NEW Steven Adler interview with Mitch Lafon

[Padme]

1 hour ago, PsychoKiss344 said:

An AFD5 reunion would be a cash grab as well

But it would the AFD5, a real reunion

Right now I don't think Adler is helping the cause with this interview. More like he just shoot himself in the foot and burned a bridge

[ZoSoRose]

25 minutes ago, Natty said:

An AFD original 5 reunion would give many of us the possibility to see them together the 1st time. I saw the UYI tour (I was 15 y old then)  and all the next gnr generaztlions ,sorry generations, and I want to see them all 5 once in my life. If there is no magic left ,ok I or other fans ,we can have a closure with that wish...but if there

is at least a bit magic or even entusiasm between them to create new music..wow how cool would that be?

And honestly  I miss the unpredictable GNR. And with those 5 you never knew/know what happens. But I would prefer an afd5 show that gets finished by an angry axl than a 3 hours show with no surprises and frank and richard...not to mention a GIRL in the bamd. I dont want or need a girl in GNR. Afd5 just to see how it goes... come on axl slash and duff

Omg theres a girl?!?!?!?!?! Omggggg

[Walapino]

10 hours ago, bigpoop said:

If he was practicing for 'almost two years' that means he knew about it in the spring or summer of '14.  I've always believed there's no way the reunion was a result of DJ and Tommy leaving, and it had to be the other way around. This info seems to add some evidence to support that theory.

I was backstage with him for a few minutes in August 2015 in one of his solo shows and he knew, he said to me "in a couple of years" when I asked.

Edited February 18, 2017 by Walapino

[Torb]

On 17/2/2017 at 1:39 AM, dgnr said:

'I was gonna do all the Appetite, the Lies, and 3 or 4 of UYI songs, and then Frank, who is a wonderful, awesome guy, he was gonna do like the Chinese Democracy and a couple of the other covers. So it was like I was gonna start it, and he was gonna come in the middle, and I was gonna end it. And I was cool with that! '

I call this bullshit.
As he recovered from the injury, if what he said is real, no one would have stopped him to do so. The guys also had a break before the Asian and Australian shows, Steven could rehearse and play. But since he didn't, I don't believe that he was asked to do that kind of gig from the beginning.

[ana pri]

2 hours ago, starlight said:

Eu acredito que é Axl não querendo um tipo de reunião de AFD porque não aceita o fato de que seu projeto de CD tem failad. Ele quer continuar com sua idéia de música usando Slash e Duff para validá-la.

I agree.

[default_]

Honestly, even with all this drama, I think it will not be a cash grab if they release new music, it will legitimate their vision as a band.

As much as I wanted Izzy (I love Izzy and most of his solo career) and Steven to be a part of this, we have no fuckin idea about whats going on. Izzy and Steven have said all of this, yeah, but we dont know the other side, its easy to judge them as they're the ones up there right now, but we dont know what happened, I find it super weird that Steven was set to play most of the set and they just kicked him out with no apparent reason (as he was already Ok by the troubadour thing), I think he missunderstood things a little bit and the deal was the same as Izzy always had, to play some songs on sporadic gigs. We know Steven, we know how drammatic he is.  

Its easy to point fingers and judge while no one knows the other side of things. 

[Fitha_whiskey]

1 hour ago, ZoSoRose said:

Omg theres a girl?!?!?!?!?! Omggggg

She's got cooties! 

[Jane M.]

2 hours ago, Natty said:

But I would prefer an afd5 show that gets finished by an angry axl than a 3 hours show with no surprises and frank and richard...not to mention a GIRL in the bamd. I dont want or need a girl in GNR. Afd5 just to see how it goes... come on axl slash and duff

Are you against all girls or just Melissa? 

What about this one?

Y/N?

[RONIN]

18 minutes ago, default_ said:

Honestly, even with all this drama, I think it will not be a cash grab if they release new music, it will legitimate their vision as a band.

