Big Show Tonight

Immigrant Song (Franky Perez, Slash, Dave Navarro, Chris Chaney, Travis Barker)
Jailbreak (Perez, Slash, Navarro, Chaney, Barker, Tom Morello)
Whole Lotta Love (Perez, Slash, Navarro, Chaney, Barker, Morello)
Out Ta Get Me (Billy Idol, Slash, Navarro, Duff McKagan, Barker)
Rebel Yell (Idol, Slash, Navarro, Chaney, Barker)
Down On the Street (Idol, Slash, Navarro, Barker, Duff)
Woman (Andrew Stockdale, Slash, Navarro, Chaney, Barker)
Tangerine (Stockdale, Slash, Navarro, Chaney, Barker)
By The Sword (Stockdale, Slash, Navarro, Chaney, Barker)
Good Times, Bad Times (Chester Bennington, Slash, Navarro, Chaney, Barker)
Slither (Bennington, Slash, Navarro, Duff, Barker)
Paradise City (Bennington, Steven Adler, Slash, Duff, Navarro)
Mountain Song (Perry Farrell, Slash, Navarro, Morello, Chaney, Barker)
Sympathy For The Devil (Farrell, Slash, Navarro, Morello, Chaney, Barker)
Jane Says (Farrell, Slash, Navarro, Morello, Chaney, Barker)
I Don't Know (Ozzy Osbourne, Slash, Navarro, Chaney, Barker)
Iron Man (Ozzy, Slash, Navarro, Chaney, Barker)
Crazy Train (Ozzy, Slash, Navarro, Chaney, Barker)
Paranoid (Ozzy, Slash, Navarro, Chaney, Barker)

Source: LESTAT at the Linkin Park Forum







Above photo: @eddog43



@RAFACORE: Shootin Slash, Dave navarro, Travis barker, Tom morello soundchrck! All star line up!!


Steven Adler, Slash and Duff McKagan (formerly of Guns N' Roses)

I'll be adding pics, a setlist and video as they become available.

"Sound Check was Awesome! Tonight, DUFF, SLASH AND I DOING PARADISE CITY at the benefit!

Dave Navarro on guitar (AMAZING PLAYER) and Chester from Linkin Park Singing!

Lots of others involved.

Billy Idol, George Lopez, Perry Ferrel, Tom Morello, Ozzy, Travis Barker!

LAYN ROCKS!"
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=169850044&blogID=519549524

Slash:

"Gearing up for the LAYN fundraiser on the 22 at the Avalon.

With this line-up its a pretty historic event.

Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol, Perry Farrell, Chester Bennington, Andrew Stockdale, Tom Morello, Dave Navarro, Travis Barker, Franky Perez, Chris Chaney, myself & George Lopez hosting.

Be there & support Los Angeles Youth Network for the 1st LA "Slash & Friends" event!

Going to perform a new song off my record with Andrew Stockdale on Nov 22nd at the LAYN event."

Tickets
LAYN Rocks on Facebook

“Scott Weiland is like George Bush to me – I like him now that he’s gone…”

Classic Rock
Slash was unhappy throughout his entire career in Velvet Revolver – and working on his forthcoming solo album has given him a new creative lease of life. The former GN’R/VR guitarist has been talking to Classic Rock about the dissolution of VR and how the band’s split with Scott Weiland pushed him work by himself on a solo album.

“Now at this point I can talk about it,” says Slash. “I always support whatever group I’m playing with – I’ll never say anything bad about them while I’m in it. But fuckin Velvet Revolver – that was the toughest five years, dealing with that band, just because of the obvious [Weiland] and really, really bad management. Joke management for the entire time.

“For some reason in that entire five years I could never be happy. I could never get comfortable and happy with it because it was such a fucking mess. That last tour in the UK was the first time I ever had any fun in that band – because I knew that Scott was leaving and it was a huge relief.

