SPA @ TBA
Mar. 18 – Paris, FRA @ TBA
Mar. 20 – Amsterdam, NETH @ TBA
Mar. 22 – Stockholm, SWE @ TBA
Mar. 24 – Hamburg, GER @ TBA
Mar. 26 – Koln, GER @ TBA
Mar. 28 – London, UK @ TBA
Apr. 03 – Atlanta, GA @ TBA
Apr. 05 – Washington, D.C. @ TBA
Apr. 06 – Philadelphia, PA @ TBA
Apr. 09 – Boston, MA @ TBA
Apr. 10 – Providence, RI @ TBA
Apr. 12 – Cleveland, OH @ TBA
Apr. 13 – Detroit, MI @ TBA
Apr. 15 – Chicago, IL @ TBA
Apr. 16 – Milwaukee, WI @ TBA
Apr. 17 – Minneapolis, MN @ TBA
Apr. 19 – Denver, CO @ TBA
Apr. 20 – Salt Lake City, UT @ TBA
Apr. 22 – Seattle, WA @ TBA
Apr. 24 – San Francisco, CA @ TBA
Apr. 26 – Los Angeles, CA @ TBA
Apr. 27 – Los Angeles, CA @ TBA

1.19.04 - VR

According to blabbermouth.net, the Velvet Revolver album is delayed to May 11.

1.15.04 - News

VELVET REVOLVER: Bringing Chaos Back Into The Rock World

VELVET REVOLVER's official biography, written by David Wild and provided by the group's record label, RCA/BMG Records, includes additional information about the band's formation and their forthcoming debut CD, "Contraband", due in May (postponed from the previously announced April 27 date). Here it is in its entirety:

VELVET REVOLVER is everything the band's name suggests and much more. This is modern rock with a sense of danger and beauty that's been missing for far too long. Their suitably explosive yet gorgeous debut effort, "Contraband", marks the spot for a new beginning from a band of rock & roll brothers united by some legendary pasts and a suddenly brighter future.

"We're all looking for a rebirth here," explains the group's lead singer Scott Weiland. "We're looking to get back that same feeling we had when we all first started making music — the sense of doing it for the pure joy of making music. Along the way the whole idea that got us into this had been raped and sodomized. We were all in mourning of that and wondering if we could somehow get it back. As it turns out, the only way we could get it all back was to start it all new. Now we have that opportunity and it's fucking amazing. This music is just vicious, very aggressive and it forces you to lace your boots up and sort of get ready for the fight."

The idea behind VELVET REVOLVER remains a powerfully simple one. "There is no real concept to me," explains guitarist Slash. "We set out to make music we enjoy and can feel proud of playing — music that people we like will want to listen to. As soon as you start thinking beyond that — about wanting to keep up with the Joneses or about fitting in with somebody else's format — that's when you lose the map. So we've just done what we do, and tried to have a cool time doing it."

Everything you've heard about VELVET REVOLVER is true. This is the band that brings together three former members of one of rock's greatest groups GUNS N' ROSES — Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum — together with one of rock's most charismatic frontmen Scott Weiland, formerly of STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, and guitarist Dave Kushner, ex-WASTED YOUTH, ELECTRIC LOVE HOGS and Dave Navarro's [JANE'S ADDICTION] band, among others.

While VELVET REVOLVER inevitably offers a few echoes of its members' illustrious pasts, their sound is defiantly forward-looking and truly fresh in all senses of that word. "Our music is very aggressive," says Duff. "There's always that 'Fuck you' element to it. Really that's all we know how to do. We can't play nice or play radio. Slash, Matt and I were always that way in GUNS, and Scott and Dave are very like-minded. To me, this is the first dangerous band that's come around in a while — truly dangerous. People are going to say, 'Oh a supergroup. These guys have everything.' And I can understand that, but we're not coming at this that way. We really hope to bring some chaos back into the whole world of rock."

"This is the real deal," says Matt Sorum. "This is all of us firing on all cylinders."

Slash, McKagan and Sorum came together to play a benefit/tribute for their friend and fellow musician Randy Castillo in 2002. The buzz of playing together again got the three thinking. "There was still something very powerful and intense between us," says Slash.

"That chemistry never went away," says McKagan.

Sensing enough time had lapsed since their less-than-pleasant departures from GUNS N' ROSES, the trio linked with Kushner — a high school friend of Slash's who had been playing with Duff in recent years. "He's our secret weapon," says Duff. "He plays amazing textures and he can handle himself with Slash." After some false starts with other musicians, the four decided to try an unusually open call for a new frontperson.

Documented by VH1 cameras for an upcoming special, this process turned out to be long and sometimes painful. "We heard so many different singers, and every singer lent itself to a different vibe," Sorum recalls. Unfortunately, the vibes were usually not too good. "As soon as we heard the vocals that people were sending in, we knew we were in trouble," Sorum remembers. "And we knew we just couldn't put out some shabby rock tribute. It had to be something special."

"There were so many fucking variations on the theme," recalls Slash. "And all of them wrong."

As Dave Kushner remembers, "The experience really was brutal. There was nothing fun about it except for the fact that I got to go and play with these guys five days a week. It was just really disheartening and frustrating at times. But in the end because of all the time we spent looking, we went a lot of different places musically. It seemed like we were killing time, but we were really building the foundation."

Fortunately, as the Great Lead Singer search was going on, Duff was spending time socially with Weiland, then still with STONE TEMPLE PILOTS.

"I was sort of at the end of my rope, mentally and emotionally with STP at the time, though we've actually sort of made up since our last explosion," Weiland explains. "Duff told me he'd gotten together with Slash and Matt and that Dave Kushner was also playing. Now I've known Dave for years since he was in ELECTRIC LOVE HOGS who I use to play on bills with when STP was known as MIGHTY JOE YOUNG. And I was a huge GUNS fan. 'Appetite For Destruction' had the same impact on me as 'Never Mind The Bollocks' by the SEX PISTOLS, NIRVANA's 'Nevermind' and JANE'S ADDICTION's 'Nothing's Shocking'. 'Appetite…' was one of those records that made me believe, that became my bible and taught me everything."

For Weiland, the idea of joining forces with this foursome proved enticing. Then when Slash dropped off a CD of some of the music the guys had been recording, Weiland was impressed. "There were like fifteen songs out of the sixty that I could really wrap my head around," Scott recalls. "I thought if we went in that direction, we could turn into a five-headed beast which would be completely lethal and indestructible."

With Weiland, the project became a living, breathing band. "This guy has lived," says Matt. "Because of where we've been as musicians — and the kind of frontman we were next to for all those years — it is pretty tough for any guy to step up immediately and be able to stand next to a guy like Slash or Duff. Those guys are rock stars in their own right. To front this band, we needed someone who was above and beyond, and we got one."

"I was beginning to think there were no more great rock frontman," says McKagan.

Quickly the five got down to work. "We recorded the song for 'The Hulk' ('Set Me Free'), but the only way to really see if you can be a band is to do a gig," says Scott. "So we did a gig at the El Rey [in Los Angeles] in June and that answered every question. It was worth more than any time in the studio or hanging out. This was undeniable and the most sonically violent thing I've ever been a part of. Singing 'It's So Easy' [from 'Appetite For Destruction'] with those guys at the El Rey was fuckin' amazing. When I wrote 'Sex Type Thing' [from STP's debut album], it was sort of inspired by that low vocal of 'It's So Easy'."

For Slash, "We were like a bunch of kids who just learned how to play the same chord together. That's what it's been like every time we've done something together. We're thrilled, like 'Hey, we wrote a song!' 'Hey, we played a gig!' Maybe that's why this has worked — because we're actually the opposite of jaded."

Yet for all the good will, launching VELVET REVOLVER hasn't always been easy, especially with the group's frontman publicly going through some personal turmoil of late. "This has been a pretty rough year for me," Scott admits. "The whole divorce thing really pulled me through a keyhole emotionally so I fell backwards on a narcotic slide and had to pay the price. But these guys were there to catch my fall. This has been like a gang. And it helps that they've all been through it themselves a million times so there's no judgment there. They've all kicked dope so it's not like I'm the lone junkie in the band or I'm the only one who knows what it's like to kick a three-gram-a-day heroin habit. Through all the difficulties I've been through, they've all been there. That's more than I could ever ask for — more than I've ever experienced before."

"We went through a lot of stuff with Scott," Duff explains. "We got him to come up to the mountains, to Washington State, and he was learning martial arts and learning how to live a different way. Whatever happens, he has some more tools that he didn't have before."

"I feel like Scott is still struggling in certain areas, but that this is all meant to be," says Matt. "Down the line our hopes are that with this strong a positive influence — and his knowing where we've all been with the rock and roll indulgence — we will pull through this together."

Early in its evolution, the group released the song "Set Me Free" on "The Hulk" soundtrack and recorded a cover of PINK FLOYD's "Money" for another movie, "The Italian Job". When it came time to sign a deal and record their first album, the band chose RCA in part because of the interest of Chairman Clive Davis. "Clive actually flew out here and courted us, and he watched us rehearse along with his little posse," Slash remembers. "It was really flattering because he's such an icon and he's been doing it for so long and can really recognize something."

That decision made, it was time for VELVET REVOLVER to take aim and make their first album.

"Contraband" is a rock & roll song cycle with an eclectic streak and a sonic nerviness. It's a rock-hard headphones classic for a new generation, reflecting the players' influences from THE BEATLES to THE REFUSED, and for obvious reasons a little GUNS N' ROSES and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS too.

After sampling a number of producers, VELVET REVOLVER opted to go with Josh Abraham to co-produce the album with them. "Josh was very much for us a fresh face," says Matt. "We went out and we tried other producers and we tried the best of the old school, but we needed to go in a different direction. We needed a young, fresh collaborator with a modern element — whatever the fuck that is. We wanted to compete and we wanted to be represented now."

"Who you work with is important, and Josh and the people we worked with on this album made things feel effortless," says Slash. "They made it feel like us."

"If we sounded slick, we're going to be some over-thirtysomething, over-produced super rock band," says Duff. "But this is just a rock band and the album had to growl just like we do when we play together live."

The music came into sharp focus when Weiland added his deeply felt, deeply personal lyrics to the mix. "In a nutshell, this whole album for me is pretty much about the poisonous, toxic relationship that I had been in and the catastrophic effects my break-up and subsequent divorce has had on me," Scott explains. "It's complete honesty so if people relate, great. If not, they can fuck themselves. Each song is about where I was at in the situation at that given day. As you can tell, some days I was dealing with it better than others. This is the most effort I've ever put into anything. I put as much effort into the first STP album, but now I know so much more."

With "Contraband" completed in the waning days of 2003, VELVET REVOLVER now looks forward to the album's spring 2004 release and hitting the road hard. "We can't wait," says Slash. "I'm just looking forward to fulfilling a touring thing that I never got to really finish with GUNS. That's what I love, but we never got to do a lot of things for reasons that still don't make sense to me. I just want to play."

"We'll go down in the gutter and play dirtbag clubs and we'll play big fucking stadiums," says Matt. "We don't give a fuck. And that's the way we've always been. We're not precious."

But ultimately, VELVET REVOLVER isn't about firing at the past. It's about what these five men can do together in the future. "You know all the possibilities are there," says Slash. "And we don't want to miss them this time."

An Update on Tommy Stinson:

JAN. 15:
Happy New Year to all,

Here's all the latest in the world of me. I have finally completed all of the recording for my first solo record. It has taken longer than anticipated, but it usually does. I think it will be my most ambitious record thus far.

I have used instruments, and players that I have never used before which was a blast (Josh Freese, Jason Freese, Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus, Dave Philips, Gersh, Juliette Beaven, and Joan Jones). I'm sure some will call it amongst other things - self indulgent, but when you pay to make a record out of your own pocket you are afforded the luxury of doing it as you please. Hence, I am very pleased. I am also very over it. For my next record, I may have to go old school and make a record in a week. Maybe one mike and some gaffer tape. It's just a thought.

Also in the last week I have sold this here new record thing to Sanctuary Records. Yippeeee!!!!!

It will come out world wide as well as your neighborhood some time in the near future. Aiming for summer/early fall, but many questions need be answered before I'll know for sure, and will update you when and how you might get some special treats through my site.

I may update the song bites to give you an idea of whats to come, but need to make sure this is cool with my new record company first. They are an awesome bunch of peeps, but I would hate to do something to piss them off so early in the process.

Also it may take another day or two but, Merch.com is going to be a link on my site to get t-shirts, etc. I have some t-shirts from my summer tour available in various sizes, and more things to come as the record gets released.

I think thats all I have to update ya'll on for now.

Thanks for listening,
T.S.

1.2.04 - News

According to the official Rock In Rio - Lisbon site, tickets for the festival go on sale on March 1st.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

VELVET REVOLVER's much-anticipated debut album, due on April 27, 2004 through RCA Records, looks likely to be titled either "Contraband" or "Controband", BLABBERMOUTH.NET can exclusively reveal.

As previously reported, the CD — which will include twelve of the more than fifty tracks the band co-wrote before and after vocalist Scott Weiland (ex-STONE TEMPLE PILOTS) joined the lineup last spring — was produced by Josh Abraham (LIMP BIZKIT, STAIND) and mixed by Andy Wallace (NIRVANA, WHITE ZOMBIE, LINKIN PARK, SLAYER, SEPULTURA). Mastering took place on December 19 in New York City.

Weiland, who is currently completing a six-month residential drug rehabilitation program in Pasadena, Ca., finished recording the vocals to the last song for the album Friday (December 26) at Lavish studios in California with engineer Douglas Grean. Songtitles set to appear on the album include "Slither", "Falling to Pieces", "Superhuman" and "Illegal Eye".

VELVET REVOLVER's current lineup is rounded out by former GUNS N' ROSES members Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass), and Matt Sorum (drums), along with guitarist Dave Kushner (SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, LOADED).

12.21.03 - VR

VELVET REVOLVER To Release 'Comrades' In April - Dec. 17, 2003

VELVET REVOLVER, the much buzzed-about rock group featuring ex-STONE TEMPLE PILOTS vocalist Scott Weiland, former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Dave Kushner from Dave Navarro's (JANE'S ADDICTION) band, have set "Comrades" as the working title for their much-anticipated debut, tentatively due on April 27 through RCA Records.

The album, which was produced by Josh Abraham (LIMP BIZKIT, STAIND) and mixed by Andy Wallace (NIRVANA, WHITE ZOMBIE, LINKIN PARK, SLAYER, SEPULTURA), is scheduled to be mastered this Friday (Dec. 19) in New York City. The mastering session will be attended by the entire band minus Weiland, who is currently completing a six-month residential drug rehabilitation program in Pasadena, Ca.

Scott, who was recently placed on strict lockdown after attempting to bring drugs into the residential facility, is believed to have one more song left to record for the CD, which will include twelve of the more than fifty tracks the band co-wrote before and after Weiland joined the lineup last spring. Songtitles set to appear on the album include "Slither", "Falling to Pieces", "Superhuman" and "Illegal Eye".

12.12.03 - VR

Velvet Revolver Fired Up (from rollingstone.com)

New album nearing completion, set for spring release

Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland can't contain his enthusiasm when talking about the band's still-untitled debut album, due in late March/early April. "As a whole, the album is a true representation of the best aspects of STP's music, and the best aspects of Guns n' Roses, when they were at their best -- vicious, streamlined, living off strippers, and their music was great. It's a perfect marriage between the two."

In addition to Weiland, late of Stone Temple Pilots, the band features and guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Matt Sorum -- all formerly of Guns n' Roses -- and guitarist Dave Kushner.

The upcoming record will include twelve of the more than fifty tracks the band co-wrote before and after Weiland joined the lineup last spring, and is being co-produced by the group and Josh Abraham (Limp Bizkit, Staind). "We're going to try to finish it up and get it mastered by the end of the year," says Abraham, who insists the album is on schedule.

Weiland describes "Slither," a rocker that twists and turns its way through the underbelly of the pre-dawn world, as a "dark, prodding heavy one that definitely has an old STP vibe to it." The heavy ballad "Fall to Pieces," meanwhile, features Slash's signature guitar sound and invokes the Gn'R classic "November Rain."

"'Falling to Pieces' is going to be a cool song to play live because it's such an arena rocker," McKagan says. "You can already envision the corny video for it, on the mountaintop, playing a guitar solo."

Among the other tracks up for selection are "Superhuman" and "Illegal Eye," which McKagan compares to "a Refused song, like an older punk rock song." But altogether, he says, "It's an album. It's twelve songs. It's not a single with eleven fillers. It's a journey."

Slash agrees. "Every song sounds different," he says. "Everything has got a vibe to it. Each song is its own style."

As far as titles go, the leading contender right now was suggested by a fan. "There's a fan Web site," McKagan explains, "and somebody came up with Uppers & Downers, which is pretty brilliant." Though the album is still a few months from release, touring plans are coming together. "We're going to go to Japan, Europe and play some shows, and then come back here," McKagan says. "Then our record will come out and we'll do some guerilla touring in major cities in the U.S. And then we were offered to headline Ozzfest."

The band's live reputation is already legend, even though they've only done one show together, at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles earlier this year. "That was the first time I'd ever seen Scott perform," Slash says. "I knew I liked his voice, but when we got on stage together that spontaneous chemistry sealed the deal on this whole collaboration."

STEVE BALTIN
(December 12, 2003)

12.2.03 - Stinson

Here are two Tommy Stinson December tour dates:

Dec 7 - New York, NY @ Pianos
158 Ludlow St.
212-505-3733
w/ Angela McClusky
starts at 10pm

Dec 16 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lava Lounge
1533 N La Brea Ave
(323) 876-6612
Benefit Show
more details to follow

11.6.03 - GNR to Rock in Rio!!

Guns N' Roses is playing Rock in Rio in Portugal on May 30, 2004!!!!

Here is the billboard article and the RIR website!!

10.27.03 - Sorum Album

MATT SORUM NEW RECORD AVAILABLE OCTOBER 31

Ex-Cult and Guns N' Roses Drummer Releases Solo Project entitled "Hollywood Zen"

ATLANTA, Oct. 20, 2003 - Brash Music, today announced that Matt Sorum's new record "Hollywood Zen" will be available online at www.mattsorum.com on Halloween- October 31st. Co-produced with Lanny Cordola, and engineered and mixed by Kevin Smith, "Hollywood Zen" has Sorum singing, playing guitar and drums, and features special guest appearances by some of Sorum's musical friends. Also available for sale will be 300 limited edition copies autographed by Sorum.

Featured tracks are "The Blame Game" which includes soaring guitar work by rock legend Slash; and "Sunset Boulevard" an homage to the Hollywood celebrity fame game. "This is a very personal reflection of my life in rock and roll over the past two decades. It chronicles my own experiences with touring, addictions, relationships and my hometown Los Angeles," said Sorum. "This record was a very liberating, cathartic experience."

This project was completed earlier this year while Matt's new band Velvet Revolver was putting together their line up of ex-Stone Temple Pilots' frontman Scott Weiland, ex-Guns N' Roses bandmates Slash and Duff McKagan, plus David Kushner of Suicidal Tendencies. Sorum has been in the studio most of this month laying down the drum tracks for the Velvet Revolver debut album.

Track Listing

1. The Forgiving Kind
2. Hallucination Lullabye
3. Brand New Obscene
4. The Blame Game
5. Sunset Blvd.
6. Circus of the Sun
7. 3% Solution
8. Scar Baby
9. Viva la Rock
10. Suicide Mission
11. Confession

10.14.03 - GNR DVD

Here is the official press release for the GNR DVDs!

10.7.03 - Camp Freddy

Camp Freddy got signed to Sanctuary! Read more in the Rolling Stone article.

10.1.03 - DVDs

It seems like Welcome to the Videos is being released on DVD as well as the Tokyo Videos (disc 1) (disc 2) from the UYI tour!

9.2.03 - New Guns?

Mtv is reporting that a new GNR song was leaked onto a radio station in NYC!

8.30.03 - Velvet Revolver

Click here to see the revamped Velvet Revolver website!

8.25.03 - Matt Sorum

Former GUNS N' ROSES and current VELVET REVOLVER drummer Matt Sorum has
reportedly signed a deal with Atlanta-based Sixthman Records
(distributed through Warner Bros.) for the release of his solo album, "Hollywood
Zen". The CD, which has been two years in the making, "is about my ups and
downsin Hollywood," Sorum said. "It's very different from [my previous band]
THE CULT. Think BOWIE meets IGGY meets LOU REED. . . I would consider it a
cross between old school rock and modern bands. I have elements of
PRIMAL SCREAM, some techno mixed in, also some tribal stuff. I also have a lot
of drums on that. It was the most fun I've had making a drum record. I
rented out an analog studio and brought almost all of my drums down there. I
was able to have total freedom because it's my record [laughs]." Making a
guest appearance on the CD is former QUIET RIOT/HOUSE OF LORDS bassist Chuck
Wright, who also rendered all the CD graphic art and layout for the
album. Sorum will be up front for the project, singing and playing guitar, and
he intends to support the CD with a solo tour.

8.23.03 - VR / Tommy

Velvet Revolver loads up with RCA

Check out Tommy's new website!

Here is a recent Tommy article:

The sideman out front
Replacements and Guns N' Roses vet Tommy Stinson takes
a turn in the spotlight

By GREG HAYMES, Staff writer
First published: Thursday, August 21, 2003

Rock 'n' roll offers the perfect ecosystem for the
growth of that robust perennial, the Outsized Show-Biz
Ego.
The spotlight supplies the heat and light. The
seemingly endless supply of alcohol and drugs -- not
to mention backstage pizzas and deli platters --
provide the nutrients. And audience applause, fan
adoration and media attention furnish the -- well, the
fertilizer.

But what about the journeyman rockers? The second
bananas who don't have the hunger, the smarts, the
stomach (or all three) to play politics, wrest power
and grab glory? What about the guys who stand just on
the spotlight's outer edge, hammering out the riffs
that rock 'n' roll runs on?

Guys like Tommy Stinson.

In the garden of rock star egos, Stinson has been in
the company of redwoods since the tender age of 12,
when he was recruited by his older brother, Bob, to
play bass in his Minneapolis garage punk band, the
Impediments, which also included drummer Chris Mars
and guitarist-vocalist-songwriter Paul Westerberg. The
band soon changed its name to the Replacements, and in
1981 unleashed its beer-soaked debut album, "Sorry Ma,
Forgot to Take Out the Trash," on Twin/Tone Records.

With Westerberg at the helm, the group released a
series of increasingly well-received albums: 1983's
eclectic "Hootenanny," the '84 critical breakthrough
"Let It Be" and their acclaimed '85 major-label debut,
"Tim." While the band's songcraft evolved, its
legendarily drunken performances and equally notorious
feuds made mainstream success elusive.

"I mean, the Replacements stuff that we did, I'm still
proud of," says Stinson, who heads into Valentine's in
Albany on Sunday night. "It's all great, fine, good,
all that -- but Paul just wasn't a team player: He
wrote the songs, and we played them."

Pinup boy

What Stinson lacked as a bass player -- and he may
never be a master technician of the Tony Levin school
-- he made up for in rock 'n' roll heart and
marquee-idol looks: The Replacements' entry in "The
Spin Alternative Record Guide" hailed him as "the
all-time indie-rock pin-up boy."

A foot soldier in the Replacements' drunken,
ramshackle platoon, Stinson remained onboard even
after his brother Bob was fired, ostensibly for
substance-abuse issues, just as the band was on the
verge of its big commercial breakthrough, 1987's
"Pleased to Meet Me." (Bob Stinson died in 1995 at age
35.)

When the act finally called it quits after 1990's "All
Shook Down," Stinson was the first member to form a
new band, called Bash & Pop. In 1993, the new act
released the well-received disc "Friday Night is
Killing Me" on Warner Bros., the label that had coaxed
the Replacements out of indie obscurity. Stinson
seemed poised to finally step out of his role as
second banana and into the spotlight. But it was to be
the band's only recording.

"The Bash & Pop thing would have continued on had I
not lost interest in the record company more than the
band," explains Stinson. "It was pretty much my solo
project, anyway. I had a couple of guys who played on
the record, but most of the instrumentation was just
me. But what ended up happening was that I moved out
to L.A., and my drummer went back to Minneapolis."

On the West Coast, Stinson started forming another
version of Bash & Pop, which evolved into a new act,
Perfect. "It turned into much more of a band thing,"
Stinson says. Perfect "was closer to my vision of what
I wanted to be doing at that time, rather than being a
solo artist or anything like that."

Biting the dust

In 1995, Perfect put out the EP "When Squirrels Play
Chicken," on the decidedly scruffier Restless label.

The band's name turned out to be less than prophetic:
"That was frustrating, too, because just as we made
our record, we were getting screwed by the record
company," Stinson says. "So that band bit the dust,
too."

A pattern was developing: Acclaim followed by
implosion. More disturbing, the life cycle of
Stinson's bands was getting shorter and shorter.

"It's always frustrating when that happens," Stinson
says. "But you know, there are a million and one bands
out there doing the same thing -- equally, if not
more, talented" than Stinson's acts. "Everyone gets
screwed at one time or another -- and in some cases,
many times. But it's all part of the deal. It's what
you sign up for when you play rock 'n' roll."

But Stinson was so frustrated that he dropped out of
the music business for a while. When he was eventually
lured back into the spotlight in 1998, it was to
accept an invitation from Axl Rose, who was tinkering
with a new incarnation of Guns N' Roses.

If Stinson had a difficult time with Westerberg, the
prospect of working with the notoriously demanding,
tantrum-prone Rose seemed freighted with trouble.
After all, Rose's original GNR mates had already
jumped ship after releasing 1993's covers album "The
Spaghetti Incident," leaving the singer-songwriter
adrift in a rock 'n' roll Sargasso. Rumors abounded
about endless studio sessions and lineup changes.

Sure enough, last year's eagerly awaited GNR tour --
which made a stop at the Pepsi Arena in November --
was beset by constant troubles: a tour-kickoff riot,
slow ticket sales, numerous cancellations and,
finally, the decision by Clear Channel Communications
-- only the most powerful promoter in the business --
to pull the plug. What's more, the band's epically
overdue new album, "Chinese Democracy," still lacks a
release date.

"It's been going great," Stinson declares.

Huh? Really? "It's closer to the end of the record
being completed than it is the beginning," he says.
"And we start back up in rehearsal mode in the middle
of September, which is a good sign to me that the
record's going to be ready to come out soon, and we'll
be out on the road again touring behind it soon after
that.

"I'm not drinking the company Kool-Aid on all that.
That's all straight info. I guarantee that the album's
coming out. Hopefully, it'll be out sometime before
the end of the year."

Going solo

In the meantime, Stinson is taking another grab at the
gold ring. He spent two months earlier this year
recording his first-ever solo album. This weekend's
Valentine's show kicks off a three-week sneak preview
tour.

"Stylistically speaking, I think the album is not
probably very different than anything that I've ever
done -- be it Perfect, Bash & Pop or maybe even the
Replacements, I suppose," Stinson says of the still
untitled album.

"But I think it's probably my most honest record. It's
a little self-indulgent, and the songs are pretty
introspective. It's the most freed-up that I've ever
been making a record. It's just an eclectic bunch of
little songs, you know?"

Stinson not only penned all the songs, but it will be
the first record that he's released under his own
name, rather than a band name. "I produced it, and I
played most of the instruments on it except for drums
and some guitar things," he says. The bassist
recruited a few friends, including drummers Josh
Freese of A Perfect Circle; guitarist Dave Phillips of
Frank Black and the Catholics; and two GNR bandmates,
guitarist Richard Fortus and keyboardist Dizzy Reed.

At Valentine's, hometown heroes the Figgs will open
the show with a set of their own. Then Stinson will
take over, performing a batch of his new songs solo
before being joined by the Figgs. "We'll play some of
the Perfect and Bash & Pop stuff, a couple of their
songs and a few covers. We're just going to have some
fun," Stinson says.

