hennemusic If you’re in the Los Angeles-area Friday night, the Rock 'n' Roll place to be has to be The Roxy.
Camp Freddy are on hand to help ring in the New Year; the band is made up of Matt Sorum (Velvet Revolver), Billy Morrison (Billy Idol), Donovan Leitch, Steve Stevens (Billy Idol) and Chris Wyse (The Cult).
Camp Freddy have played a hat trick of killer shows this month at the club, as part of their annual Christmas residency.
New Year’s Eve, Camp Freddy will crank things up ten notches with a huge lineup of special guests (or is that a special lineup of huge guests?), including Lemmy from Motorhead, Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols, Billy Duffy of The Cult, Gilby Clarke, Cherie Currie of The Runaways, Franky Perez of Scars On Broadway, and ex-Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler.
Camp Freddy regular Dave Navarro won’t be on hand for the festivities ... but you can be:
General Admission tickets are $60.25 each. All you can drink tickets are also available for $111.50 (well brands) and $214.00 (premium brands) each. For further details, call The Roxy Box Office at 310-278-9457.
"I got the tattoo first, I had a friend design it because I just felt that no matter what happens with this band, where it went, what we sold or (if we) broke up, changed, whatever, or (got) any other members, that at that time, it was the most important thing.
And it's like, I like tattoos and I wanted something that would always remind me of what was once there, a symbol of it. And so, I got this cross tattoo here. And then Geffen liked it so much, we decided to use it for a cover."
icon vs. icon Legendary guitarist Slash (Velvet Revolver, Guns N' Roses) has just released iTunes Session, a six-song collection recorded exclusively for iTunes. The effort, which features Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy, contains the following tracks:
1) Back to Cali 2) Communication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin cover) 3) Fall to Pieces 4) Rocket Queen 5) Starlight 6) Sucker Train Blues
via Blabbermouth Duff had sinus surgery on December 14 to repair his torn and damaged sinuses left non-functional as a complication from years of cocaine use.
In the latest installment of his column, which appears on Reverb at SeattleWeekly.com, McKagan writes, "From sometime in 1989 until about November 1993, I snorted perhaps my body weight in varying degrees of good, bad, and straight-up shitty blow. I don't recommend this to any of you young readers. I was NOT such a smart 20-something. Nope, just an ordinary drug-addict.
"I remember trying to glamorize all my drug and alcohol use back then. I would romanticize my life and my struggle as something noble and just. I was an ARTIST, maaan! I NEEDED to dull myself to certain inputs or else my art would suffer. Yep, before I knew it, I was strung-out and terrified. Crappy stuff.
"Someone asked me about this stuff a while back, and 'what are your kids gonna say when they start to party?' Some people ask me these things in an almost bellicose way, as if suffering through my kids' drug-abuse issues would be just payback for what I have done to myself. Hopefully, I was a big enough idiot in my time that I have filled the dumb-ass quota for my whole family. God, I hope so."
Duff issued a statement last week addressing rumors that he had gone back to drug use, following the news that he had sinus surgery. McKagan wrote online, "Thank you all for the very nice well-wishes regarding my sinus surgery recovery. I do want to make it clear for those of you who may be wondering . . . The surgery was a result of scar tissue build-up from my cocaine use which ended sixteen years ago. I have not relapsed on cocaine."
McKagan told The Pulse Of Radio not long ago what the best part of sobriety was for him. "Waking up every day," he said. "Waking up and being able to have a cup of coffee and be aware of what's going on around me and being comfortable in my own skin, and being curious about what's gonna happen that day. Simply, just waking up is the best thing."
McKagan said in a recent interview that when he moved back to his hometown of Seattle in 1993, before getting clean and sober, he was in such bad shape that he didn't think he'd live much longer. He recalled. "The house had a basketball court and an old, leaky roof. I never thought I'd use the basketball court. And I remember thinking that the cedar-shake roof that I put on the house, rated to last 25 years, would outlast me. Today it's looking old and somewhat worse for the wear. I guess I do too. To hell with how I look from the outside — I'm giddy just to be here."
via Blabbermouth Fan-filmed video footage of Gilby Clarke's December 8, 2010 performance at Petecos in Buenos Aires, Argentina can be viewed below.
Clarke has issued the following recap of his just-completed South American tour:
"South America — what a great trip this was...
"It didn't start out great when I got a call the week before that Dave Langguth (drums) broke his ankle and couldn't make the tour. I called Dennis [Morehouse] and he changed some gigs around and was able to do it. So off to Paraguay we went...
"Now I've played Paraguay before; the fans were great and the production team was first rate.
"On these tours, we always play with rental gear and my band has pretty simple requests when it comes to backline, but in the States they never have what we need and always have an excuse why they can't provide it. So what a surprise that Paraguay had the best gear of the whole tour. Brand new Marshalls, classic SVT's and a killer kit.
"Next up was Argentina for three shows and a house party for a radio listener winner. I knew it would be special when I got off the plane and there was a welcoming party of girls.
"The El Teatro show kicked ass. I met the local Hell's Angels chapter president and my doppelganger. But the second show we went on at 2:30 a.m. at Petecos and that pissed me off.
"After the Rosario show, we had to drive a couple hours back to Buenos Aires to catch our flight to Brazil where I met the American ambassador and did a meet-and-greet with the boys and girls club in Sao Paulo. The show was another packed house and good thing, cuz' last time it was half-filled.
"We stayed up all night again to catch our flight to Chile, so we were a lil' beat when we arrived. The promoters took pity on us, since we've been up for two days straight and let us cancel the press conference.
"The show in Santiago was crazy... I hadn't played there since 1994 when I opened for AEROSMITH, so I was surprised when the show sold out. Of course, we only had a couple hours sleep again to catch our flight to Bolivia...
"I know this sounds like a broken record, but I didn't book the flights, my agent did, and they should know you play at 1 a.m. in South America, so don't book flights at 7 a.m.!
