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Do you think Axl and Slash have discussed the whole crowd hostage/band name contract situation?


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With Slash it’s been nothing more than pure strategy and saving face while manipulating the public like he used to me.

^^ From the 2008 MyGNR Axl Rose chats. Also this....

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So let’s start here… the whole Axl wouldn’t go on stage yada yada… is complete and utter crap.

Never happened, all made up, fallacy and fantasy. Not one single solitary thread of truth to it. Slash had to save face and get business team and public support. Painting me as the one who held a crowd hostage forcing the others to sign over the name worked out pretty well in that regard. I’m the bad guy and Duff, the fans and most importantly himself were the victims. Oh and they had actually made the sacrifice for the crowd, the people, the fans at the show. But again…. IT NEVER HAPPENED.

 


Axl had some pretty strong words to say about this back in the 2008 chats, and if he truly believes his own version of events, do you think he's discussed this with Slash and Duff? I always found it very telling that when Axl came to the forum to answer questions a month or so after his new album with the new band dropped, all he wanted to discuss - at painstaking length - was Slash and the old band. I'm very curious to know whether Axl finally just decided to let go of all that baggage from back then or whether these issues have been addressed privately between Axl/Slash/Duff.

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I'd wonder have Axl and Slash even been in the same room yet. I'd like to think they have, but I'm not convinced... 

They are either doing the media silence thing for buzz and mystique, Or it's so fragile that one wrong word from any member about any other member would throw a wrench in everything. Hopefully it's just the mystique thing. All this tight lipped business will be all good by me, if they deliver the goods or even better if they release an album, because they were writing and recording during the hush period (that last bit is a bit far fetched). I actually like when bands don't force feed you hype, admirable (In some ways) considering how every other band does it.

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This is a first run, reunion show.  Especially the first shows in Vegas and LA.  As you can see, prices have already gone down for the Mexico City show and if they do a national stadium tour, I would expect ticket prices to be more inline with the Mexico City pricing vs the Vegas/LA pricing. 

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3 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

Not sure where else to post this, but Tom Petty recently brought this up about ticket pricing "My top price is about $65, and I turn a very healthy profit on that; I make millions on the road. I see no reason to bring the price up, even though I have heard many an anxious promoter say, 'We could charge 150 bucks for this.' I would like to do this again and maybe come through and not leave a bad taste in people's mouths. I was at one of our gigs recently, and I was just stunned driving in that it cost $30 dollars to park your car. It's so wrong to say, 'OK, we've got them on the ticket and we've got them on the beer and we've got on everything else, let's get them on the damn parking.' You got to care about the person you're dealing with."

He Continues...

"Getting back to the whole issue of ticket prices: We don't do the Golden Circle/VIP thing. I don't see how carving out the best seats and charging a lot more for them has anything to do with rock & roll. A lot of the time, some corporation's bought up these seats with someone's money who doesn't even know it's being spent — and they are going to use it to entertain clients. A lot of the people who buy these seats don't give a damn about the music — they're going to get a waiter. What you see from the stage is a group of people just talking to each other, not really interested in being there at all. And the poor guy who really is interested, he's sitting way in the back

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-ten-things-that-piss-off-tom-petty-20021114#ixzz404AZNufm 
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Couldn't put it any better, Ticket pricing going over $100 dollars is an Irving Azoff invention (started off the back of The Eagles 94 reunion). He claims you should always charge the most amount that the market is willing to pay. I know which of the two is going straight to hell.

So when people make the arguments about how expensive touring is, read over that one more time, Tom Petty is huge and he's telling you he's still making a ton, charging $65. Enough excuses, if Guns come around on this run charging in excess of 100 they are just greedy fuckers or as Tom Petty would say "greed-heads".

Just so we are on a level playing field, this Tom Petty interview is from 2002 and $65 in 2002 is equivalent to $87 in 2016.

I like Tom's attitude. He has good values, and respect for his fans

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11 minutes ago, GibsonLP said:

Just so we are on a level playing field, this Tom Petty interview is from 2002 and $65 in 2002 is equivalent to $87 in 2016.

I like Tom's attitude. He has good values, and respect for his fans

$350 > $87 Just Kidding ;)

I agree though, much respect for Tom Petty and other artists like him.

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I don't think so. Slash and Duff are in such comfortable position that I believe they don't care whether they are "part of the band" or hired guns anymore. They're in Gn'R as much as any other member from the last 2 decades, so it really doesn't matter.

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3 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

Not sure where else to post this, but Tom Petty recently brought this up about ticket pricing "My top price is about $65, and I turn a very healthy profit on that; I make millions on the road. I see no reason to bring the price up, even though I have heard many an anxious promoter say, 'We could charge 150 bucks for this.' I would like to do this again and maybe come through and not leave a bad taste in people's mouths. I was at one of our gigs recently, and I was just stunned driving in that it cost $30 dollars to park your car. It's so wrong to say, 'OK, we've got them on the ticket and we've got them on the beer and we've got on everything else, let's get them on the damn parking.' You got to care about the person you're dealing with."

