yes i love you Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Farewell, then, Axl Rose. Your UK and Ireland tour with Guns N’ Roses was just a flying visit, but true to form, you made it a memorable one, stripping the Slash t-shirts from our backs, camping out in an oxygen tent, threatening to storm off, generally draping your genitals over the battlements of your ivory tower and sprinkling the peasantry beneath. Come again soon, won’t you? Sociopathy is an admirable quality in a ‘proper’ rock star, and Rose is arguably the last one standing. But there’s one aspect of his antics that has to stop. That’s right: the time-keeping. As you’d expect from a man who took 15 years to record one album, Rose isn’t so hot at the big hand and little hand stuff. At London’s O2, he left us waiting, cattle-like, for 50 minutes. In Manchester, over an hour. In Dublin, pushing two hours. A rock star hasn’t taken so long to come since Sting in his tantric sex days. Say what you like about Chico, but at least he knows what fucking time it is.As tick followed tock followed tick followed tock, the GN’R gigs began to feel more like a social experiment, with unseen, clipboard-toting scientists pin-pointing the exact moment when human goodwill boils into impotent rage. You might have been forgiven for picturing the scene backstage. A promoter mops his brow. A gaggle of session men stifle yawns, play Fruit Ninja and contemplate their own mortality. From a dressing-room, a nasal voice barks an order:“Hey, Bumblefoot, stick ya head round the curtain. Do they look mad yet?”“Not yet, Boss. Just a little restless and deflated.”“Well then – let’s have another round of Buckaroo!”Last week, after GN’R left the UK to infuriate mainland Europe, I hit the NME comments section expecting a geyser of venom. This I found, by the bucketload, but alongside the damning testimony, I was surprised to note pockets of support for our tardy hero. “Don’t hate the man because he doesn’t have to work 9-5 like the rest of us,” argued Robert O’Connor, in what six years ago might have been referred to as ‘the Pete Doherty defence’. “He does what he wants, when he wants to do it and couldn’t give a rats whether people like it or not. Not to be rude, but that’s my kind of rock star.” Up to a point, I agree with Robert. There’s something depressing about rock ‘n’ roll running like clockwork, with well-drilled drones adhering to curfews and decibel limits. I’d be perfectly happy for Axl to roll in, say, 20 minutes late, breathless, doing up his flies and grinning broadly, while the atmosphere reached boiling point. But there are limits. For anyone who made it through, the GN’R gigs were often urgent and incendiary. For anyone who wasn’t prepared to sleep rough, though, these shows weren’t so much ‘Nightrain’ as ‘night bus’. Is it really acceptable – with the hot breath of redundancy on all our necks – for a millionaire to ask his fans to cough up for a gig they don’t even get to watch?At a more abstract level, is it really ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ when someone fails to show up? Surely the fizz and danger of the legendary performances came from what happened when a performer hit the stage, from the Pistols tearing up the Free Trade Hall in 1976 to Oasis reaching critical mass at King Tut’s in 1993. In twenty years, will you really tell your kids about that time you slowly filed to the O2 exit at midnight, clutching a ticket stub and contemplating an £80 taxi fare?Back in 1992, Rose conceded there was a problem. “I’ve always wanted to have it written in my will that when I die,” he noted, “the coffin shows up a half-hour late and says on the side in gold, ‘Sorry I’m Late’.” It’s a charming line, but in the chilly depths of recession, it doesn’t quite cut it. Get in the ring, motherfucker – or we’ll stop getting in the queue.http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=1&p=12344&title=axl_rose&more=1&c=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highvoltage Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Have NME ever run a positive article on Axl? Finally lost patience? Give me a break... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KetchupNotMayo Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 NME hates Axl, of their top 5 most popular news stories this week, 3 are about GN'R, all of them negative and completely sweeping aside all positive aspects of the recent tour.I think the magazine is still quality, but the website is just tabloid fodder of the worst kind to rake in the eyes for advertisers, you'd be just as better off going to The Sun for your daily music news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flayer Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I was hoping there'd at least be something new to it. Timetable bitching time is over, now everyone can go on to setlist bitching time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russel Nash Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 that article was just some random piece of shit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandallFlagg Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Axl's never gonna be a darling of the masses, what a shame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiaGNR Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I confused by all the constant talk of how Axl is "acting". Maybe many of the people talking are new