"Anyway, Bolivia was killer, except I could barely breathe 'cuz of the altitude. The mayor gave me a certificate and the key to the city as a token of their appreciation. (that we rocked the house) so I'm sure we'll be back soon.
"South America has the best music fans in the world and are very passionate about good music. Can't wait for the next tour!"
Clarke suffered three broken bones in his left foot/ankle and a broken bone in his right foot in a hit-and-run accident on his motorcycle on January 10. He had his second surgery in early February during which "they put in a rod, plate and lots of screws," he wrote on his blog.
DailyStar 010 confirmed again that GNR are a far cry from the iconic rockers they once were. Axl Rose and his hired clowns arrived late for their Reading Festival appearance. When organisers pulled the plug on their performance because they over-ran, paranoid big baby Axl staged a sit-in and slated organisers. Their arena tour also started late. Apparently Axl needs a nap before shows these days. Bring back Slash and Duff.
http://gulfnews.com/arts-entertainment/music/a-rose-is-still-a-rose-1.732139 When Axl Rose and the boys burst onto the stage on Thursday night in Abu Dhabi, you could have already worked out that they were going to rock Abu Dhabi. What you couldn't have known, was just minutes before they set the stage alight, legendary rocker Rose was sipping tea while chatting to tabloid!.
"We better get out there before they tear the house down," said Rose tipping his head acknowledging the gathered crowd cranking up the volume.
"I'll be blaming you. You know that," he added as the entire group broke into laughter and headed off for the show.
According to his manager, Doc Mcghee, Rose has not given an interview for 14 years.
"I don't know what you've done, but you did something right," he said expressing his utter surprise that the red-haired singer was willing to talk.
Media-shy
The American rock star has been notoriously media-shy (read anti-media) since the implosion of the original band — the hitmakers behind seminal rock songs such as Sweet Child O'Mine and Paradise City. Rose even wrote the song Get in the Ring about his disgust for the media and all the lies he claims journalists and publications printed over the years.
But this week was different and as he politely asked for "any kind of tea" from a member of his crew, he settled into his chair and prepared to open up.
As with every good story there's always a bit of drama. You see this story almost wasn't told because while tabloid! knew Rose was in town, it was also made clear, initially, there would be no interview (as has been the case for the past 14 years). You can therefore understand why a desperate chase across Yas Island (in flip flops) swiftly followed when "that'"call came in to say he said "yes".
"There is a lotta rockin people out there," said Rose looking almost nervous [replace the word rockin with any swear word to get the full effects of the interview]. "Oops, is it bad to say that?" he added before quickly changing the subject.
"I played in the Middle East once before," continued Rose needing no prompt. "It was for about 50,000. It was insane. We've been trying to come play again since so tonight is gonna be wow. A lot of rockets and bombs. We're excited we try to go all out," he said ahead of the sell-out gig, the last of the Flash Entertainment-organised Yas Arena Show Weekends.
‘Pride'
"For me one of the really cool things is I don't have to get on at everybody in the band. Hey do this, do that, you know. Because they're excited. Everybody takes a certain amount of pride in what they do. Plus they all get on at each other about it anyway. Everybody goes out there and tries to give everything they can. And we stay out there a couple hours more, you know, until we feel the crowd is happy. Or until we feel like we've done a good job. It's kinda like going to the gym or something, you know, you don't leave until you feel like you're supposed to."
There's a slight pause before all four members burst out laughing. "It's just hard to get in the gym," Rose eventually concedes. "Yeah they won't let me smoke on the treadmill," added guitarist DJ Ashba still laughing.
South America, Asia and just off the back of more than 40 gigs across Europe, Guns N' Roses is off to Russia next saying the diversity of an audience never fails to amaze them.
"I think it's a lot to do with the material from the past and a hell of a lot to do with the heart that was put into it then," said Rose his fingers covered with giant rings, each with a new plaster covering the finger underneath.
Heart
"But if we weren't putting the heart into it now, if I wasn't putting my heart into it, the fans, they're not gonna let me get away with it. We have to live up to something, have to work a bit harder because you're living up to the legend or a myth or whatever," he said, deep in thought. "It's more pressure when you're playing to live up to myth."
Guns N' Roses formed in 1985, a time when Rose insists things were very different when it came to restrictions regarding performances.
"In the club days, like '88 and '89, you could fall off stage and that was OK. Then it turned into I can't dive off but other bands can. I'd be doing everything I can not to fall off. I always see the tape on stage. The glow in the dark tape on the edge. I remember when they didn't have it at the LA Coliseum when we opened for The Stones. When the lights went down, I went down."
Multi-cultural crowd
Stopping to listen to the fans getting progressively louder, Rose said he was looking forward to playing to a multi-cultural crowd.
"The diverse crowd aspect is actually the most interesting part for me because I think that pretty much sums up why the Guns catalogue has stood the test of time," he said, still with an ear on the fans.
"It crosses genres, it crosses religious lines, you know. It's music that people can relate to. That there is such a diverse crowd out there it makes it a lot of fun." Looking up from under the dark lenses of his aviators, Rose broke a smile. "We've crossed a few lines for certain," he said. "And we'll continue that."
- January: As Axl tore into his latest world tour and into a new decade, the first controversy was not far around the corner in what proved to be one of the most eventful GN'R years in history. Axl made his way through Canada, allegedly banning any Slash gear or paraphernalia from the shows. This led to a war of words between the fans and eyewitness accounts, and would ultimately lead to Dexter's return.
- February: The North American leg of the tour comes to a close with Axl exploding back onto the forums to request madison's presence in the ring. Madison was later de-modded from her position at mygnr, and inter-forum debates began about the morality and fairness of the rant. You can still view it here. Questions were raised over the motives, Axl and Beta's influence and whether or not priviledges were given to Eric Romano(admin of mygnr) in return for madison's removal, though he claims the two incidents were unrelated. Axl also announces two surprise acoustic gigs, and following these shows announces the partnership of Guns N' Roses and Doc McGee management, an annoucement that Doc McGee would later challenge.