“But, all things considered, Scott to me is now like George Bush – y’know, I like him now that he’s not here. I have nothing bad to say about Scott, but he doesn’t work well with others in a group situation. So towards the end I had written a bunch of music and there were a lot of restrictions because of him writing in Velvet and a lot of stuff that I wanted to do was just sort of squelched. Y’know Slither happened and Fall To Pieces and a couple of other songs I wrote, but it didn’t have the direction that the group – especially before Scott came into it – really set off in. Especially on that last record – which I still think is a good record, but was a lot mellower than [I would have liked].

“Anyway, so I was writing a lot of material and on that last UK tour I started taping a lot of stuff and when I got home I was like, ‘I need to get away from this group situation – I just need to be in control of something and do things my own way’. So it was a relief. And we’ll see – it’s not really about trying to make the biggest record in the world, but I will support it. I’ll go out there and do what I have to do to make sure that people go out there and listen to it cos I think it’s a cool record.”

How will that affect Velvet Revolver?

“Well Duff’s on tour, I’m doing my record, so it’s sort of at a standstill. I haven’t heard any amazing submissions from singers as of late, so I might… Y’know, Velvet when it finds the right guy will be amazing, but I’m in no rush. I’m not freaking out – because that’s how we got Scott in the first place. He was the first decent guy that came up.”

After the Norway gig everyone is going to think Franky Perez is the guy.

“I thought about that. Yeah, Franky’s fucking bad ass. You know, he did some time with Velvet but I think because I was so preoccupied with my record nothing really came of it. Anyway, we’ll see what happens. When my record comes out there’s going to be a lot of different things that I can do so what happens as far as Velvet is concerned – we’re going to be on a hiatus until we lock together and say, ‘Hey, these are our options, let’s see what we’re going to do’. I don’t know if Franky is going to be the guy or what – he’s just a really, really good singer. Even Ozzy came up and said, ‘Who the fuck is that guy? He’s fucking great!’ He actually said: ‘What the fuck am I doing up here? He’s the one that should be singing…’”

In Norway, Franky Perez confirmed that he had worked with VR in the last six months: “I’ve probably known Slash a little under a year. We have this mutual friend and we’ve run into each other a few times but we met – actually met, met – about six months ago. And then I was working with Velvet Revolver for a little bit and then Slash started doing his solo record…”

So you worked with VR after Weiland left?

“Yes. So I got to hang out with all the guys and started working with them and then about the same time Slash had to work on his solo project and Duff was doing Loaded so that dissipated, but the great thing is that I got to have a great relationship with Slash.”

Did he realise that the internet was going to be filled with ‘Franky-is-the-new-Velvet-Revolver-frontman’ stories?

The singer just smiles and shrugs: “Well, you know, if the opportunity comes around, I’m ready.”

For a full interview with Slash & Friends, see Classic Rock 136, on sale 19 August.

Slash N' Friends Review From the Vegas Sun

LAS VEGAS SUN
Where Courtney Love meets John Momot: Slash concert a true variety show

By John Katsilometes
Photo: Justin Bowen

The allure of these rollicking Slash & Friends concerts brings to mind the imperious message from old late-night TV pitchmen: “How do we do it? Volume, volume, volume!”

Quality, quantity, high spirits and jacked-up amperage made for a late-night carnival at Bare Pool Lounge at The Mirage late last night, a showcase that spilled into the morning with an after-party at Jet. The all-star rock ’n’ roll exercise hosted by the former lead guitarist of Guns N’ Roses summoned the old (dueling iconic guitarists Rick Nielsen and Joe Perry), bold (Courtney Love, tossing aside typical stage protocol to read lyrics to the gender-unspecific “20th Century Boy”) and beautiful (the wholly captivating Nicole Scherzinger, the leather-and-lace encased frontwoman for Pussycat Dolls).

