GN'R Plans for Chinese Democracy Reissue, US Tour & the Return of Duff?

Metal Sludge
Hot rumor is that Axl Rose has fired Doc McGhee.

Very interesting. Word on the street for a few days has been that Doc McGhee was going to be fired as GN'R manager. Now it seems like that rumor just might have become a fact.

Insider talk has Jeff Kwatinetz of Prospect Park (formerly of The Firm) fingered as the new shot caller for GN'R in the way of management.

Read more here and here.

Sludge is hearing that the popular UK magazine Classic Rock is offering a solid near 6 figure payoff of ca$h money to Mister Saint laurent for his GN'R memory stick of personal documents. This includes an alleged Axl Rose autobiography, his personal emails, contracts for Dj Ashba, the good, bad & ugly:

On December 16, Guns N' Roses took the stage in Abu Dhabi to cap off the most recent leg of the never-ending Chinese Democracy World Tour.

On December 15, Guns N' Roses manager Doc McGhee was informed by members of the band that Tommy Stinson did not intend to take the stage.

And now, on February 2, those same band members find themselves uninformed, unpaid and searching for the same answers as the rabid GN'R fanbase ...

What is next for Guns N' Roses?

Answering that question is nearly impossible and Doc McGhee is just the latest in a long line of managers learning first hand that no matter what you have planned, at any point, W. Axl Rose may take his ball and go home.

While McGhee refused to comment for this story, documents recently received by mistersaintlaurent.com reveal a very thorough and dedicated plan to re-market Chinese Democracy in the US later this year.

A full North American arena tour and Best Buy exclusive reissue of Chinese Democracy would both launch on March 29. The tour would run through May 17 and hit 30 markets, including NY, LA, Vegas, Ft. Lauderdale, Boston, Detroit, Toronto, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Tampa, Philly, DC, Denver, San Jose, Calgary, Winnipeg, Omaha and Houston.

The album reissue would contain new artwork and a second disc containing bonus material. In addition to remixes of tracks from the album, the bonus disc would contain a new song "Blood in the Water" as well as a new version of "Better" featuring Dj Ashba, which would serve as the radio single for the reissue.

All of this would be announced February 7, with a secret show the day before the Super Bowl (February 5) at The Lodge in Dallas. Yet, it's February 2 and those in the GN'R camp that were willing to speak to mistersaintlaurent.com insist they have not received any airfare or itinerary.

While nobody would dispute that a very disappointed Axl Rose has holed himself up at home once again, most agreed he was justifiably upset.

"When we got back to the states, we expected Doc to have a US tour ready for us," said one member of Guns N' Roses that spoke with mistersaintlaurent.com. "When we found out things were still up in the air, everyone was deflated, but Axl took the news the worst," he continued.

But why is Doc McGhee having so much trouble finalizing a North American tour? Multiple sponsors have already signed on, including John Varvatos, Bloomingdales and Deleon Tequila. Companies such as Monster Energy and Harley-Davidson have had discussions with GN'R as well about sponsoring a tour.

The answer may very well lie with Axl's previous manager, the mega powerful Irving Azoff. With Azoff controlling everything from venues to ticketing, many have accused Azoff of interfering with Doc's plan of attack for 2011.

So with the tour appearing to be off, where does that leave things with Best Buy? Although Best Buy had been burned by the first release of Chinese Democracy, they've pledged major funds to help market a reissue. Will they continue to be so supportive when clearly it is impossible for Guns N' Roses to reliably stick to any sort of plan.

And if and when the band returns, who will be playing bass? It wasn't that long ago that Duff McKagan appeared on stage with the band, a move that shocked fans throughout the world.

But what wasn't publicly known at the time was that for years there have been internal discussions about canning Stinson due to problems with alcohol as well as his treatment of staff and crew. What role this played in Stinson threatening to not take the stage in Abu Dhabi is not known, but what is known is that as far back as 2008, Axl and other members of the band had many discussions about the pros and cons of a Duff return, a return Duff has privately expressed interest in repeatedly behind closed doors.

So what is next for Guns N' Roses? Unfortunately, not even Guns N' Roses itself knows the answer to that question.

But rest assured, this story is far from over.

BREAKING NEWS - DOC MCGHEE FIRED AS GUNS N' ROSES MANAGER ...

Again, the above is located right here.

Corey Taylor Addresses Velvet Revolver Singer Rumors

via Blabbermouth
In a brand new interview that was posted earlier today at Billboard.com, Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor would neither confirm not deny that is the known singer" who's working under wraps with Velvet Revolver. "To be continued!" Taylor told Billboard.com with a long, hearty laugh, before declining to say anything further.

As for the future of Slipknot in the wake of bassist Paul Gray's sudden death in May, Taylor said, "I go back and forth. There are moments when I'm like, 'Let's keep going for (Gray),' and there are moments when I'm like, 'It's not the same without him.' Right now my main concern is baby steps. We lost a huge piece of our band. We lost a huge member of our family — in my opinion the biggest — and it's a different vibe now. So right now I'm just taking it step by step, and I can only hope that the other guys in the band are as well."