fans - but old fans should understand this is GNR. Even if the 'ORIGINAL' band was together you would still be seeing the exact same thing (minus the Slash tshirt issue). I saw GNR many times with the original lineup. Axl ALWAYS left the stage - always ran to the side of the stage and went behind the curtain - EVER SHOW! They were ALWAYS coming onstage after 11pm. Actually he is much better than he was back then. Now he is constantly hitting the stage around 11pm - so you can plan your night based on that. During the early 90s you never knew what time they were coming on stage. Back then Axl ALWAYS threatened to leave the stage if something was thrown at him - AS DO MANY BANDS!! Actually back then you were standing on pins and needles wondering if he would walk off the stage. I am impressed by the way he handles it now. He asks for the throwing to stop or he will go home if it doesn't. Let me ask all who get mad by that - would you want to be up on stage performing, running around and having people throw stuff at you. Wouldn't you tell the audience to stop?As for the banning of Slash tshirts. Frankly I don't blame him. Slash has been throwing digs at him for awhile. Instead of keeping his mouth shout - Slash has gone on and on. I am sure Slash got tired of being asked - but he could have just spoke about himself and just let it go about Axl. I believe Slash has said GNR is dead to him. I am thinking Axl might be reacting to all of that. We all know Axl and he will react. They are both like two kids who haven't grown up. But that is who they are - NOTHING has changed. I am thrilled that GNR is out touring. I love watching the videos from the shows. I don't care that they have the same set list. Those songs are great and no one can bet Axl Rose as a front man. Would I love a new album - yeah sure. But as a long time GNR fan - I am more than happy to see them touring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Adam S Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 (edited) Here is my (an average GNR fan) experiance of Axl Rose...I went to the Liverpool Echo Arena, Guns N Roses put on an amazing 3 hour show. No Slash T shirts were taken and Axl sounded great.A very happy fan. Get a grip NME and stop being such drama queens. Edited June 7, 2012 by W. Adam S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voodoochild Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 NME is too hipster for saying anything good about GNR anyways. I usually dont care about articles, but that wasnt even an article, but just a random bullshit rant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axl_morris Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 (edited) This wont be the last from nme. Haha hope they enjoy reviewing bands for pussys like kasabian and maximo park. Why do they care, nme is an indie magazine not classic rock/metal.I went to 7 shows this time around, 15 in total, the wait was a pain in the ass especially the shows after 11 but i chose to be at the front and knew full well of the times they usually come on stage.Met axl twice and he was so nice and funny and doesnt deserve the shit he gets. Edited June 7, 2012 by Axl_morris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARX77 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Farewell, then, Axl Rose. Your UK and Ireland tour with Guns N’ Roses was just a flying visit, but true to form, you made it a memorable one, stripping the Slash t-shirts from our backs, camping out in an oxygen tent, threatening to storm off, generally draping your genitals over the battlements of your ivory tower and sprinkling the peasantry beneath. Come again soon, won’t you? Sociopathy is an admirable quality in a ‘proper’ rock star, and Rose is arguably the last one standing. But there’s one aspect of his antics that has to stop. That’s right: the time-keeping. As you’d expect from a man who took 15 years to record one album, Rose isn’t so hot at the big hand and little hand stuff. At London’s O2, he left us waiting, cattle-like, for 50 minutes. In Manchester, over an hour. In Dublin, pushing two hours. A rock star hasn’t taken so long to come since Sting in his tantric sex days. Say what you like about Chico, but at least he knows what fucking time it is.As tick followed tock followed tick followed tock, the GN’R gigs began to feel more like a social experiment, with unseen, clipboard-toting scientists pin-pointing the exact moment when human goodwill boils into impotent rage. You might have been forgiven for picturing the scene backstage. A promoter mops his brow. A gaggle of session men stifle yawns, play Fruit Ninja and contemplate their own mortality. From a dressing-room, a nasal voice barks an order:“Hey, Bumblefoot, stick ya head round the curtain. Do they look mad yet?”“Not yet, Boss. Just a little restless and deflated.”