- March: South American Leg proceeds, and proves to be the most successful of the 2010 tour. World-renowned music video director Dale "Rage" Resteghini announced his new collaboration with Axl Rose, to document and shoot stills for the band's current South American tour. The partnership fell apart, with Richard Fortus citing that it simply didn't work out. Meanwhile, Slash releases the first single "By the Sword" from his solo album. March was rounded off by two more major annoucements. One being that Guns would be headlining this years Reading & Leeds Festival, and the other that former manager Irving Azoff would be suing Axl Rose.
- April: A lackluster month for Axl as Guns play three shows in Central America. On the other side of the fence, Slash releases his solo record and embarks on the talk show circuit. Duff McKagan appears onstage with Jane's Addiction for the first time.
- May: Axl Rose slams Irving Azoff with a counter-suit worth $5 million, claiming that the former manager tried to implement a scheme to force him to reunite with the original Guns N' Roses band members and, as part of the plot, failed to properly promote the Chinese Democracy album, lied about a prospective Van Halen super tour and mishandled the band's tour dates. Axl ends the month with the beginning of the European tour. GunsNFNRoses was founded in this month.
- June: Both Axl and Slash shred through their respective tours, with Slash announcing the first in a line of live albums.
- July: Guns take a summer break from touring, though announce their only USA appearance of the year in Sturgis.
- August: Widespread panic was caused in mid-August as an Axl tweet reading "All upcoming Guns N' Roses dates are officially cancelled. Please contact your place of purchase for any refunds," threw the tour, the band, and the fans into chaos. Speculation led to rumours of Bumblefoot's departure following a dispute over late starts, particularly at Sturgis, though this was later denied by Bumblefoot himself. The camp claimed that no shows were cancelled, and that Axl's twitter had been hacked. This was never proven, and only one tweet has been made since. Guns have their set cut short at Reading after a late start, despite prior warning from the festivals promoters, leading to an onstage sit-down protest. Pro-shot footage from the show was shown on the BBC for the songs "Welcome to the Jungle," "This I Love," "Street of Dreams" and "November Rain."
- September: September kicked off with one of the biggest incidents of the year, now known as the Dublin Incident. When the band appeared on stage nearly two hours late they were welcomed with a chorus of disgruntled boos from the crowd, leading a few members of the audience to throw plastic cups and bottles towards the stage. Axl stopped the show at the beginning of the second song to warn the audience, "one more bottle and we go home." Less than twenty minutes later another bottle found its way on stage and Axl kept his promise, storming off stage leaving the audience bewildered for over half an hour. Following an alleged dispute backstage with promoters, Axl eventually came back on stage and finished the set, glued to the spot into the early hours of the morning.
- October: In a rare positive story in 2010 for Guns, Duff McKagan joined the band onstage in London for four songs, becoming only the second Gunner to do so (Izzy Stradlin performed with the band in 1993 and 2006). The surprise sparked reunion rumours, and was deemed one of this year's feel-good Guns stories.
- November: Confusion over the new album is further emphasized when Dj Ashba told fans they would not have to wait long, and that things were definately in the works. However Bumblefoot soon responded that fans should not hold their breath, and that they have not written any new material as a band. By the end of the month, Axl sued the makers of Guitar Hero for $20 million.
- December: *under construction* Tour ends in Abu Dhabi.
ARTISTdirect Q: What happened with Jane's Addiction? --T
Duff: I do believe that I have answered this one somewhere out there in an interview. But to be sure, I will touch on it again.
Last year at about this time, I was asked by Perry if I wouldn't want to come in and lend a hand in the writing of a new Jane's record. I was and AM indeed honored.
We started that process, and the rumors started to swirl, ebb, and flow to the MAX! I was just trying to keep my head down the whole time and do that band as much service as I could. They are great and gentle men, all of them. A nicer group of dudes would be hard to find.
Alas, the time came for me to depart and get back to my thing, which is Loaded all the time, writing my book, developing a new business, and the ever-present hunt for a VR singer. The press blew the whole thing out of proportion to begin with, and in the end I was left to try and explain my way out of a situation that was just so simple. Creative guys . . . getting creative.
via Blabbermouth Duff McKagan is undergoing surgery on his sinuses after he developed a hole (perforation) in the cartilage of his nasal septum as a complication from years of cocaine use. His wife Susan writes on her Twitter profile, "[I] am thankful and blessed my man is alive today! Kids, don't do drugs! Say a prayer for Duff as he's getting surgery on his sinuses (a hole the size of a quarter from years of abuse). We must live and learn how lucky we are for our health and family and friends. Love you, Duff."
Duff was forced to comment on speculation he’s back on drugs – after news led people to believe he’d started using cocaine again. He insists he hasn’t started using again, and has thanked fans for their goodwill.
“Thank you all for the very nice well-wishes regarding my sinus surgery recovery.
I do want to make it clear for those of you who may be wondering… The surgery was a result of scar-tissue build-up from my cocaine use which ended sixteen years ago.
I have not relapsed on cocaine.”
Susan McKagan says that Duff has "Third Degree" burns on inside of his nose.
Duff revealed in a 2004 interview that he was forced to give up his hard-living lifestyle after encountering serious pancreas problems. He said, "I was drinking a gallon of vodka a day, doing cocaine, any pill I could get my hands on, heroin. And on May 10 1994, my pancreas exploded. The pain was like in the war movies, where they say, 'Kill me. Put me out of my misery.' I got out of the hospital, and I started riding my mountain bike; I was shaking so bad I didn't know what to do. The first day I rode for, like, eight hours. I didn't want to be static, or else I would think about drinking. Then I met Benny The Jet, my sensei. He saved my life, got me kickboxing. It's pretty much the most intense workout there is. I face everything in the ring that you face in life. Now I work out six days a week — kickboxing, lifting weights... I'm an extreme person. When I did drugs and drank, I was extreme, and when I go to the gym, it's not just to fuck around."
