Saturday, December 26, 2009

Possible New Leak of Rapidfire 1983 Demo?


"I remember for two years standing at the Troubadour and people wouldn't talk to me; I didn't know what to say to them, so you just watched and learned for a long, long time," Axl Rose told Kerrang.

Kevin Lawrence remembers seeing ‘Bill’ around in those days. They began nodding at each other, and eventually struck up a conversation.

“He said he was a singer,” recalls Lawrence. “I said, ‘Do you have a PA?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ And I said, ‘You’re hired.’”

Lawrence was fronting a trio called Rapidfire and he was tired of trying to be the singer and the guitarist. Bill was a dream come true. He was smart, clean and he had his own PA. He asked Bill (he was never Axl then, says Lawrence) to join him and Mike Hamernik on bass and Chuck Gordon on drums. They were a hard rock band, along the lines of AC/DC or Judas Priest, and played small metal clubs around L.A.. All the material was written by Lawrence.

They rehearsed at Chuck’s parents’ house in Encino, recalls Lawrence – in his small bedroom with drums and Marshall stacks crammed next to their ears.

“The cops would come all the time and tell us to shut it down. Actually,” he backtracks, “if I remember right, Chuck’s sister was a cop. We couldn’t get in too much trouble!”

“The songs were already written when Bill joined,” recalls Lawrence, “so he just learned them. He didn’t have the opportunity to write. He did show me the lyrics to one song, Back Off Bitch, though.

“He was a perfectly normal guy when I knew him. He was hardworking, he always showed up to rehearsals and gigs on time and he did a good job at promoting the band as well.”

“He was a perfectionist – we all were,” says Lawrence, but adds there was no sign of the famous temper. “He wanted to be a rock star, and he worked at it. All the guy wanted was to be a rock star -- and a pair of I think snakeskin cowboy boots. He really wanted those boots.”

“We’d sit around and smoke cigarettes and talk about what being a rock star was going to be like. He was serious about it. I was serious about it, we were doing business.”

The band was scoring a few gigs around town at clubs like the Troubadour and the metal mecca, Gazzarri’s.

Lawrence remembers Bill wearing one glove and holding his mike out like Freddie Mercury. He’d wear the occasional bandana and would move around the stage with moves similar to those in his later years.

At Lawrence’s request, Bill was singing in the lower register. The guitarist soon rounded up some money, hired a small studio and had the band record four of his songs – Ready To Rumble, All Night Long, The Prowler, and On The Run.



It was May, 1983, shortly before the Rapidfire’s demise.

Bill was working a day job in an adult movie house, recalls Lawrence. He was still with Gina in those days, although she was moving out and Izzy was moving in.

Lawrence figures that Izzy was the ultimate instigator of Bill’s split with the band. Izzy was either no longer in Shire or about to no longer be in Shire, and he was turning his attention to starting a band with his willing buddy Bill.

“Izzy really didn’t like that Bill was in Rapidfire,” muses Lawrence. “And he really didn’t like the idea of Bill being in a band when Izzy wasn’t in a band.”

Rapidfire’s metal rock wasn’t Izzy’s thing – by that point, he was totally enamored with the Hanoi Rocks-style glam – and he told Bill he was wasting his time. He had a vision for a band, and his Indiana friend was a big part of the vision. It sparked a tug-o-war for the singer’s attention. It became immediately apparent that Rapidfire had lost when Bill arrived for what would be his last show.

“He showed up at the last minute at the club, which was unusual,” recalls Lawrence. “And he had his hair teased way out, the white powder cake up, lipstick, etcetera. He had on this leather jacket that they had spray-painted pink. He obviously wanted to do something else. We never really argued about it, it was amicable.

“I said, ‘I guess this is your last gig, huh.’”

Metal Sludge

Democracy in Japan DVD



Guns N' Roses - Live in Concert
Democracy in Japan 2009
Label: Sylph Records

It appears to be footage from Tokyo and Osaka. $120 for 6 Audio CDs and 2 DVDs

Thanks to NewGNR.Com

GN'R Tourdates 2010


With Sebastian Bach and Danko Jones in Canada.
With Sebastian Bach and Jane's Addiction in South America.

European dates coming "soon."
U.S. dates?

Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy Tour 2010:

January 13 - Winnipeg
January 16 - Calagary
January 17 - Edmonton
January 19 - Saskatoon
January 20 - Regina
January 24 - Hamilton
January 25 - London
January 27 - Montreal
January 28 - Toronto
January 31 - Ottawa

February 1 - Quebec City
February 3 - Moncton
February 4 - Halifax

March 07 - Brasilia, Brazil
March 10 - Belo Horizonte, Brazil
March 13 - Sao Paulo, Brazil
March 14 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
March 16 - Porto Alegre, Brazil
March 18 - Montevideo, Uruguay
March 20 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
March 22 - Santiago, Chile
March 25 - Lima, Peru
March 28 - Caracas, Venezuela
March 30 - Bogota, Colombia

April 01 - Quito, Ecuador

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Guns N' Roses Confirm 5 Shows in Brazil in 2010


globo.com
Guns N' Roses will hit Brazil in March with shows in:

Brasilia (March 7)
Belo Horizonte (March 10
Sao Paulo (March 13)
Rio de Janeiro (March 14) and
Porto Alegre (March 16)

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Guns N' Roses Back in Tokyo for Asian Invasion Tour Closer


Tokyo!! Good to be back!! Complete w/a refreshing n' now traditional complimentary morning earthquake!! Yeah boyeee!! We wanna shake some shit up 2moro nite!!

I wanna thank everyone 4 comin' out on r Asian Invasian GN'R "Bar Trek". To boldly go where we'd last been n' hadn't been b4!! Means a lot!! It was pure n' utter chaos gettin' this rollin' n' you've made it all worth it!! Such amazing n' supportive people everywhere!! Thank u again 2 everyone who came out n' everyone who helped pull this together.

Special thanks 2 Matzka, Gum X n' Mucc 4 their enthusiasm n' great jobs performing w/us!! See everyone that's down w/the Tokyo Dome here 2moro nite where in addition 2 Mucc, AK48 just added will also be opening!! Peace!!

http://twitter.com/AxlRose

Tokyo, Japan - December 19, 2009

Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Catcher in the Rye
Sorry
Band Jam (I Want You Back, Jackson 5)
If the World
Richard Fortus solo (James Bond Theme)
Live and Let Die
Dizzy Reed solo (Ziggy Stardust)
Street of Dreams
Band Jam
You Could Be Mine
Rocket Queen
My Michelle
DJ Ashba solo
Sweet Child O' Mine
Shackler's Revenge
I.R.S.
Band Jam
Axl Rose piano solo
November Rain
Band Jam
Whole Lotta Rosie
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Scraped
Prostitute
Jam
This I Love
Frank Ferrer solo (We Will Rock You)
Out Ta Get Me
Ron Thal solo (Pink Panther Theme/Don't Cry)
Don't Cry (Axl, Ron and DJ)
Nightrain

--- ENCORE ---

Madagascar
There Was a Time
My Generation
Better
Patience
Nice Boys
Paradise City

Thanks to Here Today ... Gone to Hell! for the updates.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Guns Fuckin Rock Osaka


Guns N' Roses Continue to Deliver Playing a Massive Set Featuring Twelve Songs From Chinese Democracy and Resurrecting AC/DC's Whole Lotta Rosie

Osaka, Japan - December 16, 2009

Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Shackler's Revenge
If the World
Richard Fortus solo
Live and Let Die
Sorry
Rocket Queen
Prostitute
Dizzy Reed solo (Ziggy Stardust)
Street of Dreams
Scraped
Frank Ferrer solo
You Could Be Mine
Band Jam
Axl Rose piano solo
November Rain
Band Jam
I.R.S.
DJ Ashba solo
Sweet Child O' Mine
Band Jam
Catcher in the Rye
Out Ta Get Me
Ron Thal solo (Pink Panther Theme)
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Whole Lotta Rosie
This I Love
Nightrain

--- ENCORE ---

Madagascar
Better
Sonic Reducer (Dead Boys cover, Tommy Stinson on vocals)
Patience
Don't Cry (tease)
Paradise City

Thanks to Here Today ... Gone to Hell! for the updates.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Axl Beats Down a Pap at LAX (...and the Media Scuttlebutt)


So much Guns N' Roses news ... so little time ...