Not do or die

While Stinson, now 36 years old, certainly hopes that
he can finally make a splash with his upcoming solo
album, it's no longer a desperate, do-or-die
proposition.

"I have no regrets, you know? I wouldn't trade in any
of those experiences," he says. "I've done a lot of
the things that I've always wanted to do. Not
everything, of course, but I've certainly had more
things going for me and more success than most people
ever have in their careers.

"I think that over the course of the next two or three
years, I'll probably be busier -- doing Guns N' Roses
and my own stuff -- than I've ever been before. And I
welcome that.

"I feel like I'm doing good. I'm in a place now where
I can write honest music and feel free enough to put
it out -- regardless of what the outcome might be."

He'll take Rose over control-freak Westerberg

Having played lengthy stints with both Paul Westerberg
and Axl Rose, bassist Tommy Stinson is in a unique
position to answer the burning question: In the Battle
of the Rock Star Egos, who is a better band boss to
work for, Paul or Axl?

"Well, Axl is definitely a better person to work for.
He doesn't really act much like a boss, however. He's
more of a bandmate, making it a
we're-all-in-this-together kind of situation.

"Whereas Paul was definitely more single-minded.
(Laughs.) Paul's got a bigger ego than anyone I've
ever worked with. And he's more self-conscious than
anyone I've ever known.

"Axl is definitely way more of a collaborator than
Paul will ever be," Stinson says of his current
employer. "With Axl, I feel like I'm actually part of
a band. We're all writing these songs, and we're all
playing them. I just feel more a part of it.

"Axl checks his ego at the door. He comes in and he
gets involved, you know? That's a way better vibe to
make music with."

ROCK ROLE

TOMMY STINSON with the Figgs and Jake Brennan

When: 8 p.m. Sunday

Where: Valentine's, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany

Tickets: $10

Info: 432-6572

8.18.03 - VR

Here is the latest news story on VR:

Scott Weiland Gets Probation; Velvet Revolver Scrap EP

8.5.03 - Tommy Tourdates

Here are some tourdates of Tommy Stinson with the Figgs in the fall:

Aug. 24: Albany, N.Y. @ Valentines
Aug. 25: Buffalo, N.Y. @ The Continental
Aug. 26: Cleveland @ Beachland Ballroom
Aug. 27: Detroit @ Smalls
Aug. 28: Milwaukee @ Cactus Club
Aug. 29: Green Bay, Wis. @ Riverside Ballroom
Aug. 30-31: Minneapolis @ Uptown Bar
Sept. 2: Chicago @ Double Door
Sept. 3: Columbus, Ohio @ Little Brothers
Sept. 5: New York @ Knitting Factory
Sept. 6: Hoboken, N.J. @ Maxwell's
Sept. 7: Philadelphia @ Northstar Bar
Sept. 9: New Haven, Conn. @ Toad's Place
Sept. 12: Providence, R.I. @ Met Cafe
Sept. 13: Cambridge, Mass. @ Middle East

7.22.03 - Marco Beltrami Interview

Check out this interview of Marco Beltrami, composer of Terminator 3 music in which he talks about the work he did on the Chinese Democracy album.

7.17.03 - Hulk Soundtrack Press Release / Peter Tosh Tribute

Sean Paul, Ex-G N'R Members To Do Covers On New Peter Tosh Tribute LP

------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE, THE HULK, TO BE RELEASED ON DECCA/UMG SOUNDTRACKS JUNE 17, 2003

**INCLUDING THE EXCLUSIVE NEW TRACK "SET ME FREE" PERFORMED BY THE NEW
SUPER GROUP, VELVET REVOLVER, FEATURING SCOTT WEILAND

(STONE TEMPLE PILOTS), SLASH, DUFF McKAGAN AND MATT SORUM FORMERLY OF
GUNS N ' ROSES AND DAVE KUSHNER OF SUICIDAL TENDENCIES**

**ORIGINAL FILM SCORE BY DANNY ELFMAN**

New York, NY (June 12, 2003) The soundtrack for the highly anticipated
film, The Hulk, will be released on Decca/UMG Soundtracks June 17, 2003.
Scoring the original soundtrack is famed composer, Danny Elfman whose
unmistakable music has been featured in several blockbuster movies including
Spider-Man, Batman and Men In Black II. The soundtrack also includes a new
exclusive track, "Set Me Free," which was inspired by the film and recorded by
the all-new super group, Velvet Revolver, featuring Scott Weiland (Stone
Temple Pilots; vocals), Slash (Guns N' Roses; guitar), Duff McKagan (Guns N'
Roses; bass), Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses; drums) and Dave Kushner (Suicidal
Tendencies; guitar). This is the first-ever commercially available
track from this new hard rock mega-group and can be downloaded exclusively on
Apple's iTunes Music Store from June 8, 2003 through June 17, 2003.

The band was invited by director, Ang Lee to see an early cut of the
film which inspired them to write a powerful song that would match the movie
in both theme and intensity. Slash commented, "Writing songs is really
cool, but if you get inspired to do it for a really good movie, the outcome
is more fulfilling. We got a certain energy from watching the film, and
we wanted to do something that would be really appropriate for it. The
Hulk is a very dramatic version of the same stuff that we all go through. All
this bottled-up tension is what the song's about, so it's a pretty good
marriage: the theme of the song and what The Hulk is all about."

Added Scott Weiland, "Ang Lee had a lot of intensity about the movie
and his art form." He met with the band following their screening and provided
some additional ideas and inspiration for lyrics that would closely reflect
the story of Bruce Banner and his struggle with his monstrous alter-ego,
The Hulk.

Lending his dramatic musical talents to the film, Danny Elfman composed
a riveting score highlighting the intensity of this compelling story. It
is no surprise that Elfman's was chosen to score The Hulk given his
previous work on a wide variety of projects including; Spider-Man, Red Dragon,
Batman, Planet of the Apes, Men In Black II, Good Will Hunting, Mission
Impossible, most of Tim Burton's movies including Edward Scissorhands,
Beetlejuice and cult classic The Nightmare Before Christmas. He is
also the composer behind the infectious quirky theme for The Simpsons. Tim
Burton has described Elfman as "a real artist in the sense that he is like his
music and his music is like him. He brings that intuitive excitement to a
project. He respects tradition without doing it exactly."

Always an active presence in the world of film world, Danny Elfman has
been nominated for several Grammys including Planet of the Apes for "Best
Score Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual
Media" and Batman and The Nightmare Before Christmas. He won a Grammy for "Best
Instrumental Composition" for "The Batman Theme."

The Hulk was directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon, Ride With The Devil, Sense and Sensibility). Lee's
concept for the film adaptation of the Marvel Comic, The Hulk, combines all the
elements of a blockbuster including the visual effects of an intensive
Super Hero movie with the brooding romance and tragedy of Universal's classic
horror films. Lee and his team have done an amazing job of depicting
The Hulk as both a Super Hero and a monster while still managing to update
and modernize the characters in the movie.

The movie stars Eric Bana (Black Hawk Down) as scientist Bruce Banner,
whose inner demons transform him in the aftermath of a catastrophic
experiment. Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) portrays Betty Ross, whose
scientific genius unwittingly helps unleash The Hulk. Nick Nolte (The Thin Red
Line) plays Banner's brilliant father, who passes on a tragic legacy to his
son, and Sam Elliott (The Contender) portrays the commander of a top-secret
military research center. Universal Pictures will release The Hulk on
June 20 in theaters everywhere.

###

For more information please contact cinemediapromo@yahoo.com

For the record label website, click here: www.iclassics.com

7.16.03 - Axl in Vegas

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose wandered into the Crazy Horse Too in Las
Vegas Wednesday morning (July 16) and treated the nearly empty strip club
to a preview of tracks from his band's long-delayed Chinese Democracy
album. In addition to blasting new cuts over the club's PA system, Rose
also visited the VIP room, ordered champagne and signed autographs,
according to an employee. ...

Source: mtv.com

7.15.03 - Peter Tosh Tribute

Plans are in the works for a tribute album honoring
the late reggae legend, Peter Tosh. Tosh, a founding
member of The Wailers (later Bob Marley and the
Wailers), who also won a Grammy for his album, No
Nuclear War, was killed during a robbery in his home
in Kingston, Jamaica in 1987. Eric Clapton, Jerry
Garcia, Ben Harper, Slash (Guns N Roses), Cypress
Hill, Jimmie Vaughan and Tosh's son, Andrew, are just
some of the artists slated to appear on the tribute
album. Profits from the recording will go to build a
medical clinic, library, the Peter Tosh Museum in
Jamaica and the "Instruments for the Youth" program
which provides instruments to needy children. Sponsors
and donations are needed to raise the additional $150K
needed to complete the album. For more info, go to
http://www.ptosh.com/album.html

6.28.03 - Velvet Revolver

From http://www.velvet-revolver.com

"Duff and Matt said they will be releasing an EP and DVD with the El Rey Theatre live show on October 7th. The EP will also have a studio track which will be released as a single at the same time. In addition to that, the band wants to perform a couple of live shows in the LA area in August/September before going into the studio to record a full album. That album will hopefully be out in December 2003 or April of next year!"

6.23.03 - Velvet Revolver

Here is an MTV article and Rolling Stone article about Velvet Revolver.

6.22.03 - Velvet Revolver

From http://www.blabbermouth.net

VELVET REVOLVER Cover GUNS N' ROSES, STONE TEMPLE
PILOTS During Live Debut - June 20, 2003

VELVET REVOLVER, the new band formed by STONE TEMPLE
PILOTS singer Scott Weiland and former GUNS N' ROSES
members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, made their
official live debut Thursday night (June 19) at the El
Rey Theater in Los Angeles, California.

The group, who are completed by ex-LOADED/WASTED YOUTH
guitarist David Kushner, played two original tracks
and four covers, including renditions of songs from
GUNS N' ROSES and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS.

The band's set list for the short performance was as
follows:

01. Bodies (SEX PISTOLS)
02. Set Me Free
03. Sex Type Thing (STONE TEMPLE PILOTS)
04. It's So Easy (GUNS N' ROSES)
05. Slither
06. Negative Creep (NIRVANA)

The exclusive invitation-only event was preceded by a
media question-and-answer session beginning at 7:30
p.m. Check out pictures from Film Magic, Wire Image.

Duff McKagan told reporters during the press
conference that Weiland's much-publicized substance
abuse woes were a fact of life.

"Rock 'n' roll is not a safe thing," McKagan said. "It
shouldn't be a safe thing. There's a lot of safe rock
'n' roll out there right now. We're real. What happens
is real ... What happened to Scott Weiland a few weeks
ago, it really could happen to any of us. It has
happened to all of us."

VELVET REVOLVER manager David Codikow told Reuters
"everybody's optimistic" that Weiland won't go back to
jail.

"Like everybody else, they've all had their problems
in the past," Codikow said. "They've all worked
through it, there's a real support group, and you
never give up."

VELVET REVOLVER reportedly have five original songs in
the can, and have about 50 tunes in various forms of
completion. The band hope to do some touring in the
summer and release an album by the end of the year. So
far, they do not have a record contract, and are
keeping their options open.

Here are some pictures from the show.

6.20.03 - Velvet Revolver Review

Here's my review of the first show:

Just got back from the show at the El Rey. It was a
packed house but there were a lot of industry people
there, so it was more like an industry showcase.

I thought the show rocked!! They played really well
for the first show, probably because Matt, Duff and
Slash have played together for a long time. The band
played 6 songs, 4 originals and 2 covers. One was
called Animal, I think and they also did Set me Free.

He didn't introduce any titles so I have no idea what
they are, just guessing at this point. The songs were
very heavy, sounded STP influenced definitely.

They played STP's Sex Type Thing (Slash played a new
BC Rich black guitar i've never seen before) and then
Scott said next was the song that influenced it, It's
So Easy. He sang it very well.. he is definitely a
great frontman. He moved around the stage a lot,
danced and even jumped into the crowd twice; seemed
like he was having a great time!

The song after that was my favorite, it was kind of
slower with some tasty Slash licks and solos and some
heavy parts also. Seemed to me that the title had
something to do with water. The encore was a really
heavy song, but i couldn't make out the vocals too
well, which was a problem throughout the night since
the band was so loud and probably had something to do
with the room. Also, Scott would sing into a
megaphone a lot so that didn't help at all.

Slash was even hard to hear at some points. Unlike
Snakepit where he would play long solos, he did more
fills and riffs with this band, but the solos he did
were great as usual. Duff looked great and was very
animated and sang backup vocals; his hair is longer
and he wore a cool looking vest. Matt's drumming was
pretty good, it seemed a bit different than usual.
Dave was also good, he ran around a lot which is
always cool.

All in all, a great show.. look forward to the next
one when they have more songs and can play a full set!

6.18.03 - Velvet Revolver

Scott and Slash Speak (Rolling Stone article)

6.16.03 - Chinese Democracy

Axl Hopeful For Album Release Soon - Attends Led
Zep Release Party

06-16-03 antiGUY
.
This part news, part editorial and part review.
As we reported last week, Guns N Roses bassist Tommy Stinson, in an
interview with Billboard.com,
eluded that the long ; may see the light of day this year (see story).
We can now report that;
Roses frontman Axl Rose is also confident that the album will be
released soon.

On Sunday Night, antiMUSIC co-hosted a viewing/release party for the
new Led Zeppelin DVD along
with HappeninHarry.com and Buzztone.com at the Cat Club in Hollywood.
GNR frontman, Axl Rose was
among those who showed up for the party.

Contrary to popular opinion and press reports, Axl was down to earth
and very friendly with those
who approached him and freely answered questions. A lot of people
commented on how good he looked
as well and in person Axl did appear fit and youthful.

I was among those who had a quick question for Axl. Of course, the
burning question I had was if
Tommy Stinson was correct that;Chinese Democracy; would be released by
the end of the year.
Because I did not identify myself as a member of the press to Axl, I
cannot quote him but from
what he did say, he seemed hopeful that patient fans would finally have
the album by the end of
the year.

He elaborated a little bit that he was co-producing the CD and eluded
to the fact that he wants to
make sure it is a perfect as possible before it is released.

One thing that may bear in the equation is the recent changes with
Geffen Records. Last week MCA
Records was effectively folded and most of the roster was moved over to
Geffen. Word on the street
is Geffen will be reorganized and in effect become once again a full
self-standing record company
(over the past few years Geffen was ran as part of Geffen / Interscope
/ A&M). What that means is
there will be more muscle behind a new GNR release when the time comes.
Although Axl didnt really
touch upon this recent change, it may be a favorable factor in the
release of the album. Or it
could mean that Axl, like many musicians, is simply a perfectionist and
couldnt sit with the idea
of releasing music he felt wasnt perfect.

Editorial

On a personal note, I have to say that I was really surprised at Axl in
person. He is nothing like
I would have expected, given all that I have heard and read about him.
He seemed very friendly (he
was friendly and talked with everyone who approached him), he seemed
very content and even down to
earth. Perhaps, if I would have identified myself as a member of the
press it would have been
different, since, to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, some press
outlets have had a pretty
antagonistic attitude towards him. (We wont go into whatever reasons
that may be, we here at
antiMUSIC do fall into that category too). So maybe it was better that
he didnt know who he was
talking to and thought I was just some guy at the show. That way I got
to see how he interacts
with regular people and again I was surprised and just how different he
was from the public image
persona. Of course, that is based on my one encounter with him but I
can say that in a lot of
ways, Im glad that public perception is wrong. Ive witness far less
popular rock stars act like
total jerks to people and while it must be a pain to a rock star to be
approached by fans
everywhere they go, it was good to see that Axl, at least in this case,
approaches those
situations positively and doesnt blow people off like some other stars
tend to do.

With this personal experience behind me, I have to say that I will bear
that experience in mind
when I view developments within GNR. Although, Im a cynic at heart,
after having met the man and
been proven wrong, I will be far with that said, I hope that the album
does finally get released
soon. That way we can move on to other things, and let Axl stand or
fall on his music and not just
headlines.

Source: http://www.antimusic.com/news/03/june/item16.shtml

6.11.03 - Tommy

From Billboard.com:

On a break from his gig as Guns N' Roses bassist, Tommy Stinson is
stepping out on his own. He's playing Thursday (June 12) at Largo in Los
Angeles, July 1 at the Mercury Lounge in New York, and will follow that with
three shows in England with friend Jesse Malin.

At the end of August, he'll launch a three-week East Coast and Midwest
U.S. run that will also feature the Figgs, and find Stinson playing material
he's recorded for a solo album.

"Basically, I had an opportunity fall into my lap that I couldn't
refuse," the former Replacements member tells Billboard.com. He recorded 16
songs over the course of two months in a studio owned by Charles Thompson
(aka Frank Black).

"I've been pals with Charles for a number of years, and [his band] the
Catholics went on tour for the months of March and April, and basically
Charles said, 'you can use my studio and all my gear and my place while
I'm gone and make a record if you want.'"

"I'd been sitting on a bunch of songs for a number of years -- there's
two of them that are probably 10 years old, at least," he says. "So, I just
went in and recorded them using his stuff and it worked out great."

Stinson tapped several pals to contribute to the sessions, including A
Perfect Circle drummer Josh Freese, his brother Jason Freese on
saxophone, Catholics guitarist Dave Phillips, and GNR guitarist Richard Fortus and
keyboardist Dizzy Reed. "My friend Gresh [a member of Stinson's
short-lived mid-1990s band Bash & Pop] played some drums on some stuff, too," he
notes. "All of my closest friends played on my record."

The as-yet-untitled album doesn't yet have a home on a label. "I'm
playing it on a day-to-day basis," he says, noting he'll meet with some labels
at the end of the month in New York. "And it's a lot of fun, because I
don't really even have to get a deal. If I hated everything tomorrow, it
would be like, 'OK, I did that.'"

As for the fate of the long-awaited Guns N' Roses album, "Chinese
Democracy," Stinson would not reveal specifics, but says he expects it
will see the light of day sometime this year. "The record is being
completed. Other people are putting their final little touches on things, and then
it goes to mix," he explains. "My physical presence wasn't really needed
until September, so that's why I'm getting out and doing some shows. I've got
my parts all done."

Asked if he expects GNR, which late last year abruptly ended a tour
shortly after it began, will hit the road again in the fall, he offered, "You
know, I'm just gonna say, in September, that's when I've got to be back. All
I know is that we're gonna finish the record up, get it out, and I've got
some time on my hands to do some other s***."

6.8.03 - Izzy

Izzy Rolling Out "Dog" Days

Former Gn'R guitarist wraps sixth album

Izzy Stradlin has finished recording his sixth solo album, Like a Dog, and plans to release it later this year. The former Guns n' Roses guitarist has been on a prolific run -- Dog will be his fifth release in the past five years.

Stradlin promises a tour later in the year to support the set, recorded in Dallas in April and May. His solo work is running parallel to new activity from his former Gn'R bandmates -- guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum -- who yesterday officially confirmed Scott Weiland as the frontman for their new project, tentatively named Velvet Revolver. Though Stradlin has written several songs for the project, his further involvement is uncertain.

Stradlin left Gn'R after the release of the band's dual 1991 Use Your Illusion albums. Having contributed the more Stonesy rock & roll numbers to the albums (he wrote or co-wrote twelve Illusion tracks), Stradlin opted out of promotional duty, which included filming epic, melodramatic videos for songs like "November Rain." Instead, he threw himself into his debut, Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds, which was followed by a six-year silence. But after that break, Stradlin began spilling albums: 117 in 1998, Ride On in 1999, River in 2001 and On Down the Road last year. All feature his regular touring unit, former Georgia Satellites lead and slide guitarist Rick Richards and drummer Taz Bentley, with McKagan adding bass.

Richards and Bentley are back for Dog, with Stradlin handling bass duty in addition to guitar. Clips from two tracks, "Hammerhead" and "Bomb," can be found at izzy-stradlin.com.

6.6.03 - The Project

Scott Weiland is now the official singer of the "Project"!

Slash welcomes Weiland

5.30.03 - Deli Creeps Tourdates

Killian's Red Hot Concert Series
The Les Claypool Frog Brigade
With special guest Buckethead
and the Deli Creeps
July 9, 2003
8:00 p.m.

Tickets:
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1E00369CCE26941E?brand=&artistid=837732&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1

5-25-03 - - - Slims SF, CA - - -9pm
http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?agency=TDC&pid=5151264

6-4-03 - - -Harlows, Sacramento, CA - - -9pm w/ M.I.R.V.
http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?agency=TDC&pid=5173567

6-5-03 - - - Spy SJ, CA - - - 8pm - tickets $10
http://www.ticketweb.com/user/?region=sfbay&query=detail&event=434616

6-7-03 - - - Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA - - - 9:30pm
http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?agency=TDC&pid=5162502

5.14.03 - News

Here is a review of the Buckethead show at Jazzfest.

New Deli Creeps show!!

BUCKETHEAD & DELI CREEPS
THE CATALYST CLUB
SANTA CRUZ
JUNE 7TH

Ages 21+
$12 in advance
$14 at the door
Doors open 8:30PM
Show starts 9:30PM

http://www.catalystclub.com

http://www.ticketweb.com/user/?region=sfbay&query=detail&event=432914

http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?agency=TDC&pid=5162502

Former Guns N’ Roses duo Duff McKagan and Izzy
Stradlin are to guest on the new solo album from
Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Mark Lanegan. Titled
‘Bubblegum’, it’s being produced by Chris Goss and
should be released later this year. The record also
features QOTSA pair Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri, plus
PJ Harvey and members of earthlings?, and Greg Dulli
from the Afghan Whigs.

5.13.03 - Reloaded

From rollingstone.com:

After two recorded songs and months of speculation,
Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland confirmed
that will he be the singer for the band featuring
former Guns n' Roses members Slash (guitar), Duff
McKagan (bass) and Matt Sorum (drums). According to
Weiland, the secretive group, which has been working
under the name "the Project," will be called Reloaded.

"Yeah, I'm in the band," Weiland told Rolling Stone
during Marilyn Manson's show at Los Angeles' Key Club
on Monday night. "We signed the contract."

Sorum, who attended the Manson show with Weiland, was
more guarded about the singer's involvement. "I need
to ask my whole band before we can say anything," he
said. "We left the studio tonight to come down here to
see Manson."

Sorum and company had been searching for a frontman
for the better part of a year. In addition to an open
call for demo tapes, they tried out a stable of
well-known singers including Sebastian Bach (Skid
Row), Travis Meek (Days of the New), Kelly Shaefer
(Neurotica), Josh Todd (Buckcherry) and A. Jay Popoff
(Lit). VH1 has been filming the tryouts and sessions
for an upcoming special.

Last month, Weiland seemed to gain the pole position
when he recorded a cover of Pink Floyd's "Money" with
the band and guitarist David Kushner (Suicidal
Tendencies, Wasted Youth) for The Italian Job
soundtrack, due May 26th.

According to a post on the Stone Temple Pilots Web
site, Reloaded also worked on a new song called "Set
Me Free" for The Hulk soundtrack and hope to release a
full-length record by February 2004.

CARRIE BORZILLO-VRENNA
(May 13, 2003)

5.6.03 - Project

Weiland/Guns N' Roses Record Second Song
May 06, 2003

Scott Weiland has recorded a second song with the band featuring ex-Guns 'N Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum. McKagen and Sorum attended the taping of Metallica's MTV Icon show Saturday and said they've contributed an original song titled "Set Me Free" to The Hulk soundtrack to go with the already announced cover of Pink Floyd's "Money" for The Italian Job. The five-piece band, which has been referred to as The Project--although Sorum and McKagen refused to confirm that the name is "set in stone"--also includes ex-Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner. The Hulk premieres June 20th, three weeks after The Italian Job.

The band had been auditioning singers from all over the world, but Sorum tells us they knew Weiland was their man the minute he walked into the studio. McKagan says they hope to release an album next February. He calls the two soundtrack songs, "a good way to start this thing. Number one, it puts a little money into our thing so maybe we can do our own record and license it out, but it's also a good way to see what it's like in a studio situation with Weiland."

From stonetemplepilots.com

5.5.03 - Izzy

Black Market Publishing has formally announced plans
for the first ever biography of legendary Guns N Roses
rhythm guitar player and lead songwriter Izzy
Stradlin! Set to be released in the spring of 2004,
this biography promises to deliver for fans the full
story on one of hard rock's most intriguing and
elusive icons, chronicling Izzy's rise with hard
rock's most notorious frontman W. Axl Rose from
Lafayette, Indiana to the streets of Hollywood in the
early 1980s, where the two rose through the Sunset
Strip underground via Hollywood Rose toward stardom in
what would become the biggest rock band in the world
at its peak, Guns N Roses. As Axl Rose's companion and
principle songwriting partner for the better half of 2
decades, Izzy Stradlin carved out his niche as one of
the most respected rhythm guitar players in hard rock
history, writing many of Guns N Roses most famous
anthems along the way, becoming a multi-millionaire in
the process, and then, disappearing at the peak of
Guns N Roses popularity.

Featuring exlusive interviews with many current and
former GnR insiders, as well as members of Izzy's solo
band, the Ju Ju Hounds, and other relevant sources,
Black Market Publishing hopes to offer fans the most
revealing portrait ever on one of hard rock's coolest
rebels!

Authored by Jake Brown (prior published credits
include books on Death Row Records' Marion Suge
Knight, Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx, R&B star R. Kelly,
and late rapper the Notorious B.I.G.- currently being
written for release in fall, 2003), more information
on this biography is available at
www.blackmarketpublishing.com, or via contacting the
publisher directly at hardrockbooks@hotmail.com!

Source(s): http://www.blackmarketpublishing.com

4.26.03 - News

Here is some news according to: marcobeltrami.com

Terminator 3' Composer Provides Orchestral Arrangements For New GUNS N'
ROSES Album - Apr. 25, 2003

Legendary Italian film composer Marco Beltrami ("Terminator 3: Rise
of
the Machines", "Resident Evil", "Scream", "Blade 2") has provided
orchestral arrangements for four tracks that are tentatively set to
appear on the much-anticipated new GUNS N' ROSES album, "Chinese
Democracy".

According to Beltrami's official web site, www.marcobeltrami.com, the
four cuts the composer was asked to work on are as follows:

01. Seven
02. Leave Me Alone
03. General
04. Thyme

As previously reported, "Chinese Democracy" is now not expected to
surface until this fall. The CD will feature the band's first new music
since "Oh My God", the group's contribution to the soundtrack to the
1999 movie "End Of Days".

GUNS N' ROSES' last studio album was a covers album, "The Spaghetti
Incident?" , which was released in 1993.

4.24.03 - Richard Interview

Check out this new Richard Fortus interview!!!

According to Linda's site (snakepit.org), "The Project" will have a
song in a movie called The Italian Job. It's coming out in May and the song in
question is a cover of Pink Floyd's "Money".

Scott Weiland is on vocals and Teddy Andreadis will also appear on it.

HAPPENIN' HARRY & THE HAPTONES RETURN TO CHICAGO!!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!

HAPPENIN' HARRY & THE HAPTONES ARE:
HAPPENIN' HARRY
JEFF DUNCAN of ARMORED SAINT & ODIN
ANTHONY FOCX of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
TONY FRANKLIN of THE FIRM, BLUE MURDER & WHITESNAKE
VIK FOXX of ENUFF Z'NUFF & VINCE NEIL
DIZZY REED of GUNS -N- ROSES
Plus...special "SURPRISE" guests!!

4.22.03 - Tommy Show

May 9: Tommy Stinson & Jesse Malin live @ Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY

Also, he's playing the Roxy in LA this saturday the 26th

4.14.03 - Project

New MTV article on the Project.

3.26.03 - Project

Check out this news article on the Project.

3.22.03 - Slash

Slash will be cohosting the Jimmy Kimmel show coming up next week! For more information go to this site!

3.4.03 - Duff

Duff McKagan Talks About Axl's Current Guns N' Roses Lineup

(3/2/03, 2 p.m. ET) -- Former Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan has rejoined with guitarist Slash, drummer Matt Sorum, and guitarist Izzy Stradlin to form a band that's basically back together except for singer Axl Rose.

