hennemusic If you’re in the Los Angeles-area Friday night, the Rock 'n' Roll place to be has to be The Roxy.
Camp Freddy are on hand to help ring in the New Year; the band is made up of Matt Sorum (Velvet Revolver), Billy Morrison (Billy Idol), Donovan Leitch, Steve Stevens (Billy Idol) and Chris Wyse (The Cult).
Camp Freddy have played a hat trick of killer shows this month at the club, as part of their annual Christmas residency.
New Year’s Eve, Camp Freddy will crank things up ten notches with a huge lineup of special guests (or is that a special lineup of huge guests?), including Lemmy from Motorhead, Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols, Billy Duffy of The Cult, Gilby Clarke, Cherie Currie of The Runaways, Franky Perez of Scars On Broadway, and ex-Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler.
Camp Freddy regular Dave Navarro won’t be on hand for the festivities ... but you can be:
General Admission tickets are $60.25 each. All you can drink tickets are also available for $111.50 (well brands) and $214.00 (premium brands) each. For further details, call The Roxy Box Office at 310-278-9457.
"I got the tattoo first, I had a friend design it because I just felt that no matter what happens with this band, where it went, what we sold or (if we) broke up, changed, whatever, or (got) any other members, that at that time, it was the most important thing.
And it's like, I like tattoos and I wanted something that would always remind me of what was once there, a symbol of it. And so, I got this cross tattoo here. And then Geffen liked it so much, we decided to use it for a cover."
icon vs. icon Legendary guitarist Slash (Velvet Revolver, Guns N' Roses) has just released iTunes Session, a six-song collection recorded exclusively for iTunes. The effort, which features Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy, contains the following tracks:
1) Back to Cali 2) Communication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin cover) 3) Fall to Pieces 4) Rocket Queen 5) Starlight 6) Sucker Train Blues
via Blabbermouth Duff had sinus surgery on December 14 to repair his torn and damaged sinuses left non-functional as a complication from years of cocaine use.
In the latest installment of his column, which appears on Reverb at SeattleWeekly.com, McKagan writes, "From sometime in 1989 until about November 1993, I snorted perhaps my body weight in varying degrees of good, bad, and straight-up shitty blow. I don't recommend this to any of you young readers. I was NOT such a smart 20-something. Nope, just an ordinary drug-addict.
"I remember trying to glamorize all my drug and alcohol use back then. I would romanticize my life and my struggle as something noble and just. I was an ARTIST, maaan! I NEEDED to dull myself to certain inputs or else my art would suffer. Yep, before I knew it, I was strung-out and terrified. Crappy stuff.
"Someone asked me about this stuff a while back, and 'what are your kids gonna say when they start to party?' Some people ask me these things in an almost bellicose way, as if suffering through my kids' drug-abuse issues would be just payback for what I have done to myself. Hopefully, I was a big enough idiot in my time that I have filled the dumb-ass quota for my whole family. God, I hope so."
Duff issued a statement last week addressing rumors that he had gone back to drug use, following the news that he had sinus surgery. McKagan wrote online, "Thank you all for the very nice well-wishes regarding my sinus surgery recovery. I do want to make it clear for those of you who may be wondering . . . The surgery was a result of scar tissue build-up from my cocaine use which ended sixteen years ago. I have not relapsed on cocaine."
McKagan told The Pulse Of Radio not long ago what the best part of sobriety was for him. "Waking up every day," he said. "Waking up and being able to have a cup of coffee and be aware of what's going on around me and being comfortable in my own skin, and being curious about what's gonna happen that day. Simply, just waking up is the best thing."
McKagan said in a recent interview that when he moved back to his hometown of Seattle in 1993, before getting clean and sober, he was in such bad shape that he didn't think he'd live much longer. He recalled. "The house had a basketball court and an old, leaky roof. I never thought I'd use the basketball court. And I remember thinking that the cedar-shake roof that I put on the house, rated to last 25 years, would outlast me. Today it's looking old and somewhat worse for the wear. I guess I do too. To hell with how I look from the outside — I'm giddy just to be here."
via Blabbermouth Fan-filmed video footage of Gilby Clarke's December 8, 2010 performance at Petecos in Buenos Aires, Argentina can be viewed below.
Clarke has issued the following recap of his just-completed South American tour:
"South America — what a great trip this was...
"It didn't start out great when I got a call the week before that Dave Langguth (drums) broke his ankle and couldn't make the tour. I called Dennis [Morehouse] and he changed some gigs around and was able to do it. So off to Paraguay we went...
"Now I've played Paraguay before; the fans were great and the production team was first rate.
"On these tours, we always play with rental gear and my band has pretty simple requests when it comes to backline, but in the States they never have what we need and always have an excuse why they can't provide it. So what a surprise that Paraguay had the best gear of the whole tour. Brand new Marshalls, classic SVT's and a killer kit.
"Next up was Argentina for three shows and a house party for a radio listener winner. I knew it would be special when I got off the plane and there was a welcoming party of girls.
"The El Teatro show kicked ass. I met the local Hell's Angels chapter president and my doppelganger. But the second show we went on at 2:30 a.m. at Petecos and that pissed me off.
"After the Rosario show, we had to drive a couple hours back to Buenos Aires to catch our flight to Brazil where I met the American ambassador and did a meet-and-greet with the boys and girls club in Sao Paulo. The show was another packed house and good thing, cuz' last time it was half-filled.
"We stayed up all night again to catch our flight to Chile, so we were a lil' beat when we arrived. The promoters took pity on us, since we've been up for two days straight and let us cancel the press conference.