As much as I wanted Izzy (I love Izzy and most of his solo career) and Steven to be a part of this, we have no fuckin idea about whats going on. Izzy and Steven have said all of this, yeah, but we dont know the other side, its easy to judge them as they're the ones up there right now, but we dont know what happened, I find it super weird that Steven was set to play most of the set and they just kicked him out with no apparent reason (as he was already Ok by the troubadour thing), I think he missunderstood things a little bit and the deal was the same as Izzy always had, to play some songs on sporadic gigs. We know Steven, we know how drammatic he is.  

Its easy to point fingers and judge while no one knows the other side of things. 

The other guys don't have a good track record of telling the truth. Izzy doesn't have a reason to lie, especially at this point. The guy washed his hands of GnR with his last tweet.

Steven's story more or less corroborates Izzy's version of events. 

It's easy to discredit Steven. Harder to do the same thing with Izzy who truly doesn't give a shit about money and does not care to play the politics of the band. 

If anyone does consulting for a living here -- it should be clear why Izzy wanted to be paid for his appearances with new guns. He's having a great time racing cars or whatever Izzy does -- if Axl wants Izzy to make the effort to play at a show, he needs to pay Izzy. It's that simple. Axl getting upset about that and thinking Izzy would do it purely for friendship shows how out of touch with reality he is. This is the same guy who put a contract in front of his friend and wanted to demote him to an employee in the band with a reduced percentage. 

 

[RussTCB]

Finally getting a chance to hear this. 

[Lies They Tell]

4 hours ago, StoneTempleRoses said:

Yeah that's true I totally agree so why not do the full reunion for at least one show. They can split the loot equally for one show without Axl even noticing a pay cut in his bank account full of millions of dollars.

But would Izzy be okay with just one show? Only time will tell I guess.

[RONIN]

6 hours ago, alfierose said:

I can agree with this, unlike the others, and I would include Izzy in this to some extent, he totally lacks any strategic thought. It is very childlike in a way, Steven doesn't have the same kind of leverage Slash or even Duff have but I have no doubt he could have played his cards better.

Him talking about how he loves the band so much he would play for free and will take anything they throw at him sounds sweet and almost noble but really he is asking to be trampled all over when it comes to a business deal where the monetary stakes are high.I would like to think he had employed a decent lawyer or manager when it came to the negotiations of the reunion but I'm not sure that is the case at all. I can fully understand why the main three approached this as purely business and as a fan I also accept it's a little sad.

Steven needs to stop being so grateful for the crumbs off the table, get past the fact he fucked up 30 years ago (they have all fucked up at one time or another) and stand by the fact his legacy in the band means something, even if it's just to him and a section of the hardcore fans. This might mean he never plays with them again and holds out like Izzy but this whole they fucked me over but they are the bestest people and I love them schtick needs to stop.

I really hope they do something like an AFD5 club tour as an anniversary thing - they could split the loot 5 ways now the big money has been made. Somehow I don't think this will happen though.

Great post. Steven absolutely has zero business acumen. If you offer your services for free, even as a hall of fame drummer, you will not be valued enough by others when it comes to compensation. It's hard not to have a soft corner for the guy given his enthusiasm and genuine fan appreciation though. I think Axl and co view him as a liability and find his playing style to be dated. The 80's hairstyle and his cover band history doesn't really help Steven's marketability as a musician. If he had played with a few prominent bands and branded himself properly like Slash, things may have worked out differently when it came time to negotiate a reunion.

With regards to Izzy, I think his sense of strategic thought is just fine. He was the most concerned party about the band's finances back in the day -- him and Alan Niven were heavily involved with that until both of their departures. He was deeply resentful about so much of the band's income going to pay the late fines and fees incurred from Axl's antics. If anything, he felt GnR were going to flame out soon because of Axl and Doug Goldstein -- he was right, that's exactly what happened. And he walked. Izzy was so fed up, he took a lump sum payout and bailed.

The case with the reunion is simply the hubris of the redhead and his employees thinking they can keep this band going without Izzy's involvement because they're all such great songwriters. Or, as we all suspect, this is a big cash grab, and they really don't plan to write more music in which case, Izzy is no longer needed. Either way, he wanted nothing to do with their bullshit and at the end of the day, walked off with his integrity intact. Out of the entire lot, Izzy and Steven stuck to their guns and behaved in a respectable way.