The enigmatic frontman continues on with a current Guns N' Roses lineup consisting of guitarist Robin Finck, bassist Tommy Stinson, guitarist Richard Fortus, guitarist Buckethead, and drummer Brian "Brain" Mantia. The only current member that was around playing with the old band is keyboardist Dizzy Reed.

McKagan was asked his thoughts on the current Guns N' Roses--and Sorum added his two cents. "It's not Guns N' Roses, you know? [Axl] should have probably done his own solo record," said McKagan. "In saying that, also, I do wish him the best. We went through a lot together and I still have a lot of love for the guy. It's a shame that there's a...he's doing a lot to...there's a lot of bitterness..."

"Does Paul McCartney go around calling himself 'the Beatles'?" interjected Sorum. When McKagan answered no, Sorum retorted, "There you go."

"But he's doing what he thinks is the right thing," McKagan continued. "You can't fault a guy for that, but it's not Guns N' Roses."

Guns N' Roses are currently completing their forthcoming album, Chinese Democracy, which the band attempted to tour on late last year. Meanwhile, the rest of the former members--whose band name is under wraps--are looking for a singer. The band has more than 50 songs written and is planning to release an album and then tour.

2.22.03 - Bonaroo 2

Due to the overwhelming response to the Live at Bonnaroo CD and DVD releases, Sanctuary Records in conjunction with Bonnaroo is releasing Live from
Bonnaroo Vol 2. The Vol 2 tracks feature a completely different collection of artist from the original Live from Bonnaroo release. Live Bonnaroo Vol 2 centers around the most exciting up and coming artist in the grassroots rock scene.

Live from Bonnaroo Vol 2 includes track from the following artists:

Col. Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains
Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
Keller Williams Incident
Mofro
Drums & Tuba
The Big Wu
Disco Biscuits
Umphrey's McGee
Col. Bruce Hampton & the Code Talkers
Particle
Old Crow Medicine Show
Campbell Brothers
Gabe Dixon Band
Rana
Lil' Rascals Brass Band

The CD will be available on April 1st exclusively through
the Bonnaroo website.

2.9.03 - New Buckethead Show

Ween / Col. Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains

Tickets go on sale Wed, Feb 12 @ Noon EST.

CCBBB @ State Palace Theater, New Orleans with Ween.
May 3, 2003.

2.6.03 - Sales Figures / Deli Creeps

Thanks to a friend of mine, here are the figures for GNR. The Soundscan
numbers for Appetite and GNR Lies obviously aren't the
total sales (both are pre-91). But I had to research
the GNR totals, and I got them from a few other
sources. Also included are each album's highest
Billboard chart positions.

Appetite For Destruction - 7/87 - (3,965,507) - 15x Platinum - #1 (for 5 weeks)

G N' R Lies - 11/88 - (1,196,453) - 5x Platinum - #2

Use Your Illusion I - 9/91 - (5,317,596) - 7x Platinum - #2

Use Your Illusion II - 9/91 - (5,399,802) - 7x Platinum- #1 (for 2 weeks)

The Spaghetti Incident - 11/93 - (1,280,707) - Platinum - #4

Live Era '87- '93 - 11/99 - (683,683) - Gold - #45

Buckethead is playing with the Deli Creeps!

Deli Creeps
Friday, 3/14/03
9:00PM PST
18 +/Drs 8pm *
McNears Mystic Theatre & Music Hall, Petaluma, CA

On sale at Tickets.com

1.26.03 - Gilby

Check out this new Gilby Clarke interview, thanks to Angel.

1.23.03 - Guns n' Roses Alums Regroup

A new article from Rolling Stone.

1.14.03 - Ronnie Wood

I just got this news:

Today we bring you news on Ronnie Wood’s Far East Men DVD, previously available overseas but hitting the States for the first time on February 4. SPV is servicing the release, which runs approximately 112 minutes and is the Rolling Stones guitarist’s first-ever venture in the format.

Wood is joined by Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash and vocalist Andrea Corr of The Corrs throughout the performance, which includes Stones, John Lennon, GN’R and Faces covers. It was held in November 2001 at London’s Shepards Bush Empire.

Here’s the full track list:

• "Hey Negrita" (Stones cover)

• "Rock and Roll Star"

• "This Little Heart"

• "What D’You Think?"

• "Ooh La La" (Faces)

• "Testify" (Parliament)

• "Am I Groovin’ You" (Foundations)

• "Flying" (Faces)

• "Far East Men" (co-written with George Harrison)

• "Jealous Guy" (Lennon)

• "Paradise City" (Guns N’ Roses)

• "Kilburn Crotch"

• "Stay with Me" (Faces)

Backstage footage, interviews, a gallery of Wood paintings and more features bolster the package.

1.7.03 - Terminator 3?

GNR in Terminator 3? Read more about it here.

Also, they announced today that Slash has been nominated for a Grammy in the Best Rock
Instrumental category!

1.6.03 - News

The Yardbirds have recorded a new album which features Slash among others, read more here.

Here is a rolling stone article about GNR and their future.

12.29.02 - Singles

Here is some information on the GNR singles and how they charted:

12.23.02 - Camp Freddy

Check out these pictures from the last Camp Freddy show!

12.19.02 - News!

Guns N' Roses Intact, Putting Finishing Touches On 'Chinese
Democracy'

(12/19/02, 6 p.m. ET) - Guns N' Roses ended its tour because of the
departure of guitarist Robin Finck and bassist Tommy Stinson are false,
according to a spokesperson for the band. The spokesperson wouldn't give
any details surrounding the reasons that Clear Channel and Guns N'
Roses ended their tour affiliation, but did say GN'R is very much intact.

The band and its members, vocalist Axl Rose, guitarist Buckethead,
drummer Brain, bassist Tommy Stinson, guitarist Robin Finck, et al, are
currently on vacation. They will return to the studio in January to put
the finishing touches on Chinese Democracy, which the band is releasing
in the spring. If it is released next year, it will be the first full
album of new original music from Guns N' Roses in 12 years.

Darren Davis, New York

from snmnews.com:

The official word on the cancellation of the GUNS N ROSES was that Clear Channel was losing a lot of money on the lack of ticket sales. If the tour would finish they would lose around $200,000. So they wanted Axl to give up some of his money to them. Axl wouldnt so they told him they were pulling the tour after Philly. Axl said he wasnt going to do Philly then either. During the day of the Philly show Clear Channel and Axl were trying to make a compromise in NYC. The rest of the band was in Philly. Axl and Clear Channel never reached an agreement and the Philly show never happened and the tour was pulled.

12.17.02 - Article

Check out this Bill Price interview, he mixed the Use Your Illusion albums.

12.13.02 - Article

Check out this Entertainment Weekly article on the fate of the tour.

12.11.02 - Tour Cancelled

Damn the tour is cancelled, just when things were going well!! I hope something positive comes out of this situation and I hope the band makes a statement soon!

Promoter Says GN'R Tour Totally Off


On Wednesday evening, concert promoter Clear Channel Entertainment confirmed what a source close to the band told MTV News on Monday — Guns N' Roses' tour has been canceled.

"The remainder of the Guns N' Roses concert dates promoted by Clear Channel Entertainment have been canceled," read a brief statement to the press. "Refunds will be available at point of purchase."

The string of shuttered shows runs through January. No reason was given for pulling the plug.

Earlier this week, Clear Channel would only confirm that shows from December 6 to 9, in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., were cancelled, and earlier on Wednesday would only say that that evening's show was called off (see "Guns N' Roses Dates Canceled")

Word of the tour's premature end came after the band canceled a show Friday at Philadelphia's First Union Center. A minor disturbance followed, mirroring the scene that unfolded when the plug was pulled on the group's scheduled tour opener in Vancouver, British Columbia, last month (see "Fans Riot After Guns N' Roses Tour Kickoff Canceled: Kurt Loder Reports").

—Joe D'Angelo

12.10.02 - Update

(12/10/02, 6 p.m. ET) -- The Guns N' Roses tour is down, but apparently not completely out. The promoters, Clear Channel, still would not acknowledge that the tour is finished. A publicist for the band admitted the tour is in limbo, with some dates still on and others off.

The show scheduled for Wednesday (December 11) at Greenville, South Carolina's BI-LO Center was canceled mid-afternoon on Tuesday (December 10), but the band claimed that it was pulled by Clear Channel, not the group.

Six other dates on the itinerary are definitely canceled--Greenville on Wednesday (December 11); Albuquerque, New Mexico on December 21; Phoenix on December 22; Las Vegas on December 28; Sacramento, California on December 30; and San Jose, California on December 31.

After the tour situation is sorted out, GN'R is presumably free to concentrate on finally finishing its new album, Chinese Democracy. A spokesperson for the band told LAUNCH the band needs to put a few finishing touches on the album and that it will be out in spring 2003. It's GN'R's first studio album since 1993 and its first set of new material since 1991. The collection has been in the works for more than four years. Chinese Democracy has gone through several producers, including Sean Bevan, Roy Thomas Baker, and Youth.

GN'R bassist Tommy Stinson, formerly of the Replacements, acknowledges that the process has been frustrating at times, but that GN'R leader Axl Rose has reassured him that Chinese Democracy will eventually be released. "I had doubts at certain points, and the thing that kept me going every time is that I would talk to Axl about this and that, his ideas about what we're doing and what we're gonna do and stuff like that. And every time, I just kinda had to stop and go, 'You know, he really, he's a smart f--kin' guy, knows exactly what he wants to get.' How to get there is another issue, but he knows what he wants, how he wants it to be. And every time I had a doubt, I would talk to him about stuff, and (would) totally be back in it. I mean, I never at one point thought, 'Oh, I'm gonna quit.'"

12.9.02 - Update

Update: Guns N' Roses Cancels More Shows

(12/9/02, 6 p.m. ET) -- Guns N' Roses canceled two Philadelphia concerts--on Friday night and Sunday night (December 6 and 8)--and also canceled a show scheduled for Washington, D.C.'s MCI Arena on Monday night (December 9). The band's no-show at the First Union Spectrum Friday night resulted in a minor melee when disgruntled fans learned that the band would not appear.

A spokesperson for Clear Channel, the promoters for the tour, stopped short of saying the tour was canceled on Monday, saying instead that the rest of the group's dates were on as scheduled. Regarding future dates or why the Washington date and two weekend dates in Philadelphia were canceled, the company had an official "no comment."

A spokesperson for the MCI Center in Washington told LAUNCH that tickets would be refunded at the point of purchase, and that there were no plans to reschedule the date. She did indicate that the show was close to being sold out when it was canceled.

Friday's Philadelphia show was sold-out, which negates rumors that the performances were canceled due to poor ticket sales.

Current Guns N' Roses bassist Tommy Stinson told LAUNCH that the tour was a calculated risk all the way around. "No one's ever done this before. No one's ever...Like, the lead singer's never taken the name and continued on with an entirely new band successfully in history. So it sounded like, the whole prospect of it sounded like it would be historically awesome to pull it off and, you know, if it didn't work it was, like, the most interesting thing, you know, I had going at the time. I think it was a calculated risk and it was a good one."

The last tour date Guns N' Roses did play was on Thursday (December 5) at Madison Square Garden in New York.

-- Darren Davis, New York and Gary Graff, Detroit

12.7.02 - Cancellations!

Check out this review of Madison Square Garden from the NY Post

Here is another MSG review from Launch.

GUNS N' ROSES: More Cancellations On The Way!! - Dec. 7, 2002

Sunday night's (Dec. 8) GUNS N' ROSES concert at First Union Spectrum
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has been officially cancelled, according
to a statement issued by Comcast Spectacor Ventures, which owns and
operates the arena. Friday night's (Dec. 6) concert at neighboring First
Union Center will not be rescheduled. Also cancelled, according to a
Ticketmaster representative, are the GUNS N' ROSES concerts at MCI Center
in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 9, Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, NM on
Dec. 21 and America West Arena in Phoenix, AZ on Dec. 22. It is
presently unclear if any other dates will be affected.

I don't know the reason it was cancelled but it seems like it was because people started destroying things in the venue and causing havoc.

Here is an article about the cancellation in Philly.

12.6.02 - Reviews / Article

Axl Rose brings reloaded Guns

Tom Moon
Philadelphia Inquirer
Published: Friday, December 6, 2002

Tommy Stinson, longtime veteran of the rock wars, actually sounds defensive.

"We're not the Guns N' Roses cover band," the former Replacements bassist and current Axl Rose sidekick says, a bit petulantly, referring to one snarky description that's been following the reconstituted hard-rock band around on its first tour since the early '90s.

"I'll accept the 'Village People of Rock.' No use pretending otherwise - this is something different from the old band. We didn't want to sound like a cover band learning these songs, and you'll hear it -- we're adding our own thing to them. If I could be so bold, we're playing more aggressively than the old band."

To be sure, the motley crew that famously erratic frontman Rose is bringing to the area for two performances this weekend - tonight's show at the First Union Center is sold out, while tickets remain for Sunday's appearance at the First Union Spectrum - isn't the same group that last tore up arenas in 1993.

The new G&R is essentially a Rose-assembled cast with three guitarists (including Buckethead, the NY noise merchant), two keyboardists (one is Dizzy Reed, who, having joined the band in 1990, is the lone returning veteran) and drummer Brian Mantia (who has worked with Primus).

For five nights a week over much of the last five years, these musicians and others have been sequestered in Los Angeles studios, writing and recording with Rose for the first new Guns material since 1991, which is tentatively titled Chinese Democracy.

Stinson says that after several changes of producers, the opus is ready to be mixed.

"It's gotten to the point where the songs have evolved over time, and they can't be any better. It needs to be mixed now."

It was the writing process that stretched the record into a massive marathon, Stinson explains.

"Axl doesn't bring in a song and tell everybody how it goes... . He'll take one idea, then ask somebody else to finish it. He's trying to draw the best out of each individual."

Those who go to the shows will be able to hear the fruits of this extensive labor, which has involved several producers, including Queen mentor Roy Thomas Baker. In addition to surveying songs from the band's multiplatinum 1987 debut, Appetite for Destruction, and 1991's two-disc Use Your Illusion I and II, the band has been playing three or four new songs each night.

Keyboardist Reed, who reupped with Rose because "I had absolutely nothing to fall back on," says the response has been phenomenal: "People are totally into it. I know the old band left a mark, and no matter what we do, some people are going to think we're crazy. But people seem to really like the new songs."

And, Stinson says, Rose has surprised everyone around him: "As we've gotten into the tour, he's really put his groove on. His voice is sounding amazing - he's just ripping through these songs."

As for Rose's famously turbulent personal life, Stinson says he considers Rose a friend, and is constantly amazed by what's written about him.

"Most of what the public thinks about Axl Rose is misconceptions. I trust him with my life, and I definitely feel more a part of a band now than I ever did in any other situation. I think it's an intrigue thing, where those misconceptions meet myth, and legend is what draws people to him. That's the rock-and-roll part. You want to see him fall apart. You want to see the car crash."

Brian Bank's MSG Review:

Just got home from MSG! Here is my review:

The night starts by meeting four friends for some grub. Then we walk
down
8th Avenue toward MSG and see the big lighted sign: “Tonight/Guns N’
Roses/Sold Out”

CKY: As far as I’m concerned, they should add an “SU” to the beginning
of
their name.

Mix Master Mike: He was really cool. He spun a lot of rock songs
(Zep’s
Immigrant Song, Metallica’s Seek And Destroy, a few RATM songs, etc.).
Overall, a great choice for opening acts.

Guns N’ Roses: They hit the stage around 9:50 or so (not exactly sure).
The
introduction was some slow keyboard music.

The crowd went nuts with the opening notes to WTTJ. The opening
pyrotechnics set the mood for the song…the band smoked through it. Axl
clearly demonstrated to NY that the VMA performance was a fluke. Then
ISE,
which rocked. I was surprised to see Buckethead running around so
much.

Mr. Brownstone came next, then Live And Let Die. Once again, the crowd
went
nuts for the pyrotechnics. KOHD was next, the lighters immediately
lighting
up, although the applause didn’t come in until the first line. I don’t
think most people realized what song it was until then! Think About
You
next, which got a tremendous reaction.

YCBM was a true shock…the band played it right on. Better than any
bootleg
I’ve heard to date. Then Finck’s solo came and was surprisingly good.
I’ve
heard complaints about him…I’d have to say that next to Axl, tonight
was
Robin’s night. Obviously the place went ballistic for SCOM, which
featured
an unbelievable RF solo.

OTGM was next, followed by the night’s first true rant. (Quotes are
from
memory.) “Is Conan here? Is Mr. Conan O’Brien here? I hear he’s on a
diet. Well, everybody has to take a break from a diet every now and
then.”
He slowly walks to center stage with a box of Krispy Kreme donuts. “So
I
got him a box of donuts, Krispy Kreme donuts. Axl’s white trash
gourmet.”
He proceeded to throw a few donuts into the crowd. Then he handed the
box
into the crowd and told some guy to pass them out. (When I left, some
chick
went running to some guy with a corner of the box…”Look what I got,
look
what I got!”) I guess a retaliation for Conan’s VMA comments.

Then they brought the piano out. Axl started the solo with the asshole
song
(You are an asshole, blah blah blah…woops. Wrong song.” Then the back
and
forth comedy routine. Then the deep and soulful solo. Then November
Rain.
Fortus did a killer job on the first solo. Finck did an okay job on
the
second. Buckethead stole the song with his outro solo.

Next, Axl gave a short speech and the band played Chinese Democracy,
which
got a decent response. Next Madagascar, which got a better response.
Then
he introduced the band and Buckethead did his thing, starting with the
nun
chucks and robot dance to pre-recorded music with Brain on drums. When
he
got his guitar, he played some theme (not sure what song), followed by
a
guitar solo, Big Sur Moon, Star Wars, another solo (thumb slapping),
Hog
Bitch Stomp, Pirate’s Life For Me, Wonka In Slaughter Zone. To clear
this
up, he played Wonka once through, using his foot pedal to loop it. As
the
loop played, he handed out gifts. (This was not pre-recorded as some
reports claim; it was a loop of his playing from seconds before.)

Rocket Queen next, then The Blues (best response of all the new songs).
The
solos in The Blues were amazing. Axl sang the end from atop the piano.
Next, Axl gave his “the news say we sound dated” speech and ripped into
My
Michelle, which got an amazing reaction from the crowd.

Next a speech about “my old friends, my former friends, my probably
never
really friends friends,” or something like that. Patience. Then
Nightrain.
Holy shit Buckethead shreds on that song. The crowd was nuts. I
looked
around toward the end of the song…every seat as filled. I was in the
300s
and was still standing from the opening notes to WTTJ. People in the
400s
were standing. The crowd was sold…GN’R is back in NYC!

After a few minutes, Finck came out and did another solo, which was
great.
Then Paradise City. With the pyrotechnics, the confetti and the three
guitarists all soloing, the crowd went fucking nuts. And the best part
of
the whole fucking night…Axl’s closing line: “SEE YOU NEXT SUMMER!”

Axl's jersey selection: Rangers home, Rangers away, Yankees home,
unknown
(black), Knicks home, Giants away (some of this may be incorrect).

Setlist:
Welcome To The Jungle
It’s So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Live And Let Die
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
Think About Your
You Could Be Mine
Finck Guitar Solo
Sweet Child O’ Mine
Out Ta Get Me
Piano Solo (You Are An Asshole/Back And Forth Comedy/Deep Moving
Soulful)
November Rain
Chinese Democracy
Madagascar
Buckethead Solo (Bucket Chunks with Nun Chucks, Robot Dance – Unknown
Theme
– Guitar Solo – Big Sur Moon – Star Wars – Guitar Solo – Hog Bitch
Stomp –
Pirate’s Life For Me – Wonka In Slaughter Zone)
Rocket Queen
The Blues
My Michelle
Patience
Nightrain
ENCORE:
Finck Guitar Solo
Paradise City

12.5.02 - News/Reviews

Cocked and Loaded - Check out this LA Weekly article about Duff McKagan!

12.4.02 - News/Reviews

Guns N' Roses Members Describe 'Chinese Democracy'

(12/04/02, 1 p.m. ET) - The revamped Guns N' Roses (GNR) is on the road with its first North American tour in nine years, playing material from the long-awaited new album, Chinese Democracy. The oft-delayed set is now expected in 2003, and GNR is playing several songs from it, including the title track, in its shows.

Keyboardist Dizzy Reed, who joined GNR in 1990, tells LAUNCH that he thinks fans will be pleased when they finally get to hear the results: "It's a pretty intense musical journey, really. Everyone that is in the band, or was in the band at some point--'cause there, you know, there's been a few guys who have come and gone even since the old band--has contributed, and because of that I think it really takes you to some interesting musical places. When you add Axl and guitars, of course, though, it kinda glues it all together. There's something for everybody, but I think if you're a Guns fan, if you're an Axl fan, you'll like it all. You'll love it all."

Bassist Tommy Stinson, meanwhile, adds that Chinese Democracy includes elements both familiar and new to the GNR sound: "Kind of a wide spectrum of things. It touches on a lot of different elements of, you know, old GNR in some ways, and in other ways it touches with more current-sounding music. There's rockers, there's ballads, there's midtempos--I mean, there's, like, a lot of stuff. And I think in some ways, where it differs from the old GNR is lyrically--it's a lot deeper."

GNR next performs Thursday (December 5) at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

--Gary Graff, Detroit

Josee has posted reviews of Toronto and London on her website, check it out!

12.1.02 - Dizzy Article

Keyboardist sticks to his Guns N' Roses

by Sarah Rodman
Sunday, December 1, 2002

It seems fitting that the one person who has stuck with Axl Rose through all the drama surrounding Guns N' Roses in the past decade is named Dizzy.

A little loss of equilibrium would be a natural reaction to the radical ups and downs that the one-time L.A. metal gods, who play the FleetCenter tomorrow, have been through since their last two albums of original material were released in 1991.

But keyboardist Dizzy Reed believes fans and critics of the band will be pleased when ``Chinese Democracy'' finally arrives in record stores next year.

That remains to be seen and heard. This is, after all, an album that has been in the works for seven long years . . . an album over which control became such a thorny issue that guitarists Slash, Izzy Stradlin and Gilby Clarke, drummer Matt Sorum and bassist Duff McKagan all preferred to leave the multiplatinum group rather than wrestle with the temperamental Rose.

The amiable Reed has never wavered in his loyalty to Rose - who rescued the keyboardist from homelessness with an offer to join the band in 1990 - and believes people will see why when the album is finally released.

``I definitely believe in it a thousand percent and I have no plan B,'' he said with a laugh from an Albany tour stop.

Musically, Reed said, the album will combine the contributions and influences of the new members with the unmistakable guitar ferocity and epic pop contortions of the much-loved material from the ``Appetite for Destruction'' and ``Use Your Illusion'' albums.

``There's something new around every corner, like an amusement park,'' he said, referring to the disparate new sounds. ``When you add the guitars and you add Axl, that's what makes it work, and that's what makes it Guns N' Roses. There's a little something for everybody, and I think people will dig it.''

Reed stresses that ``Chinese Democracy'' is very much a band project, with all new members contributing and collaborating, and not just The Axl Rose Show, even though the singer is acknowledged as a benevolent dictator with ultimate veto powers.

For the record, Guns N' Roses - which has sold 80 million records - is now a very large democratic group, an octet sporting solid industry pedigrees.cw2

In addition to Reed and Rose, band members are drummer Brian Mantia, late of Primus; former Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck; bassist Tommy Stinson, a founding member of beloved garage punk band the Replacements; keyboardist Chris Pitman, who has recorded with Tool and Blinker the Star; bizarro avant guitarist Buckethead, he of the KFC chapeau and ``Halloween'' mask; and guitarist Richard Fortus, who has played with everyone from the Psychedelic Furs to 'N Sync. (Upon hearing that last bit of news, Reed is gleeful. ``I'm going start giving him (expletive) tonight, because I didn't know that.'')

That being said, do these eight people really add up to something that should be called Guns N' Roses?

``To me, having been there through the entire thing, it wasn't like Axl said, `OK, everyone, you're gone and here's a new band and we're Guns N' Roses,' '' Reed said. ``Everyone else from the old band chose to quit, and they quit one at a time, and they were replaced by someone else, so to me it still is Guns N' Roses.''

And to some fans as well. Reed reports that the crowds, although only half-capacity in some cities, have been ``going nuts - it's been really cool.'' (They went a little too nuts in Vancouver, B.C., causing $100,000 damage when the opening show of the tour was canceled at the last minute.)

The crowds are not only eating up such classics as ``Welcome to the Jungle'' and ``Sweet Child O' Mine,'' said Reed, they're also grooving to the four new ``Chinese'' tunes in the show.

``Some people actually know the words to some of the songs, which is kind of strange,'' said the 39-year-old Cleveland-bred rocker. ``The magic of the Internet seems to have something to do with that.''

As far as magic happening between band members, Reed said, it hasn't been easy accommodating eight creative musicians.

``It's been kind of a struggle at times, but everyone's professional and everyone knows what's at stake here, how big this could be, so everyone's come in ready to work, and most of the people have been able to put their egos aside when they need to,'' he said.

Playing live has helped them gel as a band, and for his part Reed is having a ball. ``I live to get up onstage and perform, and so to be able to do it in front of lots and lots of crazy people who are digging it, that's what it's all about.''

He will be relieved when the record finally comes out, however, admitting with a laugh that there were times when he felt like saying to Rose, ``Dude, it's ready!''

``To be honest, I thought we were close a few times,'' he said. ``And then something happened, someone quit or the bottom has fallen out in some way. Occasionally there's been a one-step-forward, two-steps-back kind of thing going on.

``But,'' he adds decisively, ``it's very close to being ready.''

Guns N' Roses plays the FleetCenter tomorrow. Tickets are $35-$65. Call 617-931-2000.

11.30.02 - Toronto Reviews

Check out this Toronto show review from Canada.com.

Here is a fan review:

The band went on about 10:30 and played for a solid 2.5 hours.

The set list was as follows:
Jungle
It's so Easy
Brownstone
Live and Let Die
Heaven's Door
Think About You
You Could be Mine
Robin Solo
Sweet Child
Out Ta Get Me
Rain
Band Intro
Buckethead Solo
Rocket Queen
Madagascar
The Blues
My Michelle
Chinese Democracy
Patience
Nighttrain
(Encore) - Robin Solo, Paradise City

Axl came out and played the first half of the show in a (Home Colours) #26 Toronto Maple Leafs Jersey which the crowd loved except I'm not sure where he got it because there is nobody currently playing for the Leafs that wears number 26.
When he came out for Rocket Queen he had switched to an Away Colours Leafs jersey with no number on it.
During the encore (Paradise City) he switched 3 times. He started with a Toronto Raptors Jersey (#15 - Vince Carter), then switched to a Toronto Blue Jays jersey and right at the very end came out in another jersey but it was only for the last minute or so of the show and I didn't get a chance to get a good enough look to see what it was.

