Monday, May 31, 2010

Slash at the Paradiso - May 31


05.31.10 - Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Ghost, Dirty Little Thing, Mean Bone, Nightrain, Beggars and Hangers On, Back From Cali, Civil War, Sucker Train Blues, Nothing to Say, Starlight, Solo, Godfather Theme, Sweet Child O' Mine, Rise Today, Slither, By the Sword, Communication Breakdown, Paradise City
Thanks to sleeper & remcognr

Guns N' Roses - Bergen, Norway


Guns N' Roses
Monday, May 31, 2010 - Vestlandshallen, Bergen, Norway

Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Richard Fortus solo (James Bond theme)
Live and Let Die
Sorry
This I Love
Rocket Queen
Dizzy Reed solo
Street of Dreams
You Could Be Mine
Dj Ashba solo
Sweet Child O' Mine
Axl Rose piano solo (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road)
November Rain
Ron Thal solo (Pink Panther theme)
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Nightrain

-----Encore-----

Madagascar
Better
Paradise City

Discussion

We're Gonna Find a Place Where We Belong



05.30.10 - "Pinkpop Festival," Landgraaf, Netherlands
Ghost, Dirty Little Thing, Nightrain, Back From Cali, Sucker Train Blues, Starlight, Rise Today, By The Sword, Sweet Child O’ Mine, Slither, Paradise City
Thanks to remcognr

Discussion

Monday, May 24, 2010

Slash at the Borgata


05.22.10 - Music Box at the Borgata, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Dirty Little Thing, Mean Bone, Nightrain, Back From Cali, Beggars and Hangers On, Civil War, Sucker Train Blues, Ghost, Nothing to Say, Starlight, Solo, Godfather Theme, Sweet Child O'Mine, By the Sword, Rise Today, Slither, Communication Breakdown, Paradise City
Thanks to GNR123GNR456 and uctalum01

Slash recaptures glory days at Borgata

The star of the show didn't sing a note at the Borgata's Music Box on Saturday night, and you could barely see his face beneath his trademark top hat. But Slash did all the talking he needed to with his guitar, treating the sold-out crowd to 90 minutes of furious shredding and precisely carved riffs that more than compensated for his taciturn nature.

In the years since the catastrophic implosion of Guns N' Roses, Slash has balanced copious session work with a handful of steadier endeavors, from former bands Snakepit to Velvet Revolver, which reunited him with many of his G N' R colleagues (minus volatile singer Axl Rose). But in strict terms, last month's Slash is his first solo record, a star-studded affair whose guest vocalists range from Ozzy Osbourne to the Black Eyed Peas' Fergie.

Touring with such a retinue being somewhat impractical, Slash filled the frontman slot with Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy, who, as one concertgoer explained to his date, is "the guy who's in Creed when it's not Scott Stapp." A high-range belter with a heavy-metal wail, Kennedy held the stage's center without pulling the focus off the show's real star, whose solos sent fists flying into the air.



The most vocal reaction was saved for the dips into Slash's back catalog, with the enthusiasm for Velvet Revolver's "Slither" nearly equaling the fervor that greeted each Guns N' Roses classic. Kennedy ably aped Rose's feral yowl and even some of his stage moves, while Slash echoed the solos on "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child o' Mine" almost note for note. If the overly faithful performance didn't breathe new life into the old songs, it upheld the band's formidable legacy with great fervor, and likely provided something closer to the experience of a vintage G N' R show than anything turned out by Rose and his rotating cast of session musicians.



As satisfying as the older songs were, they cast a shadow over the new material, particularly when time came for Slash to step out front. The old solos were melodic and dextrous, well-constructed work-throughs of musical ideas, while too many of the new songs were given over to glorified noodling. Although his fleet-fingered fretboard runs got the crowd riled, Slash was most exhilarating as a supporting player, chopping at rhythmic riffs with dazzling precision. Even with his name at the top of the bill, Slash did his best work just outside the spotlight.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Azoff vs. Rose: Who Will Win?


Two heavyweights who both know their way around a court-room. In one corner, the former voice of a generation, the angry, red-headed step-child, Axl Rose. In the other, one of the most powerful men in the music business, the CEO and Chairman of Ticketmaster and LiveNation, Irving Azoff.

Read the lawsuits and place your bets: Will Irv win, lose, or settle?

Irving Azoff's lawsuit is here.
Axl Rose's countersuit is here.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Axl vs. Irving by Bob Lefsetz


From the The Lefsetz Letter
--

Nobody wanted the album.