Regarding the possibility of starting work on a new Slipknot album, Taylor said, "There's a lot of things I've got to figure out about myself before I can even contemplate that. There's a big part of me that wonders if I'm the guy for that band anymore. I'm in such a different place in my life...musically, spiritually. I'm not the angry kid anymore. A lot of things don't mean the same to me anymore, and there's a lot of things I don't feel like saying anymore. Does it make sense anymore? We'll just have to see."

Both Velvet drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Slash have hinted that the candidate they have recently been jamming with is a "known" artist, and that his style is a little "heavier" than what previous singer, Scott Weiland, brought to the band. Taylor has jammed with the band in the past, although nothing ever came of it.

Sorum gave The Pulse Of Radio a few more clues about the singer the band is looking at. "He's a guy that we've had our eye on but the timing wasn't right," he said. "You know, we don't like stealing people. Weiland was available, you know, he was out of STP. It wasn't like we went and said, 'Hey, dude...' Similar situation with this particular individual. It's cool because we're feeling the guy's work ethic is similar to ours, like, when we mean business, we mean business. We're not gonna dabble in it."

Sorum posted in recent days that VR has demoed nine new songs with the mystery vocalist, while both he and Slash have hinted that an announcement about the singer and the band's future will come sometime this month.

Mister Saint Laurent Teases the GN'R Community With Alleged GN'R 2011 Schedule" & More

Deciphered text on screen:

Leak announcement _________ Facebook and Twitter

Twitter - Announce secret CREEM re-launch show

Perform secret high-profile show at CREEM re-launch party day before Super Bowl

Perform "The Lounge" Dallas ______

Major press buzz about Chinese re-launch ... (iTunes)?

Officially announce US Tour and Chinese re-launch

Artist on artist interview Axl and "dangerous" ____________

Axl to appear on the cover to the first issue of relaunched CREEM magazine

LED ZEPPELIN appeared on the first CREEM cover in 19__ (not quite sure about this one)

CREEM will follow GNR on tour and _______________

Download Festival Booker Wants Classic Guns N' Roses

"Never Say "Never"

ROCKAAA.COM
Download Festival booker Andy Copping says there is a handful of legendary bands he’d love to hand a headlining slot to but admits they are usually impossible to secure.

Copping did buck the trend and shock the music world last year by landing one of the bands on his list in AC/DC and insists he would "never say never" to any of the bands on his wish list as he believes the historic rock tradition of the festival site gives him a trump card.

He tells RockAAA, "some bands get big offers for festivals all the time. AC/DC - who we were fortunate to get and we were the first festival in the world in the past 10 years to get them - Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Classic Guns N’ Roses.

Guns N' Roses are an atom bomb waiting to go off. Axl is an enigma and does his own thing but if you book them then you know what you’re taking.

But I would like to book the old line-up of Axl, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and either Steven Alder or Matt Sorum – as close to the original classic-era line-up as possible.

The whole world has put offers in the past for that to happen and any festival worth their salt would try and get them.

I stuck my neck out to get Aerosmith last year while I was also told Faith No More would never play together again but I got them too. It is often the way we sell to the bands.

Of course the money we offer is a huge amount but another reason is the heritage of Download – the Donington Park site – means they look at it seriously.

I’d say never say never for any band."

Copping also says there are also no bands he wouldn’t book on account of personal reasons or for past misdemeanours as he stresses the Download Festival is all about the music the paying public want.

He says, “I struggle to tell you of any band who I wouldn’t book for Download. There are some bands I might not want to book one year as they have played the year before or if they have no real profile.

Some bands do play repeat years but that is only because their profile has been raised over the year and more people want to see them.

There are no bands I wouldn’t book and even Kid Rock (who pulled out in 2008 on the day of his scheduled set) I’d take as I think he should play.

I’ve spoken to him twice since and he has admitted he made an error in not playing as if he had played he’d have blown people away as he is great live.

Pennywise smashed up a dressing room but I’d book them again as you have to look forward.

And the guys from Jackass came for a show and did a few stupid things but again I’d still book that kind of thing for the festival.

Download is not about me. It is about the people who buy the tickets and I have to try and put on a strong enough festival to make people want to buy the tickets and come."

In addition to securing AC/DC to the bill last year Copping stunned the rock world by unveiling Aerosmith as third headliner which he laughs caused arguments in the music community with many doubting whether the whole band would play the festival.

He continues, "the beauty of signing Aerosmith was people were saying to me ‘You don’t have Aerosmith,’ while I was insisting I had.

An article in Classic Rock magazine had just come out saying Steven Tyler wasn’t in the band anymore and nobody believed I had the band with Tyler in it.

They were on-off, on-off and then on again but I was adamant when I made the deal that I would not commit to signing them to the festival unless I had a cast-iron assurance the band would play together.

I had the privilege of being in their dressing room prior to them going on stage and I saw Tyler and Joe Perry interacting with one another about how they were going to perform, which songs they wanted to play and when to play them.

Getting to watch these guys in the same room as me working out their show was mesmerising to watch and a privilege.”