In a 2009 interview with Classic Rock Revisited, Duff stated about his sobriety, "I had a relapse on pills in 2005. It came out of nowhere. It was because of all this bullshit. Xanax was prescribed for me. I was supposed to take one if I had a bad panic attack. I had them in my bag and that was my first mistake. I took one, and the next day, I took two. In only nine days, I was up to 22. That is what guys like . . I do."
"Leave Me Alone," "Seven," and "The General" could also feature on the new album. These three A-listed songs were worked on by Marco Beltrami, especially "Seven," which Marco deems as the best of the three songs. It has also been reported that Marco worked on a fourth track, "Thyme." However, this song was not worked on subsequent to Marco's work in October 2002. (Jeff Leeds)
Last year Brain had this song called "The General" that was really cool... (Dizzy Reed)
One of my favorite songs is this song called "The General, which is ... by far the heaviest metal tune I think ive ever heard Axl do, this slow, grinding riff with these high, piercing vocals, screaming vocals. [Axl] goes, "well, this comes out on the third record. It relates to this song, it's a trilogy, this goes with this lyrically." (Sebastian Bach)
[Sebastian Bach] says Rose told him that a slow, grinding track called "The General" is the sequel to "Estranged," that goes to the parable that Del James wrote of the trilogy. (Rolling Stone)
CD.COM: Could you tells us more about "The General"?
Axl Rose: You may have heard parts of it somewhere.
Guns N’ Roses – Dec. 5, 1991, Worcester Centrum – GN'R were just about the biggest band in the world when they hit the road for this troubled tour and this show marked their first without guitarist Izzy Stradlin who quit the tour a week earlier. Axl Rose, Slash and company were still on board however as they lived up to their legacy for tardiness by taking the stage an outrageous 85 minutes after their openers, Soundgarden finished. Guns N' Roses did end up playing two-and-a-half-hours once they arrived however, ending at nearly 1 AM and rocking through everything from "Welcome to the Jungle," to the final encore "Paradise City."
Music Radar Saturday December 11 saw Axl Rose speak out about MusicRadar's recent poll that saw him voted the greatest lead singer of all time.
The Guns N' Roses star beat off stiff competition from legendary rock frontmen like Freddie Mercury and Robert Plant, and on Saturday, a post from the official Guns N' Roses Facebook account said the following:
"Thank you for all of the support you give us day in day out. All you folks on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, the message boards that fight the good fight - we feel it and very much appreciate it - THANK YOU!. And special thanks to MusicRadar for holding the poll and letting people speak. - Axl"
The wait is finally over with Guns N' Roses set to rock the Perth Motorplex in Kwinana Beach tomorrow night and police say they are not expecting trouble.
Crews began transforming the drag strip into a stage on Wednesday and will complete it tomorrow morning with containers used to bring the production across the Nullarbor from Adelaide.
A spokeswoman for promoters Andrew McManus said about 12,000 fans were expected to flock to the Motorplex to get a taste of the band and enigmatic front man Axl Rose, who have sold more than 100 million albums since 1985.
She would not confirm rumours Rose would fly to the Motorplex by helicopter but said, “it was being seriously considered”.
Kwinana will be the last Australian concert date for the band’s Chinese Democracy tour.
Police will have a strong presence on the evening with 40 officers patrolling the venue and surrounding suburbs, including rail and traffic police, and officers posted at the gate and assisting security.
Kwinana Police officer-in-charge Trevor Troy said police were also considering using a booze bus and police van.
Senior Sergeant Troy, who will be among the police contingent, said he expected no repeat of a violent bikie brawl at the Motorplex in October, which left several Finks gang members in hospital.
“We expect the event to go smoothly, but anyone who behaves badly at the concert can expect us to act and charge them for their troubles,” he said.
“We will be mindful of the incident recently involving the outlaw motorcycle groups who came to loggerheads… we will have staff in the area and behind the scenes, at gates and in the vicinity to assist with security.”
Sen Sgt Troy said revellers should organise a designated driver, taxi or use public transport to get to and from the concert, as police would be tough on intoxicated drivers.
Hard rock bands KoRn and Shihad will also play at the concert.
A free bus will run to the concert from the Kwinana train station from 4:30pm and back following the concert.
musicradar.com The public have spoken, and we can’t think of a more contentious choice for the greatest lead singer of all time.
Forget the moustachioed, cornrowed croaking caricature of recent years and think back to the late 1980s.
Axl Rose: dangerous, lean, angry, confrontational, controversial; the hotheaded, horny ginger stepchild of Steven Tyler and Robert Plant, a born rock star who made being fashionably late a lifestyle choice and started riots in the process.
In his autobiography, Slash recounts his first encounter with that legendary voice: “Izzy brought me a tape of his band… it sounded like they were playing deep inside a jet engine. But through the static din, way in the background, I heard something intriguing, that I believed to be their singer’s voice. It was hard to make out and his squeal was so high-pitched that I thought it might be a technical flaw in the tape. It sounded like the squeak that a cassette makes just before the tape snaps – except it was in key.”
via Blabbermouth According to Dj Ashba, it will be a "cold day in hell" before former GN'R bandmates Axl Rose and Slash collaborate again, quashing rumors of a possible reunion.
When Becko of Australia's long-running rock radio station Triple M questioned Dj ahead of GN'R's show at the Sydney 500 V8 Supercars about the reports of Axl and Slash possibly getting back together, he shot it down. "That's completely false," Dj said. "I know Axl really, really well, and he basically said that it would be a cold day in hell. But, that being said, obviously I don't know the inside insight and I'm just happy to be in the shoes of an amazing, legendary guitar player. It's really a treat for me to stand on stage next to somebody like Axl and this band. Everybody in this band is just top-notch musicians."