This is not a story of oppressed rock star sticks it to the man, this is a tale about an insane performer who's alienated not only his entire band, but every producer and manager he's ever worked with. By arguing over less than two million dollars, a couple of nights on the road, does Axl end up looking like he's got balls or that he should be committed to an insane asylum?

Let's just say Irving did everything Axl alleges. It's possible. You hear these stories in rock and roll. Are people gonna side with the diminutive businessman or the corn-rowed performer who got plastic surgery to close the VMAs?

Guns N' Roses put out one of the best hard rock albums of all time. "Appetite For Destruction" sold and sold, was featured in videos and still gets airplay today. Sure, the hit was "Sweet Child O' Mine", but come on, wasn't that riff in "Paradise City" amazing? The track built to a frenzy, driving you nuts. And when you heard "Mr. Brownstone", you believed it. This was not twenty first century posturing, where a fake image is manufactured to sell product to the kiddies, these guys lived it.

But the band could never follow it up. And ended up imploding.

The drummer may have been an addict, maybe he needed to go. But Izzy? The guy who added melody and texture to the songs? And by time Axl got rid of Slash, it was over. Saul is iconic, he was truly the other face of the band. And maybe if they called it Axl and..., or Bailey's Roses, or something with the leader in the title, the act could have survived. But this concoction of players was GNR in name only.

Not that the concoction did anything. Played a few gigs. Cancelled more. And supposedly worked on a new album, "Chinese Democracy".

What album's got a title YEARS before release? Isn't the title usually the last thing?

Axl would have been better off saying he shelved that record, making it an unreleased legend like "Smile", and then cutting another (or releasing the same damn work under a different name). Because by time it was finally released, people expected something in the neighborhood of "Appetite", and that was impossible.

But it was impossible for any new work to have the momentum and impact of "Appetite". It was twenty years later. MTV, the centralizing force, was dead. Radio was calcified. And the audience...was in its forties and had jobs and kids and couldn't stay at home all afternoon getting high to new music.

Times changed, but W. Axl Rose did not change with them.

And being the crybaby he is, he kept working on his album, firing people until...he ends up being managed by Irving Azoff.

Who stunningly not only makes a deal with Best Buy, but gets the album in stores.

Where no one wants it.

Best Buy advertises to high heaven. There's even publicity about leaks, which drives sales. But only if the music is good.

And in this case, no one said "Chinese Democracy" was great, and few said it was good, and the shelf life of a project that does not gain legs is...very brief today. Watched that remake of "We Are The World" recently?

But Axl got paid. Or maybe the label got paid. Someone got paid, because Best Buy wrote a check up front. And ended up losing a ton of cash. Then again, they got some people in the store. But on a selling records basis, Best Buy got fleeced. Notice the Minnesota company hasn't done any high profile exclusives since? (And hell, maybe they have, and I just haven't heard about them, proving my point...the paradigm is DEAD!)

But it's the manager's fault. It's always the manager's fault.

So what does the manager do? What everybody in the world wants him to do. Lobbies for Axl to put the original band back together and rape and pillage financially around the world. Didn't Irving create this paradigm, with the Eagles back in '94? Play your hits live for TV, sell an album thereof and then charge a fortune on the endless tour?

Maybe Irving didn't propose this. Then again, he was always eager to get Steve Perry back with Journey, so the story sounds real.

Maybe Irving stopped taking Axl's phone calls when he wouldn't play ball. Maybe Irving sabotaged him. You get in bed with the devil and you live with the consequences. But unlike a Mike Curb deal, Axl wasn't bound to Irving, he could leave. And did!

And now won't pay commissions on a South American tour.

Why? Did Irving not earn the money? Were the gigs not set up under his aegis? Axl is trying to prove a point. Which is?

That he's truly mentally ill? He's mad at Irving for using his real name? Hell, Axl loves Elton, who eventually put out a new album entitled "Reg Strikes Back".

And Axl may not ever go back to being Bill Bailey, but everybody knows he'll eventually reform the original Guns N' Roses and go on the road. That's what bands do. The only reason the original Pink Floyd won't reform is because David Gilmour is so fucking rich, having toured stadiums without Roger Waters as Pink Floyd. Waters sued, but he lost. Waters is dying to reunite the band, everybody on the inside knows this, but Gilmour won't do it, won't give Waters the satisfaction, he's already got his fuck you money. But Slash, Izzy and Duff don't have fuck you money. They'll go on the road giving the lion's share of the money to Axl just like Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit take a back seat to Don Henley and Glenn Frey. Sure, Henley can work alone. But he can't make that much coin. And as time marches on, Axl's grosses will continue to decline. And everybody needs money. Then what?