As for the show, for the most part I was really impressed. I thought Axl sounded great (especially as compared to the stuff I've heard from the House of Blues, RIR, Leeds and the VMA's). He was in the best mood I've ever seen him in. The show was much less of "the world's most dangerous band" and a lot more of a bunch of good musicians having fun up there. Axl complemented the selection of Toronto's women several times. In fact he asked how the hell we concentrate on a hockey game with all these women walking around. He talked about one girl that was wearing a little school girl's kilt outfit inspiring him during My Michelle. He started the intro to November rain with the "asshole song" again and then kind of teased the crowd by starting to play a few bars and stopping and looking out at the crowd and smirking, three or four times.
He took shots and Lars Ulrich and David Lee Roth. Lars in conjunction with the Montreal Riot, and he said that he was talking to a girl who was backstage with CKY and she asked him how they chose people to come backstage? Axl said "I told her that we get David Lee Roth to go out in the crowd, because he's got nothing better to do with his time?"
He was joking about the riots and asked if we knew anyone from Montreal or Vancouver and what was up with them?
He joked and said he was watching the news one night and saw there was a riot in Columbus and he thought he better check his calendar to make sure he wasn't supposed to be there!
I was impressed by Buckethead. He's got more of a technical sense about him where as Slash seemed to be more about the "feel" of it, but everything that he played was really well done and his solo was awesome.
He did the numchucks and robot stuff and after his solo threw some gifts out into the crowd and he also brought the doll out during Paradise City. There were also lots of KFC buckets in the crowd which was nice to see.
Robin I was mush less impressed with. I thought a few of his solos were a little off. He seemed to be struggling, almost like he was having to think too much about what he was playing.
Actually the only 2 parts of the show that I would say were bad, were the first 2 solos in November Rain (Richard did the first one and it was actually terrible, and Robin did the second one and it wasn't great either). Buckethead did the big solo at the end of the song though and it was really good.
One disappointing part was the lack of research that was done by much of the crowd. Very few of us knew the 3 new songs that were played but most of the crowd actually sat down during them. I felt bad for the band, especially because I thought they nailed them pretty good. (The Blues was one of the highlights in my opinion)
And some guy right behind us started yelling for them to play Paradise City about 3 songs in to the show. I finally turned around and told him to relax and that they would do it at the end.
One other thing that was neat was that during the band intro's, Dizzy got far and away the biggest response. Way more that Buckethead or Robin.
There were no real screw ups. A couple of really minor things that only diehards would even have the chance of picking up, and I was almost waiting for Brain to screw up You could be mine, but he didn't (although I'll admit, the intro just doesn't seem quite as powerful as when Matt used to do it).

Well I think that's about all that I can remember. All in all, a great show. The pyro was fantastic, Axl sounded great, and it was really good just to hear the old songs played live again. Here's to hoping that Chinese Democracy comes out soon, and we see a re-emergence of GNR t-shirts on the streets.

From Toronto,
Mark Leavens

11.29.02 - Dizzy Interview

Check out this Dizzy interview before the Toronto show!

11.27.02 - Articles

Check out this preview of the Albany show.

Check out this Columbus article!

11.26.02 - Cleveland Review

Check out this Cleveland Review from the Plain Dealer Newspaper.

11.25.02 - Cleveland Review

Thanks to schnoogans for the following review:

Well I just got back from the 4 hour drive back from
Cleveland....it's almost 5AM, I should be sleeping,
but I know you people want to know all about the show
so I'll do my best to fill in....some may overlap the
other review...

It all started when I found 8th row tickets (floor)
for 35 bucks last minute yesterday on ebay. I figured
I had to go for that price and that good of a seat so
I bought the ticket, had to meet the broker at a bar
near the Gund Arena (The Winking Lizard---nice bar) to
pick them up. Got there around 7:30, got my tickets,
and started heading to the arena....

As I'm walking I pass a bar playing 'Sweet Child O'
Mine'....so naturally I had to go in and check it
out....next song up came 'Dead Horse', turns out the
bar was like playing Appetite, Lies, and the Illusions
on Random, people were going apeshit with each new
song that came on....very cool.

Finally get over to the arena, missed CKY (Oh no!),
asked if they got booed again and was told they werent
and were actually really well recieved....hmm.

Mix Master Mike came on....I dont care, I like the
guy....DJing shit isnt for everyone, but I thought it
was a fun way to fill time before GNR. Crowd wasnt
exactly going nuts, but they sure werent booing
either. Really nice crowd, nice atmosphere, which I
think carried over to GNR and Axl.....because Id never
seen Axl in a better mood than he was
tonight....anyways crowd gives the Mix Master decent
applause, no boos whatsoever, pretty cool.

GNR came on about 10:10, pretty early for Axl. They
used that new intro, which listening to it for the
second time I can finally tell what it is....it's the
sound of an orchestra warming up, like at the
beginning of the Fantasia movies.....just a mess of
orchestral instruments warming up for a show....pretty
cool.

Axl wore a 27 Browns jersey? changed to a 2 Browns
Jersey? Then a Cleveland Indians Jersey. If you wanted
to see Axl in a talkative mood I hope you were in
Cleveland tonight. He could barely shut his mouth. His
attitude the whole night was like a kid on christmas.
He was just having way too much fun from the get-go
and was ULTRA- personable.

He asked the crowd if he'd worn the right
Jersey...then started doing a voice "I just dont get
Axl, what is he trying to be? Hip hop with those
Jerseys", talked about how he just liked to wear
jerseys, lay off.

Then came him talking to a guy in the front row. In
between songs he came out smiling and was like "Wait a
minute. I have to ask this guy whats wrong. You look
bummed. Are you not having a good time? I want you to
get your moneys worth." Sits down to chat with the
guy. Finds out his name is Steve. "Hey everyone, this
is Steve." Steve says hes having a great time, so Axl
concludes that steve just has problems with expressing
him emotions and it's all good. This was hilarious.
Very representative of the mood Axl was in.

When Axl introduced Richard, he told a story. He said
that following Richard's first audition with the band
he flew back home and at the airport someone ran up to
him and said "Hey Izzy, can I get your autograph?" Axl
said he took it as a good omen and signed him on.

As Axl sat down to play November Rain he quickly
launched into another song.....that wasnt one of the
normal intros, then he leaned forward to sing....for a
split second I thought it was a new song....then he
sang "Youuuu....are suchhhh...an asssshole, Nooone
knows how much of an assssholllle you arrrrre" Then he
looked up and said "Oops wrong song" and started the
funny double-time intro....just some fun playing
around from Axl.

Axl talked about "I bet when I was a kid, singing in
church choir, this was not quit what they expected me
to end up doing...." Then he even launched into
singing a little bit of "Jesus lovvves the litttle
children...."

In between two songs Axl just started breathing heavy
into the mic doing a 'toking a joint' sound. Then he
was like "I smell something out there.....and I don't
think it's cigarrettes....I think this is what you
call a contact high"

He thanked the crowd for being 'gamblers' by coming
out to see the band. He said everyone in the crowd was
a bit of a gambler. Then he talked about watching CNN
and the Vancouver Riot footage.....he said he saw a
woman babbling about ....(doing woman voice) "Oh my
goodness it was horrible it was just like a movie...."
"And then the voiceover comes over" (he does a really
funny deep, professional voiceoever voice) "But
this..........was NO movie." It was pretty funny,
especially since Axl seemed to just be enjoying
himself so much telling all these stories....

Just before Chinese Democracy, Axl told the crowd that
he could "very much feel the love here". And it was
obvious he could too, he treated the crowd all night
long like a bunch of old friends. He was very happy
when he said this and it looked like he really meant
it.

Axl talked about how the production engineer or
something like that for the band was from
Cleveland....so "If the show sucks, I'm not taking all
the blame, It's partly Clevelands fault".

Before Bucketheads dance and solo, He told the
'buckethead story', about Bucket being brought by
aliens and raised in a coup and that he needed to do a
little artistic expression about all that for us...

At the very end of the night, in between Robins final
solo and Paradise City, He stopped things and took a
moment to once again thank the crowd.....then said
"Thank you.........this is Paradise City", to which
the crowd went apeshit.

Overall, just an amazingly fun show. I ended up being
only 4 rows from the stage because of the way the
stage was set up....so that was very cool. A couple
things of note.....Richard played the first solo's on
November Rain instead of Robin, then Buckethead played
the last one as usual......and Axl's one lyrical fuck
up of the night was on "My Michelle"......he started
the song with "Sowin' all your wild oats" but quickly
realized his mistake and morphed into the first verse
by the second line.....at the time I was like "Oh no,
please, not another Detroit", but it was a quick
recover and Axl quickly forgot about it.

Just another nice personal moment, the girls I was
sitting next to screamed to Richard who was sitting on
the front of the stage playing Patience and he stopped
playing to look up and wave, he seemed kind of
surprised to hear his name get yelled. That was cool.

Setlist was the usual suspects....no Rhiad, but they
did My Michelle, Nightrain, And paradise City, so I
was very very happy. Arena was about 60% full I'd say,
but the people who were there were cool as fuck. Axl's
voice was great, but a bit cleaner than in Detroit, I
thought he sounded a touch better and more gravely in
Detroit. Also he ran much faster and more often at
this show than in Detroit....so maybe that has
something to do with it. He sounded great though, just
a little more like he did in Tacoma.

I cant think of anything more, I'm tired....Oh except
that when I stopped at Burger King on the way home,
there was one other guy in the store besides me, I
walked in behind him and he walked up to the counter
and said "ya'll got tacos?"......at Burger
King........maybe it's just late and Im a little
delirious, but I found that hilarious.

Guess I'll wrap this one up....Hope you all enjoy it.
Once again, Great show, and Axl in one of the best
moods I've ever seen....cant wait to see them next
week.....this has helped me put the whole nasty
detroit ending out of my mind.

Drew

11.24.02 - Chicago Review

The Illinois Entertainer offers this positive review of the Chicago show.

11.23.02 - Pittsburgh Review

For all the bad that has been said about the Detroit show, the
Pittsburgh show was the complete opposite. This was an amazing show. I
really didn't think Axl's voice could hold up all show, but it did. He
was holding notes longer during certain songs (especially Live and Let
Die) than he did 10 years ago. I don't know how this guy does it.

Security checks were HORRIBLE. I was going to buy a decent tape
recorder and tape it to my leg to bootleg this show, but figured they would find
it. The guy didn't even pat me down, he just told me to go. They were
doing this to most people so there should definitely be some bootlegs
out there.

I loved how about 10 kids immediately began to mosh during the start of
the show. There is always the bodybuilder on steriods who takes his
shirt off and wants to hurt someone. All the other fans sort of looked
at them and got the message across that this isn't what GNR is about. I
never understood moshing...I just felt it was something entertaining,
yet dumb to do while a bad performance was happening. Thankfully, GNR
is entertaining enough for people to just watch and go crazy.

CKY really ruined it for themselves when one of their guitarists tried
to get the crowd to hate him. This made no sense to me and made what
seems to be a decent band come off bad.

Mix Master Mike either really, really cool and entertaining or rather
boring. He's weird as an opener but the new generation of Guns N Roses
fans will love this type of thing. The old gunners really seemed to
dislike it. I loved the parts that played Rob Zombie, Rage Against The
Machine, etc. but other parts really dragged. A Nelly song should NEVER
be played at a GNR show.

MMM ended around 9:30. From this point GNR cameras would scan the crowd
looking for girls to flash. Many went for it.including two girls that
decided to make out briefly. During this time I headed to the back and
a bunch of people were saying how they hate Axl and he'll never show up.
One guy yelled how he was leaving soon if he didn't show up.so I
started talking to him. His last GNR show was San Diego 10 years ago. He didn't
know too much about the new band and never heard the songs. He said if
they didn't show at 10:30 he was leaving.

Hopefully he stayed till 10:47 when GNR finally came on.or else he
missed one hell of a show. I noticed many people getting very upset
about Axl, saying how they hated him. That there lies the beauty of Axl
Rose. One minute an arena filled with people hate his guts.then he
shows up and transforms into the greatest guy in the world.

The show kicked off to a great and flawless start with Jungle, It's So
Easy, and Brownstone. One song right after another, no breaks. Axl was
wearing a Jerome Bettis home jersey, white shoes, and black silky
ADIDAS pants. Live and Let Die was UNREAL. How he held the screams that long
is beyond me. During this song I felt the need to yell out, "HE'S BACK."
At this point the place was rocking and it put a smile on my face to see
people just getting off to the whole experience.

Things slowed down with Knockin' On Heaven's Door. We all know Axl's
voice has changed from 10 years ago, but the voice he has now makes for
a much smoother version of the song.

Axl then dedicated Think About You to all the girls in the audience who
flashed the crowd. Another note to keep in mind is how Axl was running
around like a wild man but still managed to sing fine without seeming
out of breath. A powerful version of You Could Be Mine followed.

Then Robin played his intro to Sweet Child and everyone went crazy as
you'd expect. People can say, Slash this, Slash that.and I loved Slash
but Robin does it just as well.

Somewhere around this point Axl switched to a Mario Lemieux jersey and
said something to the effect of, "I know you people are gamblers (I
remember reading about a Pittsburgh show years ago where he said "I
don't know much about Pittsburgh except I lost a lot of money because
of the Steelers).did you really think I was gonna show up?"

Out Ta Get Me Played and then Axl said how people aren't happy about
them not playing new songs but tonight would be more of a nostalgia
night. However, he wanted to play a new song.Madagascar. I think this
is the best new song, really strong. If you want to get looks from people,
as if to say, "you are a sick freak" make sure to sing the lyrics to
Madagascar. All of us have heard the new songs since the RIR 3 show,
and tend to not realize how hardly anyone has heard the new songs. I wonder
how much of a percent of the audience has heard those songs, I bet very
little. People didn't seem real sure how to take it, but by the end dug
it. More of a reception for this song than the other new ones because
of the MTV Video Awards exposure.

Axl then asked for a piano, he joked around playing one intro, then
played some sweet intro into November Rain. Not sure what that second
intro was, but if it's the beginning of a new song, he has something.
There might be nothing better than when Axl is on singing November
Rain, and tonight he was on. The fire effects are a great effect.

Everyone was digging the Buckethead solo. Some people find him weird,
and he is but he can play. He played the same songs he has been playing
on the tour, Star Wars, Pirates Life For Me, etc. Very entertaining and
he seems to be getting a cult following.

Next was Rocket Queen, followed by The Blues. Dizzy played piano for
The Blues. Axl stood on top of the piano for the closing of the song. I
think this song contains the best lyrics out of the new songs.the last
verse of the song is something everyone has felt at least once in their
life.

Due to the Detroit incident, I was worried that the show would end with
Patience. Thankfully it didn't, on this night they played it the way it
should be played.

Around this time Axl mentioned how he was at a restaurant and this girl
seemed excited to see him. First she wanted an autograph, then he ate,
she wanted a picture, than after she wanted to talk him again. "Then
she began to rip me a new @#%$." Axl asked her where she heard things she
was saying and she said, "I read them on the Internet." Really funny
stuff. Maybe she asked him about THIS I LOVE which seems to be a
subject and a burning question that will never die. Anyway, Axl said how the
Internet is a great tool and even he learns things going on in his band
on there. "I'll read something, then call someone and they'll say 'I
didn't know that' and then add, 'oh yeah, I did hear about that."

Chinese Democracy rocked and the fire effects made it even more
impressive. A teen sitting behind me said "if he can sing like this on
a record, he's gonna sell a lot of @#%$ records again." The guy he was
with responded..this guy can sing his ass off." They were both
right.and anyone who says "Axl is too old, out of shape, etc." Has no idea what
they are talking about.I'm sure he's proving it in other cities like he
proved it in Pittsburgh, he's for real and so is the rest of the band.
I can't stress enough what they proved tonight.

Nightrain played, leading into the encore of Robin and Paradise City.
Before Paradise City Axl was waving a Terrible Towel, which is a
legendary item dealing with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Axl sure knows all
the tricks. Paradise City had the smoke, fireworks, confetti, etc.

I'm probably forgetting certain things but it's late.someone else will
fill in what I missed. Bottom line is this, GNR is back. The crowd was
filled with fans whose GNR shirts were a little tighter than when they
bought them 10 years ago and new fans. People were into it. The older
people sat at times, which is a bummer, but that happens. Going to this
concert and getting off on it..and looking around and seeing people my
age, who weren't old enough to experience the Use Your Illusion tour
but discovered GNR on their own.will make you feel very, very happy. We are
all very lucky that this is happening around the country..don't miss
out, and take a friend. Axl Rose has done what few have done in the
past. He captured one generation and is on the right track to not only
recapture them but also capture a whole new generation, with the help
of an excellent, tight band.

One final comment. I was seated in a way so that I could see the
backstage area too. Well, at one point I saw Axl go back there (in the
middle of a song) and he saw this older lady sitting on the steps. Not
sure who the older lady was but Axl had a big smile on his face and
jokingly acted like he was going to kick her down the steps. This
wasn't for show, he's a happy man.

Axl once wrote, "I want to get to a place mentally where I can say,
'Hey, this is me, capture it,' and I'm not there yet. I'm trying to get
myself healthy." Axl Rose is finally there, he's healthy.

Setlist: Welcome To The Jungle, It's So Easy, Mr. Brownstone, Live And
Let Die, Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Think About You, You Could Be Mine,
Guitar Solo [Robin], Sweet Child O' Mine, Out Ta Get Me, Madagascar,
Piano Solo, November Rain, Guitar Solo [Buckethead], Rocket Queen, The
Blues, Patience, Chinese Democracy, Nightrain, encore: Guitar Solo
[Robin], Paradise City.

By David Jakielo

11.22.02 - Interview with Dizzy Reed!

Guns N' Roses finally sees a new album on the horizon

John Soeder
Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic

Mark the words of keyboardist Dizzy Reed: The new Guns N' Roses album will see the light of day - finally! - in 2003.

It's called "Chinese Democracy." But a more fitting title may have been "Appetite for Procrastination."

The oft-delayed project has been in the works for years. It should be in stores by June, according to Reed.

"There are just a few odds and ends left to do - a couple of finishing touches, a couple of vocals - and we need to mix it," he said.

In the meantime, GN'R - long MIA, except for a handful of one-off gigs - is mounting its first North American tour since 1993. The hard-rock group, fronted by enigmatic live wire Axl Rose, performs Sunday at Gund Arena.

Speaking by phone last week from a Chicago hotel, Reed said it feels "utterly fantastic" to be back on the road.

"It's the right time to get out there and to let people know there's still rock 'n' roll to be played," he said. "People seem to be having fun. And so are we."

Granted, neither the band nor its fans had much fun at General Motors Place in Vancouver, B.C., where the tour was supposed to get under way Nov. 7. A riot ensued when the venue canceled the opening-night show at the last minute because there was no sign of Rose.

"Axl was en route," said Reed, who was backstage with other band members in Vancouver before all hell broke loose. Disgruntled concertgoers pelted police and security guards with rocks and smashed windows at the arena.

"It had little to do with us and everything to do with the owners of the building," Reed said. "They panicked and pulled the plug."

Rose & Co. did perform the following night in Tacoma, Wash. Two weeks into the tour, they've been getting mixed reviews, with some accounts mentioning half-full venues.

"Some shows weren't sellouts, but I wouldn't call them half-full," Reed said. "The people who were there were having a great time. They were losing their minds. That's what counts to me."

Rose, who co-founded GN'R in the mid- '80s, and Reed, who joined in 1990, are the only holdovers from the band's pre-grunge heyday left in the lineup.

They're joined by drummer Brian "Brain" Mantia (formerly of Primus), bass player Tommy Stinson (Replacements), keyboardist Chris Pitman (Replicants) and three guitarists: Richard Fortus (Psychedelic Furs), Robin Finck (Nine Inch Nails) and Buckethead, a masked man who sports a KFC bucket on his head.

"It's funny - if you took any pair of us, none of us would've started a band together," said Reed, 39. "We've had to work hard at the chemistry. But everyone is so talented, it works. You add Axl and it works even better.

"In the old band, I came along a bit later, when the chemistry was already established. It grew out of playing clubs and bars in Hollywood. I used to go to all the shows. I saw it happen."

In a separate interview, Stinson said the motley new members of GN'R have at least one thing in common: They want to make rock 'n' roll history.

"This has never been done before," he said. "The lead singer takes the band name, for something as big as Guns N' Roses was, and continues with an entirely different lineup - no one has really done it, certainly not with any success. So there's a lot riding on this."

Four ex-members of GN'R - Slash, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum and Izzy Stradlin - have been auditioning singers for a new band of their own, although Rose holds the rights to the Guns N' Roses name.

"I wish them the best," Reed said. "If they want to go out and hit the road, cool. No one can stop them. They're great players in their own right."

Stinson, 36, was brought into the GN'R fold four years ago.

"I was doing a session with a friend of mine who played drums for GN'R at the time, Josh Freese," he said. "He was joking about them needing a new bass player. I laughed and said I'd play bass. The next day, they called. I learned about four or five songs. A day or so after the audition, they called and said, 'If you want it, you're in.' And I took it.

"I wasn't much of a GN'R fan . . . when I was making [Replacements] records. We were a different breed. But you couldn't help but hear the GN'R stuff on the radio and on MTV every 10 minutes because it was the flavor of the day."

GN'R burst out of Los Angeles in 1987 with the debut album "Appetite for Destruction," which sold 15 million copies in the United States alone. It spawned the No. 1 hit "Sweet Child o' Mine."

The group hasn't released a batch of all-new original material since 1991, when GN'R simultaneously unloaded two full-length efforts, "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II."

Whether or not "Chinese Democracy" proves worth the wait remains to be heard. At any rate, it promises to be a bit of a departure.

"For a GN'R record, it's pretty diverse," Stinson said. "It's not straight down the rock 'n' roll road. It's all over the place, in a good way. It has a little bit of everything - the old Guns N' Roses vibe, ballads, a couple of pop songs."

On "Chinese Democracy," Rose delivers "more soulful singing," Stinson said. "You really get to hear some different tones in his voice which don't lend themselves to traditional bluesy riff-rock. And the lyrics are a lot more in-depth, with deeper sentiment and emotion than some of the earlier stuff."

Speaking of Rose - depicted two years ago in a Rolling Stone cover story as a reclusive, night-dwelling, psychic-consulting control freak - is he . . . OK?

"I'll tell you why I'm still with the guy: He's got my back," Stinson said. "He's the most loyal guy you could ever meet. There's a lot of love in him. There's a real person there who goes way beyond his historical past, you know?"

Rose is "one of the most thoughtful people I know," Reed said. "He's one of the smartest, too. Musically, he's close to being a genius, if he isn't one. He can take any idea and once he adds his thing to it, it turns into magic. I love the guy."

Alongside "Welcome to the Jungle," "Paradise City," "Patience" and other vintage GN'R tunes, the band's recent set lists have showcased several "Chinese Democracy" songs, including the title track and "Madagascar."

"The new songs are working out great," Stinson said. "The old ones are fun to play, too. We've taken some liberties, but you'll definitely recognize them. We don't do disco versions of anything. We've all just taken what was there and made it our own."

The new Guns N' Roses sounds "like GN'R should sound in 2002," Reed said. "Hopefully, I see us fitting in on the radio, on MTV and at an arena near you."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

jsoeder@plaind.com, 216-999-4562

11.21.02 - More Interviews!!!

Check out this new Axl Rose interview from Detroit:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Buckethead Interview:

Beneath The Bucket, Behind The Mask: Kurt Loder Meets GN'R's Buckethead

The Buckethead backstory begins with a kid named Brian Carroll growing up in a Southern California suburb not far from Disneyland. He's a shy kid and spends a lot of time in his room, which is filled with comic books, video games, martial-arts movie memorabilia, slasher-flick stuff, all the usual youth-culture detritus. He also spends a whole lot of time at Disneyland.

As a teenager, Brian takes up the guitar, plonking away under the sway of such metal masters as Angus Young of AC/DC; the late Randy Rhoads, of the Ozzy Osbourne band; and Swedish overdrive virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen. Like the latter two, Carroll incorporates a considerable amount of classical-music consciousness into his burgeoning style. He reads a lot of music theory. He starts getting really, really good.

Unlike his idols, however, Carroll is anything but flamboyant. Mane-tossing guitar-god moves are not something he'll ever be comfortable attempting. In fact, in an ideal world, there'd be somebody else he could one day take up onstage with him and hide behind. Some sort of alter ego.

Nobody much liked the 1988 fright flick "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers." After 10 years, this slasher franchise was pretty much played out. (Even though it's still with us today!) But Brian Carroll was inspired by the film. He went right out after seeing it and bought a Michael Myers-like white mask. Then, that night, as he was eating from a bucketful of take-out fried chicken, another inspiration struck. He described it in a 1996 interview with Guitar Player magazine: "I was eating it, and I put the mask on and then the bucket on my head. I went to the mirror. I just said, 'Buckethead. That's Buckethead right there.' It was just one of those things. After that, I wanted to be that thing all the time."

Unlike the editors of Guitar Player (for which Bucket once wrote a column called "Psychobuddy"), you needn't be conversant with minor 9th intervals or quadratonal arpeggios to be knocked sideways by Buckethead's war-of-the-worlds guitar eruptions. His star-burst chord clusters and eye-frazzling eight-finger solos aren't like much else you'll be hearing on this planet anytime soon.

Of course there are all kinds of aspiring guitar wizards out there (although probably none within pick-flicking distance of this guy). But what sets Carroll decisively apart from the pack is the outré "Buckethead" persona he's so painstakingly created. This character, with its vaguely sinister mask, soberly upended KFC bucket, and absurdly detailed chicken fetish, is pure American surrealism. Buckethead is a star of a strange new kind: not the projection of a preening personality, as is usually the case, but a mirror, a screen, a somehow lovable cipher. As a musical presence, he seems almost (one of Carroll's favorite words) disembodied.

Although most people are probably experiencing Buckethead for the first time in his current stint with the new Guns N' Roses, the man has been putting out solo albums for the last 10 years. Some, like the 1999 Monsters and Robots, are pure "post-metal psycho-shred," as one writer put it. Others, like the just-released Electric Tears, are serenely ambient. Buckethead also records under the name Death Cube K (an anagram); the 1994 Dreamatorium is a good one.

In addition to this solo output, Buckethead has also recorded and performed with a wild array of other musicians, from P-Funk all-stars Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell to Iggy Pop, Primus, avant-fusion bassist Bill Laswell and the late Miles Davis Quintet drummer Tony Williams. He's played on three albums by "The Lord of the Rings" star Viggo Mortensen, one by the painter Julian Schnabel, and some movie soundtracks and scores, too ("The Last Action Hero," "Mortal Kombat," "Beverly Hills Ninja"). He longs to do an all-Disney album. ("When You Wish Upon a Star" is one of his favorite tunes.)

We encountered Buckethead backstage at two recent Guns N' Roses shows, in Vancouver and Seattle (see "Fans Riot After Guns N' Roses Tour Kickoff Canceled: Kurt Loder Reports" and "Axl Blows Out Throat, Dons Chicken Bucket For Glitchy Guns Tour Launch"). On both occasions he was standing in his dressing room, in full Bucket regalia, wailing away, at subdued volume, on his extra-large, custom-made Flying V guitar. (Since he stands about seven feet tall — with bucket — he feels that regular, off-the-rack guitars look too dinky in his hands.) His fingers, like those of such renowned forebears as Robert Johnson and Jimi Hendrix, are extraordinarily long, and dizzying to follow as they caper among the frets. (He says he has a "really huge" big toe, too. Whatever.)

As he played, he appeared to be meditating on a large rack in front of him filled with odd dolls and objects: Michael Myers, of course; Leatherface from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"; a little plastic replica of Colonel Sanders, the late KFC impresario; and a rubber chicken straight out of vaudeville.

Brian Carroll is very soft-spoken and self-effacing. He seems to be the sort of person who's consumed by music, and one wonders, in talking to him, if there's any musical style or school with which he doesn't have at least a glancing acquaintance. Since the Buckethead character was famously raised by chickens, and has made it his mission in life to alert the world to the ongoing chicken holocaust in fast-food joints around the globe, we wondered about the presence of the Colonel Sanders doll in his travel rack. Carroll said, "It's like your father; maybe he beats you, but he's still your father, and you love him, and ... it's complicated."

Unlike Carroll, Buckethead doesn't speak at all, at least not for public consumption. When our cameras were about to start rolling, he fitted a whole-head rubber monster mask over his right hand and said that this improvised puppet — he calls it "Herbie" — would answer all questions. We asked what the chicken deal was. Apparently, the evil man who owned the farm where Buckethead was raised (with chickens, remember) came to the coop one day and cruelly slipped some fried chicken pieces inside.

"And for the first time," Herbie says, "he realized they were cooking chickens. And they were his family, so he tried to put them back together, and he just kind of went nuts. And he put the bucket on his head 'cause he thought he could help all those dead chickens come back to life. So when he plays, it's like the sound of all those dead chickens coming through his hands."