As for the latest SlashFest, it hardly mattered that over the past few weeks, the event’s lineup experienced more drops than Terrell Owens during last Sunday’s Bills-Saints game (Rob Zombie, Jason Bonham, Tommy Lee and announced emcee Kiefer Sutherland were among the fall-out boys). The show drew ample star power anyway, and of course the requisite oddities, such as an onstage visit from Slash’s wife, Perla. The stormy spouse and Slash’s apparent voice of reason strode onstage in a beaded black corset adorned with long tassels over each side of her chest, snug black shorts and lace stockings. All dolled up, in other words. She then quoted a dead woman, Anna Nicole Smith, by asking, “How do you like my BAH-dee?”

We like it just enough! But not so much to offend Slash, the evening’s BFF.

Following are more “hooky” riffs from a crisp and loud evening in VegasVille:

*The vocalist for much of the evening was Las Vegas native Franky Perez, whose look has matured to the point where he looks like the father of the guy who released the promising “Poor Man’s Son” in 2003. The last time I’d seen Perez perform was that year when he opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd at The Orleans Arena. He roared through “Whipping Post” that night, and again last night, along with AC/DC's “Highway to Hell” and Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” Dressed entirely in black, shedding the shades and jacket in favor of a tank top late in the show, Perez obviously relished performing with the high-level stars like Perry, Nielsen, Slash, Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan, who swapped spots on the stage over the two-hour show. At one point, he asked if anyone was from Las Vegas (a few among the crowd of about 650 cheered) and then he gave a call-out to his alma mater, Bonanza High School. Not your typical rock-show moment, eh? In the late stages, Perez also wore what appeared to be an old red-and-blue Las Vegas Stars hat from about 20 years ago.

It was fun watching Perez work it out onstage again. There was a time when he was at least as promising an artist as The Killers. It’ll be interesting to see if he can, as we say, parlay this fortuitous gig into something he can sustain.

*The Joe Perry Project opened the show and performed a song Aerosmith ignored during its visit to the MGM Grand Garden Arena a couple of months ago, a reggae version of “Dream On.” Perry said that version of the song was requested by an individual who booked the band to perform during a cruise, and Perry’s response was something like, “Forget you, cruise boy,” but it was a pretty cool rendition.

*Jot down Scherzinger’s name on that list of performers you don’t want to follow. She’s an exotically beautiful, easy-on-the-eyes, hard-on-the-ears performer able to share the stage with anyone (just in the past month, she’s appeared with both Gossy-Goss and Slash). By the time she finished with a full-force take on “Whole Lotta Love,” Love walked to the mic and said, “I just got my a** handed to me. I’ve gotta follow that?” Give Love credit for conveying that revelation, at least. She’s no dummy.

*Anyone clamoring for a meltdown by Love came away disappointed. She sipped from a glass filled with orange fluid and produced a lyric sheet to make it through “20th Century Boy,” a move I’d seen only once before, when Pink unfolded sheets of lyrics for “Rock and Roll” during the opening-night party at Empire Ballroom four years ago. But Love still has that haggard-sexy act pretty much perfected. She might not look or sound great each time out, but no one looks or sounds quite like her. At least, no one famous.

*Notable jams: Nielsen, who should be our next mayor, played on the full-group effort of Cheap Trick’s “Surrender.” Perry returned for “Toys in the Attic.” Sen Dog of Cypress Hill joined Perez on a blistering “Walk This Way.” McKagan and Sorum (who seemed to be in full, stroppy revelry by the time he hit the stage late in the show) joined Slash in a mini-Guns ’N Roses reunion for “It’s So Easy” (which I’ve always felt would make a great ballad) and an everyone-in-the-pool “Paradise City” to finish the show.

Franky Perez, Dave Kushner and Duff McKagan News

Franky Perez and Dave Kushner of Velvet Revolver have been working together in the studio on some material. "We've been writing some great songs and the collaboration has been amazing. I'm exited about the possibilities and I hope to post some new music soon."