As for "Axl Time," Rose's infamously late appearances onstage, which, according to Slash's autobiography, Slash, were one of the main reasons key Appetite for Destruction songwriter and former GN'R rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin left the band, Ashba claims that they have nothing to do with the enigmatic singer — they are the fault of the room-service staff at the band's hotels. "It isn't even Axl that's late, it's always our room service that's late. We're waiting to eat before we go on," Ashba joked.
Listen to a clip of Ashba's interview with Triple M below.
As previously reported, GN'R kicked off an Australian tour in the city of Townsville last Wednesday night (December 1) and immediately made both local residents and fans angry. According to local media reports, Townsville residents slammed the group for starting over an hour late and ending some 75 minutes after a curfew on a weeknight. Authorities were reportedly investigating whether the event's promoters should be punished with a fine for breaking the terms of their entertainment license.
The show ended past midnight with a fireworks display that left many pet owners in the area complaining that their pets were agitated.
As usual, blame for the delay seemed to rest at the feet of Axl Rose, who kept the audience and the rest of his band waiting.
One fan said, "Everybody knew Axl would come on late — it's at the stage now where you think you're lucky because it was only an hour or so. It was a great show. I don't have any complaints about that. But he needs to remember people have ordinary lives to go home to and have to get up in morning."
Another concertgoer added, "The atmosphere was fantastic but coming on so late meant the whole night was only average," while New Zealand's 3 News interviewed one fan who was upset at the lack of original members in the lineup, saying, "I think it's an imitation band — it is absolutely terrible."
Other fans complained that the expensive VIP packages they bought did not deliver all the perks that had been promised.
The venue, called Reid Park, has only recently been converted to a concert facility, angering local residents who were not made aware of the change.
The band and Rose drew fire earlier this year from UK promoters, who cut the band's set short when they came on late and broke curfew at two British festivals.
March 28 - Mexico City, Mexico March 31 - Caracas, Venezuela April 2 - Bogota, Columbia April 4 - Santiago, Chile April 6 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil April 7 - Sao Paulo, Brazil April 8 - Curitiba, Brazil April 10 - Buenos Aires, Argentina April 13 - San Juan, Puerto Rico
Variety My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West's latest release, had every reason to be a sales failure.
For one, the album was released on the Monday of Thanksgiving week, putting him up against new discs from Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, My Chemical Romance and Ke$ha. Yet it managed to land in the No. 1 spot all the same, shipping out 496,000 copies.
Tally is far short of his 900,000-plus first week sales of Graduation in 2007, as well as the 1 million-plus tally for Taylor Swift's Speak Now earlier this fall. But given his competition and 2010's reliably weakened sales numbers, it's not anything to sneeze at.
These sorts of sales are all the more remarkable considering West's recent habit of giving away music via weekly Web downloads; six of Fantasy's 12 tracks had been previously offered for free.
In addition to an extra day of retail and near-universal praise (the record attained an overall rating of 92 on Metacritic, making it the best-reviewed new album release of the year), West benefitted from an increasingly-common Amazon.com practice of slashing prices on big-name debuts.
Fantasy was offered in mp3 form for $3.99 all week on Amazon, and perhaps not coincidentally, the album moved 45% of its total numbers in digital form, giving it the fourth-best digital-sales week of any record ever. (Earlier this year, the Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend both rode Amazon's discounting to No. 1 debuts.)
But perhaps the most remarkable element of West's success is that it comes despite his battered public persona. From his high-profile dustups with public figures ranging from Swift to Matt Lauer and George W. Bush, plus an off-the-record calling-out from Barack Obama, no artist since Eminem or Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose has seen such success arrive concurrently with such wide public criticism.
West's career to date has obvious parallels to Rose's, and Fantasy is in many ways a descendant of Use Your Illusion, GN'R's 1991 double album set.
Like Rose, West began his career as an unusually relatable pop music figure. Raised middle class, with none of the street hustler background (real or imagined) that informs so many rappers, West instead spoke on such topics as the frustrations of college and working at the Gap. Yet both artists rapidly moved from these humble early personae into theretofore-unseen degrees of musical opulence and paranoid lyrical insularity.
Illusion was a monolith that ran over 2½ hours, featuring several heavily orchestrated epics. To promote the record, Rose insisted on shooting elaborate musicvids, culminating in a $4 million-budgeted clip for "Estranged."
While far shorter at 68 minutes, Fantasy nonetheless lists 44 additional musicians in the liner notes, ranging from string sections to Elton John, Jay-Z, Justin Vernon and Chris Rock in guest spots. There are several long musical interludes and codas, with album centerpiece "Runaway" stretching to more than nine minutes. In lieu of a traditional video, West instead directed a lavish, 35-minute art film incorporating his music. No rap record has ever been so elaborately produced.
Like Rose, West is obsessed with his own sense of persecution -- Fantasy includes direct attacks on the cast of SNL and the writers of South Park, while Rose famously challenged several music critics, by name, to public fisticuffs on Illusion. Combined with the record's detours into misogyny and unexpected political outbursts (both also Rose hallmarks), West has demanded considerable indulgence from fans accustomed to his radio-ready pop.
The excesses of Illusion eventually proved fatal to Guns N' Roses, as all original members save Axl subsequently left the band, leaving Rose to spend 17 years (and a reported $10 million) producing a proper follow-up. West has no questioning bandmates with which to contend, but it's also hard to see where he goes from here. One hopes the warning signs from pop's most famous prior over-reaching blacksheep will not go unnoticed.
Guns N' Roses/New GN'R - Don't expect a new album in 2011 or anytime soon. They might play Rock in Rio in September/October, but don't get your hopes up for a tour of the United States. I don't know why Dj Ashba said that.
Slash - Velvet Revolver looks like it's on the back-burner once again. Slash and Myles are recording another album and are going to continue to tour together, on and off, throughout the year.
Izzy Stradlin - Will probably release another under-the-radar collection of songs for iTunes. Maybe he'll submit to an interview - he skipped his semi-annual interview in 2010.