Okay. And this rubber chicken here?

"This is kind of sad," Herbie says. "It makes him play more pretty. When he sees this, he thinks of lullabies and that sort of stuff. But it's not real, and he knows it's not real."

When Brian Carroll first got a call from Axl Rose inviting him to join Guns N' Roses, he was nonplussed at first. He knew the band, of course, but it wasn't really ... his kind of thing, right?

Axl persevered, though. At Christmas he invited Brian over to his house. It hadn't been a happy Buckethead holiday up to that point: he'd really, really been hoping that someone would give him a certain hard-to-find Leatherface doll he'd been coveting as a gift, but no one had. Then he arrived at Axl's place, and Axl had that very doll — and he gave it to him. Brian took this as a sign ("He must understand me somehow"), and he joined the band.

So has Axl been any help to Buckethead in scoring chicks on this tour?

There's a pause, then Herbie says, "He's scared of, uh, girls. He just gets a weird feeling. He doesn't understand the feeling that he gets."

Some sort of chick/chicken confusion, maybe?

"That's a possibility," Herbie says. "I've never thought of that. And I'm sure he hasn't, either."

By this point, showtime is impending. Bucket has to head for the stage. We've pretty much covered everything, though: the chickens, the bucket ... But wait — the mask. What about the mask?

"There is no mask," Herbie says.

—Kurt Loder

Richard Fortus Interview:

'We're catching our groove again now'

By GREG HAYMES, Staff writer
First published: Thursday, November 21, 2002

When Guns N' Roses rumbles into the Pepsi Arena on Wednesday, almost all of the faces will be new -- except, of course, for the guitarist Buckethead, whose face will be obscured by his trademark KFC bucket headpiece.

One of those new mugs belongs to former Love Spit Love and Psychedelic Furs guitarslinger Richard Fortus, who spoke last week from a tour stop in Minneapolis:

Q: How's the tour going?

A: It's going all right, despite the occasional riot.

Q: What was going on in your head when the first date of the tour was canceled, resulting in a riot in Vancouver earlier this month?

A: Shock and dismay -- I mean, I didn't even know what the hell was going on. Tommy (Stinson, formerly of the Replacements) and Dizzy (Reed, the only band member other than Rose who's been with the band for more than five years) were doing an interview backstage with Kurt Loder from MTV, and they heard the announcement that the show was canceled coming over the PA system in the arena. No one could believe it. And it was Robin's (Finck, formerly of Nine Inch Nails) birthday, too. It was such a drag.

Apparently Axl had no idea, either, because he was on his way there. His plane was delayed, and we knew that he wasn't going to make it to the soundcheck, but there was never any question that he'd be there in time for the gig. Apparently, the venue just pulled the plug. It was pretty disappointing. And even worse, when you turn on the TV and see people getting their teeth knocked out, it's not something that you want to be a party to. So now the lawsuits will fly.

Q: When did you join Guns N' Roses?

A: I'm the newest guy. I joined a few months back. We did the tour of Europe, and when we got back, I recorded my parts for the album.

Q: Was it an easy decision to join?

A: Yeah. Tommy's one of my best friends, and he has been for a while. We've done loads of recording sessions together. And with all of the other people that are involved with Guns N' Roses, it's a pretty unbelievable band.

Fnkd ledeiN Q: Were you a Guns N' Roses fan?

A: No, I didn't grow up a Guns N' Roses fan, really. I was sort of like a punk-rock kid, and they were one of those bands that was kind of marginal. You know: They had long hair. Certainly, "Welcome to the Jungle" is a pretty undeniable song, and I loved "It's So Easy," too, because that's right up my alley, fitting right in with bands like the New York Dolls, MC5 and the Stooges. But Guns N' Roses were so L.A., and I was a NYC kid. So it wasn't until much later that I really got into the band.

Q: When did you get the call to join up?

A: Actually, I first got a call like three years ago, but before that audition happened, Axl saw Buckethead play, and he decided to go with him instead. Fortunately, I got another call the next time they were looking for someone.

Q: With three guitarists in the band, doesn't the sound get a little crowded?

A: Well, Bucket comes out and does his bucket-ness, and we just make room for each other. When I go back and listen to "Appetite for Destruction" and the other early stuff, there are definitely three guitar parts there. There's Slash's rhythm parts and Izzy's rhythm parts, and then there's Slash's wanking over the top in between vocals. That's what we're trying to do live. And I think that's why Axl wanted to go with three guitars, because that was always missing from the live sound.

Q: How many songs from the upcoming album, "Chinese Democracy," is the band playing in concert?

A: It depends on the night, but we're playing up to four new songs. And once the album comes out, we'll start playing a lot more.

Q: So when is the album going to be released?

A: I've heard that it's coming out in March -- but then again I've heard a lot of things, so you never know.

Q: Has touring with Guns N' Roses been everything you thought it would be?

A: Well, with the exception of the riots, yeah, the tour is a blast. This music is just so much fun to play live, and with this band, wow -- it's just unbelievable. By the time we get to Albany, the band is going to be pretty unstoppable. We're catching our groove again now, and once we get five or six shows under your belts, we'll be firing on all cylinders. It's a pretty good band live.

11.20.02 - Interview Articles

Guns N' Roses Keyboardist Says Fans Don't Miss Old Bandmembers

(11/20/02, 4 p.m. ET) -- Guns N' Roses is in the midst of its first
North American concert tour in nine years, a trek that will keep the group on
the road into early January. Of course, this is not the GNR that became a
multiplatinum sensation in the late '80s and early '90s--only frontman
Axl Rose remains from the original lineup, while keyboardist Dizzy Reed has
been with the group since 1990.

However, Reed tells LAUNCH that, from his perspective, the new GNR is
still going over well with the band's fans. "I know that no matter what,
there's gonna be some people that are just not gonna let go of the old band,
and no matter what we do, you know, we're not gonna make them happy. Being
away for so long and now finally being back out here touring, you know, I'm
enjoying every second of it, and I'm trying to put the pressure aside. There's
some people that we're just, we'll never make happy, but the majority of the
people that I see out there are having a great time. They're losing
their minds--they're dancing, they're singing along, and it doesn't seem to
me like they miss the old guys."

Besides Reed, the current GNR lineup--which has been together for about
seven months--includes bassist Tommy Stinson (the Replacements,
Perfect, Bash-N-Pop); guitarists Buckethead (Praxis, Primus), Robin Finck (Nine
Inch Nails, Cirque Du Soleil), and Richard Fortus (Love Spit Love);
keyboardist Chris Pitman (the Replicants, Lusk) and drummer Brian "Brain" Mantia
(Primus, Praxis, Tom Waits). The group plans to release its new album,
Chinese Democracy, in 2003.

GNR next performs Thursday (November 21) at the Palace Of Auburn Hills
in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

-- Gary Graff, Detroit

Feature: Guns N' Roses blooms again

By Gary Graff
From the Life & Mind Desk
Published 11/19/2002 3:58 PM

The current members of the hard rock group Guns N' Roses acknowledge that following the group's past lineup -- which sold more than 80 million albums worldwide -- is no easy feat.

"There's people in the audience who have 'Where's Slash?' banners or "We Love Slash' or whatever," notes bassist Tommy Stinson, referring to the group's founding guitarist.

But despite that, Stinson and the rest of the GNR camp -- now led by frontman Axl Rose -- remain undaunted as they try to establish the new edition of the group before devoted fans and skeptics alike.

"Y'know, all those people, they don't leave," says Stinson, who replaced founding bassist Duff McKagen in 1998. "They must not be hating it if they don't leave. People seem to be pretty jazzed by the show that we put."

Adds keyboardist Dizzy Reed, who joined GNR in 1990 and is the longest-tenured member of the band besides Rose: "No matter what we do, there's gonna be some people that are just not gonna let go of the old band. But the majority of the people I see out there are having a great time; they're losing their minds and dancing and singing along. It doesn't seem to me like they miss the old guys."

GNR is touring North America for the first time since 1993, following scattered shows during the past two years in Las Vegas, Rio, Hong Kong, Japan, Belgium and England and an appearance on the MTV Music Video Awards in September. The tour got off to a rough start Nov. 7 in Vancouver; after Rose's arrival was delayed, GM Place officials canceled the concert, and rioting fans caused $100,000 worth of damage to the venue.

That's only part and parcel of what's been a tumultuous nine years, which has seen the founding core of the group fall apart and Rose wrest control of the name and the direction of the band.

Keyboardist Reed notes that "it probably seems to a lot of people that the band just disappeared and now it's back and it's totally different."

But he says GNR never stopped working and that Rose spent time assembling a new corps of musicians as well as recording the new album "Chinese Democracy" -- expected out during 2003 -- with a number of producers.

The new, well-credentialed lineup of the band has been together for about seven months, with Reed, former Replacements member Stinson, guitarists Buckethead (Praxis, Primus), Robin Finck (nine inch nails, Cirque du Soleil) and Richard Fortus (Love Spit Love), keyboardist Chris Pitman (the Replicants, Lusk) and drummer Brian "Brain" Mantia (Primus, Tom Waits, Praxis).

Former guitarist Slash derisively refers to the group as "Axl and his merry men," and reserves terms such as "control freak" and "maniac" for his former band mate.

In fact, Slash, McKagen and former GNR guitarist Izzy Stradlin are forming their own group, which draws chuckles from Reed.

"I say good luck, and I hope they have a good time -- and they should enjoy it 'cause Izzy'll probably quit in a couple of weeks," says Reed, 39, adding: "I think some of those guys really go complacent. I know Axl thought we really needed to change, and in their mind we didn't need to change, we should just do what we do and everything will be cool.

"But you look around and you see bands that did that, and they're trivial now. They're nostalgia. We didn't want to be that way ... and one by one, people started quitting. The old band was a little more hell-bent on self-destruction; this band, I think, is kinda headed upwards as opposed to downward."

With no firm release date for the album -- GNR's first studio effort since 1993 -- both Reed and Stinson, 36, are purposefully vague in describing the long-in-the-making "Chinese Democracy," which the group has produced with collaborators such as Sean Beavan, Roy Thomas Baker and Youth.

Reed says to expect "a pretty intense musical journey. It takes you to some really interesting musical places."

Stinson, meanwhile, promises that "it touches on a lot of different elements of old Guns N' Roses in some ways; in other ways it touches with more current-sounding music." He also lauds Rose's lyrics, which he says are "a lot deeper" than on previous GNR releases.

The group is playing several of the new songs in concert each night along with old favorites such as "Welcome to the Jungle," "Sweet Child of Mine," "Patience" and "November Rain." But the musicians are anxious to get "Chinese Democracy" out so that the audiences will be able to sing along to them as well -- even though they know there are skeptics who still wonder if it will ever actually be released.

"We wouldn't be doing this if it weren't going to come out -- are you kidding?" Stinson says with a laugh. "If it works out, it could be history making, 'cause no one's ever done this before. A lead singer's never taken the (band) name and continued on with an entirely new band and done that successfully before.

"I kinda got into this for exactly that reason; if you're gonna try to do something really whacked, this would be the way to do it. I really don't think about the consequences either way; it's either gonna work or it's not, and in the meantime we're all having a good time trying to make it happen."

HIRED GUNS: Axl Rose hits road with reformulated band
By David Burke

Tommy Stinson says he can understand the skepticism.

The bass player and veteran of several bands, most notably The Replacements, knows that his new role in Guns N’ Roses he’ll be among seven musicians taking the stage with lead singer Axl Rose and keyboard player Dizzy Reed.

“When I took this gig, it was for the reason that no one else had — supposedly — ever done this in rock, resumed the band name with the leader and try to do a whole other thing, but still do the same thing. That’s the most interesting concept I can imagine,” Stinson, 36, said before a show Monday in Boise, Idaho.

“All I can to do eliminate that (skepticism) is show up and do my gig. I don’t really spend any time worrying about it, or giving it much thought. I’m working with this guy that I like working with, I like the music we’re playing.

I think it’s turning out exactly that way. I don’t give a (crap) what people think, as long as they come out to the shows, and they have fun and we have fun.”

After The Replacements’ 1991 demise, Stinson formed the group Bash & Pop in 1993, and Perfect in ’96. He had a record deal “that I could see going down the tubes” in 1998, when he auditioned for Rose. The next day, he was told the job was his if he wanted it.

“I’ve always wanted to do something interesting, whether it was my own stuff or whatever. I’ve done a lot of crazy (stuff) musically over the last 10 years,” he said.

He played on a reformulated new Guns N’ Roses album, “Chinese Democracy,” that has been delayed several time by its record label. An Asian tour over the summer proved successful, and the band made its re-emergence in August during the MTV Video Awards.

From 1987 to ’93, Guns N’ Roses hit with songs including “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” “Paradise City,” “Patience” and “Welcome to the Jungle.”

Stinson said he had no problem stepping in and playing songs that weren’t necessarily his — although several songs from “Chinese Democracy” will be part of the concert.

“We’ve played the old songs enough that they’re almost like ours, in a regard that we’ve taken them on and put our own spin on them,” Stinson said. “We feel, in a weird sort of way, that they are our songs. Physically speaking, they’re demanding rock songs, and you have to man up and put yourselves into them.”

Guns N’ Roses’ North American tour got off on a wrong chord last week in Vancouver, British Columbia, as the concert was canceled at the last minute. Rose was en route to the concert, Stinson said, and the rest of the band was already in the arena doing an MTV interview.

Fans lining up outside began to riot, causing damage to the arena.

“We could have easily played that show,” Stinson said of the concert, pulled by the producer. “We got the … short end of the stick on it. I don’t think it’s a good thing when fans trash the building and take it out on the band or the venue. … None of that is a good thing going around.”

The fourth stop of the concert will be at The Mark of the Quad-Cities, Moline.

“Our first gig, as any first gig I’ve ever done on a tour (last Friday in Tacoma, Wash.), was getting it all sort of sorted out, technically speaking. A dry run, in a way,” he said. “(But) it did go a lot better than a lot of first gigs.

“There’s a learning curve on this sort of thing. It takes a couple of days. We’ll be smokin’ by Moline.”

Even though Stinson and the rest of the band — Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck, Love Spit Love guitarist Richard Fortus, Replicants keyboard player Chris Pitman, Primus drummer Brian “Brain” Mantia and a guitarist known only as Buckethead — have “completely different walks of musical life,” but have already jelled with a good chemistry.

Stinson says he is considering a lengthy future with Guns N’ Roses.

“I have no expectations whatsoever,” he said. “As long as we’re having fun with it and people are having fun seeing it, I think I could be involved for an indefinite amount of time.”

David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com.

11.19.02 - Chicago Reviews / Interview

Check out this Interview of a big GNR fan, it is pretty interesting in that it gives some good insight into their relationship with the band.

GNR Review (by Sandy Z.)
11-18-02 Allstate Arena - Rosemont, IL

Wasn't too sure what to expect from my 'virgin' GNR show..or should I say 'virgin' Uncle Axl show, but it lived up to all of my expectations of what it's like to experience an all out balls rocking show with the big bad boy himself. I saw it all! The barely twenty-something Axl-holics surrounding me like swarms of rabid animals seeking their next prey, fights being egged on and cheered by the rest of the crowd in the balcony and in a couple of sections over from where my seat was, mass consumption of alcohol, the sweet smell of sticky icky-icky in the air, the pungent odor of people spewing all around me combined with that sawdust stuff like the janitors used in high school....oh yeah, I could tell that I was in for a great show! This was what I had been waiting for!

CKY (sorry I couldn't remember even three letters today, had to have some help on that) opened the show followed by Rap Master Mike of the Beastie Boys. The crowd wasn't much into either of them but Rap Master Mike pulled off a few that even the rock crowd could associate with. He totally flipped the script with a remix of The Immigrant Song. Right on Mike!

GNR stepped out onto the stage at 10 pm, played for two hours and proceeded to give us a little eye candy that kept them glued to the stage with their genius pyrotechnical battery, dazzling lighting effects, trippy videos and expert luminescent camerawork. I was in awe of the extent of the Axl-Extravaganza before me. Axl seemed to be very mellowed out in comparison to other videos that I've seen from the early years. He was not sporting the classic bandana, bike shorts, kilts or plaid flannel shirt. He had on long black loose pants and was first wearing an Atlanta Falcon #7 jersey with a white long sleeved t-shirt underneath and later switched to a Chicago Bears #54 Urlacher jersey. His corn row braided hair was pulled half-way back into a pony tail with the rest of his long hair flowing down past his shoulders. He did call a fan up front a cunt for throwing stuff at another fan (which was actually intended for Axl) and told them "they paid good money for those seats and don't need you throwing shit at them". After that, it seemed like all the rowdies settled down and everyone got into the show.

Thanks to my friend Jeff, the setlist went like this:

Welcome To The Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Live And Let Die
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Think About You
You Could Be Mine
Sweet Child Of Mine
Out Ta Get Me
November Rain
Buckethead Solo
Rocket Queen
Madagascar
My Michelle
The Blues
Patience
Chinese Democracy
Nightrain
~encore~
Robin Finck Solo
Paradise City

Jeff said that they mangled You Could Be Mine, which I didn't notice at all, but it could be the lousy acoustics that the arena has. Axl sounded great to me especially on Sweet Child of Mine and November Rain when he sat at the piano and things were a lot quieter. The music seemed to pump you up and then cool you off just in time to pump you back up again. Nightrain and Paradise City were great! I rocked my ass off along side of the diehards. The band and Axl seemed to be having a really good time playing together too. The guitar work was amazing. Buckethead dragged a stuffed dummy off of his guitar during Paradise City and with one of the huge explosions, a huge mass of confetti blew up into the air and just slowly drifted across the venue to the back of the arena like November Rain. Everyone was trying to grasp a piece as it floated overhead.

I had a great time from beginning to end. Thanks Axl, thanks kids and special thanks to Cato, Chief and Jeff for twisting my arm. What a show! Please catch one near you while you can.

Here is Shelden's review:

Just got back from the show at the Allstate Arena. Here is what went
on.

Band started around 10 PM and played for about 2 hours. Same songs as
what
they've been doing.

Allstate was very very full. They sold the worst possible seats that
had any
angle on the stage at all. Glad I wasn't in those seats. Axl comes out
in an
Atlanta Falcoms jersey (#7??) and changes into a bears urlacher jersey.
Prior to the Blues Axl announces that this is a reunion tour as he has
put
his mind back together mentally. At one point Axl goes to Robins side
and
calls a fan a cunt for throwing stuff on people who paid good money to
come
and see them as the cups of beer weren't even hitting Axl, the cunt's
anticipated target.

Tonight I was in the lower bowl so I watched Brain on the video a bit
and he
seemed to be right on...although the band mangled You Could be Mine
much
like the Rio disaster I think...we'll have to wait for playback for
confirmation though. Bucket was dragging dummy body off his guitar
during
Paradise City which was really really strange and it looked like the
band
was having a great time.

The sound at allstate is just aweful though...at times you can hear the
sound echo off the back wall which is just really annoying and Axl's
vocals
were hard to hear on some songs...Think About You Comes to mind.
Highlights
for me included Rocket Queen (no intro jam) & November Rain with Axl
doing a
bit of talking about his intro piece although I couldn't make out what
he
was saying.

Setlist
Jungle
Easy
Mr. B
Live and Let Die
Heaven's Door
Think About You
You Could be Mine
Robin/ Sweet Child
Out Ta Get Me
November Rain
Buckethead Solo (at least Star Wars/ Pirate Life)
Rocket Queen
Madagascar
My Michelle
The Blues
Patience
Chinese Democracy
Nightrain
Encore
Robin Solo
Paradise City

i probably have sweet child in the wrong spot but oh well. Great crowd,
great show. Welcome back Uncle Axl. See you in Detroit on Thursday.

shelden

Thanks to Cindy, Lars, and Andrea.

Welcome To The Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Live And Let Die
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Think About You
You Could Be Mine
Robin Solo
Sweet Child O' Mine
Out Ta Get Me
Piano Intro
November Rain
Madagascar
Buckethead Solo
Rocket Queen
The Blues
My Michelle
Patience
Chinese Democracy
Nightrain
Robin Solo
Paradise City

Notes:

The show was packed....almost full. Nobody sat down.
EVERYONE sang along. Axl messed up some lyric and the
whole crowd caught him. Lots of buckets in the crowd.
There was really young people and then there was old
people. Nice mix.

The imagery was pretty cool, the "matrix"
camera-effect is badass.

Axl joked about people trying to throw stuff at
him...they kept missing him and hitting the front row
and he was like "there's no use trying!"

Axl kept running backstage to this little tent for
something....probably about his mic.

Axl almost fell a few times and he got sort of burned
(he kept rubbing his arm).

Richard ran through the shower of sparks that rain
down. Axl looked at him like "what the hell?"

"You Could Be Mine" - Brain messed up the intro but
they got it back together normal.

Axl made a speech about rehearsing with the band or
something before "November Rain," it wasn't very
clear.

Buckethead's solo was really awesome. After he passed
out toys, he put the bag they were in on his head and
he danced for awhile.

"The Blues" - Axl climbed up on the piano and sang.

"My Michelle" - Axl chased around the roadie that
comes out to fix his mic stand (like in Tokyo 92).

During the end of "Patience," Axl and Robin
accidentally collided and Robin like screamed and they
laughed about it afterwards. Also during the song, Axl
jammed out with rainstick with Dizzy.

Axl had mic problems during "Nightrain" and got really
pissed off and left the stage and then, after a very
long time (the band kept playing and playing), Axl
came back and said, frustrated "This is a conversation
we're going to be having later."

"Paradise City" - Buckethead had some kind of doll
attached to him for some of the solo.

Outfits:
Axl - #54 black jersey, black pants
Robin - all white outfit
Buckethead - workout suit and green cape
Tommy - red plaid suit
Everybody else was pretty much wearing their normal attire.

11.18.02 - Articles

Lafayette's Axl Rose heads back to fame

By Tim Brouk, Journal and Courier

Greater Lafayette has national recognition for a few things -- Purdue University, the Tippecanoe Battlefield and Fort Ouiatenon.

And Lafayette is significant to rock 'n' roll fans as the birthplace of W. Axl Rose, lead singer for Guns N' Roses and one of the most famous rock stars in history.

People who pass through or move to town often wonder if any remnants of Rose, who was known as Bill Bailey during most of his Lafayette years, still linger in Lafayette. Rose moved from Lafayette to Los Angeles seeking a change in 1982.

"Some friends and I would joke 'Where's the big, gold Axl statue at?' when we would come to Lafayette," said John Wekluk, a senior English major at Purdue who is originally from Portage.

Wekluk has tickets to see Rose live at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Allstate Arena in Chicago. The current tour is Guns 'N' Roses' first in about 10 years.

While Guns N' Roses hasn't performed in Indiana since a July 1992 concert in Indianapolis, Rose, 40, has made almost annual sneak visits to Lafayette to visit family and Arni's on Elmwood Avenue. Arni's owner Brad Cohen said Rose's last visit was a little over a year ago to pick up some pizzas to go. Cohen said he more often ships pizzas out to Rose's home in Malibu, Calif. Sometimes it's a couple pies while other times Arni's has catered parties hosted by Axl.

"I tease people that I'm one of the few that has access to Axl's credit card number," Cohen said.

Just after Guns N' Roses performed at the 1992 Indianapolis concert, Rose took a table in the Toys in the Attic Room at Arni's with an entourage of body guards. A crowd of about 30 fans formed as Rose was leaving in a limousine. Rose smiled and waved at the crowd before he departed. The excitement from the strawberry blond, headband sporting singer's sighting did not die down for awhile.

"Weeks after his visit, we had cute little college girls come in and want to sit in the actual booth Axl sat in," Cohen said. "They wanted to be close to his blood and sweat so to speak."

Cohen, who owns Guns N' Roses' first two releases Appetite for Destruction and Lies, added that no one could remember which table he sat in and would point to any open table in the room and tell customers "That's the one."

"My dad (the late Arni Cohen) wasn't a big listener of Guns N' Roses, but we had fun with the celebrity status Arni's got by his visits," Cohen said. "I appreciate the fact that he's an Arni's fan. I respect his choice in pizza."

Amused Clothing manager Jay Buck recalled one memorable night in 1988 when Rose was eating dinner with family at Arni's. Buck was only 15 working at his first job at Arni's, but he was picked to serve Rose's table.

"I wasn't a big fan of Axl Rose. That's why they sent me out there," Buck remembered. "Everyone else would have been 'Hey, can I have your autograph?' "

The night was even more memorable as Buck tripped over a purse that was sitting in the aisle that belonged to Rose's mother. Buck was carrying a large tray full of sodas that landed all over Rose and his family. Buck said the sticky and drenched rock star wasn't mad as he saw the guilty purse was in the way, but most of Buck's co-workers thought he did it on purpose.

Buck attended Jefferson High School when Appetite for Destruction hit the scene, and its singles "Welcome to the Jungle," "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child O' Mine" were all over the airwaves. Rose also went to Jefferson and would have been in the class of 1980 if he had not dropped out.

"A lot of teachers said he didn't do well so don't look up to him," Buck said.

Fifteen years later, Buck still isn't a big fan of Rose's.

"I'll listen to it when someone is singing at karaoke," Buck said.

As the 1990s started, a series of events further propelled Rose as a household name and into the media spotlight. In the summer of 1991, Rose incited a riot at a St. Louis amphitheater when he jumped into the crowd to attack a photographer and then ended the set prematurely. During the 1992 mega tour of Guns N' Roses, Metallica and Faith No More, Rose started another riot in Montreal when he refused to take the stage. Another Canadian riot erupted at a Guns N' Roses concert on Nov. 7 when the band were no-shows in Vancouver.

Charges were pressed for Rose's actions in the St. Louis incident. Rick Mummey was a DJ at WKHY 93.5 FM when Rose was being sought by St. Louis authorities, and he offered a $1,000 "bounty" for Rose to be brought to the classic rock station to explain his actions. Rose did not appear, but Mummey, now a DJ for WGLM FM, received a large number of calls when Rose seemed to be making news everyday from people claiming to know singer. Some calls were legit while others came from "brother's uncle's mechanic's third cousins."

The early '90s also saw Rose distance himself from the band. Soon after the 1991 release of the Use Your Illusion albums, original rhythm guitarist and fellow Lafayette chum Izzy Stradlin (aka: Jeff Isbell) left Guns N' Roses. Rose also spoke out to the press and in concert about his thoughts on Lafayette and Indiana. A review of the 1992 Guns N' Roses Indianapolis show in the Journal and Courier included the statement that Rose "blasted Indiana for being the conservative, backwards state the sent Dan Quayle to the vice presidential office," and "he referred to Indiana as a state that produces corn and drugs and is overrun by Japanese car factories."

"I wish he wouldn't be so down on it (Indiana), but, hey, that's his right," Buck said.

Around this time, another Lafayette native was making some noise in the rock world. Shannon Hoon provided back up vocals on the Use Your Illusion hit "Don't Cry," and his band Blind Melon was starting to get noticed. Lafayette guitar virtuoso Michael Kelsey was in a band with Hoon called Styff Kitten in Lafayette, and he said the band covered an early demo version of the song. Kelsey went with Hoon to Los Angeles for awhile and met Rose at the Rainbow Room on Sunset Strip. Kelsey said Rose was nice and the two made small talk for a few minutes. Kelsey was a big Axl Rose fan.

"When Appetite for Destruction came out, it raised the bar for rock 'n' roll," Kelsey said. "It wasn't the candy-like stuff that was out before then."

Soon after Guns N' Roses released The Spaghetti Incident?, a 1993 album of cover songs, Rose fell off the map. Drummer Matt Sorum, original guitarist Slash and original bassist Duff McKagan left the Guns N' Roses camp. Rose, who retained the rights to the name Guns N' Roses via a signed contract from the rest of the band, started work on a new album and he is still putting final touches on it. The current Guns N' Roses still features keyboardist Dizzy Reed who joined for Use Your Illusion and now includes guitarists Buckethead and Nine Inch Nails' Robin Finck, former Primus drummer Brian Mantia, and former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson. Musicians who appeared on sessions for the upcoming Guns N' Roses release include Josh Freese, Moby, Dave Navarro, and Brian May. Guns N' Roses looked close to releasing the album, titled Chinese Democracy, in 1999 when the track "Oh My God" appeared on the End of Days soundtrack.