He Continues...

"Getting back to the whole issue of ticket prices: We don't do the Golden Circle/VIP thing. I don't see how carving out the best seats and charging a lot more for them has anything to do with rock & roll. A lot of the time, some corporation's bought up these seats with someone's money who doesn't even know it's being spent — and they are going to use it to entertain clients. A lot of the people who buy these seats don't give a damn about the music — they're going to get a waiter. What you see from the stage is a group of people just talking to each other, not really interested in being there at all. And the poor guy who really is interested, he's sitting way in the back

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-ten-things-that-piss-off-tom-petty-20021114#ixzz404AZNufm 
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

Couldn't put it any better, Ticket pricing going over $100 dollars is an Irving Azoff invention (started off the back of The Eagles 94 reunion). He claims you should always charge the most amount that the market is willing to pay. I know which of the two is going straight to hell.

So when people make the arguments about how expensive touring is, read over that one more time, Tom Petty is huge and he's telling you he's still making a ton, charging $65. Enough excuses, if Guns come around on this run charging in excess of 100 they are just greedy fuckers or as Tom Petty would say "greed-heads".

Great post! :) 

I've always had respect for artists that keep their prices down. I'm going to see Queen in June and whilst there were premium seats to the side of the General Admission standing area for 100 odd quid, my GA ticket cost £52, considering it cost £39.50 for GA when I saw them in Hyde Park in 2005 I don't think that's too bad. Similarly, Robert Plant has never charged stupid prices, it's always been the £40-£60 mark. The Stones are band whose prices have skyrocketed in a decade. In 2006 the best seats were £125, now the nosebleeds aren't too far off that! David Gilmour as will. I think with some older acts (like The Stones) it's probably partly due to the fact that they're doing less intensive tours now, ie they want the same payout but for fewer gigs. 

One artist that really surprised me was Joe Bonamassa, he recently announced a UK tour and top price tickets were over £100, I can kind of get it with the 'legendary' acts but whilst I think he's a great guitar player I wouldn't say he's a 'legend' on par with say Gilmour, Fleetwood Mac, The Stones etc. (not yet anyway...) Still if people are willing to pay it why not eh? I decided not to go though.

Personally, barring festival tickets I've never spent more than £100 to see a band and I'd have issues justifying paying an amount that could easily pay for a new amp/guitar/bass. The most expensive act I've seen was the Stones in Hyde Park in 2013 which was about £100 after fees, but as it was mainly GA and I managed to get up close I thought it was worth it. Plus, Mick Taylor was with them.

I'm hoping if/when GN'R come to the UK it's £100 and under for the best seats. I imagine most of the shows will be GA floor anyway. Ultimately if no one was willing to pay crazy prices then surely this wouldn't happen! Having said that, weren't a lot of the Stones' 'lucky dip' tickets upgraded to the best section on one of their recent tours for that reason - ie the stupidly priced tickets weren't selling out?

 

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This is an interesting one, because in all the Slash interviews I've read, he's been diplomatic about Axl/GN'R. He's occasionally moved the subject along or in his book, he stated that he understood that everyone has a different version of events. I remember Slash getting VR banned from Radio 1 for effing and jeffing, when he was told not to. So Slash might not have huge control of his tongue, while knowing everything the rest of the world didn't about GN'R. He remained vague and polite. That's a skill. 

I never really thought that Slash cared about "saving face". Throughout the late 90s and VR, Slash was working and doing media stuff, while Axl laid low, didn't do the "celeb" thing nor speak to the media. So we always got one side of the story. Axl doesn't mince his words, and I'm sure that he wanted to make his voice heard at such a rare occasion. 

Have they discussed this? Considering I've just processed that story in writing, I'd say that they haven't and neither of them care enough. Slash seems to let things go, and 2008 is far longer ago than we think. Axl's probably too busy trying new cycling shorts and bumbag combos to worry about past quarrels. :P  

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31 minutes ago, Gracii Guns said:

This is an interesting one, because in all the Slash interviews I've read, he's been diplomatic about Axl/GN'R. He's occasionally moved the subject along or in his book, he stated that he understood that everyone has a different version of events. I remember Slash getting VR banned from Radio 1 for effing and jeffing, when he was told not to. So Slash might not have huge control of his tongue, while knowing everything the rest of the world didn't about GN'R. He remained vague and polite. That's a skill. 

I never really thought that Slash cared about "saving face". Throughout the late 90s and VR, Slash was working and doing media stuff, while Axl laid low, didn't do the "celeb" thing nor speak to the media. So we always got one side of the story. Axl doesn't mince his words, and I'm sure that he wanted to make his voice heard at such a rare occasion. 