Duff McKagan's Loaded has been added to Crüe Fest II's second stage. As a result, Loaded's previously announced short run of US club dates, which was scheduled for later this week, has been canceled. Crüe Fest 2, features additional support from Godsmack, Theory of a Deadman, Drowning Pool and Charm City Devils.

Franky Perez

Las Vegas, Nevada singer and guitarist Franky Perez dropped some news on his MySpace blog

"On June 30th I'll be Singing with Slash & Friends at The Quart Festival in Kristiansand, Norway. Other Artists performing with us that night will be Ozzy Ozbourne, Ronnie Wood, Jason Bonham, Fergie, and many more... "





It looks to me like Slash found himself a pretty cool singer.

Guns N' Roses Guitarists

Slash just recorded a guitar part on a song for the British singer Estelle. He also revealed that Velvet Revolver is having a meeting next week. I expect them to announce Franky Perez as their new vocalist. Franky will replace Scott Weiland who left the band last Spring to reunite with Stone Temple Pilots.


Izzy Stradlin's new album is due to be released on iTunes any day now.


Gilby Clarke will play with Wayne Kramer of the MC5 at the Cultura Quente Festival in Caldas de Reis, Ponteverde, Spain on July 10.


After that Gilby's doing a three-week stint at The Viper Room in West Hollywood, CA on July 11, 18 and 25.

Gilby will also host & perform at the Storm Stadium Rock Fest in Lake Elsinore, CA on August 15. Adler's Appetite, Warrant, Great White, and KOTTAK are also playing the festival.

Robin Finck and Nine Inch Nails have announced NEW FINAL DATES.


They're going to play a handful of shows in NYC, Chicago and LA starting August 22. They will be informal affairs in medium to small venues with longer set-lists, possible special guests, cool openers and other surprises. In NYC they'll be playing Bowery Ballroom, Webster Hall and Terminal 5. In Chicago, the Aragon Ballroom. In LA they'll be at The Wiltern, The Henry Fonda, The Palladium and The Echoplex. These should be cool, unusual and unique final shows for Nine Inch Nails.

Finally, DJ Ashba will chat live with fans (and non-fans, I suppose) next Wednesday, July 15 at 7 PM Pacific / 10 PM Eastern Time at AshbaLand.com


You will need to download and install Palace chat software to join in.

Slash N' Friends Gig at the Mirage Tonight

Slash N' Friends will play the Mirage Hotel and Casino tonight.


The line-up for the Mirage gig is: Tommy Clufetos on drums, Johnny Griparic on bass, Ted "Zig Zag" Andreadis on keys, Slash and John 5 on guitar, and Franky Perez, vocals. That's basically the house band.

Slash's special guests tonight are (more or less in this order): Rocco Deluca, Nicole Scherzinger, Courtney Love, Rick Nielson, Robin Zander and Joe Perry. Also, Matt Sorum is jamming a couple songs and there will be some other surprises.

The Joe Perry Project is playing as well, it's going to be a loud night.

Tickets are available through Mirage Entertainment on the Mirage website.

Another gig Slash is putting together will be on November 22. It's a fundraiser for LA Youth Network or "LAYN" at the Henry Fonda Theater.

The solo record is in its mixing stage. & the mixes to this point sound great. We have recorded 18 songs with one more I want to track in the next couple weeks.

The record is still slated for a February or March 2010 release.

Links: Slash on SayNow!
The Mirage's 20th Anniversary Concert Bash

The Return of Camp Freddy

Camp Freddy returned to the Sunset Strip on Saturday night for the Annual ESPN X-Games party at The House Of Blues in Los Angeles.

The band played for over an hour, opening with Deep Purple's "Highway Star," and culminating with four Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath songs featuring Ozzy himself. "Iron Man" and "Crazy Train" featured 3 guitarists - Steve Stevens, Dave Navarro and Billy Morrison. Ace Frehely joined the band on guitar for "Cold Gin" and "I Wanna Rock And Roll All Night."