Sure, Axl's got Henley beat, he can tour under the band's name. Still...

A public figure's got no upside in picking a fight with a business insider. People have got no idea who Irving Azoff is, and they don't really care. They like GaGa, not Iovine. The person out front is the attraction. And by picking a fight for a paltry sum, Axl actually hurts his career. People go to see the train-wreck once, but how many times will they com back around to see Axl and some nobodies?

Rock and roll is a business. Irving was doing his job. Which he wants to get paid for. He was looking out for Axl Rose's best interests. Isn't that what he's supposed to do?

Discuss

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Axl: "GN'R Was Sabotaged"


TMZ
Axl Rose claims music giant Irving Azoff concocted a diabolical plot to destroy Guns N' Roses.

Rose just filed a countersuit against Azoff - his former manager - claiming Azoff tried to strong-arm Rose into a reunion tour with the original members of GN'R. When Rose nixed the idea on the heels of the Chinese Democracy tour last year, Azoff did everything he could to screw Axl ... so he claims.

Among other things, Rose claims Azoff tried "devising and implementing a secret plan to set up Rose and the band for failure so that Rose would have no choice but to reunite with the original Guns N' Roses' members."

Rose believes Azoff was so vicious he even used Axl's childhood name - something that carries heavy emotional baggage - when he filed the initial lawsuit for commissions. Rose says the name William Bailey "carries significant emotional damage from Rose's childhood" and that Azoff knew it because of numerous personal and confidential conversations.

Rose is countersuing for $5 mil minimum.

AXL ROSE SLAMS IRVING AZOFF IN $5 MILLION COUNTERSUIT

Discussion at GUNSNFNROSES Forum

Guns' European Tour May be Postponed


BLIC Online
Guns N' Roses concert in Belgrade rescheduled for September

American hard rock band Guns N' Roses postponed their concerts in Belgrade and Zagreb (previously scheduled for June) until September.

As the agency Beta was told today at the Belgrade Arena, the new date of the concert in the Serbian capital hasn't been specified yet, but it is likely to be 22, 23 or 24 September, depending on the band management's decisions.

Guns N' Roses concert at the Belgrade Arena was scheduled for June 22, but in the meantime rumors could be heard that the entire European tour will be postponed until September.

The Arena was also told that the concert in Zagreb will precede the one in Belgrade, as was originally planned.

GN'R: Europe '10

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Ronnie James Dio dead at 67


Chicago Tribune
Heavy metal lost one of its icons Sunday when singer Ronnie James Dio died at 67. He was being treated in a Houston hospital for stomach cancer.

“My heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m,” said a statement by his wife, Wendy, posted Sunday on the singer’s Web site and confirmed by publicist Maureen O'Connor.

Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins commented on Twitter, "Ronnie was a true gentleman, and obviously one of the best rock singers there will ever be. What a sad loss. ... I only got to meet him once and I can honestly say he was the nicest person I have ever met in music."

Dio’s neo-operatic voice was one of metal’s most distinctive instruments, an over-the-top stylist perfectly suited for a genre that demanded excess.

He fronted some of metal’s most revered bands, including a Deep Purple offshoot called Rainbow, the second incarnation of Black Sabbath and his namesake group, Dio. As a result, he had a hand in a half-dozen of metal’s greatest albums, including Sabbath’s “Heaven and Hell” and Dio’s “Holy Diver.” Most recently he was heard fronting a Sabbath offshoot, Heaven and Hell, which released a fine 2009 album, “The Devil You Know,” and toured extensively in 2008-09.

Dio’s piercing voice and equally flamboyant persona – he is sometimes credited with popularizing the two-fingered “devil’s horns” gesture – made him fodder for affectionate parody, most notably by the best-selling comedy duo Tenacious D.

Dio was born Ronald James Padavona in 1942 in Portsmouth, N.H. He began playing in rock bands starting in the late ‘50s in Cortland, N.Y., and eventually formed the band Elf in 1969. A tour as opening act with Deep Purple led to Dio’s first big break – he caught the ear of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who formed the band Rainbow with the vocalist.