Duff McKagan's Loaded - just signed with Eagle Rock, who will release their new album, The Soundtrack, on March 22, 2011. Eagle Rock also plans to re-release Loaded's 2009 album, Sick, in April. The reissue will have a bonus DVD, featuring 11 tracks from a live set filmed at The Garage in Glasgow 2008. Duff has also "penned more than 150,000 words thus far" for his upcoming autobiography, tentatively due in November 2011.
Adler's Appetite - will release their first full-length album next year and embark on a World tour including a short US run in January and a longer jaunt through Europe in February.
Predictions - Bumblefoot will be the next member of New GN'R to leave the band. I'll go back to listening to my 1970s Myles Davis records.
via AntiMusic Former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler has revealed that his band Adler's Appetite whas begun production of their new CD with Cinderella's Fred Coury.
Adler's Appetite have also confirmed the first batch of dates for a 2011 European tour. The band has already confirmed dates in the UK, Spain, The Netherlands and France.
In the court filing, Rose sates that he is the majority owner of the trademarks and licensing associated with the band.
Axl has an issue with Guitar Hero III using "Welcome to the Jungle" without his permission.
In the legal documents, Rose states, that there was an agreement to use the song for Guitar Hero III, but (all quotes from Rose's lawsuit)
"Activision breached the contract when it released GH III which prominently features Slash imagery in direct connection with the use of "Welcome to the Jungle," exploits the prior association between Slash and Guns N' Roses, promotes Slash's and VR's (Velvet Revolver) separate interests and includes VR tracks as available downloads, all of which was and is directly contrary to the contractual obligations of Defendants."
"In order to promote Guns N' Roses, Rose diligently attempts to channel fan and media attention to the current status of the band, including its current lineup, and focus on the band's current endeavors and plans for the future."
"Rose and Guns N' Roses pursue a forward-looking outlook rather than one that dwells on the past."
"Nonetheless members of the tabloid media have tended to focus on and mythologize a rift within the band that occured in 1996, when one of the bands guitarist, Saul Hudson, aka "Slash" and Guns N' Roses parted ways."
"A preoccupation on the part of some members of the media with the rift between Slash and Guns N' Roses has led to a distorted public perception between the images and careers of Slash and Guns N' Roses."
"Despite the fact that Slash has had nothing to do with Guns N' Roses' ongoing popularity and success since 1996."
"(Slash's) association with the band lingers, at least as far as certain members of the media are concerned."
"Riley sought to reassure Rose, through his representative Beta Lebeis, that in no uncertain terms, if given the authorisation to use Welcome to the Jungle in GH III, no VR related material would be included and no Slash imagery would be used at all, let alone in association with Guns N' Roses and 'Welcome to the Jungle.'"
"In numerous conversations occuring in May of 2007, Riley reassured and represented that none of the rumours Rose was reading on the internet regarding the planned use of Slash and VR in GH III were true. For example, in one conversation Riley flatly denied the rumours stating "'Come on Beta, you know you can't believe everything you read on the internet.'"
"While the form and substance of these conversations may have occasionally varied the central message and operative language used did not. Riley 'guaranteed' that provided Rose agreed to approve Activision's use of 'Welcome to the Jungle,' there would be no use of 'Welcome to the Jungle' and no VR in GH III."
Rose is seeking at least $20 million dollars in damages, punitive damages and other associated costs.
Lindsay Lohan just lost a job playing a porn actress.
I don't work in the movie business, but I'm guessing things are pretty bad when that happens to you.
Velvet Revolver is looking for a new singer - the stars are aligning.
Velvet Revolver was huge when they emerged as a super group because they satisfied people's appetites for the GN'R and STP of yesterdays. If they come out with a new record, I wouldn't want to see it disappear like a Libertad II.
Getting some unknown singer may just not really do it the second time around.
I knew that Lindsay might be interested when I read this story on how she wanted guitar lessons from Slash.
Lindsay Lohan has been begging former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash to help her brush up on her strumming skills. She said: "Can you maybe give me guitar lessons? I've lost any sort of magic touch I've ever had."
They're not going to be making a grandiose Picasso or Monet painting. It's just rock 'n' roll. I don't think it really matters if she can sing that well. Slash and the gang have got a ton of riffs, and I can see that this would be a success. Also, Slash is friendly with Lohan, and this past April NME reported that
Slash has said there will definitely not be a Guns N' Roses reunion - as he only wants to work with ladies now.
Lindsay's a triple-threat - actor, singer and dancer. Or if you prefer - drug addict, ex-con and porn-star. Ke$ha is just a poser. Lindsay Lohan is a lot more rock 'n' roll than what's out there, and she's also a Ginger.
Please tag your tweets with #LL4VR if you want to see this grassroots campaign succeed.
This Tuesday, Slash announced via his Twitter account that the recording for his new album had started.
So far so good in the studio! Got a couple brand new riffs, pretty heavy stuff.
Earlier this month, Slash told the UK's Planet Rock radio that he would be working with Myles Kennedy.
I'm working on new material for what would be a new record. As well on my own but probably working with Myles. That's the plan: to do an album with him.
via Blabbermouth Guns N' Roses fans shouldn't expect a new studio album from the band anytime soon, according to the band's guitarist, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal.
Even though GN'R axeman Dj Ashba said in an interview at last week's launch party for the Call Of Duty: Black Ops video game that the band is "throwing around a bunch of ideas" for its next CD, Bumblefoot doesn't believe that a new GN'R album will surface in the foreseeable future. He writes on his Facebook page, "We've yet to get in a room and write as a band." He adds, "I know Dj mentioned something about a new album, but don't want y'all expecting anything soon. Other than old unreleased Chinese Democracy songs, songs need to be written, jammed, recorded, tweaked, re-worked, re-recorded, mixed, re-mixed, mastered, re-mastered, art, new art, label approval, a game plan from the label that Axl approves ... not as simple when it's on such a big scale ... Just don't want ya getting frustrated if a GN'R album doesn't happen quick ..."