SETLIST:
Highway Star, Jean Genie, Highway To Hell, Firewoman, Surrender, Cold Gin, I Wanna Rock And Roll All Night, It's So Easy, Brand New Cadillac, White Wedding, God Save The Queen, Fat Bottomed Girls, I Believe In A Thing Called Love, I Dont Know, Iron Man, Crazy Train, Paranoid.

GUESTS:
Ozzy Osbourne, Ace Frehley, Steve Stevens, Billy Duffy, Steve Jones, Duff McKagan, Justin Hawkins, Franky Perez and Naveen Andrews.

Camp Freddy are also scheduled to appear on September 10 at The House Of Blues as part of the Sunset Strip Music Festival. The show is on the opening night of the Festival.

Billy Morrison confirmed that a Camp Freddy television show is in the works for 2010.

Slash at Quart - Slash & Friends Setlist

Slash & Friends
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 10:30 PM - Midnight
Quart Festival, Kristiansand, Norway

Slash and Friends is:

Slash and John 5 (guitars), Chris Chaney (bass), Jason Bonham (drums), Franky Perez (vocals), & Teddy 'Zig-Zag' Andreadis (keybords).
Featuring special guests Ron Wood, Ozzy Osbourne, and Fergie.


"Immigrant Song"
"Highway to Hell"
"Hair of the Dog"
"Fall to Pieces"
"Black or White"
"Slither"
"Nightrain"
"Honky Tonk Women"
"Stay With Me"
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
"It's Only Rock N' Roll"
"Sweet Child O' Mine"
"Barracuda"
"Black Dog"
"War Pigs"
"I Don't Know"
"Crazy Train"
"Paranoid"
"Whole Lotta Love"
"Paradise City"

I don't have any audio or video of the set yet, so in the meantime, if you like, you can try out this pair of Snakepit shows from this same weekend - 14 years ago.

Slash's Snakepit - Paris - June 29, 1995
Slash's Snakepit - Roskilde Festival - July 2, 1995

Slash's Weekly Update (July 15)

Hey all, what's happening? Everything's good on this end. It has been a pretty productive summer so far. My record should be done next month & the recording has gone smoothly & sounds fucking great.

Steven Adler played on the 1st of the last 3 tracks yesterday, along with Flea on bass. The song kicks ass & the drums & bass sound so recognizable & sound so fucking good. Steven is staying clean, which is great, flea is just amazing, period. Steven, Flea & I all lived & met in the same neighborhood in West Hollywood back in the day. Yesterday, we had a great time reminiscing about when we all 1st started playing Rock & Roll & how school didn't fit into the plan, we were like 15. Flea was the 1st one to join an "established" band called "Anthem," I remember being envious. I had a band called "Tidus Sloan" but we didn't have a singer. Sound familiar? Steven & I didn't really have a band together until a few years later when we joined Nikki Sixx's old band "London" after Izzy left. Which, incidentally, was very short lived.

Izzy came down & played on a track a couple weeks ago, that sounds great too. It was good to see him, it's been awhile. Our guitars together really do have a sound all their own.

Besides having some friends of Eric Valentine's come down from Northern California & play cello & violin on a track, I haven't had any other guest musicians so far. Having Flea, Steven & Izzy play has been a real gas. There might be a couple more surprise musicians on this record I think.

The movie I scored while I was writing songs for my record last summer, "This is not a movie," is in it's final production stage & being shopped for distribution. I went to a closed screening of it at Warner Bros a couple weeks ago, its a really dark but funny movie, very indie & very raw. It really surprised me to hear/see it all put together. The score is awesome & almost entirely comprised of electric guitar. It gives the picture a distinct musical personality, which has many moods. Edward Furlong & Peter Coyote star in it, by the way & are phenomenal. Its funny, Edward Furlong was teenage delinquent "John Conner" being chased by the Terminator in "Terminator 2." His key scene was when he was escaping on his motorcycle to the tune of GnR's "You could be mine." Now he is staring in a movie that I did all the music for 18 years later.