Regarding the Axl/Paparazzi incident at LAX on December 10:

The first account came via LiveDaily (owned by Ticketmaster/Irving Azoff BTW),
At Los Angeles International Airport, Rose got into a scuffle with a paparazzo that ended up with a few bloodied participants. Even with Rose flying to Taiwan there is still concern about whether he will be in the mood to perform, a question that had been raised earlier in the week when the rest of the band flew to the gig without the singer.
TMZ picked up the story the next day, and they followed-it-up the next day with this video which proved that the whole thing was true:



Interestingly, a guy named "Tom" posted the following comment on page 2 of the TMZ article,
They'll probably delete this but this whole thing is a scam. I was at the airport that night and I'm actually in the video ... The paparazzi were taunting Axl for ages and the whole thing kicked off when one of the paparazzi knocked into his mom. This video looks as if it were shot by somebody at the airport but was in fact shot by one of the paparazzi team. We saw them all standing together laughing about this afterwards. So they basically MADE this news knowing that taunting him and shouting swears at him would piss him off. I think this is disgusting behavior from the press, shouting insults and curse words around families to elicit a response from a celebrity. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Also, if this is disputed I am prepared to go on record to expose the lengths this reporters will go to.

Posted at 12:11PM on Dec 11th 2009 by Tom
Guns N' Roses official(?) Facebook page issued a statement regarding the fracas,
Axl Rose Accosted by Belligerent Paparazzi at LAX

Lead singer of Guns N' Roses unhurt in encounter with unruly photographers


(Los Angeles) December 10, 2009 –
Axl Rose, lead singer for the legendary rock group Guns N' Roses, was unhurt last evening when he was accosted by an unruly group of paparazzi at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

At the time of the incident, Mr. Rose was en-route to Taipei, Taiwan, to kick-off Guns N' Roses’ tour of Southeast Asia including shows in Taiwan, Korea and Japan.

Mr. Rose, who was about to enter a security checkpoint at LAX when the altercation took place, was approached by a group of unchecked and unruly photographers who became aggressive with the singer and female members of the traveling group.

Mr. Rose was not injured during the unprovoked attack and was able to board his flight without further incident.
Next up, Rolling Stone published these awesome pictures of the scuffle:





If you're unfamiliar with the members of Axl's entourage, the young man in the leather jacket is Fernando Lebeis, son of Axl's personal assistant, Beta Lebeis (not pictured) who was apparently struck by the paparazzo "They hit our moother." The beautiful young woman restraining Mr. Rose in none other than Sasha Volkova, a model who has been linked to Axl for man years. Her artwork appears in the Chinese Democracy booklet.

But wait - there's more! This morning at 2:30 AM, Axl Rose released a statement via the band's official Facebook page. In it, he denies releasing the initial statement (above), "calls-out" manager(?) Irving Azoff, the press, and Kim Jong-il:
Axl Rose denies releasing press statement regarding rumored LAX incident. "I did not release any statement or authorize either any statement or anyone to release a statement regarding anything at any airport anywhere.

We had recently began working with newer individuals in management in relation to our current Asian tour in support of our Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" in addition to Irving Azoff's though as it happens we are once again touring Asia without management of any kind.

Imo this non sense may be some type of manufactured or publicity stunt.

We're looking forward to performing in Osaka and Tokyo Japan doubling our pyro show and with our "new" full stage as local requirement have limited us on its use in our last performances.

Thanks to everyone who's come out to see us. It's been really fun so far and the addition of our new guitarist Dj Ashba joining us along w/ guitarists Ron Bumblefoot Thal and Richard Fortus, gives the night a kick in the pants.

Hope to see the rest of you soon!!

And to any publications running this; please feel free to tack on whatever negative agenda supporting nonsense you generally do (You know who you are!!). After all it's only someone else's livelihood you media police state, no fun, spoil sport, communist bastards.

Peace!!"

The band's currently in Seoul, South Korea where the promote was "sorry" to inform them they would not be able to use a helicopter from the airport to the venue as North Korea would "wonder" what it is!!
CLASSIC AXL ROSE!

This stuff is too good.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Seoul Monster



Seoul, South Korea - December 13, 2009

Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Shackler's Revenge
There Was a Time
Richard Fortus solo (James Bond Theme)
Live and Let Die
Frank Ferrer solo
Sorry
Rocket Queen
DJ Ashba solo
Sweet Child O' Mine
Dizzy Reed solo (Ziggy Stardust)
Street of Dreams
You Could Be Mine
Band Jam (Black Betty)
My Generation
Band Jam
November Rain
Take a Walk on the Wild Side
Better
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Ron Thal solo (Pink Panther Theme)
Paradise City

Thanks to Here Today ... Gone to Hell! for the updates!