Rose himself hinted in an interview back in 2002 that he had compiled enough songs to release follow-ups to Chinese Democracy in rapid succession, saying, "The plan is to drop the record. Have a bunch of extra tracks . about a year or so down the road, drop another record, and drop a third record. This is a three stage thing; we'll be touring for a real long time."
In addition to Ashba, Thal and sole original member Rose, the current lineup of GN'R includes guitarist Richard Fortus, bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer.
Guns N Roses' latest album, Chinese Democracy, was released in November 2008 as a Best Buy exclusive, 17 years after the last all-original Guns sets, Use Your Illusion I and II. The album was a commercial disappointment, selling less than one million copies in the US (according to Nielsen SoundScan) despite the long wait.
Bumblefoot joined GN'R in early 2006 as the replacement for Buckethead. He made his live debut with the band at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on May 12, 2006.
Ashba joined GN'R in March 2009 following the departure of Robin Finck.
I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day.
When I was a boy ... all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another.
I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.
Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not.
So I will throw Veterans' Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things.
What else is sacred? Oh, Romeo and Juliet, for instance.
via Blabbermouth Adler's Appetite has announced more dates, including additional shows for its European tour, which is set to start on February 3, 2011 in Rome, Italy.
The group has also officially released its new single, "Alive," It is currently available on iTunes as well as via other online music stores. This will be the first chance for fans to get the full version of the track.
A radio edit of "Alive" was released on July 29 in conjunction with Adler's tell-all autobiography, My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, and Drugs, and Guns N' Roses.
Adler's Appetite recently wrapped up a 50-city US tour and is currently in the studio writing and recording new material which its plan to release in early 2011.
"The new songs are coming along great," stated Adler. "After the response we got from performing 'Alive' all summer, we are really excited to put out more original music."
"We are really excited to be moving forward with original material," added guitarist Alex Grossi. "I think people are really going to like the direction we are going in."
via Blabbermouth According to The Pulse of Radio, Slash's new music video for his song "Beautiful Dangerous," which features a guest appearance from Fergie, is apparently too steamy for wide public release and will have to be edited.
Slash was quoted as saying in a recent interview, "it's very controversial. I thought it was okay but apparently there's a lot of suggestiveness and we're having a rethink."
The clip stars Fergie as a crazed fan who stalks Slash and ends up tying him to a bed, kissing him and teasing him with a knife, all while dressed in leather lingerie.
Dick Cheney revealing Valerie Plame's secret identity. Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson's sex tape stolen from their personal safe. Radiohead's "Hail to the Thief" leaked online weeks before it's official release. And now, Jackie & The Treehorns newest album, "It's All About Me: A Tribute to Jackie", has it's Master CD stolen from the United States Postal Service and "leaked" online prematurely!
Yes folks, the rumors are true. The Jackie Master CD was in fact stolen (and later returned). Whoever the culprit's are they should know that they have committed a federal crime. Mail tampering is not a joke in this country! Jackie's vast legal team headed by Heshel Treehorn is hard at work with local authorities seeking out the guilty parties (Sean Parker? P Diddy? Django Treehorn?)
"Look, we all know Jackie is a physical person. Jackie wants his music to touch people. He wants people to be touched by his music. And sometimes, Jackie himself wants to touch his fans. But Jackie cannot stop the internets, he cannot prevent digital felons from stealing and revealing his latest work." Jackie was quoted as saying before heading off to an undisclosed Paris hospital for his sixth rehab stint.
So it is with great excitement, reluctance, and ambivalence that we would like to present to you, the listener/fan/Jackie-obsessor, the brand new album by Jackie & The Treehorns entitled "It's All About Me: A Tribute to Jackie". Otherwise known on the street as "The Jackie Tribute Album."
Let's face it, if there is an artiste that deserves a tribute, it's Jackie!
"It's All About Me: A Tribute to Jackie" Track Listing:
1. How Much Does It Mean?by Buddy Revel & The 3 O'clock High 2. St*rf*ckerby Treehorn & The Jackies 3. Slowby Clarice & The Lotion Baskets 4. Don't You Know...They Did It For Loveby Ron Johnson & The Audio Consultants 5. One Man's Edge Is Another Man's Straight Lineby Albert & The Swearengens 6. Built Up For Releaseby Kima & The Yellowtops 7. It's All About Meby Alabama & The Dick Ritchie Valens Quartet featuring Jackie 8. It's Only Trueby Jackie & The Apriles 9. No Bluesby Jackie
During an interview with the Artisan News Service on the "black carpet" of this past Thursday night's (November 4) party to promote the release of the new video game Call Of Duty: Black Ops in Hangar Eight at Santa Monica Airport, California, GN'R guitarist Dj Ashba said that fans won't have to wait long for the band's next studio album.
"We're talking about that right now," he said. "We've been throwing around a bunch of ideas and it should be good, man. We've got a lot of good stuff on the plate coming out. It won't take as long, I promise. Yeah, I'm excited to get this next one rolling. A lot of great shit. Axl has a lot of good shit up his sleeve, so I'm really excited about it."
Dj also confirms that GN'R will tour the States in February 2011.
Another tour of Europe in the Summer of 2011 is rumored.
West Seattle Herald One year ago West Seattle filmmaker and documentarian Jamie Burton Chamberlin released his movie and 2-DVD set Double Down Live featuring an intimate look at rock icons ZZ Top performing live throughout America and Europe including rare, behind the scenes footage. The West Seattle Herald reported on that release, plus ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons' visit with Chamberlin to the Mission Latin Grill, Feedback Lounge and West 5 last August 28.
Chamberlin's new project is a feature length film about Seattle rock legend Duff McKagan and his band, Loaded. The band's line up also includes bass player and West Seattle resident Jeff Rouse, as well as guitarist Mike Squires and drummer Isaac Carpenter.
The film is based on the new Loaded album which is soon to be completed and yet to be titled.