"The show in Santiago was crazy... I hadn't played there since 1994 when I opened for AEROSMITH, so I was surprised when the show sold out. Of course, we only had a couple hours sleep again to catch our flight to Bolivia...
"I know this sounds like a broken record, but I didn't book the flights, my agent did, and they should know you play at 1 a.m. in South America, so don't book flights at 7 a.m.!
"Anyway, Bolivia was killer, except I could barely breathe 'cuz of the altitude. The mayor gave me a certificate and the key to the city as a token of their appreciation. (that we rocked the house) so I'm sure we'll be back soon.
"South America has the best music fans in the world and are very passionate about good music. Can't wait for the next tour!"
Clarke suffered three broken bones in his left foot/ankle and a broken bone in his right foot in a hit-and-run accident on his motorcycle on January 10. He had his second surgery in early February during which "they put in a rod, plate and lots of screws," he wrote on his blog.
DailyStar 010 confirmed again that GNR are a far cry from the iconic rockers they once were. Axl Rose and his hired clowns arrived late for their Reading Festival appearance. When organisers pulled the plug on their performance because they over-ran, paranoid big baby Axl staged a sit-in and slated organisers. Their arena tour also started late. Apparently Axl needs a nap before shows these days. Bring back Slash and Duff.
http://gulfnews.com/arts-entertainment/music/a-rose-is-still-a-rose-1.732139 When Axl Rose and the boys burst onto the stage on Thursday night in Abu Dhabi, you could have already worked out that they were going to rock Abu Dhabi. What you couldn't have known, was just minutes before they set the stage alight, legendary rocker Rose was sipping tea while chatting to tabloid!.
"We better get out there before they tear the house down," said Rose tipping his head acknowledging the gathered crowd cranking up the volume.
"I'll be blaming you. You know that," he added as the entire group broke into laughter and headed off for the show.
According to his manager, Doc Mcghee, Rose has not given an interview for 14 years.
"I don't know what you've done, but you did something right," he said expressing his utter surprise that the red-haired singer was willing to talk.
Media-shy
The American rock star has been notoriously media-shy (read anti-media) since the implosion of the original band — the hitmakers behind seminal rock songs such as Sweet Child O'Mine and Paradise City. Rose even wrote the song Get in the Ring about his disgust for the media and all the lies he claims journalists and publications printed over the years.
But this week was different and as he politely asked for "any kind of tea" from a member of his crew, he settled into his chair and prepared to open up.
As with every good story there's always a bit of drama. You see this story almost wasn't told because while tabloid! knew Rose was in town, it was also made clear, initially, there would be no interview (as has been the case for the past 14 years). You can therefore understand why a desperate chase across Yas Island (in flip flops) swiftly followed when "that'"call came in to say he said "yes".
"There is a lotta rockin people out there," said Rose looking almost nervous [replace the word rockin with any swear word to get the full effects of the interview]. "Oops, is it bad to say that?" he added before quickly changing the subject.
"I played in the Middle East once before," continued Rose needing no prompt. "It was for about 50,000. It was insane. We've been trying to come play again since so tonight is gonna be wow. A lot of rockets and bombs. We're excited we try to go all out," he said ahead of the sell-out gig, the last of the Flash Entertainment-organised Yas Arena Show Weekends.
‘Pride'
"For me one of the really cool things is I don't have to get on at everybody in the band. Hey do this, do that, you know. Because they're excited. Everybody takes a certain amount of pride in what they do. Plus they all get on at each other about it anyway. Everybody goes out there and tries to give everything they can. And we stay out there a couple hours more, you know, until we feel the crowd is happy. Or until we feel like we've done a good job. It's kinda like going to the gym or something, you know, you don't leave until you feel like you're supposed to."
There's a slight pause before all four members burst out laughing. "It's just hard to get in the gym," Rose eventually concedes. "Yeah they won't let me smoke on the treadmill," added guitarist DJ Ashba still laughing.
South America, Asia and just off the back of more than 40 gigs across Europe, Guns N' Roses is off to Russia next saying the diversity of an audience never fails to amaze them.
"I think it's a lot to do with the material from the past and a hell of a lot to do with the heart that was put into it then," said Rose his fingers covered with giant rings, each with a new plaster covering the finger underneath.
Heart
"But if we weren't putting the heart into it now, if I wasn't putting my heart into it, the fans, they're not gonna let me get away with it. We have to live up to something, have to work a bit harder because you're living up to the legend or a myth or whatever," he said, deep in thought. "It's more pressure when you're playing to live up to myth."
Guns N' Roses formed in 1985, a time when Rose insists things were very different when it came to restrictions regarding performances.
"In the club days, like '88 and '89, you could fall off stage and that was OK. Then it turned into I can't dive off but other bands can. I'd be doing everything I can not to fall off. I always see the tape on stage. The glow in the dark tape on the edge. I remember when they didn't have it at the LA Coliseum when we opened for The Stones. When the lights went down, I went down."
Multi-cultural crowd
Stopping to listen to the fans getting progressively louder, Rose said he was looking forward to playing to a multi-cultural crowd.
"The diverse crowd aspect is actually the most interesting part for me because I think that pretty much sums up why the Guns catalogue has stood the test of time," he said, still with an ear on the fans.
"It crosses genres, it crosses religious lines, you know. It's music that people can relate to. That there is such a diverse crowd out there it makes it a lot of fun." Looking up from under the dark lenses of his aviators, Rose broke a smile. "We've crossed a few lines for certain," he said. "And we'll continue that."