Guns N' Roses once again grabbed headlines, this time positive, in late August when the band made a surprise appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards. At the end of the program, host Jimmy Fallon jumped like a pogo stick with excitement as he introduced the band. An explosion of confetti engulfed the stage as the band launched into the familiar chords of "Welcome to the Jungle." Rose looked to have filled out to a normal build instead of his emaciated Appetite days, and he had his hair in hundreds of tiny braids.

"They're probably not real. His hair was thin before," Wekluk said.

Rose introduced the slower, new song called "Madagascar" before closing with "Paradise City." Wekluk thought "his voice was a little goofy just for that performance," but Wekluk has heard bootleg recordings over the Internet from Guns N' Roses' European tour and found Rose's voice to be as good as it was in the '90s.

Kelsey and Mummey are one of the millions of fans who are anxiously awaiting the new Guns N' Roses release.

"I'm sure he's settled down over the years. It'll be interesting to see what he comes up with," Mummey said. "After 10 years, it should be interesting."

Kelsey added, "I don't know who could do that in their career -- to be on top of the world and then have so much bad stuff go on and then still be popular. A lot of other people's careers would have died."

Former Guns N' Roses Members Form Band, Don't Rule Out Courtney Love As Singer

Axl Rose might own the legal right to use the Guns N' Roses name, but with four ex-Gunners regrouping, the question arises: Will the real Guns N' Roses please stand up?

Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin and Matt Sorum are forming a band

together, and all they need now is — surprise, surprise — the perfect singer.

"This is all very ironic timing, because it's been six or seven years since we all quit Guns," Slash said, "and we just started doing this in the last six months, and all of a sudden, Axl's got his Guns out right now, so it's almost comical."

Despite the bad blood, Slash said they weren't looking to create a rival project to Guns N' Roses, nor were they even looking, at least at first, to form a band. "There's just a certain chemistry we have," he said. "None of us were planning on getting together. None of us knew it was going to happen. But when we get together, there's a certain kind of click we have."

Slash, McKagan and Sorum — who played lead guitar, bass and drums for GN'R, respectively — first found that "click" again when they played a Los Angeles benefit for the family of drummer Randy Castillo last spring, following his death (see "Ozzy Osbourne Drummer Randy Castillo Dies"). With Buckcherry's Josh Todd and Keith Nelson aboard, the group was jokingly referred to as both Buck N' Guns and Cherry Roses.

"The five of us played this gig," Slash recalled, "and it was just insane. It was just really powerful, and Steven Tyler got up with us, and it was just an amazing night. And so we all talked about it, the chemistry, and how that was the first time we had all played together, really played together, since Guns broke up. And so we started writing songs."

Todd and Nelson dropped out of the venture, but the group — still without a proper name — soon attracted rhythm guitarist David Kushner, as well as Stradlin. "Izzy showed up, all of a sudden," Slash said, "and so we wrote a whole bunch of songs with Izzy. Izzy's sort of in and out. He's not what you would call a permanent fixture in this thing, but we've just been writing a lot of really great songs with him. And we just decided to go the full nine yards."

It's not the first time that former GN'R mates have joined forces since leaving the group — McKagan played bass on previous Stradlin solo albums (see "Izzy Readies Second Post-GN'R Solo Effort"), Slash has jammed over the years with Stradlin (see "Slash: Making His Mark Without Guns") and all three worked together earlier this year on Izzy's most recent solo album (see "Slash, Duff & Izzy Reunite: Three Out Of Five Ain't Bad"), their first time playing together since the Use Your Illusion albums in 1991, when the enigmatic rhythm guitarist left GN'R.

The focus for the band right now is finding its voice. For the past four months, the group has been soliciting material to find someone who could not only take over mic duties, but also contribute to the songwriting process. Slash estimated that they've heard about 500 singers, some of whom they've given instrumental material to put vocals on, and if that has passed muster, they've been invited to jam in the studio. Neurotica's Kelly Shaefer, Psychotica's Pat Briggs and Lit's A. Jay Popoff have all auditioned. The short list now includes some six to seven top candidates, none of whom Slash was willing to identify just yet.

"This is f---ing poor man's 'American Idol,' " he laughed. "I'll know it when I hear it. Right off the bat, I'll know. We're just trying to find a really great f---ing rock and roll singer, and it's really hard to find anybody that you'd consider genuine, and it's also somebody who's got to fit in with us. It's not impossible, but it's not easy. It could be somebody known, or somebody unknown, who's just a star and doesn't know it."

Female contenders aren't being ruled out, either, Slash added. "If we got a girl that sounded like Janis Joplin crossed with Joan Jett with a bit of Tina Turner, that would be rocking," he said. "That would be an unprecedented move, because no one would expect that. But just not that many girls have actually applied."

What about Courtney Love, who's got the rock wail down, and might also be looking for a gig?

"It's funny, we were joking about that yesterday," Slash said, "but I just don't see her being into it, all things considered. But you know what? We haven't exhausted that idea, let's put it that way."

So which of the two Guns bands — Axl's version or Slash/ Duff/ Izzy/ Matt's grouping — will be the one to revitalize the GN'R repertoire?

"There's some [old Guns] material we would play, a couple of songs that are really indicative of the real hard rock side of what Guns N' Roses was," Slash said. "But it's in no way, shape or form a Guns reunion, or supposed to be labeled as the original Guns back together to rehash Guns material. We've written up to 60 songs at this point, and we're not really concerned about old sh--."

But for the fun of it, he said, they'd whip out songs such as "Paradise City," "Mr. Brownstone," "It's So Easy" and "Nightrain." "I don't think I'd ever go near 'Welcome to the Jungle' or sh-- like that because it's too Guns N' Roses," he said, "signature material that I think is better left off to Axl to do."

As for the Guns tour kickoff that became a riot instead, Slash said it didn't surprise him (see "Fans Riot After Guns N' Roses Tour Kickoff Canceled: Kurt Loder Reports"). "Nothing surprises me," Slash said. "When he really has all his sh-- together, Axl is brilliant, so it'll be happening. It just takes him a while to get around to it. As far as showing up to gigs? That's all par for the course. We've all seen that movie. What better way to kick off a Guns N' Roses tour than to miss the first gig?"

For the time being, the new songs — and their new voice — are more on Slash's mind. "It's time for another really good rock and roll band," he said. "And we have the perfect canvas to do it on, and we're not going to stop until we get it done. That sounds very valiant, doesn't it?"

Singers can send tapes to Slash, 13636 Ventura Blvd., Suite 434, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.

11.15.02 - Tommy Stinson

Replacements reunion? Stinson says Westerberg blew it

Praising a heavy-metal icon is the last thing one would expect of a punk rocker, let alone local hero Tommy Stinson of the Replacements, whose brand of loose garage rock put the Twin Cities on the map in the '80s.

But apparently praise is all Stinson has for Axl Rose, frontman for the rock outfit Guns N' Roses, with whom Stinson has been playing bass the past four years.

"[Axl] is a lot bigger than I ever really thought about when I got into this," said Stinson, who will perform with the band tonight at Target Center. "He is such a huge star. Even 10 years after the last tour, people are still dying to see him up there. It's really impressive and crazy."

What's impressive is that Guns N' Roses is touring at all. This latest outing marks the band's first major concert series in 10 years, a decade in which pop music styles have whisked swiftly past the era of teased hair with no major releases from GNR in between.

After the huge public exits of marquee guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin, Axl Rose kicked out — or forced out — the remaining GNR roster and withdrew from the public eye, taking on the image of a music producer who had gone the route of celebrity hermit William Randolph Hearst.

When Axl did make it out, he was usually overweight and hairier than ZZ Top, talking about the ever-changing lineup for the forthcoming "Chinese Democracy" album— a lineup consisting of punk bassist Stinson; ex-Primus drummer Brain; Robin Finck, formerly of Nine Inch Nails; and others, including a masked avant-garde guitarist who wears a KFC pail for a hat and goes by the name Buckethead.

With that maddeningly eclectic group (and rumors that the reclusive Rose was a tyrant with whom Interscope Records was locked into a contract), many doubted that Guns N' Roses would go on.

But Stinson, who describes the studio collaboration with the musicians as "magical," tells of a much different experience with Axl.

"I'm probably way more of a control freak than he is," Stinson said in a phone interview. "I know him as someone who's easy to work with, someone I like working with. If I were to compare him to anyone else, I would say he's one of the easier people I've had to work with in my years, you know what I mean... ?"

That not so subtle barb was directed toward former Replacements singer Paul Westerberg, with whom Stinson seems to be publicly feuding.

No doubt, Stinson is still smarting over his former bandmate's recent comments in newspapers and magazines deriding him for joining Guns N' Roses, whose glam-rock image and bloated musical approach seem the antithesis of punk.

In an article in the Star Tribune last week, Westerberg was quoted as saying: "People don't move to Los Angeles to be a musician or a songwriter. They go to be a star. That's what Tommy is doing... "

The remark and others like it haven't sat well with Stinson, who moved to California shortly after his group Perfect went bust in 1997. He began jamming with GNR after mutual friends introduced them the next year.

"[Westerberg]'s gone out on a limb to say a bunch of nonsense that's made me look bad, that's made Axl look bad, that's made him [Axl] feel bad... . It's just lame," Stinson said. "It's really unnecessary, for one. I don't appreciate it, and Axl doesn't deserve any of it."

With a recent Westerberg tour and rumors that his old bassist teamed up with him on the latest Westerberg album, many in the Twin Cities rock community have been hoping for a reunion of the punks who put Minnesota on the map. Stinson's statements, however, don't sound encouraging.

He maintains that he is not in an exclusive contract with Guns N' Roses and can record with anyone he chooses but that a Replacements reunion is now out of the question for both professional and personal reasons.

"This is my priority, and my other priority is the rest of my life. It was never a possibility of doing a Replacement reunion while I was in Guns N' Roses, and I'm in this for a while," he said. "And I tell you right now, there ain't going to be one. As a matter of fact, there will not be a Replacements reunion ever.

"He [Westerberg] blew it."

11.12.02 - Articles

Mixmaster Mike Happy On Board GNR Tour

Pepper spray and riot batons filled the air outside the Vancouver General Motors Place last Thursday night as fans reacted to the cancellation of the Guns N' Roses tour opener. At the time, opening act Mixmaster Mike was safe inside the confines of his dressing room watching a basketball game, but he had a pretty good idea that the crowd wouldn't take the cancellation lightly.

"I could imagine a thousand kids waiting outside forever, you know," Mike tells Billboard.com. "Of course, if you were a kid, wouldn't you be p***ed off?" (As previously reported, GNR singer Axl Rose was said to be stranded at Los Angeles International Airport due to inclement weather.)

Despite such an inauspicious beginning on a high-profile tour, Mixmaster Mike (born Michael Schwartz) is happy to be on board with the new version of Guns N' Roses. Interestingly, the invitation to open for GNR, which was made personally by Rose, has been standing for nearly a year since the singer saw a Mixmaster Mike solo set in Los Angeles. In addition to Mike's wife/manager being good friends with Rose, the DJ is close buddies with a few new GNR members, including guitarist Buckethead and drummer Brian "Brain" Mantia.

For Mixmaster Mike, who also doubles as the Beastie Boys' main DJ, the tour is a perfect opportunity to support his latest solo endeavor "Return of the Cyclops" on Asphodel Records.

"It's a mixture of spaced out spunk, psychedelic scratches and banging moon beats," says Mike. "It's a good record to zone out to if you want to get your mind onto something else or some fourth dimensional travel. You put in 'Return of Eye of the Cyclops' and it sort of takes you into that fourth dimensional state."

The biggest question regarding Mixmaster Mike concerns the future of the Beastie Boys, who are currently on a hiatus. Mike says the New York trio is supportive of his solo endeavors and he hopes they can connect sometime next year and "put something together." While it remains to be seen how the hard rock fans of Guns N' Roses will greet the discriminating hip-hop style of Mixmaster Mike, the turntable master is confident his half rock/half rap set -- in which he'll be sampling everything from Led Zeppelin to Public Enemy -- will further expand his fan base.

"Being with the [Beastie] Boys definitely opened up my fan base on a wider scale, most definitely," says Mike. "And I think opening for Guns N' Roses will spread it out even more. So it's like introducing myself to these people who don't know, but I'm pretty sure some people will know. It's a good thing."

Following the Vancouver debacle, the GNR tour kicked off in earnest last Friday in Tacoma, Wash., and visited Nampa, Idaho, last night (Nov. 11). The tour's next scheduled stop comes Thursday in Minneapolis.

Axl Rose Claims Canceled GN'R Show Could Have Gone On

Axl Rose said the riot-inducing cancellation of Guns N' Roses' tour kickoff Thursday was done without the band's knowledge and he's considering legal action against the venue.

In an interview with Seattle radio station KISW-FM on Friday, Rose said the building manager of Vancouver, British Columbia's General Motors Place prematurely called off the concert without consulting the band.

"My guys found out over the PA system," Rose told disc jockey Ditch.

"The plug got pulled on us," he said earlier in the telephone interview. "We were fully able to meet our commitments, and we don't really understand what happened."

Rose isn't the only one wondering what went down last week. One thing is sure — Rose was not present at the GM Place when the doors were scheduled to open at 6:30 p.m. He was still in the air, en route from Los Angeles, according to his management company, which cited mechanical difficulties with the aircraft as the reason for the delay.

In the interview Friday, Rose never mentioned any mechanical difficulties and implied that he could have made it to the stage in time for GN'R's scheduled 9:30 start time. The concert was called off around 7:30 p.m.

According to a statement issued by Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment, which manages GM Place, the decision to call off the show was made "when it was recognized that the band could not take the stage at a reasonable time."

Rose added that he was having a legal team look into the situation.

When the crowd of thousands got wind that the show was a no-go, several of them began trashing the place (see "Fans Riot After Guns N' Roses Tour Kickoff Canceled: Kurt Loder Reports"). An early assessment of the damage was estimated at several hundred thousand dollars, Orca Bay's statement read.

Calls to the GM Place and Guns N' Roses' Geffen Records spokesperson, asking who was footing the bill for the damages, were not returned at press time.

Ticket refunds were made available at the point of purchase, according to a spokesperson for promoters Clear Channel Entertainment.

11.11.02 - Seattle Review / Video Clips of the show and Interviews of Dizzy, Tommy, Buckethead!!! / New Show Added

Here is a good new review of the Seatlle show from cdnow.

Click here for the MTV interview by Kurt Loder!!

(Click on the audio and video link to the right on this page)

GUNS ‘N’ ROSES TO ATTEMPT WORLD RECORD IN PHILADELPHIA

GUNS ‘N’ ROSES ADDS SECOND DATE IN PHILADELPHIA --- DECEMBER 8 AT SPECTRUM

BAND TO MAKE SHORTEST DISTANCE TRAVELED BETWEEN ROCK SHOWS WHEN BAND PLAYS FIRST UNION CENTER ON DECEMBER 6 AND NEIGHBORING FIRST UNION SPECTRUM ON DECEMBER 8

Guns ‘n’ Roses will attempt to enter the Guinness Book of World Records in Philadelphia, PA, when they become only the second act to play back-to-back shows at the First Union Center (December 6) and trek 758-feet, nine-and-a-half inches across the parking lot to the neighboring First Union Spectrum (December 8). Tickets for the newly added second date go on sale on Saturday, November 16 at 10 a.m.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed back-to-back performances at the First Union Spectrum on September 24, l999, and then moved everything across the parking lot to the First Union Center on September 25, l999.

Arena owners Comcast-Spectacor will once again contact the Guinness Book of World Records for consideration for a new record - “The Shortest Distance Ever Traveled Between Arena Rock Shows.” The record was submitted in l999, however Guinness couldn’t create a category for the record.

Guns N' Roses originally exploded onto the music scene in 1985 with their own ferocious brand of rock n' roll. They were riding a wave of frenzied musical energy, extreme behavior, and thrilling live performances led by the sheer force of nature that was, is and continues to be the legendary W. Axl Rose. In the process they have sold more than 80 million records.

Guns ‘n’ Roses return with the "Chinese Democracy" World Tour, their first full tour since 1993, featuring a full-bang, high-octane "Chinese Democracy" world tour production. Fans will witness the sonic assault of the 'Guns N' Roses experience', that will feature a mixture of classic GN'R songs and new material from their forthcoming album.

Nearly nine years have passed since Guns N' Roses embarked on their last world tour. Fortunately, the most important piece is still in place and for people wondering where Axl Rose has been, he's been busy writing and recording a new album, "Chinese Democracy", that promises to surpass all of his previous efforts. Keyboard player Dizzy Reed has been in GN'R since 1991 and along with Axl is the holdover from the band's previous line-up. New to the fold are three guitarists: Robin Finck, formerly of Nine Inch Nails, guitar phenomenon Buckethead, and Richard Fortus. Rounding out the all-star line-up is bassist Tommy Stinson from The Replacements, a second keyboard player Chris Pitman, and Brian "Brain" Mantia formerly of Primus on drums.

Tickets for the newly added Guns ‘n’ Roses show at the First Union Spectrum on Sunday, December 8, are $35, $45 and $65 and will go on sale on Saturday, November 16 at 10 a.m. at the First Union Center box office and all Ticketmaster locations throughout the Philadelphia-area. Tickets will also be available through Ticketmaster phone charge at 215-336-2000 or online at ticketmaster.com.

11.9.02 - Seattle Article / Vancounver Press Release

According to this Axl blew out his voice because of the bad sound system and it looks like we have another possible release date!

Axl Blows Out Throat, Dons Chicken Bucket For Glitchy Guns Tour Launch


TACOMA, Washington — Crawling from the wreckage of their noisily aborted tour kickoff in Vancouver the night before — which ended in a fan riot and a bloody, club-wielding response by local police (see "Fans Riot After Guns N' Roses Tour Kickoff Canceled: Kurt Loder Reports") — Guns N' Roses came charging into the Tacoma Dome, about 45 minutes outside of Seattle, with considerable pent-up energy on Friday. Unfortunately, there wasn't quite enough of it to entirely overcome some annoying technical obstacles that laid in wait.

The Dome is a boomy place at best; with only about half of its 22,500 seats occupied, as was the case with this show, the resulting sonic wallow often obscured the band's remarkable precision. On top of that, singer Axl Rose's microphone line slowly deteriorated throughout the course of the two-hour-plus set: By the end, his trademark wail was jabbing in and out of the mix so erratically that he started overcompensating, and finished the night (we were told) with blown vocal cords.

These sound problems obscured some of the best efforts of an impressive band. The new Guns N' Roses is a big group — three guitars and two keyboards along with bass and drums — and the level of its musicianship is unusually high. One-time Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson and ex-Primus drummer Brian Mantia propel the band with the requisite bottom-end muscle, but with rare agility, too. Chris Pittman is extraordinarily flamboyant for a guy who traffics in keyboards. And former Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck, who tempers his screaming leads with soulful control, is also a maestro of pure, string-ripping noise.

And then there's Buckethead. You know that a guy wearing a deadpan white mask and a fried-chicken bucket on his head is becoming a serious cult star when a couple dozen fans turn up in the audience sporting KFC headware of their own. And you definitely know the news is out when Axl Rose himself, midway through the old Guns hit "Patience," straps on a little mini-bucket, too. But the really riveting thing about Buckethead — who's a veteran of the avant-funk-fusion scene — isn't his get-up; it's the jaw-dropping precision with which he can tear through a finger-blurring solo. He's super-fast and lyrical at the same time. He also does a robot-dance interlude that has to be witnessed to be fully appreciated.

All of the band's instrumental fireworks (and the show's explosive, old-school pyrotechnics) serve to illuminate the charismatic presence of Axl Rose, of course. His inimitable shriek remains ... well, inimitable — and he can still hold those keening notes beyond what might seem to be normal human ability. He also probably racks up as much non-stop sprint mileage onstage as most frontmen half his age.

Chinese Democracy, the new Guns album Rose has been promising for the past decade, won't be out 'til February. (Yes — so they say!) Therefore, the new band's repertoire is heavily studded with vintage tunes: "Welcome to the Jungle," of course, and "Paradise City." And everybody gets to sing along to "Sweet Child O' Mine," too, and "November Rain," "Live and Let Die," and "Mr. Brownstone." Even "Oh My God." (Well, maybe not.)

But the future of Guns N' Roses lies in the direction of the handful of new songs the group is currently playing: the gorgeous ballad "Madagascar," the gut-shaking "Rhiad" and the monumentally riffed-out "Chinese Democracy" itself. These songs, largely composed by Rose and the whole band (there are "probably hundreds" of others, according to keyboardist Dizzy Reed, probably exaggerating a bit), could sustain the ongoing GN'R project into a new creative era. It'd be nice to have them stick around.

Vancouver Arena Officials Release Statement On GUNS N' ROSES Riot - Nov. 9, 2002

Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment, who operate General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, have issued the following statement in order to "provide additional context and information relating to [Thursday night's] cancellation of the GUNS N' ROSES concert":

"GUNS N' ROSES was scheduled to perform at General Motors Place Thursday, November 7. A decision to cancel this show was made when it was recognized that the band could not take the stage at a reasonable time.

"Disappointed fans, frustrated over the cancellation of the concert, displayed their frustration by vandalizing General Motors Place shortly after the cancellation was announced. The safety of our customers and staff is a top priority at each of our events and we work closely with the Vancouver Police Department to customize a security plan for each concert. The Vancouver Police Department has our full support in prosecuting anyone that broke the law at General Motors Place [Thursday] night.

"An early assessment suggests damage to General Motors Place of several hundred thousand dollars. The repairs are already underway and it is business as usual at GM Place today [Friday, Nov. 8]. There will be no impact on the next scheduled event, which is the Vancouver Canucks – St Louis Blues hockey game on Tuesday November 12."

11.8.02 - Vancouver Show Cancelled, New Axl Interview!!!

NEW Axl Radio Interview! He calls in to KISW to talk about the cancellation!

Also check out these new pics from the VMAs: Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3

Fans Riot After Guns N' Roses Tour Kickoff Canceled: Kurt Loder Reports


VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Thursday was supposed to be a very big
night for Guns N' Roses fans: the long-awaited launch of the group's
first U.S. tour in nine years.

Unfortunately, it never happened. The concert was suddenly canceled,
before the doors even opened, and a riot ensued.

Groups of ticked-off kids converged at the gates of Vancouver's General
Motors Place arena. Fueled, in some cases, by strong drink and
marijuana, they hoisted the long metal security barriers outside and rammed
them through the glass entry doors. They threw bottles and rocks. They
were angry about paying $80 for tickets and then getting blown off, and
they yelled things like, "F--- Axl, I wanna see Buckethead!" (Buckethead
being one of the band's three guitarists, the mysterious guy with the
Jason mask.)

After about 20 minutes of all this, a phalanx of cops waded in with
attack dogs, and things got really ugly. Those fans who escaped the police
onslaught with nothing more than a faceful of pepper spray might be
said to have been the lucky ones. Wielding their riot batons with seeming
abandon, the cops walloped legs, arms, heads, whatever available
extremity presented itself. They ganged up to pummel people even after they'd
fallen to the ground. One young man was smashed in the face and had his
teeth knocked out - he stumbled away in a daze, holding them in his
hands, with blood pouring from his mouth.

Even as the crowd began to disperse, police continued to chase and hit
and kick individual stragglers. As one young woman told a local TV news
crew, "I thought, 'Oh my God, they hate every single one of us.'"

A police spokeswoman on the scene was also interviewed. She said the
crowd was out of control, and described the police response as "a proper
use of force."

Meanwhile, inside the venue, the members of Guns N' Roses were unaware
of what was going on outside. They were simply bummed about the show's
cancellation. Bassist Tommy Stinson, loitering by a backstage buffet
table, said, "Axl is gonna be pissed."

Because frontman Axl Rose was up in the air on a plane as Stinson
spoke, en route from Los Angeles to Vancouver. According to Guns'
management, his flight's departure from L.A. had been delayed by mechanical
troubles. He had been scheduled to take the stage with Guns N' Roses at 9:30
(following sets by two opening acts: the Philadelphia band CKY [see
"Guns N' Roses Handpick Some Jackasses As Tour Openers") and Beastie Boys
DJ Mix Master Mike). When the GM Place managers learned, at around
8:00, that Rose hadn't even arrived in town yet, they called off the show.

The Guns camp says the aborted Vancouver show will be re-scheduled.
Whether or not that'll help dispel the grim vibe surrounding this incident
remains to be seen. The Canadian date was supposed to mark the
triumphant return of a great rock band. It wasn't supposed to go like this.

-Kurt Loder

Thousands of GUNS N' ROSES fans rioted in VANCOUVER last night
(November 7) after frontman AXL ROSE failed to turn up for the opening gig of
the North American leg on their world tour.

According to eyewitness reports, barriers were hurled through box
office windows at the GM Place and police were drafted in using pepper spray
and clubs to disperse the crowd, who pelted them with rocks in return.

According to reports on Canadian site canoe.ca, trouble began after the
doors didn't open at 6.30pm as scheduled, with fans shouting "B.S." in
the queue. An announcement was made at 7.40pm, ten minutes after the
show was due to begin, saying it would not go ahead, and trouble flared,
with windows at the GM Place being smashed and barriers being thrown
through them.

Police were called, and, according to Canada.com, used pepper spray on
the crowd. Fireworks were set off in their direction and rocks hurled
at them from across the car park. The trouble lasted for around an hour.

A spokesperson for the band said Rose's plane was grounded by poor
weather at Los Angeles airport and it was impossible for him to make the
gig. The rest of the band had rehearsed at the venue on Wednesday without
him. The spokesperson said that tonight's scheduled show at Tacoma,
Washington would go ahead as scheduled.

Guns 'N Roses have a history of running late and no-shows. At this
year's Carling Weekend Leeds Festival in August, the band went on stage two
hours late, demanding to be allowed to finish their set – despite the
fact festival organisers can be fined for over-running stage curfews –
with Rose declaring from the stage that there would be a riot if they
were not allowed to play their whole show.

11.3.02 - New Project

A new bloom from GNR veterans

By Steve Hochman, Special to The Times

The Thorns? No Roses?

What would you call a new band featuring Guns N' Roses founders Slash, Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin along with longtime drummer Matt Sorum?

That's a question the four are pondering as they rehearse together, writing new material and auditioning potential singers.

GNR singer Axl Rose kept the Guns N' Roses name for the new lineup he's assembled. Though starting a North American concert tour on Thursday, his new GNR remains in limbo, with its "Chinese Democracy" album chronically unfinished.

The four ex-Gunners, though, are raring to go. They rehearsed a few months ago with former Buckcherry singer Joshua Todd but now seem set to tab Neurotica's Kelly Shaefer as their frontman. John Kalod- ner, a veteran music executive who was key in Aerosmith's '80s and '90s resurrection and has worked with many other classic hard-rock acts, has been advising the ensemble.

Plans are for an album of new material and a tour, presumably featuring some of the same GNR songs that Rose and crew are doing in their shows.

The rift recalls David Lee Roth's exit from Van Halen in the late '80s. At the time, most pundits predicted that Roth would fare better, given his charisma, a prediction that proved dramatically incorrect.

But the circumstances are so different here that predictions are hard to make.

"The difference with Van Halen was that there was more continuity between the time Roth left the band and they brought in Sammy Hagar," says Geoff Mayfield, director of charts for Billboard magazine. "This is almost a decade we're talking about since the last Guns N' Roses album."

Mayfield notes that for all its legendary stature, GNR has not been among the top acts in continued sales impact. Only the 1987 debut, "Appetite for Destruction," has been even close to a regular presence on Billboard's catalog chart, and neither of the twin 1991 "Use Your Illusion" albums, huge sellers at the time, has even appeared on the catalog chart.