The singer then joined Black Sabbath in 1979 after the departure of Ozzy Osbourne, and sparked one of the group’s best albums, “Heaven and Hell.” He would continue working off and on with Sabbath and Sabbath band members throughout the remainder of his career, in between stints with Dio – a classic, old-school metal band that toured and recorded consistently over the last three decades. The Dio band released 10 studio albums since 1983 and went through numerous lineup changes, with the singer the sole constant.

For many fans, Dio embodied metal’s virtues, notably its confrontational power and hell-raising subject matter. That affection spilled over into the comedy of Tenacious D – a duo led by movie star Jack Black --- who wrote the tribute song “Dio” and even had the singer appear as an oracle of sorts in the movie “Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny.” Dio guides the young Black to pursue his dreams. “Now go, my son,” he bellowed, “and rock!”

Just Like You, I Put My Custom-Tailored Jeans On One Leg at a Time


By Duff McKagan
If you've seen me at any rock shows over the past few years, you will notice that I wear the same jeans at every gig. As a matter of fact, I wear those pants everywhere: to the grocery store, on the plane, to the kids' school . . . and to weddings. I had them custom-made. Not because I'm the kind of guy who needs to be the only one on his block with his pair of jeans. For the life of me, I cannot find a pair of pants in the store that will fit. Trust me, I've tried.

I am somewhere in between average and big-and-tall, I suppose. Nothing at either store seems to fit. It makes me feel all alone sometimes when I go to a clothing store only to find nothing in my pant size. I mean, when was the last time you saw a pair of 32/36s hanging on the racks? This, my friends, is the problem with being tall.

I'm not sure what the average adult height is, but I am most positive that it is much shorter than my 6'3". Why am I so sure of this? Well, because for most of my life I have had to stoop to grab something off of a countertop, desktop, or grocery check-out counter. Things that are meant for an average height have been much too low for me for many years now. I must constantly strengthen my back and keep it limber.

Now I am not one to complain about my lot in life. I'm well aware that things could most certainly be a whole hell of a lot worse. I have all my arms and legs and fingers and toes. My intellect and sanity are mostly intact and in working order. I have two children, so obviously all that stuff works, too. No, I am not complaining. I just have a few items that I want to throw out there:

I'm not looking down on you, I swear. Eye contact is polite, and I am a firm believer in it. But over the years my neck has started to ache from looking down most of the time. My work predestines that I must stand most of the time and "rock out" with my other band members. Over the years, only Jeff Rouse and Mike Squires of Loaded have been near tall enough for me to look straight in the eye onstage. About 12 years ago, Mark Lanegan, Ben Sheppard, Mike Johnson, and I were going to form a band together for the simple fact that we were all tall. It sounds funny now, but we were serious about it then. If you are the only tall guy in a band, you run the risk of looking goofy if you're hunched over all the time.

I'm not trying to kick the back of your seat, I swear. I am THAT guy you will see on those Alaska Airlines flights from Los Angeles to Seattle. You know, the guy in seat 9C who looks miserable as they are serving snacks. Miserable because the tray is too low to lay out flat when it is fully pulled out of its vestibule! I am also that grumpy guy whose knees are completely bruised after the person in front of him decides to recline their seat. I always wonder what the guys in the NBA do when they fly? What does Krist Novoselic do? He is a good 4 inches taller than me!

I really am not a slouch. I know we have all seen those tall people out there whose postures have become perma-hunches (for some of the reasons that I have just named). So I have been faced with the quandary of standing tall without seeming like I am sticking out like a sore thumb. How do tall people keep their heads up when making conversation in public? How will I "bend at the knees" for all that I do now, when my legs get too weak in my 80s and 90s? I want to stand tall for sure, but I still want to fit in.

Officer, if you weren't a short unhappy fellow, you'd be speeding, too. My legs are fucking long, but my arms are not proportionate. I must play an ongoing game of seat and wheel adjustment so that my back doesn't get too sore from stooping forward so that my hands can rest at the 10 and 2 positions, or so my legs don't get too cramped when I bring the seat forward to save my back. If I had to be a truck driver for a living and do long hauls, I'd be a cripple in no time for sure.

I married up! My wife is 5'11" and our daughters are very tall for their ages. At least in my home, we can all fit in together. My wife modeled for a living for a long time, and it is only in that career (and some sports) that you can actually make a living because of your height. When she picked me up at Burbank Airport for our first blind date, it was marvelous to be able to look her in the eyes without craning my neck. It still is!

I'm not sure why we have such small dogs, though. That is a study for a whole other column. I'm going to take some Advil now ...