Friday, December 11, 2009

Axl Rose 2009: First High Quality Photos Surface





Thanks to Here Today ... Gone to Hell!

Guns N' Roses Hit Taipei


Guns N' Roses Return to the Stage With an Epic Set
Featuring Eight Songs From Chinese Democracy




Taipei, Taiwan - December 11, 2009

Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
If the World
Live and Let Die
Richard Fortus solo (James Bond Theme)
There Was a Time
Frank Ferrer solo
Tommy Stinson solo
My Generation (Stinson vocals)
I.R.S.
Rocket Queen
Dizzy Reed solo
Street of Dreams
DJ Ashba solo
Sweet Child O' Mine
Band Jam
November Rain
Ron Thal solo (Pink Panther Theme)
You Could Be Mine
Shackler's Revenge
Knockin' on Heaven's Door


--- ENCORE ---

This I Love
Band Jam
Better
Paradise City

Setlist courtesy of Here Today ... Gone to Hell!



Follow Axl Rose and Guns N' Roses on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/axlrose
http://twitter.com/gunsnroses

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Izzy Stradlin's SMOKE Available Now


The new album from former Guns N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin was released last night.

The tracklist is:

Nothing on Me
Too Hot
30k Up
Dehydrated
Comfort Zone
Snow
I'm Breathing In
Gotta Go
Driving Down
Smoke [Instrumental]


Available now, only on iTunes.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Spoiler Alert!

Soundcheck video #1 - "Live and Let Die"


Soundcheck video #2





Leaked setlist for the Taipei show (December 11, 2009)

Chinese Democracy
Scraped
Welcome to the Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
There Was a Time
Richard Fortus solo
Live and Let Die
Sorry
If the World/Prostitute
Rocket Queen/My Michelle
Dizzy Fuckin' Reed solo
Street of Dreams
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
You Could Be Mine
I.R.S.
DJ Ashba solo
Sweet Child O'Mine
This I Love
November Rain
Bumblefoot solo
Shackler's Revenge
Out Ta Get Me
Nightrain

Encores:
Better
Patience
Paradise City

Thanks to Frozen Inferno and LetMeHearitNow and jip for the setlist, images and video.

Monday, December 7, 2009

"Street of Dreams" Hits #44 on Canadian Rock Chart


Rockstar Weekly
With Canada gearing up for the new Guns N' Roses tour in early 2010, GN'R has officially entered the Canadian rock radio charts with "Street Of Dreams," the new single from last year's Chinese Democracy CD.

The song debuted on the Canadian Active Rock Charts at number 44, ahead of debuts from Canadian rockers Default and Seattle rockers Alice In Chains. "Street Of Dreams" follows "Better," which reached Top 15 and "Chinese Democracy," which made it to number 3.

Additionally, according to Neilsen/Soundscan, GN'R Greatest Hits is currently at number 19 on the Canadian Rock Album Charts. The album has been on the charts for 297 weeks and has risen one point over the past two weeks. Chinese Democracy topped the charts in its first week of release in 2008, selling 70,000 copies in Canada. The last time GN'R topped the charts prior to that was in 1991 with Use Your Illusion II.

The band is off to Asia this week for a couple concerts and then embarks on the Canadian tour starting in Winnipeg on January 13.

Guns N' Roses with guests Sebastian Bach & Danko Jones:

1/13 – Winnipeg @ MTS
1/16 – Calgary @ Saddledome
1/17 – Edmonton @ Rexall
1/19 – Saskatoon @ Credit Union
1/20 – Regina @ Evraz Place
1/24 – Hamilton @ Copps
1/25 – London @ JLC
1/27 – Montreal @ Bell Centre
1/28– Toronto @ ACC
1/31 – Ottawa @ Scotiabank
2/1 – Quebec City @ Colisee Pepsi
2/3 – Moncton @ Coliseum
2/4 – Halifax – Metro Centre

Related: New Single: Street of Dreams
Related Discussion: New Guns N' Roses Song On The Canadian Charts

Friday, December 4, 2009

IZZY STRADLIN "SMOKE"


2 short song samples from NEW IZZY STRADLIN recording, SMOKE

Goes live to i-Tunes mid-December 2009

Songs are "Breathing" AND "Nothing on Me"


The album features Izzy Stradlin, JT Longoria, Rick Richards, Taz Bentley and Timo Kaltio (pictured)(who co-wrote "Seems to Me" and "Box")



Related: New Music From Izzy Stradlin