Meanwhile, Slash, McKagan and Stradlin all have pursued solo projects with little commercial success.

"They'll have a leg up on other new bands in terms of getting publicity right off the bat," Mayfield says. "But after that, as always, it depends on the music they release."

11.1.02 - New Tourdates

Here are the new dates according to GNRonline, so they should be correct:

12/16/2002 Gulf Coast Coliseum Biloxi, MS, United States
12/19/2002 American Airlines Arena Dallas , TX, United States
12/21/2002 Tingley Coliseum Albuquerque, NM, United States
12/22/2002 America West Arena Phoenix, AZ, United States
12/27/2002 San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, CA, United States
12/28/2002 Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Las Vegas, NV, United States
12/30/2002 ARCO Arena Sacramento, CA, United States
12/31/2002 HP Pavilion San Jose, CA, United States
1/3/2003 Great Western Forum Inglewood, CA, United States
1/4/2003 Great Western Forum Inglewood, CA, United States

10.20.02 - New Tourdates/Freddie Mercury Tribute DVD!!

Guns N' Roses Add Dates And Mixmaster Mike As Opener


Guns N' Roses have added a chunk of dates and an opening act to the North American leg of their Chinese Democracy World Tour (allstar, Sept. 26).

Mixmaster Mike has been tapped as an opener for the entire tour, which has now expanded by 11 dates, including two-night stands in Las Vegas and Los Angeles on Dec. 27-28 and Jan. 3-4, respectively, according to a spokesperson for Mixmaster Mike. The new dates mostly cover the Western portion of the U.S., which had previously been left off the itinerary, and also include a New Year's Eve stop in San Jose, Calif.

One of the new dates, Nov. 22 in Pittsburgh (Mellon Arena), was originally scheduled for Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena). Whether or not that date would be rescheduled was unknown at press time, according to a spokesperson for Clear Channel Entertainment. No reason for the change was given.

The tour, the band's first extensive outing in nine years, kicks off in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Nov. 7.

Here are the new Guns N' Roses dates:

Nov. 22, Pittsburgh, Mellon Arena
Nov. 25, Columbus, Ohio, Nationwide Arena
Nov. 30, London, Ontario, John Labatt Centre
Dec. 21, Albuquerque, N.M., Tingley Coliseum
Dec. 22, Phoenix, American West Arena
Dec. 27-28, Las Vegas, The Joint
Dec. 30, Sacramento, Calif., Arco Arena
Dec. 31, San Jose, Calif., Compaq Center
Jan. 3-4, Los Angeles, TBA

Queen's The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert Due On DVD

The 1992 tribute concert to the late Queen singer, Freddie Mercury, is finally coming out on DVD this winter.

The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, taped in April 1992 at London's Wembley Stadium, is due Nov. 26 on EMI. Along with 20 songs, the DVD features previously unseen footage of the event, the full-length television documentary, and more. Proceeds from the two-disc release will benefit the Mercury Phoenix trust to help fight AIDS.

Queen, meanwhile, was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Friday (Oct. 18) morning.

The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert track listing:

1. "Tie Your Mother Down," Queen, Joe Elliott, and Slash
2. "I Want It All," Queen, Roger Daltrey, and Tony Iommi
3. "Las Palabras de Amor," Queen and Zucchero
4. "Hammer to Fall," Queen, Gary Cherone, and Tony Iommi
5. "Stone Cold Crazy," Queen, James Hetfield, and Tony Iommi
6. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," Queen and Robert Plant
7. "Too Much Love Will Kill You," Brian May
8. "Radio Ga Ga," Queen and Paul Young
9. "Who Wants to Live Forever," Queen and Seal
10. "I Want to Break Free," Queen and Lisa Stansfield
11. "Under Pressure," Queen, David Bowie, and Annie Lennox
12. "All the Young Dudes," Queen, Ian Hunter, David Bowie, and Mick Ronson
13. "Heroes," Queen, David Bowie, and Mick Ronson
14. "'39," Queen and George Michael
15. "These Are the Days of Our Lives," Queen, George Michael, and Lisa Stansfield
16. "Somebody to Love," Queen and George Michael
17. "Bohemian Rhapsody," Queen, Elton John, and Axl Rose
18. "The Show Must Go On," Queen and Tony Iommi
19. "We Will Rock You," Queen and Axl Rose
20. "We are the Champions," Liza Minnelli and all

10.16.02 - Show Info

It appears GNR have added a November 30th show in London Ontario at the
newly-opened John Labatt Centre. I think this replaces the Uniondale show. Most of the shows that are not on sale yet go on sale on 10.19 and the last two on 11.2.02!

10.14.02 - Show Info

The following shows are on sale on 10.19.02 at 10am with presale on 10.16.02:

11/22 Pittsburgh Mellon Arena

12/8 Wilkes-Barre First Union Arena

12/9 Washington, DC MCI Center

TORONTO TICKETS ON SALE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2002 @ NOON
Tickets available at all Ticketmaster Outlets, Air
Canada Center Box Office (No First Day Sales)
Or charge by phone (416)-870-8000
Or order online at www.ticketmaster.ca or www.cc.com
TICKET PRICE (Incl. Tax & CRF): $75.00, $50.00 &
$40.00
Same day draw policy in effect • 8 Ticket Limit

10.13.02 - Gilby / Slash

New Gilby Dates:

Thu 10/17/02 Farmingdale, NY Downtown

Fri 10/18/02 New York, NY Don Hill's

Sat 10/19/02 Passaic, NJ Connections

Sun 10/20/02 Springfield, VA Jaxx

Fri 11/01/02 Santa Monica, CA 14 Below

Sat 11/02/02 Newport Beach, CA Hogue Barmichael's

Check out this new Slash Interview with total guitar UK.

10.10.02 - Tickets / New Band

The following dates are now on Sale on ticketmaster:

11-Nov Boise, ID, Idaho Center Arena (ticketweb)
14-Nov Minneapolis, MN, Target Center
15-Nov Fargo, ND, Fargodome
19-Nov Columbus, OH, Nationwide Arena

NEUROTICA Frontman Teams Up With Former GUNS N' ROSES Members In New
Band -

NEUROTICA singer Kelly Shaefer (formerly of prog-thrash legends
ATHEIST) has been tapped to front the new band featuring former GUNS N' ROSES
members Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Matt Sorum (drums), according
to Slash's official fan site, www.snakepit.org. Details are sketchy at the
moment, but it appears that Shaefer and the former Gunners made the
hook-up during the down time following NEUROTICA's U.S. tour as part of Ozzfest
2002 and are currently working on the material for the band's forthcoming
debut album, due sometime in 2003. Kelly is expected to remain a member of
NEUROTICA, who recently parted ways with Smackdown/Koch International
Records and are said to be in the process of seeking a new record deal.
NEUROTICA's next live performance will take place on October 31st at Club Diamonds
in Bradenton, Florida.

10.7.02 - Single?

Rumors are strongly leaning towards a new single to be released in the next few weeks, let's hope it happens!

10.4.02 - GNR US Tour!!

Ticketmaster has listed several more shows on their site, check it out because the presales are coming up soon!!

Here is the link for the Vancouver show, the presale begins tomorrow!

Check out this old Rolling Stone interview with Axl Rose from 1992!

Camp Freddy, a group featuring Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, Guns N' Roses and Cult drummer Matt Sorum, guitarist Billy Morrison, bassist Scott Ford and drummer Donovan Leitch, will play a pre-Halloween show on October 30 with a public show at a to-be-announced location in Hollywood. Guests and other surprises are expected.

9.30.02 - GNR US Tour!!

The Guns N' Roses Madison Square Garden show in NYC is Sold Out!!! Check back soon for more on sale dates very soon!

9.27.02 - GNR US Tour!!

GUNS N' ROSES ANNOUNCE FIRST NORTH AMERICAN TOUR SINCE 1993!

Guns N' Roses originally exploded onto the music scene in 1985 with their own ferocious brand of rock n’ roll. They were riding a wave of frenzied musical energy, extreme behavior, and thrilling live performances led by the sheer force of nature that was, is and continues to be the legendary W. Axl Rose. In the process they have sold more than 80 million records. And now, they return with the “Chinese Democracy” World Tour. Their first full tour since 1993!

North America will be the setting for the World Premiere of GN’ R’s full-bang, high-octane “Chinese Democracy” world tour production. Fans will witness the sonic assault of the ‘Guns N' Roses experience’, that will feature a mixture of classic GN'R songs and new material from their forthcoming album.

Nearly nine years have passed since Guns N' Roses embarked on their last world tour. Fortunately, the most important piece is still in place and for people wondering where Axl Rose has been, he's been busy writing and recording a new album, "Chinese Democracy", that promises to surpass all of his previous efforts. Keyboard player Dizzy Reed has been in GN'R since 1991 and along with Axl is the holdover from the band's previous line-up. New to the fold are three guitarists: Robin Finck, formerly of Nine Inch Nails, guitar phenomenon Buckethead, and Richard Fortus. Rounding out the all-star line-up is bassist Tommy Stinson from The Replacements, a second keyboard player Chris Pitman, and Brian "Brain" Mantia formerly of Primus on drums.

The band are fresh from the first six dates of the “Chinese Democracy” World Tour in China, Japan, Europe, and the U.K., where they set attendance and merchandise records at Tokyo (Chiba Marine Stadium-35,000 plus), Osaka (WTC Stadium-25,000 plus) and Leeds (Leeds Festival-52,000 plus), as well as their explosive and much talked-about appearance at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards in New York last month.

Following the launch of the World Tour in China, fans flooded the online website of England’s New Musical Express with hundreds of messages enthusing about the gig, including the following:

"I’ve just witnessed some kind of phenomenon, the most intense and remarkable two hours of my life. I have been to countless gigs but never before have I been so totally overwhelmed and engulfed by such an awesome performance as tonight. This band is going to take the world by storm, they are simply amazing. As musicians, there is no band ever that has the talent of this one, and as for charisma every member is a superstar.

"The highlight for me though was Mr. Axl Rose. He looked young and healthy and his voice was stunning, he will go down in history as the greatest frontman ever, he was totally awesome and should be commended."
Prior to the band’s performance in China, W. Axl Rose conducted a brief interview with the band’s official website www.gnronline.com and was asked how he felt about speculation as to whether or not Guns N’ Roses would actually be performing. His reply was as follows:

"To the ones who are negative and want to see either myself or the new band fall on their faces, personally I can't pass up an opportunity to upset so many of them in one quick swoop. I get misty-eyed just thinking about it. I feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside! But seriously...this is our tour. This is a collection of performances I've agreed to. That I have personally authorized not someone else's good intentions gone awry or a reckless promoter's personal agenda. These shows are important to us and for better or worse we'll be there. For those who've had my back and are down by us with even a modicum of understanding we hope to give you our best, and look forward to seeing you on this little intro jaunt."

Axl and Guns N’ Roses gave their best and delivered big time for the people of China, Japan, Europe, and the U.K.

Now it is North America’s turn!

Current North American itinerary is as follows. More dates will be added soon. All dates are subject to change:

11/7 - Vancouver, BC @ General Motors Place
11/8 - Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome
11/11 - Nampa, ID @ Idaho Center
11/14 - Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
11/15 - Fargo, ND @ Fargodome
11/17 - Moline, IL @ Mark of the Quad Cities
11/18 - Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena
11/19 - Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena
11/21 - Auburn Hills, MI @ Palace of Auburn Hills
11/22 - Lexington, KY @ Rupp Arena
11/24 - Cleveland, OH @ Gund Arena
11/26 - Buffalo, NY @ HSBC Arena
11/27 - Albany, NY @ Pepsi Arena
11/29 - Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
11/30 - Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum
12/2 - Boston, MA @ FleetCenter
12/3 - Harford, CT @ Hartford Civic Center
12/5 - New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
12/6 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Union Center
12/8 - Wilkes-Barre, PA @ First Union Arena
12/9 - Washington, DC @ MCI Center
12/11 - Greenville, SC @ Bi Lo Center
12/13 - Tampa, FL @ TBA
12/14 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ TBA
12/19 - Biloxi, MS @ Miss. Coast Coliseum
12/21 - Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center

Keep checking ticketmaster for onsale dates/times. Several of the shows are on sale now and going fast! More dates are expected to be added soon!

9.24.02 - GNR US Tour!!

GNR is playing in New York City at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 5th!

9.23.02 - GNR US Tour??

Looks like dates are slowly coming out, hopefully we will hear an official announcement soon!

GN'R in Boston 12.2.2002! WBCN just announced this on the air. Tickets on sale 9/28 at 10 am.

Two more shows from clear channel:

11/18/2002 Allstate Arena Rosemont IL On Sale 9/27/2002

12/6/2002 First Union Center Philadelphia PA On Sale 9/28/2002

9.21.02 - GNR

Robert John is selling some GNR pictures, check out this article for the links.

METALLICA's LARS ULRICH: 'I've Always Had A Soft Spot
For AXL ROSE' - Sep. 18, 2002

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich has refused to join in on the incessant
Axl Rose bashing that has been going on since the "new" GUNS N' ROSES made
an appearance on MTV's Video Music Awards late last month.

In a brand new Q&A video posted online at the "Jump In The Studio"
section of METALLICA's official web site, Ulrich offers his opinion of GN'R's VMA
performance and the imminent return to the music scene of one of rock's
most eccentric frontmen.

"In the last two weeks, there's been a lot of Axl bashing going on in
various places," Lars stated. "I'm psyched that Axl's back. I've always liked
GUNS N' ROSES. My perception was that Axl was pretty psyched to be back on TV
and back in front of an audience, because he had a lot of energy — maybe a
little too much energy. [James Hetfield chuckles in background] But I
thought the band sounded good, and what I heard of that new song sounded pretty
interesting. I've always had a soft spot for old Axl. So no Axl bashing from
me."

9.15.02 - Slash

Slash Unites Gn'R Vets

Guitarist aims to lead new rock movement by looking back

Axl Rose may have declared "Round One" at Guns n' Roses' recent performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, but Slash is getting ready for Round Two. "I'm doing a fucking record with me, [bassist] Duff [McKagan] and [drummer] Matt Sorum," the former Gn'R guitarist said this past weekend at the San Diego Street Scene festival, where he was on hand to pay tribute to Jimi Hendrix. "Dave Pusher is playing guitar right now, and we got the baddest fucking, be-all, end-all rock & roll band."
The as-yet-unnamed band ("If I had a name, I'd tell you," Slash says) is now in the process of looking for just the right vocalist to perfect the ensemble. "There are no rock & roll singers out there right now, and you know it as well as I do, except for the guys who have been around a long time," he says. "As far as new bands, there's not one. If I knew one, I probably would've stolen him by now.

"When Billy Idol goes ballistic, that's the kind of singer I want all the time," Slash continues. "There's nobody I've listened to since before Guns came out or anytime in the Eighties who's been like that, except for Billy. He's one guy who when he belts it out would be good at it."

As for being selective about rounding out the band with a vocalist, Slash needs to be choosy if he hopes to achieve his lofty ambitions. "I want to be the guy who spearheads the next rock & roll movement; I've done it before, so I want to do it again."

In the meantime, Slash is happy spending time as a new dad. "We just had a baby ten days ago," he beams proudly. "His name's Glendon, nine pounds, four ounces. He's only ten days old, but he's got a cool personality. This is the first time I've been away from home since he was born, so I've called home like six times. And as soon as the gig is done, I'm going home."

9.10.02 - Izzy/Gilby

Izzy's new album is available on cdnow as an import.

I also added some new Gilby dates above.

9.8.02 - More News

Here are some good new Pukkelpop pictures thanks to Jasper!

Guns N' Roses will begin a 40-plus date North American arena tour in late October in the Northeastern U.S., according to sources. This will be the band's first full-blown U.S. tour since playing 29 shows in 1993 that grossed $13.7 million. The group successfully toured Japan and Europe this summer and made a surprise appearance last night (Aug. 29) on the MTV Video Music Awards, performing the new song "Madagascar" amid old favorites "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City."

A new album, "Chinese Democracy," has been in the pipeline for years but is still unfinished, Rose said immediately after last night's performance. "You'll see it, but I don't know if soon is the word," he admitted. "How do you make a whole bunch of guys into something that already was, and with this intensity of these players wanting to play this material?"

The group now is comprised of Rose, guitarists Buckethead, Robin Finck, and Richard Fortus, drummer Brian "Brain" Mantia, former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson, and keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman.

8.30.02 - GNR at MTV Awards!!!!!!!

Guns N' Roses suprised everyone by playing the show closer at the awards tonight!! They did a medley of Welcome to the Jungle > Madagascar > Paradise City !!! It was awesome.. catch a rerun this week!!

Axl Rose Says GN'R Waiting Game Won't End Soon


Guns N' Roses perform at 2002 VMAs

"You'll see [the album], but I don't know if 'soon' is the word." — Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose


Axl Rose brought Guns N' Roses back to the MTV Video Music Awards Thursday night for the first time in 10 years, but the frontman indicated that the wait for a new album from the band will continue. Click here for the complete 2002 MTV VMA Winners List.

"You'll see [the album], but I don't know if 'soon' is the word," Rose explained to MTV News immediately after unveiling the current GN'R lineup to an American television audience for the first time.

"It will come out, and we'll do some more recording and start the American leg of the tour," he promised.

Thursday night's VMA performance marked GN'R's first since 1992, when the band performed "November Rain" with Elton John (see "Guns N' Roses Cap Night Of Spectacles From Diddy, Eminem, Timberlake"). The band remained largely off the map in the decade that followed, shedding members and bringing in fresh blood. Axl and his current lineup — which includes drummer Brian "Brain" Mantia, former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson and guitarists Buckethead and Robin Finck — have been working on an album, Chinese Democracy, for years.

"How do you make a whole bunch of guys into something that already was, and with this intensity of these players wanting to play this material?" Rose said of the delay.

So while Guns N' Roses may be back on the airwaves, they may not be back in record stores any time soon.

8.29.02 - Sept. 11

A Rockers' Candlelight Vigil
Former members of Guns N' Roses reunite to recognize Sept. 11.

"And you thought rockers didn't care: On Sept. 11, the Viper Room will
hold a rock 'n' roll candlelight vigil, with performances by Loaded and
an all-star band featuring Guns N' Roses' Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt
Sorum. Proceeds go to the West Hollywood Emergency Fund. Rock on...."

London Review by Laura E:

London, August 26th 2002 :

First of all, I would like to point out that I never had the chance to see the old line-up live, but at least I can make comparisons with other bands I've seen over the years, and I can assure you that this Guns N' Roses v. 2.0 is definitely killer! My friend, who saw them in Paris in 92, was very impressed too.

We arrived at about 1pm and collected our tickets at the box office. Then we sat on the ground in front of the entrance and got ready to queue for 5 hours. The wait was long, but it paid off! After a veritable trench war to get into the venue (the security was quite badly organized), we managed to secure a position a bit right of the center in the second row, which enabled us to grip the barrier.

At 19h05, Weezer started their set 25 mn early. That was weird, but we weren't about to complain. The show was pretty cool, but of course some hecklers had nothing better to do than chucking bottles and other stuff at them. I don't think they were hit directly, but it's a shame because they are big Axl fans and it might give them a bad impression of the GN'R audience. Well, nevermind. After Weezer had finished, that is after some 45mns, GN'R roadies started to set up the equipment. It was quite impressive, especially the lights which were awesome. There were also three giant screens behind the drum kit. The stage was very well laid-out : for example, the piano was under the drum kit which was thus raised and gave us a very good view of Brain. At 20h50, the lights were finally turned off and the crowd went bananas! The screens showed the same intro than in Rio and Las Vegas, the extract from The Exorcist 3. We were located just in front of the backstage curtain, and during the intro my friend told me he had seen Axl and that he was wearing a white shirt and a red bicycle short. I thought he was mistaken, but it turned out afterwards that he was right. A few seconds later, the band was on stage playing the opening chords of "Welcome to the jungle". Huge pressure in the crowd, better cling to the barrier! The poor girl in front of me must have gotten totally crushed. So, I'm gonna try to remember the setlist in the right order. I can't guarantee it 100%, but it should be close to reality :

Jungle : I must admit I can't say much about how this song was played, I was too busy trying to survive ;-) Quite a few pyros.
It's so easy
Mr Brownstone
Live & Let die : big explosions and pyros. That one was particularly well played.
Think about you : it's nice hearing that song the old line-up never played.
You could be mine : this time, they didn't ruin the intro as they did in Rio.
Sweet child o'mine : that one was very well received by the audience of course. As an intro, Robin played a short solo that sounded improvised and didn't really appeal to me to be honest.
Knockin' on heaven's door : a la Bob Dylan like in Rio.
Out to get me
Chinese democracy : seemed to be well received by the crowd. It sounds really good live. It was visually impressive, there were huge flames shooting from the sides and the rear part of the stage throughout the song. The least I can say is that we weren't cold at that moment ;-)
Madagascar : obviously one of the public's favourites among the new tracks. The first solo has changed since Rio.
Rhiad & the bedouins : almost unrecognizable; the vocals sounded quite similar but the music has changed a lot. Very loud 3-guitar-attack. HUGE.
Buckethead solo : as usual , he did his show with nunchucks and robot dancing. Then he played a theme from Star Wars. Original.
November rain : no comment, it was magical. As an intro, Axl played very fast piano solos. He stopped and turned to the crowd who started to yell, then played and stopped again. He did that 5 or 6 times. He looked very happy during that song, it was nice to see.
The blues: I don't think that one has changed much since Rio. It seems to be appreciated by the audience too.
Buckethead solo 2 : accoustically played , it bordered on country music. Nice.
Rocket queen
Patience : at one point, Axl went to the right side of the stage and started shaking his pants up and down, which left me scratching my head. Then he disappeared into the backstage area, and when he came back he began nonchalently unbuttoning his pants and pulled them down saying "it's too hot in here" or something. At that moment, I saw that he was indeed wearing a red bicycle short underneath. I also noticed he had a large bandage around his right thigh. Then he continued singing and dancing with his pants around his ankles for about two minutes. There was a general laughter in the crowd. And oh, a detail exclusively for the girls : yes, he still has beautiful legs ;-)
My Michelle
Nightrain : awesome, they really master this song.
Encore
Robin solo 2 : better than the first one
Paradise city : what can I say? Breathtaking pyros, explosions everywhere and at the end , litterally tons of red and yellow ticker-tape were dropped on us, I had some stuck all over! Awe-inspiring finale. Show ended at about 22h50.

A few comments on each member :

Axl : true to himself, in top form, I can't fault him with anything. He was running around like in the good ol' times. What struck me compared to 10 years ago when he seemed to hate the entire world, is how calm and confident he looked. He was very relaxed and joked with the audience a lot. He was wearing a white football jersey with the number 80, leather pants and large shoes of the Caterpillar style.
Robin : weird as usual, the front half of this head was completely shaved, he was wearing a white satin suit and a kind of black tie. He moved a lot, but wasn't quite as mad as when I saw him with NIN.
Buckethead : a bit isolated on the left of the stage, he wore a black suit and his usual KFC bucket. Really strange.
Tommy : well, I must admit I'm very biased in favor of Tommy. He seems to be cool and moves around a lot, looks like he's having a lot of fun and seems very close to Axl. He wore a white shirt and chequered trousers.
Richard : I had heard good things about him, and that was totally justified. This guy is a killer showman, I was gobsmacked! He plays guitar very agressively, I thought he was gonna break it in two at any moment! He was wearing a black shirt and leather pants. And the Izzy-lookalike thing is really striking.
Brain : I couldn't really see how he was dressed, but I could certainly hear him! I think the drummers are the kind of musicians you notice only when they make mistakes, and I didn't notice anything, so he must have been good :-)
Dizzy & Chris : Dizzy was headbanging like a madman during the whole show, and for once Chris wore a normal outfit. Unfortunately I couldn't hear them very well.

Miscellenaous comments :

The things shown on the screens were pretty cool, even though I was only taking a brief look now and then. During Madagascar, there were rather esoteric images, such as the pyramids of Egypt, an isolated tower above the sea...During "Rhiad", the content was almost political, with images of the Arab world, mosques, Palestinian people....During "You could be mine", car races....Sex stuff during "It's so easy" and "Rocket queen". And finally, shots of London during "Paradise city". By the way, Axl ended the show shouting "God save the queen!".
Axl talked a lot to the audience. He poked fun at a journalist from the NME for calling him fat. He said "So...I learnt...that I'm as big as a house..Well, if I'm a house, maybe I should start charging that guy some rent for living up my ass!" or something to that effect, lol. He also mentioned that the next album was gonna contain 18 tracks, and that none of the 6 already known songs would be singles! I had trouble hearing this speech because of all the morons constantly yelling aound me.
Axl was in a really good mood : at the beginning, he asked us how we were doing, and then said "I'm doing good too, thanks for asking". At one point, he borrowed a KFC bucket from a guy in the crowd and wore it on his head for a brief moment. At another, he wiped the front of the stage with a towel between his feet.
While we waited in line, a guy was passing along a large welcome back card for Axl. I don't know who he was of if he managed to give it to Axl. We both wrote a short message, only 100 or so people had this privilege!
There were constantly dozens of people swarming around the merchandise store. They had 4 types of shirts, 2 of which were new since the shows in Asia : one with a dragon leaning on the globe, the other with the British flag in the background, that was only sold on English dates.There were also coffee mugs and bandanas.

On the whole, I have very few things to complain about : in my opinion, the show featured too much "Appetite" stuff and not enough "Illusions" stuff, I hope this will change. Maybe the new songs should have been more scattered in the setlist, not massed together in the middle. And finally, I thought the volume of Axl's mike was a bit weak sometimes.

In closing, I would like to say that the thought of old members never crossed my mind, although I've been a fan for 10 years! This new line-up is extremely tight, they seem to get along well and are technically almost faultless. I would go see them again in a heartbeat. Long live Guns N' Roses, I'm looking forward to the release of "Chinese democracy"!

8.28.02 - Slash / Axl

Congratulations Slash!!

Slash's wife gave birth to a 9 lb 4oz baby boy today. His name is
London Emilio Hudson, and he's said to have his Daddy's curly hair.

Check out this picture of Axl from Summersonic!

London Review by James:

What a frickin' amazing show! Let me start off by saying that this was
the first time I've seen GNR live so I'm in no position to argue
whether or not they were better than any past incarnation of the band - but I
have to say I prefer my Rio 2001 CDs and video to any other GNR
bootlegs I have so I concede I am biased towards Axl's new (fresh) line-up.

Got to the Arena at about 2.00pm and there was already a small queue,
some guy had a large card on which he was inviting people to write a
message for Axl but I never got the chance to ad my two cents! By the time
they let us in at about 6.30pm my feet were bloody killing me. The
crowd had swelled by this time and I did notice a huge number of Brazilian
flags about - those folks really do love GNR! I also saw Buckethead in
the queue! Well, a guy in a near perfect Buckethead outfit (quite a few
people wear carrying KFC buckets with them). Onr thing - that queue
sure did smell of 'funny' cigarettes...

When they finally let is us I was amazed to see that we were among the
first into the arena and so were lucky enough to secure a place almost
on the barriers - the stage was no more than 10ft away from me and so I
had a bloody brilliant view of the entire show!!! Weezer came on at
7.00pm (30 minutes earlier than scheduled - did this mean Axl would be
early...?!) and played for about 50 minutes. I'm not a big fan but did
sing along to the only two tunes I knew: the 'Hep Hep!' one and the 'Buddy
Holly' one. Weezer were good, but the crowd wasn't there to see them
and it's a shame that a few arseheads let them know this by chanting
"F*** OFF" and throwing bottles at the stage (I'm sure the Axl of old would
have said something about this when he came on - but 2002 Axl didn't)

At around 9.00pm (30 mins late, if you believe the lead singer of
Weezer had told us) the lights dimmed and George C Scott's Exorcist "Slime!"
voice boomed out over the Arena and the place went absolutely frickin'
bonkers!