“Well then – let’s have another round of Buckaroo!”Last week, after GN’R left the UK to infuriate mainland Europe, I hit the NME comments section expecting a geyser of venom. This I found, by the bucketload, but alongside the damning testimony, I was surprised to note pockets of support for our tardy hero. “Don’t hate the man because he doesn’t have to work 9-5 like the rest of us,” argued Robert O’Connor, in what six years ago might have been referred to as ‘the Pete Doherty defence’. “He does what he wants, when he wants to do it and couldn’t give a rats whether people like it or not. Not to be rude, but that’s my kind of rock star.” Up to a point, I agree with Robert. There’s something depressing about rock ‘n’ roll running like clockwork, with well-drilled drones adhering to curfews and decibel limits. I’d be perfectly happy for Axl to roll in, say, 20 minutes late, breathless, doing up his flies and grinning broadly, while the atmosphere reached boiling point. But there are limits. For anyone who made it through, the GN’R gigs were often urgent and incendiary. For anyone who wasn’t prepared to sleep rough, though, these shows weren’t so much ‘Nightrain’ as ‘night bus’. Is it really acceptable – with the hot breath of redundancy on all our necks – for a millionaire to ask his fans to cough up for a gig they don’t even get to watch?At a more abstract level, is it really ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ when someone fails to show up? Surely the fizz and danger of the legendary performances came from what happened when a performer hit the stage, from the Pistols tearing up the Free Trade Hall in 1976 to Oasis reaching critical mass at King Tut’s in 1993. In twenty years, will you really tell your kids about that time you slowly filed to the O2 exit at midnight, clutching a ticket stub and contemplating an £80 taxi fare?Back in 1992, Rose conceded there was a problem. “I’ve always wanted to have it written in my will that when I die,” he noted, “the coffin shows up a half-hour late and says on the side in gold, ‘Sorry I’m Late’.” It’s a charming line, but in the chilly depths of recession, it doesn’t quite cut it. Get in the ring, motherfucker – or we’ll stop getting in the queue.http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=1&p=12344&title=axl_rose&more=1&c=1IMO whenever the wait between opening bands exceeds an hour then it becomes BS. All shows ive attended the wait has alway been 2 hours give or take minus Greenville, SC... I guess I understand someone's frustration if they have to leave early to catch a train home. In the USA catching trains and what not is usually not an issue as most people drive themselves. I've always been in a position to handle the late start times with hotels, car services or whatever. I get that all people cannot do that or afford to. I was on facebook the other day and Metallica was playing in Germany(i think) and GnR was in the UK somewhere... Metallica posted their ending setlist for their show and GnR had just started. In the end I understand the complaints but "you cant teach an old dog new tricks" and Axl isnt going to change. IMO he's doing a lot better hitting the stage in most cases before 11 PM. For those that can handle the late starts its usually well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coma16 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Hahahaha I thought the OP was ranting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Archer Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 B.O.R.I.N.G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volcano62 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 B.O.R.I.N.G.+1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CivilWar07 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 People who report these stories are retarded...If you dont know to expect Guns to be late, you deserve to miss your train home and walk.Whilst i feel sorry for those people with kids at home etc. people need to think about this before attendin a gig.Rule 32(B) of being a guns fan or attending a concert is to have an alternitive lift home, or dont go at all.This type of topic is boring and has been discussed for 10 years now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 It comes down to people being more forgiving at smaller sized shows than at arena and festival shows, but it's when they play places where trains and buses end before the show does. They have to be way more aware about this, because some of the shows are in questionable areas, and the last thing they need is some news item that some teenager was put in the hospital and had been coming home from a GNR concert with friends. It really is about looking out for your audience's safety, not just at the show, but on the way home as well. Some of them will say "be careful going home, esp. the ones that had a few too many". They don't want their fans getting arrested for a DUI, even though that's all about personal responsibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eu4ic Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Must've been a slow news day in the nme world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OJones90 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Wtf? Finally? Oh yeah because this UK Tour was the first time for Guns n Roses to ever be late on stage. haha this is a poor article with absolutely no point to it whatsoeverI've been to see them 3 times now. 3 best nights of my life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazey Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I've been to see them 3 times now. 3 best nights of my lifeYou probably need to get out more then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 NME sucks and this article is stupid but you gotta admit, for those that don't love GnR's music like we do, it's really really really hard putting' up with Axl's antics... I mean... it's hard for us, imagine for those that don't even love