ROCKAAA.COM

Bumblefoot: Touring the US is too "complicated" for GN'R

via Blabbermouth

Rick Landers of Guitar International recently conducted an interview with Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Guitar International: GN'R is gonna be on the road in February, right?

Ron: We're supposed to be and suddenly there's silence.

I don't think it's gonna happen.

Figuring February is weeks away and I've yet to see a single confirmed date.

It's the kind of thing where you have a tour that's coming together, but it's so complicated at this level with managers and booking agents and different promoters and venues and itinerary and the production. The manager has to figure out how to get the gear from point A to point B all the time, without us going broke, and making sure all the crew is available. With everything, all it takes is just one link in the chain to get weak and everything unravels. So, I don't know what the status is of this U.S. tour that I've been impatiently waiting for. It's been five years since we've played the U.S. Last year we did some acoustic shows in New York in February, but as far as a real tour, we haven't done that. A couple of shows in May and September of 2006 and then a fall tour from October to December.

Guitar International: What does that mean for you? Does that mean you've got to keep February and March open as far as anything else you want to do?

Ron: That's always the dilemma. Things come together so quickly with GN'R that I just get a week's notice.

Guitar International: Jeez.

Ron: In fact, when I joined the band, I only had a week to learn all the songs and then hit the road. And to learn the "Chinese" songs, they wouldn't give me a copy because they were so worried about leaks. I had to learn all of that stuff on a pair of headphones in the rehearsal room on a laptop just listening and taking notes.

Guitar International: That's like learning guitar in the '50s and '60s with a turntable. Crazy.

Ron: Yeah, so with Guns what'll happen is I'll get a week's notice. They'll say, "All right. It's happening. We're FedExing your tickets."

The thing is, for the rest of the world, if you want to plan something, it's months in advance. What would happen is I would plan a tour for five months from now and by that point GN'R would say, "All right. It's time for us to do something," and I would have to cancel. It just becomes impossible to make plans. All I can do is make very short-term plans that don't require too much commitment and if I have to break them, it's not gonna hurt a lot of people.

I've shied away from playing live and doing shows because of that, because if I have to cancel a show, it could disappoint hopefully only a few hundred people — okay, maybe 100. [Both laughing] If it's just a meet-and-greet or something like that, it could be the same, but it's not like they spent a lot of money and made a lot of plans. It's just not as big a thing to cancel. So, I've been doing more meet-and-greets and not doing any performances other than quick jams. Like I played in Sydney, Australia and jammed with Fozzy.

Bumblefoot: "We've yet to get in a room and write as a band."

Read the entire interview from Guitar International here.

Forum discussion here.

Steven Adler Tells Howard Stern that Steven Tyler’s "Rig" Intimidated Him

via braingell.com
Steven Adler stopped by The Howard Stern Show Tuesday to promote his new memoir, My Appetite for Destruction.

With him was Chip Z’Nuff, his bandmate, roommate and Enuff Z’Nuff bassist.

Howard said he was always disappointed that Chip’s talents hadn’t garnered more success. Steven thought it was because success was such a tough thing to come by in hard rock. “That’s why Guns N’ Roses was such a unique thing. Like Aerosmith or Queen.”

Steven told the crew that he was still battling addiction. “To be honest, I’ve had –like all addicts – relapses. But I’m going on five months right now.”

Steven last slipped when he discovered Oxycontin, a prescription opiate so powerful it’s commonly known as "hillbilly heroin."

Steven said he started smoking weed at 11, something he didn’t think was unusual. “There’s a lot of masturbation, a lot drinking and a lot of smoking going on at the age of 11.”

Steven’s mom eventually kicked him out the house at 11. “I wasn’t bad or wanted to hurt people. I was just young and wanted to experience life.” His teen years were spent down on the Sunset strip, learning to drum from watching bands and frequently fending off the clubs’ lecherous owners and patrons: “They gave me drugs and took advantage of me.”

Howard noted a few of the groupie stories in Steven’s book, so Steven walked through his favorites, starting with a tour bus bender. “Let’s just say I had 9. I had sex with 9 women with Steven Tyler in the back of a tour bus. One night.” Steven said Tyler’s size intimidated him. “Believe me, Steven Tyler has a huge rig,” but he was still game. “It was like a pile of flesh in the back of the bus.”

Steven said things were only more debauched on the Guns N’ Roses tour bus. “A lot fat girls got fucked. You’ve got to remember, Slash is walking around with a rig. You know, like 15 inches. Ok? He needs something to pack that in.”

Sometimes Steven would find himself in a four-way with a girl – he’d be in her vagina, Slash in her mouth and Izzy Stradlin in her ass. Howard wondered how none of these incidents resulted in children, so Steven laughed that they always pulled out. “Of course! That’s what the face is for!”

Slash Says His Shows Will Start 10 Minutes Early

Yesterday, Slash announced via twitter that he will be starting his sets "10 minutes early to get more songs in."

Now, that's Rock 'n' Roll.

Slash is currently on tour in support of Ozzy Osbourne.