"Duff" as he is affectionately known, played for 13 years with Guns N' Roses, recently did a stint with Jane's Addiction, and is the bassist for Velvet Revolver. He writes a weekly music column for the Seattle Weekly. He has a reputation of being business savvy, and has written on finance for publications including Playboy.
McKagan, 46, is married to super model Susan Holmes, a noteworthy swimsuit designer who has fit other celebrities. She will soon appear on a new reality TV show called Married to Rock.
It was recently announced that a song from the new Loaded album, prior to its release, will be played in rotation during Major League Baseball's World Series coverage.
Chamberlin said "McKagan and the boys are gonna lay down the hammer" when Loaded performs two of its soon to be released songs, "We Win" and "Fight On" at the Seattle Seahawks Veterans Day half time show November 7. The Seahawks play the New York Giants at home.
"It's going to be huge," said Chamberlin. "'We Win' is a pulsating anthem reminiscent of 'We Will Rock You', and 'Fight On' is an amazing song about overcoming adversity. These two songs seem perfectly matched for the other veteran-related activities planned.
"My main focus for half time is to shoot how the band gets there and where they head after. It's more about designing a fictitious story line which will be a part of the larger project, and will be a contemporary version of, say, Hard Days Night meets (Led Zeppelin's) Song Remains the Same, with aspects of documentary, music video, and live performance, all interconnected by an underlying motivation. The album will serve as the soundtrack.
"Everything will be shot in Seattle and the Northwest," he added. "We hope to use locations in West Seattle and other familiar settings to create these vignettes that develop organically within them."
Chamberlin hopes that Billy Gibbons may swing by West Seattle again to appear in the film. Other big name musicians may also make cameos.
Chamberlin is excited that McKagan may push to have the piece released in the film festival circuit to offer exposure to a wider audience beyond his music fans.
"Not a lot of artists out there are interested in going to this extreme of having their music interpreted in film," said Chamberlin. "This project wouldn't be happening without Duff's vision, and the support of people like Rick Canny at Sanctuary management, Loaded's manger.
"Duff is a super guy, one of the nicest guys you could meet. He has shown a strong commitment to getting this project off the ground. He's got a great business sensibility and is totally creative, qualities that draw me to him as an artist. He's just a classy cat."
A couple of clips from Swedish TV showing GN'R's backstage set-up. They even show the monitors that Axl watches the crowd on while he's getting ready to take the stage.
via Blabbermouth GN'R were reportedly paid one million US dollars to play a private show Friday night (October 29) in Moscow for Alexander Chistyakov, the deputy chairman of the management board of Federal Grid Company (FGC).
The concert took place at a studio at Mosfilm (a Russian movie company), with GN'R singer Axl Rose arriving at the location at 2 AM (early Saturday morning). Guards were reportedly notified of his arrival 40 minutes before he showed up. They were asked to arrange "a green corridor" so all celebrities were asked to leave the VIP area and proceed to the general-admission area. To attend the concert, each invited guest had to pay about $1,000.
Video footage of GN'R's performance can be viewed below.
In addition to sole original member Axl Rose (vocals), the current lineup of GN'R includes guitarists Dj Ashba, Ron Thal and Richard Fortus, bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer.
GN'R'S latest album, Chinese Democracy, was released in November 2008 as a Best Buy exclusive, 17 years after the last all-original Guns sets, Use Your Illusion I & II. The album was a commercial disappointment, selling less than one million copies in the US (according to Nielsen SoundScan) despite the long wait.
via Blabbermouth Slash was the featured guest on last night's (Friday, October 29) edition of Eddie Trunk's Friday Night Rocks radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow below.
On Duff McKagan joining GN'R on stage on October 14 at London, England's O2 arena.
Slash said, "it was cool. I got an e-mail from Duff going, 'I'm checked into a hotel and Axl is in the room next to me.' And that's how it all started. And he just sort of kept me posted through the day and at one point he said he was going down to the venue with Axl. And I was, like, 'Wow!' 'Cause a lot of years have gone by. And so then the next one was that he was gonna be going on stage or something. And so he went and they did, like, I think it was five or six songs. So it was cool. And then the next day he told me it was great, everything was very cool, they went out and had dinner, and so they had that sort of, whatever, rekindling kind of thing. All things considered, the only thing I said about it was that ... 'cause I know that they still ended up going on an hour late. And I was, like, 'Oooh.' That's the only part that would have left a bad taste in my mouth, supporting that."
On why he (Slash) seems to be the only member of the classic Guns N' Roses lineup that Axl is not "cool" with.
Slash said, "I think there's some deep-seeded stuff there. And it really can only come down to what was going on at the time when I finally said, 'I've gotta go.' And I think there was a certain sense of abandonment there. So it probably stems from that. And then even though I try to keep a politically correct tongue in this situation, I have at times really spoken my mind about the situation, especially when Velvet Revolver's first record came out, I was inundated with all this press and that was all that they wanted to ask about, and my first gut reaction was venting. So there was a lot of negativity that was sort of expressed then and has since been perpetuated by the media on a regular basis. So there's a certain kind of tension that just hangs in there."
On whether he would ever consider taking part in a reunion of the classic Guns N' Roses lineup.
Slash said, "it's been a long time. So, all things considered, if he [Axl] really decided he wanted to do it and the other guys all wanted to do it ... I mean, I know everybody's around, but there has been no conversation, like, 'Let's get the band back together.' If everybody wanted to do it and it was very clear amongst us, which means we would have to clean up some personal stuff, which we haven't even begun that. So then the biggest and most important part of it was ... 'cause it seems like it would be a lot of fun to do, just go back out there, and it seems like a relatively simple idea and there's a ton of fans out there that would love to see it. It'd be cool. But we'd have to do things way differently than we did in '91, '92, '93 and whatever ... And I don't think that's changeable. That whole production would have to tighten up and be like a real working band, and I don't think that's salvageable."