The Norway gig happened & was a fucking blast. The band (Jason Bonham, John 5, Ted Andreadis & Franky Perez) was amazing & Ozzy, Fergie & Ronnie Wood were stellar to say the least. But, what really made the gig great was the crowd, they were pretty fucking fantastic. There is some talk of doing some more shows like that in the not too distant future, its too good of a time.

There's a lot of stuff coming up actually, all good. As it happens I will keep you up to date in as timely a fashion as I am capable.

Slash

Slash at Quart Fest

Slash (via Twitter) announced the linep for his Quart Fest gig today.

The band consits of Jason Bonham (drums), Chris Chaney (bass), John 5 (guitar), Franky Perez (vocals) & Teddy 'Zig-Zag' Andreadis (keyboards).



Special guests will include Fergie, Ron Wood & Ozzy Osbourne.

Slash: "Should be a gas."

Camp Freddy to Rock New Year’s Eve with Special Guests

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.

Fizzles and Bringdowns 2009

January 17
VH1's Sober House Premieres. Steven Adler shows up wasted, with syringes in his pants pockets, and a tin foil package full of heroin down his pants. Chaos ensues and he gets taken to the home of a staff member to spend the first night, both to protect himself and the other participants.

January 26
Steven Adler is arrested again.

January 27
A mere 8 weeks after it's release, Chinese Democracy plummets to number 57 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

January 29
Former Guns N' Roses manager Alan Niven tells Classic Rock magazine that Axl fired him "to wrestle control of GN’R!" Of the new GN’R, Niven comments: “Y’know, everyone has the right to make the music they want to with whomever they wish. But just be up ’n’ up about it. All this ‘last man’ standing stuff from Axl is horseshit. He wore us all out. Drove us all off. And for a personality like Axl, solo work only makes sense. If he wants to be Elton Rose then more power to him. Go for it. Pull it off. He has the talent to do that. But don’t pretend that one person alone represents the idea of Guns N’ Roses."

February 6
Axl Rose breaks his silence and gives his first public interview in 9 years with Billboard magazine. He addresses rumors of an upcoming tour, "no plans, but there's talk. Management and our promoters are really excited with the offers coming in both here and worldwide." Axl mentions that they're "finalizing a video for 'Better' and writing a couple others now." On the subject of Slash, Axl had this to say "one of the two of us will die before a reunion and however sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is. Those decisions were made a long time ago and reiterated year after year by one man. Anyone putting his own personal entertainment above everything else is sickening."

February 9
Matt Sorum reveals that Velvet Revolver hopes to announce their new vocalist in April.

February 9
Steven Adler heads back to rehab (again).

Febraury 9
The third single from Chinese Democracy, "Street of Dreams," appears on eBay and YouTube. It is never played on the radio, seen in stores, acknowledged by the band or heard from again. Copies of the promo disc are fetching over $150 a piece on eBay.

February 13
Regarding Velvet Revolver's new singer, Duff McKagan tells Opie and Anthony that "I think we have the guy ... yeah. You'll be blown away by the quality. I think we have the right guy. We all know he's killer."

February 14
Nick Sterling auditions for Guns N' Roses.

February 18
Jimmy Fallon says that he wants Axl Rose to appear on his new late-night show. Jimmy calls Chinese Democracy "awesome."

February 23
Rumors of a European festival tour begin to trickle in. Organizers of Spain's Kobetasonik festival list Guns N' Roses as a headliner on the festival's web page. Other rumored dates include June 26 in Norway, August 1 at the Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth, England and June 12-14 at the Download Festival also in England. There are also reports of dates in Italy for the month of June.

February 27
Axl is interviewed by his longtime friend Del James. In the interview Axl says the he considers Slash "a cancer and better removed, avoided -- and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters, the better." In regard to a release date for the sequel to Chinese Democracy Axl says he has no idea and that he doesn't care.