The stage in Docklands Arena is quite small, maybe about 80ft across
and 30ft deep so I had a great view of everyone. Axl didn't look fat at
all - I think his hair looks stupid with those braid things in and he
has the eyebrows of a serial killer but he looks like a frickin' rock
star! In all seriousness if I saw him in a bar I'd avoid him cos' he does
look like a mean motor scooter. He wore a bandana (blue paisley I
think?) heavy duty boots, black leather trousers (pants) and a white US
football top with the number 80 on it and the name 'RICE'. He didn't change
his outfit during the entire set, never even took his shirt off,
although he did drop his trousers to his ankles during You Could Be Mine! (or
was it Patience?).

I was directly in front of Buckethead. He started off in that yellow
jacket but later changed to black. He also wore a "severed hand" glove
for a few songs. There was no tombstone near him but he did have
'funeral' printed on his bucket. He was (after Axl) the best part of the show.
His guitar playing was awesome and he freaked me out by staying
motionless during the tracks until it was his turn to play! He did his
breakdance/nunchuck solo (two people caught a set of nunchucks each) and
during his guitar solo he played the main theme from Star Wars and what I
think is called "Luke's theme" - crowd loved this!

Next to Axl and Buckethead the other band members had a hard time
registering on my radar. I couldn't see Brain behind his drums and Dizzy,
Tommy, Chris and the New Guy just seemed to 'be there' if you know what I
mean. Robin Finck is hard to miss though. He was dressed in a white
shiny sort of clown suit costume. He looks like Ben Affleck from close-up.
I never saw him smile once. His guitar solo seemed to be a bit boring,
I got the impression he was just improvising and I don't think it
worked - he's no match for Buckethead!

The band played for about 1 hour 45 minutes. The setlist was the usual
one but without Silk Worms or Oh My God which I found disappointing. I
was amazed at how fresh the Appetite songs sounded (I put that down to
Buckethead, his style really does add something to what are perfect -
Slash's! - guitar parts in the first place). Every track sounded great
although I though Rhiad fell flat on much of the audience, as did
Madagascar and The Blues. I love those two songs but I think they are more
suited to CD tracks as opposed to live performances. The Blues was played
a lot slower than I've heard before. Chinese Democracy went down a
storm though!

The three video walls were used to great effect. Apart from the generic
death and horror imagery I also remember drag racing during You Could
Be Mine, Buckingham Palace and a Union Jack during Paradise City, Pam
Grier and Elvis during Rocket Queen, and a 50s Japanese robot cartoon
during Bucket's solo! 20ft high flames, explosions and a massive
ticker-tape 'rain' at the very end added to a great evening.

Axl was quite talkative throughout the set and it was great to see him
smile and joke too. He had a go at the NME (more than once) for saying
he was "as big as a house", had a go at people who say because they
play the same "new" songs all the time they're the only ones ready - he
said they play them because they're the ones that are NOT being
considered for singles. He said the album would be "18 tracks and 10 extras" and
that "when the record company feels that record had run it's course
there were be ANOTHER album and so on".

Other things I remember ... a couple behind me throwing a soft toy on
stage and almost exploding in cheers when Axl picked it up and put it on
his wrist ... Axl ending the show by shouting "God Save The Queen" -
hope he was being sarcastic!...some wanker near me trying to barge his
way to the front only to be beaten up by some pissed off dude!...Axl
playing a comedy piano tune before Rain...Axl being told by Finck that
because he hadn't spoken for over 5 minutes his talk about the NME wasn't
technically a rant!

All in all the best gig I've ever attended by a long, long way!
Merchandise was quite sparse, I got a mug and had two of the five T-shirts
that were on offer. I also managed to sneak off a few photos which should
be quite good as I was so close to the stage. More on them another day!

James, UK

8.27.02 - NME Article

GUNS N' ROSES KNOW THEIR NME!

GUNS N' ROSES played their first show in LONDON since 1992 at the
DOCKLANDS ARENA last night (August 26) — and NME was the subject of
two onstage comments from AXL ROSE!
Early in the set, which ran to two hours, Rose commented on the
NME.COM review of the band’s performance at the Leeds leg of the
Carling Weekend Festival, which stated that he looked "as big as a
house". Said Axl: "If I’m as big as a house, maybe I should start
charging rent. Some pussy ass writer at NME owes me rent — for living
in my ass!"

However, Rose later took a time out to thank NME for its glowing
coverage of Guns 'N Roses’s comeback gig in Hong Kong on August
14. "That was nice," he remarked.

Rose also provided details on the band’s long-delayed studio
album, ‘Chinese Democracy’, promising that it would include 18
tracks, with "10 extra tracks "on top of that". He added: "Just
because we’ve only played five or six new songs, people think there
mustn’t be any other songs on the album. Au contraire, mon frère!"

He went on to vow that once the album had run its course, the band
would "do it all over again", and maybe then think about a more
albums — "as long as Uncle Axl doesn’t act the asshole!"

Four new songs featured in the band’s stunning 19-song set,
including ‘Chinese Democracy’, ‘Madagascar’ and ‘The Blues’. The new
songs were rapturously received by the capacity crowd of 12,000, as
were Guns N' Roses classics such as ‘Welcome To The Jungle’‘, ‘Sweet
Child O’ Mine’, ‘November Rain’ and ‘Paradise City’.

With no further live dates scheduled, Guns 'N Roses will now return
to the studio to complete work on ‘Chinese Democracy’.

8.26.02 - Docklands / Oh My God Remix!

Download a remix of Oh My God here! (fan remix)

----------

Intro
Welcome To The Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Live & Let Die
Think About You
You Could Be Mine
Robin Finck solo
Sweet Child O' Mine
Knocking On Heavens Door
Out Ta Get Me
Chinese Democracy
Madasgascar
Rhiad & The Bedouins
Buckethead - Nunchucks & Star Wars solo
Axl Piano Solo
November Rain
The Blues
Buckethead solo 2
Rocket Queen
Patience
My Michelle
Nightrain
-----------
Robin Finck solo 2
Paradise City

Here is a review of the show from Luis:

Its half midnight right now in London and just quickly
logged in to see if someone had mailed something but
looks like i've got here first.

Firstly I was one of those who had a ticket for the
two previous GNR shows that were cancelled at the
London Arena so I was skeptical right up to when the
opening chords of WTTJ came out. Anyway about the
show:

Weezer opened and warmed up the crowd a bit. The lead
singer said something about how GNR were the real deal
and loads of other bands have just been GNR rip offs.
He got the crowd's approval. He also stated that we
were all in for a "treat"..."I know what I'm talking
about as I've seen it"...

When Axl came on it was like the lid off a pressure
cooker had just been lifted. The crowd went mad. I was
one of those right at the front and its fair to say my
feet hardly touched the ground during WTTJ, ISE and Mr
B. Axl was on form, in a great mood wearing black
leather trousers and a baggy sports top with the
number 80. The crowd were awesome and sang and jumped
to every word and note that was played. Axl cracked up
the crowd by coming to the lip of the stage after
Brownstone and saying "I know, I know, I'm as big as a
house". To be fair I thought he looked in great shape.
His voice was out of this world.

Someone on here mentioned his vocals on LALD and KOHD.
Totally agree. Me and my mates were gobsmacked at how
powerful Axl's voice was. He was in a great mood all
night, he had a pop at NME for writing a negative
review about Leeds (which was posted on here). He then
joked "Oh no, was that a rant...(then spoke to Tommy
Stinson)...no no it wasn't, I've just been told it was
too short to be a rant".

He seemed to have a lot of fun. As for the songs I
can't tell you the order precisely but he played 5 new
songs, including The Blues (AWESOME), Madagascar (the
crowd loved) and Chinese Democracy. All of Appetite
was played apart from Anything Goes. He played NR,
YCBM, LALD, KOHD from the Use Your Illusion sets.
Highlight for me was Nighttrain, what a phenomenal
version. Anyway better wrap up, sorry for going on but
hope you guys find this informative.

One thing Axl did mention was the new album. He said
that some of the songs they were playing aren't even
being considered for the album. He said the new album
would have 18 new songs, plus they have 10 other
songs, so "by the time the record company release the
second group of songs, and we do this all over again,
who knows? Maybe I will have finised the 3rd album".
That got huge cheers and it sounds like the album will
be released pretty soon.

I'll wrap up by saying that I criticised Axl and the
"new" Guns N' Roses but I was BLOWN away tonight.
Richard Fortus is Izzy in disguise but with more
energy on stage, he's awesome. Buckethead is just a
guitar freak, absoluely brilliant. All great musicians
who have definitely brought their own style to Guns N'
Roses rather than just be an imitation. Can't wait for
the new album, can't wait for the tour that follows
the album, can't wait to see Axl put all these current
bands to shame. No doubt in my mind, I've seen
Hetfield, Jagger, Robinson, Tyler live. Hadn't seen
GNR for 9 years but there is no doubt in my mind,
there is no frontman that even comes close to Axl, no
frontman who gets the reaction from a crowd he can
get. What a show!!!! I'll be sleeping with a grin
tonight...:-)

Luis

8.25.02 - Pukkelpop!

Here is the Pukkelpop setlist:

- intro video
1. Welcome to the Jungle
2. It's so Easy
3. Mr. Brownstone
4. Live and Let Die
5. Think about You
6. You could be Mine
7. Sweet child O' Mine
8. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
9. Out Ta Get Me
10. Madagascar
11. Rhiad & The Bedouins
>> Buckethead Guitar Solo (Nunchucks / Star Wars theme / Pirates of the Caribbean)
12. Chinese Democracy
>> Piano solo (Axl joked with the audience)
13. November Rain
14. The Blues
15. Patience
16. Rocket Queen
17. My Michelle
>> Buckethead Guitar Solo
18. Nightrain
.: Encore :.
>> Robin Finck Guitar Solo
19. Paradise City

Pukkelpop Review by Jasper:

Hi Guys,
Here's a quik review of the Pukkelpop show.
After 3 days of rain, mud and music, with excellent shows by Dj Shadow,
...And you will know us by the trail of dead, 16 horsepower and the dj
set
of Simian, the climax came at Saturday night, with the long awaited gig
by
GNR. During 16 horsepower, GNR arrived at the festival in style: by
helicopter.
At the end of 16 horsepower, most of the hardcore GNR fans already went
to
the front of the stage, including me. This got me a place front stage,
standing to the front fence/barrier, so there was no one in front of me
except the security. I was right in front of where Buckethead was going
to
play.
We had to see the set by the Stereo MC's and Suede, who ended at 22:20,
20
minutes late. After that, a lot of people worked on the stage to get
the
stage set up for GNR. Lots of security, firemen and Vlamish Cross
people
walked by, preparing for the show by GNR.
The show was supposed to start at 23:00, but since Suede stopped 20
minutes
too late, it came as no surprise that GNR was going to be start later
then
23:00. A few people in the crowd lost consciousness, since the crowd
was
pushing a lot during the waiting. Through the walkthrough under the
stage I
could see Buckethead running around backstage, already wearing his
bucket
and black windjacket.
Finally, at 0:06, the intro-tape started, and Axl, Robin and Buckethead
came
onstage, with Robin playing the intro to WTTJ. Axl was wearing a black
football shirt, with the number '80' on the back, and was wearing some
sort
of black leather trousers. Later he changed the Bladk shirt for the
same
shirt, only difference was that it was white. The words on the back
were
'Rice'.
Richard was wearing checked trousers and a black 'vive le rock' tshirt.
Buckethead a black windjacket, black trousers, and the bucket with a
sticker
that read 'funeral'. I couldn't see what Brain was wearing, and I
forgot
about Robin and Dizzy. Dizzy had hair extensions, some with color. Same
for
Axl, they're not dreads, more like twines (if that's the correct word).
Tommy was wearing a green/brown shirt, and Chris had a hooded jacket.
The place went nuts, with everyone around me was singing along. During
the
solo, you could see from the way Buckethead moved his head, that he
looked
at me. This was what I expected, since I bought the largest KFC bucket
available at KFC, and was wearing it on my head all day.
Axl, Tommy, Robin and Richard were obviously having a great time, as
they
were smiling a lot. of course, Axl was running around a lot, and his
voice
sounds really great. Someone already posted the setlist, which is
correct. I
have the first half of it, it was 2 pages long (Jungle,Easy,
Brownstone,
Live & let die, Think about you, You could be mine, Sweet child,
Heavens
door, out to get me, Rhiad, Madagascar). Chinese Democracy was not
played,
and we didn't get to see the cover of the album.
Buckhead did 2 solo's, the first one with the ninja sticks and the Star
wars
tune, and the 2nd one with the country & western thing.
Some notes:
-During LALD, there were big fires behind Dizzy, Brain, and Chris.
-Between songs, there was a lot of 'Guns n' roses!!' chanting going on.
There weer also some people chanting 'slash', but axl didn't say
anything
about that.
-The left side of the stage was slippery, one time Axl almost fell. He
then
slipped a couple of times, which he found pretty funny seeing the smile
on
his face. following this, 3 guys came on stage with towels.
-Axl was joking a couple of times between songs, but we couldn't hear
him
since he spoke softly (probably to the other guys on stage).
-During one of the first songs, a guy managed to get on stage, danced a
bit,
and was removed from the stage by the security. Axl was on the left
side of
the stage at this time.
-Before November rain, Axl did the same piano-joke as in Leeds (and the
corwd cheered too, which made Axl smile).
-During November rain, the same visuals as during the UYI tour were
displayed.
-During Madagascar there were some nice visuals as well, mostly from
churchlike buildings.
-Axl danced with Bucketheads doll, the one that lies behind Buckethead.
After that, he threw it to the roadie of BH.
-shortly after that, BH did his 2nd solo, picked up the doll too, put
it on
top of his shoulders, played on, picked up the doll again (it fell
down),
acted as if he was going to punch the doll, and then kicked it
backwards
against the mikestand.
-During Nighttrain, Axl was too late to get back on stage, so the band
played the same part over again, without a break.
-Brain didn;t fuck up YCBM. his only 'mistake' was that he hit one of
the
cymbals a split second too early, but that's all in a 2 hour concert.
-Richard was really rocking, it looked like he had a great time.
Buckethead
was really cool most of the time, except during nighttrain.
-buckethead threw his first pair of ninjasticks to me, but the guy next
to
me got it, along with me and 2 securityguys. the securityguys got it
after
some struggle/wrestling.
-At the end of the concert, Axl stood in front of me, looked at the
bucket
on my head, smiled, and gave me the peace sign. very cool!
-lots of confetti and fireworks during Paradise city. At the end, Axl
said
that he would be back.
-Famous Belgian singer Tom Barman (singer of dEUS) stood in front of me
(between the barrier and the stage) before the concert, and gave me a
compliment about the bucket.
-A friend of mine was able to make some pictures, I will send the URL
to
this list ASAP.

This was one of the best concerts I've ever seen, and everyone was
really
impressed by the band. Hopefully the album will be out soon!

cheers,
Jasper (from Amsterdam, Holland)

Axl greased and ready to roll

- If their new tour is any indication, Guns N' Roses are not on a
nostalgia trip. The band, writes Dominic Patten, looks set to smoke the
competition

For years, like Elvis, there have been sporadic sightings and reports
that they're alive. And, like the King with his 1968 comeback special,
that they're back. Well, after almost 10 years of rumours, lawsuits and
recording, Guns N' Roses, the all-time Sunset Strip bastards, poets,
princes of rock 'n' roll, have climbed back in the ring.

And, ladies and gentlemen, they are ready to rumble.

Reports are it's a knock-out punch in the first round.

"I may have just witnessed the best rock concert I've ever seen in my
life," wrote Ken Lau, on a fan-site message board, after the GNR show
on
Aug. 14 in Hong Kong. Frontman Axl Rose, in a statement released just
before the band's Chinese Democracy tour started, reflected, "It's a
dream realized. A dream come true." Another fan who saw the Hong Kong
gig said: "This band is going to take the world by storm, they are
simply amazing."

Yesterday, GNR swung into the U.K. to headline the Carling Festival in
Leeds, and on Monday it will be playing in London. The tour, says Rose,
"is going to go off and on for the next two or three years."

This is not a band on a nostalgia trip.

In fact, frontman Rose is the only original member of the band. And
while Axl and the new guys, including former Replacement bassist Tommy
Stinson, and the mysterious Buckethead on guitar, are playing a lot of
the old stuff, last week's gigs reveal that they're poised to smoke the
likes of Nickelback, the Strokes, Eminem and Korn, and show them that
giants do still walk the Earth.

To achieve its endgame, GNR is mixing it up with a strategically
planned
rolling comeback of sorts. First, there was the release of the Live Era
double album a few years back, thereby clearing the decks for the new
stuff. Oh My God, featured on the soundtrack to the Arnold
Schwarzenegger flick End of Days, signaled the hard-hitting but new
technological direction the band was going. Reviews were mixed, but
interest proved high.

"The curiosity factor is huge," says Tara Sloane, lead singer of
Canadian rockers Joydrop. "We're all dying to know what Axl's been
doing
in his basement."

Bootlegs of the new songs, performed during the band's two New Year's
shows in Las Vegas and its appearance at Rock in Rio III, have been
circulating the Net for months. And the new tunes, especially in the
case of the songs Chinese Democracy and Silkworms, are equal if not
superior to the band's older stuff.

If GNR has a hit on its hands, and if it doesn't self-destruct,
industry
executives are hopeful that the much-delayed new album, Chinese
Democracy,could prove the savior of the floundering music business.

GNR, unlike the Rolling Stones, the shameless Who, and the irrelevant
Pearl Jam, might just be entering its second decade more vital, more
daring and just plain better than it ever was before.

The band has been part of the cultural lexicon for so long that it's
easy to forget that in the dim days of Don Henley, late 1980s' protest
pop, GNR's major-label debut, Appetite for Destruction,took the world
like a force out of the Bible.

The disturbing power ballad Sweet Child of Mine sent the album to the
top of the charts. Appetite went on to become one of the best-selling
debut albums of all time, shipping in excess of 14 million copies
Stateside alone. Sure some of it seemed a bit contrived and
melodramatic, but years later, you realize that it was almost all
killer, no filler.

"It was the first record," says George Stroumboulopoulos, host of The
New Music, "I ever bought with a parental-advisory sticker on it -- and
I had to have that record."

Some thought the excessive band's success was a case of too much, too
soon. In 1989, opening for the Rolling Stones in L.A., GNR went through
a very public nervous breakdown on-stage, with Axl admonishing fellow
band members for their drug use. And then the band played an amazing
show, as if their demons were fuelling more than their addictions.

Afterward, Axl and GNR rhythm guitarist Izzy Stralin came on-stage with
the Stones for a rendition of the rarely played Stones tune Salt of the
Earth, and almost effortlessly rendered Mick Jagger a sideman in his
own
band.

After that it was five long years of madness -- touring, drugs,
marriages, therapy, busts, riots, the Use Your Illusion double album,
more touring, accusations of racism and homophobia, band members
leaving, band members rejoining, and hired hacks. Until finally the
whole thing seemed to be an endless lunge for the top cog on the star
machine. And yet, as they proved time again, when everyone showed up
and
they felt like flexing a bit of muscle, GNR could on any night be the
greatest rock 'n' roll band of all time. Along with 50,000-plus other
fans, Ladisu Lago, now a host on Canada's TeleLatino, saw the band in
Mexico City in 1992. "It was an amazing experience," she states, "we
all
loved them."

Feeding off that devotion, GNR created the blueprint: sleaze and
glitter
on a surface of barely controlled rage with hooks to burn. Charges of
misogyny, though almost laughable when one reads the lyrics of most
hip-hop hits today, can't be denied. But the thing to remember about
GNR, and the partial secret to its success, is that, at one time or
another, the band hated everyone. It's a unique form of populism, but
it
is perhaps the purest.

However, by 1992 the success of Nirvana and the rise of grunge, as well
as hip-hop's emerging cultural dominance, was not proving immediately
forgiving to GNR. Suddenly, against the bands of the Pacific Northwest
-- many of whom had played with GNR bassist Duff McKagan when he'd
lived
in Seattle -- Guns N' Roses looked like the bloated, humourless
dinosaurs they had given the boot to only a few years earlier.

The Use Your Illusion tour lumbered on. The band released The Spaghetti
Incident, a cover album featuring the songs of the Damned, the Dead
Boys
and, stupidly, Charles Manson. Soon Slash, Duff and Izzy all released
solo albums, and it was generally conceded that it was over. The obits
were written, but the glory remained. "They left with their legacy
intact," asserts Stroumboulopoulos, "which is more than can be said for
a lot of those bands that became the punch line to every Beavis and
Butthead joke."

And week after week, Appetite for Destruction, Lies and Use Your
Illusion keep selling regularly.

Like a combination of Howard Hughes and the Beach Boy's tragic genius,
Brian Wilson, Axl seemed to hide behind a veil of lawsuits, isolation
and studio time. And in GNR's absence, there have been many pretenders
to the throne, but no real contenders.

Only Rammstein, with its German theatre metal, and Queens of the Stone
Age have come close to approaching the drama, dogma and raw power of
the
Gunners. But neither have had the massive popular appeal or the record
sales.

And those sales figures are not incidental to the legend. With a fairly
constant philosophy of "follow, lead or get the hell out of my way,"
Axl
Rose, knows that the only way to come back is to return large.

"When it comes to Guns N' Roses," noted Rose in his statement of last
week, "I may not always get everything right, but I do have a good idea
about getting things from point A to point B, and know what the job is
we have to do." He has retained ownership of the band name, dumped the
deadwood, and is mastering the technology. Celebrated players and
producers, like techno whiz Moby, have been summoned, their usefulness
downloaded, and then shown the door. The record company has been stared
down and told to wait until the record is truly ready.

The timing for Chinese Democracy, claims Rose, is "right -- we've
sorted
it down to what songs are on the record, what the sequence of songs
are,
the cover art is ready." On-stage last week, Axl showed a picture he'd
come across of Guns N' Roses spray-painted on a Beijing street. That,
he
told the crowd, would be on the cover of the album. They lapped it up.

In The Last Tycoon, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote: "There are no second
acts
in American lives."

GNR seems prepared to prove the great chronicler wrong. Spin magazine
recently voted Appetite for Destruction the greatest metal album of all
time. Ticket sales for the tour are swift. The show and the new band is
hot. And coming up to 40, Axl Rose remains one of the great rock stars,
roaring and stalking the stage. And, like a high roller, he's playing
to
win.

"To the ones who are negative," says the singer, "and want to see
either
myself or the new band fall on their faces, personally, I can't pass up
an opportunity to upset so many of them in one quick swoop."

It's combat. Like the lyric says, "Welcome to the jungle -- time to
die."

The King, and Col. Parker, would have been proud.

8.24.02 - Leeds!

Guns N' Roses bring Leeds to its knees!

There's only one band that could so effortlessly make underdogs of The Prodigy, and bully the promotors into jeopardising the already delicate future of a festival, so that they can perform a full set in light of technical delays. GNR play until 1am!

Despite a line-up that would rank as exceptional, without their presence (Incubus, Slipknot, Puddle of Mud, The Offspring - The Prodigy's first English appearance since 1998!), there was but one band dominating the proceedings at the first day of the Carling Weekend: Leeds Festival 2002. From the t-shirts, to the campsite stereos, to the abundance of bandanas and top hats in the crowd, to the backstage gossip to the comedy tent banter, the entire site was overshadowed by a heavy fog of anticipaction.

Indeed, this marked the first UK appearance by Guns N' Roses for nine years, and represented the unveiling of an all-new line-up. The Leeds site was packed to bursting point with people of all ages wanting to be a part of this momentous event - from the die hard nostalgia junkies to the new metal kids (who pilfered their big brothers' record collections to hear this stuff, in the same way that their big brothers nicked their dad's Led Zeppelin), to the plain curious who simply wished to see if there is life after Slash.

From the moment the band arrived, the show effectively began, as the cavalcade of no less than eight police-escorted black stretch limosines cruised onto the site, disappearing into the expansive sealed-off 'GNR only' area occupying half of the backstage compound.

Due to 'technical difficulties' they took the stage an hour and a half later than schedule, kicking off with a short film intro at 11.30pm (the normal curfew time for the event!). The set was virtually identical to that of the recent Hong Kong shows, relying heavily on material from the Appetite for Destruction, with the inclusion of 2 new songs, 'Madagascar' and 'Chinese Democracy', title track from the forthcoming album. Rose was notable for his lack of costume changes (he donned black leather trousers and an American football top throughout) and his voice which was more consistent and controlled than ever. The new band added a slick new sheen and professional tightness to the older songs.

The controversy kicked off mid-way through the set, when Rose announced, "Looks like this is going to be an interesting night. I have just been informed by Leeds city council and the promotors [Mean Fiddler] that they want me to end the show [due to the time constraints resulting from the earlier delays]. Now, I don't want to be accused of inciting a riot, but I didn't come all the way to England to be told to go home again! I've had nothing but shit from the press here. Axl this, Axl that. Anyway, if you stay here, we'll keep playing and we'll see what happens".

With the festival's future at this venue already in jeopardy, due to local campaigns that nearly prevented its licence this year, the promotors were instantly thrust into a very difficult position. In 1992, riots broke out in St. Louis (Rose was charged with incitement) and Montreal after GNR cut their sets short.

Obviously, it was decided that pulling the power just wasn't worth the risk, and Axl subsequently announced, "They're going to let us carry on. I want to thank whoever was responsible for that".

Rose reacted to a Virtual Festivals crew member's chants of "We want Slash" by quipping, "Up my arse, that's where Slash is. Fuck off, go home". The band eventually left the stage after 1am - unheard of for a British Festival.

The full set list was:

'Welcome To The Jungle'
'It's So Easy'
'Mr. Brownstone'
'Live And Let Die'
'Think About You'
'You Could Be Mine'
'Sweet Child O' Mine'
'Knockin' On Heaven's Door'
'Madagascar'
'November Rain'
'Out Ta Get Me'
'Rocket Queen'
'Chinese Democracy'
'Patience'
'Nightrain'
'Paradise City'

Here is a fan review:

Dont Damn Me reports:

I don't know where to start so I will just make random points about the
show while there still fresh in my head.

The show was amazing and GNR were extremely well received I was only a
couple of people away from the very front and everyone in the crowd
around me sang the words to every song - it was @#%$ amazing, the best
night of my life.

1) The singer from the Offspring said something on stage about AXL but
I
missed it.

2) Madagascar - trust me the Rio bootleg does not do this song justice,
live it was a @#%$ epic, there is so much going on that you just can't
hear on the Rio version.

This was the highlight of the show, it made the hairs on the back of my
neck stand up, I was totally blown away.

3) Axl was wearing exactly the same clothes as in the Hong Kong Gig,
why
does he wear t-shirts that are 5 sizes to big?

4) KOHD, Axl has this new thing where he holds the mike about 2 feet
from his mouth and does this amazing high pitched scream, it sounded so
awesome during this song.

5) Richard Fortus on rhythm is a total natural live, he looks just like
Izzy and was putting 100% into the whole show.

6) Fink was a lot more animated than in RIR he was stomping all over
the
stage, and to my surprise so was BH during Paradise City.

7) 'Up my ass, that's where Slash is, now go home!' - ~Axl quote

8) They only played 2 new songs Madagascar and The Blues

9) Before November Rain Axl played this kind of comedy tune on the
piano, he kept stopping and looking at the crowd, who were cheering,
with a big grin on his face.

10) At one point the crowd wouldn't stop cheering, the section I was in
was just shouting AXL, AXL, AXL in unison, he said 'stop, your're
embarrassing me'.

11) The stage didn't have loads of TV's etc spread around like in Rio,
infact I would say that the Prodigy (who were good live just a bit over
dramatic) had a better stage setup.

12) When BH did his solo - which was damn good, a guy with a monkey
mask
was dancing around on stage.

13) When BH played the solo at the end of November Rain he had a
severed
head on top of his bucket.