Saturday, May 15, 2010

The Best Guns N' Roses Forum


Calling all you wanna be web warriors, ho defenders n' bitch boi's ...
Coming soon ...
A brand new experience in online communities ...

The Original Guns N' Roses Forum for the Original Guns N' Roses
and The Only Uncensored Guns N' Roses Forum on the Internet

The Best Guns N' Roses Forum

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Slash to Open AC/DC's French Shows in June


AC-DC.net
Promoter GDP just announced today that Slash will open both AC/DC shows in Nice on June 15 and Paris on June 18. There are still tickets available for the Nice concert, and more tickets have just been placed on sale for Paris.

Slash will also play Hellfest in Clisson, France on June 19 and The Bataclan in Paris on June 20.

SLASH tour dates

41 Years Ago in a Chicken Coop Far Far Away ...

Born in a Coop, Raised in a Cage



Slash v Axl


Virgin media

Roots

Slash was born in Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire in the mid 1960s, raising the possibility that, had his parents not moved to LA when he was 11, he could have ended up as a guitarist for Midlands contemporaries Ned's Atomic Dustbin or the Wonder Stuff. Axl's hometown of Lafayette, Indiana may not be much more glamorous but at least it sounds real pretty.

Winner: Axl

Who's got the best headgear?

Slash's top hat is one of the most iconic items of headgear in rock 'n' roll. Axl's piratical bandanna never quite matched up but at least he was trying. Sadly, the frontman has never recovered from his decision to put braids in his hair. Ultimately he was forced to play alongside a man with a KFC bucket on his head just to draw attention from it.

Winner: Slash

Who's got the best name?

One of them chose his name because it's an anagram of "oral sex," the other sounds like an incontinent Flash Gordon. Neither are dignified monikers for men of their advanced years but somehow "Slash" has worn better than "Axl Rose." You can't help feeling they'd get on a lot better if they were simply Saul and William, though.

Winner: Slash

Bandmates

Slash hasn't had much luck with frontmen. After leaving Axl he ended up, in Velvet Revolver, with former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland who has since departed in a huff. However, at least he's never played with anyone called "Buckethead" or, Axl's new, Hobbit-channelling guitarist, "Bumblefoot."

Winner: Slash

Letting bygones-be-bygones

"It was the perfect Axl record," Slash told the New York Post of Chinese Democracy, adding that "he's fucking phenomenal." Unfortunately Axl’s last comment about his former guitarist was less magnanimous "I consider him a cancer." We might have to wait a while before the classic Guns N' Roses line-up reforms, then.

Winner: Slash

Knowing a great song when you hear it

Slash and Guns N' Roses drummer Steve Adler were just messing around when the guitarist came up with the famous opening riff of "Sweet Child O' Mine." However, Axl overheard them and began writing lyrics about his then girlfriend. "It was actually my least favourite song we ever wrote, I hate it," Slash said later, "but it turns out to be our greatest song ever."

Winner: Axl

Rock 'n' roll behaviour

All of Guns N' Roses had somewhat clichéd run-ins with drugs and booze so Slash's vodka-induced "cardiac myopathy" and pancreas problems are hardly worth celebrating. Axl's grandiose plans for Chinese Democracy set a new standard for rock megalomania, though. Say what you like about him but there aren't many frontmen who'd make such a good James Bond villain as Axl Rose.

Winner: Axl

Who's better live?

Guns N' Roses, at their peak, were the last band to play classic rock 'n' roll without sounding like some kind of heritage act. Slash, with the cigarette permanently draped over his lip and the hat and / or hair hiding his face, was the epitome of cool but Axl was the supreme frontman, Freddie Mercury crossed with Freddie Krueger in one snarling, squealing body.

Winner: Axl

Who's had the best career post-1996?

As the one who kept the Guns N' Roses name Axl had a big advantage but, ironically, Slash has played with more of the classic line-up in recent years than Axl. There are five of them on his pretty good new solo album Slash. Velvet Revolver, too, at their best, were better than Chinese Democracy era Guns N' Roses.

Winner: Slash

And the winner is ... Slash

At least Slash seems to have had fun over the last 15 years or so, while Axl's been obsessively fiddling with Chinese Democracy and complaining about the press. They'd both be better off, though, if they forgot about their differences and got the old band back together.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

STP Wasn't Meant to Get in the Way of Another VR Record


Tied to the Nineties

As Stone Temple Pilots return with their first album in nine years, Scott Weiland explains the difficulty of hauling himself out from under history's bootheels

Although the ill-fated Velvet Revolver provided a distraction for five and a half of the intervening years since Stone Temple Pilots' initial parting of ways in 2003, a subsequent stint in rehab and announcement of an STP reunion on the eve of an Australian tour brought about the eventual collapse of his union with Axl Rose's former compatriots in 2008, which the singer unceremoniously announced onstage in Glasgow during their last tour.