March 4
Rolling Stone reports that Axl Rose intends to follow last November’s release of Chinese Democracy with a worldwide Guns N’ Roses stadium tour this summer. Guns’ manager, Irving Azoff, tells Rolling Stone that the band has big plans for this year. "We have some exciting things in the works this year for GN’R, I’m looking forward to it." Hits Daily Double reports that a co-headlining tour with Van Halen is in the works. Rumors suggest that Guns' set will feature a full orchestra and lavish stage show.

March 5
Canadian Sports Station, TSN, announces a contest to win a trip to see Guns N' Roses perform live "somewhere in the world."

March 9
Velvet Revolver demos with Gord Prior leak.

March 18
Bass Player magazine publishes an interview with Tommy Stinson where he mentions tour dates beginning in April. "I have a feeling it's going to happen, but I'm not holding my breath. It seems that every time that ball starts rolling, it rolls a bit Like a square wheel at first."

March 20
An update on Nomad Recording Studio's MySpace page reads "JT Longoria is the process of mixing new tracks for Izzy Stradlin" As of today (July 24), there is still no release date for this record.

March 21
Guns N’ Roses add guitarist DJ Ashba for “upcoming tour.” The phrase "upcoming tour" is later redacted from the band's website.

March 26
Duff McKagan's Loaded announce Spring tour dates.

April 14
Chinese Democracy comes to the Rock Band 2 videogame.

April 17
Sick, the new album from Duff McKagan's Loaded, sells 1,400 copies in the United States its first week of release.

April 22
Guns N' Roses front-of-house engineer, Ken "Pooch" van Druten appears in a pair of videos discussing the band's Waves audio set-up for their upcoming tour. Pooch talks about the challenges of live mixing a 9-piece band. You can hear the musicians rehearsing "Sweet Child O' Mine" in the background. The videos are removed from YouTube in a matter of hours and the tour is called off several days later.

April 28
Richard Fortus tells KDHX 88.1 FM that Guns "hopefully, will be announcing dates soon, I hope."

April 30
Matt Sorum tells Joe Bosso at MusicRadar that Velvet Revolver needs "a singer soon. We need the right guy in six months. We can't wait another year. Otherwise, it might not matter."

May 7
Slash appears as a mentor on American Idol's rock week.

May 19
Bumblefoot jams with Duff McKagan's Loaded at the Gramercy theater in New York City.

June 1
Slash announces that Izzy Stradlin will play with him on his upcoming solo album.

June 7
The NY Daily News reports that Axl Rose has fired and rehired his manager, Irving Azoff, at least three times in the last five weeks.

June 15
Amazon announces a June 30 release date for the Chinese Democracy guitar tablature book. As of today (July 24) it has not been released.

June 16
New, alternate artwork for the Chinese Democracy booklet appears online. An indie record store in Hollywood is selling copies of the promotional disc for $100. A rep at Universal told me that there are no plans to re-release the album.

June 30
Slash and Friends play the Quart festival in Kristiansand, Norway. The 90 minute set featured appearances from Ron Wood, Ozzy Osbourne and Fergie. The band, which featured Franky Perez on lead vocals, covered songs by Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Velvet Revolver, The Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses, Black Sabbath and more.

July 7
Mister Saint Laurent resurfaces in an attempt to obtain and release a collection of hoarded, unheard songs from the Chinese Democracy sessions. He is, unfortunately, unsuccessful.

July 14
Blogger Kevin "Skwerl" Cogill is sentenced to 1 year probation for leaking 9 songs from the Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy. "No fines, no restitution, no jail."

July 15
A live chat with new Guns N' Roses guitarist DJ Ashba fails to deliver any information on the group.

July 17
Slash tells Classic Rock magazine that Velvet Revolver is "at a standstill."

July 23
Kevin Cogill tells the GN'R Syndicate that Beta Lebeis' son Fernando lied to the FBI and was responsible for past leaks of GN'R material. "He may have been trying to play hero to redeem himself, or he may have mistakenly thought he was somehow responsible. I don’t know."