GnR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Archer Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I confused by all the constant talk of how Axl is "acting". Maybe many of the people talking are new fans - but old fans should understand this is GNR. Even if the 'ORIGINAL' band was together you would still be seeing the exact same thing (minus the Slash tshirt issue). I saw GNR many times with the original lineup. Axl ALWAYS left the stage - always ran to the side of the stage and went behind the curtain - EVER SHOW! They were ALWAYS coming onstage after 11pm. Actually he is much better than he was back then. Now he is constantly hitting the stage around 11pm - so you can plan your night based on that. During the early 90s you never knew what time they were coming on stage. Back then Axl ALWAYS threatened to leave the stage if something was thrown at him - AS DO MANY BANDS!! Actually back then you were standing on pins and needles wondering if he would walk off the stage. I am impressed by the way he handles it now. He asks for the throwing to stop or he will go home if it doesn't. Let me ask all who get mad by that - would you want to be up on stage performing, running around and having people throw stuff at you. Wouldn't you tell the audience to stop?As for the banning of Slash tshirts. Frankly I don't blame him. Slash has been throwing digs at him for awhile. Instead of keeping his mouth shout - Slash has gone on and on. I am sure Slash got tired of being asked - but he could have just spoke about himself and just let it go about Axl. I believe Slash has said GNR is dead to him. I am thinking Axl might be reacting to all of that. We all know Axl and he will react. They are both like two kids who haven't grown up. But that is who they are - NOTHING has changed. I am thrilled that GNR is out touring. I love watching the videos from the shows. I don't care that they have the same set list. Those songs are great and no one can bet Axl Rose as a front man. Would I love a new album - yeah sure. But as a long time GNR fan - I am more than happy to see them touring.Very nice post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trqster Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 The world (besides the USA...) will ALWAYS have time for Axl Rose, no matter what he does or does not do. He's a living legend rock star and will always be relevant. Deal with it whiners... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volcano62 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 (edited) The world (besides the USA...) will ALWAYS have time for Axl Rose, no matter what he does or does not do. He's a living legend rock star and will always be relevant. Deal with it whiners... Funny thing about the US they hate certain people for no reason like Cubans and Russians Edited June 7, 2012 by volcano62 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowmass Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Timetable bitching time is over...Even I now agree (I've been known to bitch about start times and could get worked up in a hurry LOL) but alas-move on. It's an old story (Axl goes on late). He only hurts himself (as far as ticket sales....alot of people that would consider going to show just say "He goes on so late...I'm not going"). It is what it is at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Len B'stard Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 (edited) If you don't like it man, just don't go, simple, why the big I AM, y'know, i am not going and farewell and finally lost patience and all this mularkey, it's a band man. I ain't trying to be mean here it's just you make yourself look like a dickhead with very little going on in his life that their desicion to not go see a particular band warrants this kind of Tolstoy-esque grand farewell. See, most people are flickin' through a paper, ahhh, The Stone Roses are touring...hmmm, y'know, Brownies voice has been a bit shit of late, i think i'll leave it...and then you finish the paper and go about your days graft, am i making sense here?Farewell Axl Rose for i shall not cometh to anymore of your gigs cuz i think you're a bit of a nobhead. Again, i don't wanna come off like i'm ripping the shit out of you here cuz i'm not cuz, look, tell it like it is, 99% of the music listening world thinks the same as you about Axl Rose, he's nobodys fuckin darling and nobodys fuckin legend and no great Messianic Jagger/Lennon/Townshend figure (fuck me, even Mick John and Pete weren't messianic so i don't fancy Axls odds), the general consensus is that he's a fat lazy cock and a bit of a joke in the music industry. Certain realities you just can't ignore, no matter how much you immerse yourself in "forum life". Basically what i'm trying to say is, what of any of that stuff is new to you, man? If you don't like it, don't go. I mean, i saw em in Hammersmith in 06, thought they were naff, ain't been since but you don't see me tattooing it to my forehead. Then again, it is a forum i guess so... P.S. anyone who thinks NME is a "hipster mag", alls you're showing is just how much of a fuckin square you really are You're that square it's contagious and i am that much squarer for having pointed this out to you, not least for employing a term like "square" in my vocabulary midway through 2012. Edited June 7, 2012 by sugaraylen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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