Today, Weiland is tactful and reticent in discussing the acrimonious – and very public – fallout. "I look back on it fondly and it’s a shame that it ended the way it did," he recalls. "STP wasn't meant to get in the way of another Velvet Revolver record. Slash and I were always straight with each other, and if it looked like there was going to be a reunion with Guns N' Roses to do festivals that summer, it wouldn’t have bothered me. I always thought that would have been a good idea."

With Velvet Revolver now firmly in the rear view, reconvening with the brothers DeLeo and Eric Kretz was "like having a family reunion," says Weiland.



http://www.theskinny.co.uk/article/99213-tied-to-the-nineties

One More From Lena



Lena Boone's GN'R 'toons

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Steven Adler's Biography Coming June 22


Steven Adler's biography My Appetite For Destruction, is due on June 22 via HarperCollins.

A pre-order for the 304 page hardcover, trimsize book, priced at $25.99, is available here.

Steven plays drums on "Baby Can't Drive" a bonus track on Slash's solo album. Alice Cooper and Nicole Scherzinger contribute vocals on the track and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers plays bass on it.

Steven is currently working on a full length album with his band, Adler’s Appetite which is comprised of vocalist Rick Stitch (Ladyjack), guitarists Alex Grossi (Hookers N' Blow, Quiet Riot), Michael Thomas (Faster Pussycat) and bassist Chip Z’nuff (Enuff Z’Nuff).

Icon vs. Icon

I've Been Saving These Last Words for One Last Miracle

Lena's Back!



Lena Boone's GN'R 'toons

Monday, May 10, 2010

Slash Announces First Batch of UK & Ireland Tour Dates


Stereoboard
Slash has announced four initial UK and Ireland shows. More dates are expected to be added to the tour list shortly!

The rocker has already confirmed his appearance at two huge UK festivals this year with a performance set for both Glastonbury and Download. Slash has now announced that he will be playing solo shows at venues in Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh and Manchester this summer.

The guitarist, who was born and raised in the UK, is expected to receive high praise for his first ever solo album that includes an all-star line up. Highly anticipated, the record contains collaborations with the likes of Fergie, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl and Adam Levine from Maroon 5.

The album is the rock icon’s first new material since the 2007 release of Libertad by his previous band, hard rockers Velvet Revolver. Slash admits that Velvet Revolver are currently on the back-burner for him, allowing himself to concentrate on his solo project.

Speaking about Velvet Revolver, Slash commented, "we worked really hard on trying to see if we could find a singer right after the last tour stopped and we were done with Scott Weiland. We didn't want to rush it or make any desperate decisions."

"As soon as I get back from this tour I'll call the other guys and see where they're at and then we'll reconvene and take a good look at where Velvet's at and who's out there and get that up and running. It's definitely not dead. It's just sort of dormant."

Slash will play the following UK and Ireland dates:

June 29 - Vicar St, Dublin
June 30 - Mandela Hall, Belfast

July 1 - HMV Picture House, Edinburgh
July 3 - Academy, Manchester

Complete Slash tour dates here.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Musicares Benefit - Club Nokia


Photo: @_pennyroyal





Setlist (incomplete, unverified): Doctor Alibi (with Lemmy), Mother Maria (with Beth Hart), Sister Heroin (with Beth Hart), Whole Lotta Love (with Beth Hart), Shock Me (with Ace Frehley)

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Jane's Addiction Debut Duff at Free Show


Jane's Addiction will debut new bass player Duff Mckagan in Hollywood on Wednesday - but only 100 lucky fans will witness the historic show.



The former Guns N' Roses star recently replaced Eric Avery in the reformed band and has yet to make his first public appearance.

McKagan will hit the stage with his new bandmates at Hollywood club Bardot for Wednesday's Cinco de Mayo party. Tickets will be free but only the first 100 fans who show up at the door will gain access to the tiny venue.

The bassist made his performance debut as Jane's Addiction's newest member on 30 March when the band performed at frontman Perry Farrell's birthday party in Los Angeles.

http://www.janesaddiction.com/