Have they discussed this? Considering I've just processed that story in writing, I'd say that they haven't and neither of them care enough. Slash seems to let things go, and 2008 is far longer ago than we think. Axl's probably too busy trying new cycling shorts and bumbag combos to worry about past quarrels. :P  

Well, Axl cared plenty in 2008 and that was 15 years on from 1993. 

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That's an interesting quote from Tom Petty, is he classed as a solo act though? I suppose a slight difference with a band like GNR or the Stones is that the money has to be split a few ways minus costs.

I do think in the last decade we have all become accustomed, and you could say conditioned, to accept paying a lot more for things that used to be free or low cost. Everyone has smartphone contracts, subscriptions to Netflix, Prime, expensive coffee a'la Starbucks etc...in a lot of respects we are so used to paying a lot it often goes unquestioned as to whether it's actually okay to charge at a certain level for stuff.

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2 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

I don't think so. Slash and Duff are in such comfortable position that I believe they don't care whether they are "part of the band" or hired guns anymore. They're in Gn'R as much as any other member from the last 2 decades, so it really doesn't matter.

Makes sense. Even if (knock on wood) shit hit the fan and it all fell apart, axl realistically is the only one who owns the name and GNR could continue without slash and duff. So realistically yeah, they all had to compromise a bit

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6 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

Not sure where else to post this, but Tom Petty recently brought this up about ticket pricing "My top price is about $65, and I turn a very healthy profit on that; I make millions on the road. I see no reason to bring the price up, even though I have heard many an anxious promoter say, 'We could charge 150 bucks for this.' I would like to do this again and maybe come through and not leave a bad taste in people's mouths. I was at one of our gigs recently, and I was just stunned driving in that it cost $30 dollars to park your car. It's so wrong to say, 'OK, we've got them on the ticket and we've got them on the beer and we've got on everything else, let's get them on the damn parking.' You got to care about the person you're dealing with."

He Continues...

"Getting back to the whole issue of ticket prices: We don't do the Golden Circle/VIP thing. I don't see how carving out the best seats and charging a lot more for them has anything to do with rock & roll. A lot of the time, some corporation's bought up these seats with someone's money who doesn't even know it's being spent — and they are going to use it to entertain clients. A lot of the people who buy these seats don't give a damn about the music — they're going to get a waiter. What you see from the stage is a group of people just talking to each other, not really interested in being there at all. And the poor guy who really is interested, he's sitting way in the back

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-ten-things-that-piss-off-tom-petty-20021114#ixzz404AZNufm 
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

Couldn't put it any better, Ticket pricing going over $100 dollars is an Irving Azoff invention (started off the back of The Eagles 94 reunion). He claims you should always charge the most amount that the market is willing to pay. I know which of the two is going straight to hell.

So when people make the arguments about how expensive touring is, read over that one more time, Tom Petty is huge and he's telling you he's still making a ton, charging $65. Enough excuses, if Guns come around on this run charging in excess of 100 they are just greedy fuckers or as Tom Petty would say "greed-heads".

That interview is from 2002. I saw Petty in September of 2014 in one of the front sections and paid about $140 a ticket.

So yeah.

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Following up on Tom Petty's 2002 quote, on his most recent tour in 2014, tickets were between $37 and $137, and each ticket came with a free copy of his current album.

Contrast this with the Rolling Stones in 2015 who had prices between $39 and $395 for non-VIP. These prices were cheaper than their recent tours before that.

Hopefully GN'R have a $40 option once the tour starts rolling.

 

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17 minutes ago, Billsfan said:

Makes sense. Even if (knock on wood) shit hit the fan and it all fell apart, axl realistically is the only one who owns the name and GNR could continue without slash and duff. So realistically yeah, they all had to compromise a bit

If it falls apart after this there's no going back to the GN'R name with Axl as the only original member.

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12 hours ago, Towelie said:

^^ From the 2008 MyGNR Axl Rose chats. Also this....


Axl had some pretty strong words to say about this back in the 2008 chats, and if he truly believes his own version of events, do you think he's discussed this with Slash and Duff? I always found it very telling that when Axl came to the forum to answer questions a month or so after his new album with the new band dropped, all he wanted to discuss - at painstaking length - was Slash and the old band. I'm very curious to know whether Axl finally just decided to let go of all that baggage from back then or whether these issues have been addressed privately between Axl/Slash/Duff.

I bet they talked once, and since then it's been Axl's team talking to Slash's team talking to Duff's team, and the only thing Slash knows is that you're being paid this much and here are your tour dates. To me it seems that Slash and Axl won't be friends, they will just have a working relationship for the next 6 months

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Personally I think everybody should charge £30 max like the good ole days. The thing is prices have risen but prices have risen disproportionately with other things. £100 and you can see a wrinkly rocker in a hockey arena for two hours trotting out the same setlist that appears on the back of a greatest hits album, or go to Magaluf for an entire week, half board. You might even find yourself spit roasting a Thompson's rep?

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