Massive amounts of kudos to those guys from the true fans here.

[WhenYou'reTalkinToYourself]

Axl Slash and Duff don't OWE to Izzy or Steven or anyone else to get them back in the band.

It would be nice, I hope that someday it will happen, but they don't OWE them anything.

Izzy and Steven can do their own shows, play any of the AFD and the UYI songs they want and have every interested fan to attend those shows.

They also can put a very small ticket price since they don't give shit about money.

[Sosso]

I wonder which songs from UYI he would have been played. Probably Civil War, You Could Be Mine and/or Double Talkin Jive? 

[PatrickS77]

On 17.2.2017 at 1:41 AM, BlueJean Baby said:

Don't get me wrong, I like Steven, but he seriously needs to think about what he says before it starts flying out of his mouth...

Why? He kept quiet for a year. Even after the Argentina snub. I guess now it's just obvious to him, that the door is closed, so there is no reason for him anymore to keep his mouth shut.

[PatrickS77]

On 17.2.2017 at 2:10 AM, J Dog said:

Good interview. Popcorn always makes me smile when he does interviews. I love the guy and do wish he was the full time drummer.

But to try and look at from the other side. I think it has a lot do with trust. Steven has a shaky history. So they probably have some doubts, some worries in the back of their mind about him. But they decide to give him a chance. Bless his heart, he can't make it past the second rehearsal without fucking up his back and going out of commission for two weeks. Probably chilled out on muscle relaxers or something. So that doubt and those worries come back. Can we count on him to go on a huge reunion tour going all across the country and the world over the course of a year? Not defending anybody really, just a lot of history and trust issues I'd say.

I hate it though, I'd love to see him back with the boys full time but he even said it, it is what it is.

BS! They had Ferrer as a back up anyway. So no risk to anyone. They could have stipulated that Adler only gets paid if he plays the gig (properly). It would have been doable, had they really wanted it.

[thunderram]

4 hours ago, Dangelus said:

Clearly not for Izzy Stradlin, else he'd be on this tour. Hence my initial post - respect to Izzy.

 

Clearly, you missed the time when IZZY posted on twitter that he's not part of the reunion because ...... wait for it ...... MONEY!. Because, as he put it, they don't want to split the "loot" equally.

Now, in what universe does that omit IZZY from the cash grab accusations? Unlike STEVEN, he chose not to be involved because he wanted more $$ for whatever role he was going to have.

You can have whatever respect for IZZY that you want. However, claiming that he's somehow above the $$ is completely and totally incorrect.

 

 

[RONIN]

2 minutes ago, thunderram said:

 

Clearly, you missed the time when IZZY posted on twitter that he's not part of the reunion because ...... wait for it ...... MONEY!. Because, as he put it, they don't want to split the "loot" equally.

Now, in what universe does that omit IZZY from the cash grab accusations? Unlike STEVEN, he chose not to be involved because he wanted more $$ for whatever role he was going to have.

You can have whatever respect for IZZY that you want. However, claiming that he's somehow above the $$ is completely and totally incorrect.

 

 

 

Read between the lines. It's about respect....paying someone what they're worth. What they offered was probably insulting and a giant F U to him so he walked. If Izzy cared only about money, he would not have sold his partnership in the band at the height of their fame. That one fact will always kill the argument that he's in it for the money. If money was that important he would have done what Duff did, and retain his ownership in the band but walk away. He chose to sever all ties. That speaks volumes about where his head was at and how he felt about the band.

This is about giving a co-founder in the band his fair dues and including him in a part of the decision making process and compensating him fairly which they didn't want to do. Steven Adler confirms this in his interview when he says they offered him a pittance. But in his case, it took the gang offering him 1 tour date out of a possible 3 to finally say enough is enough. Respect goes a long way. If they had treated these guys properly, the fans would have had their AFD reunion. 

[PatrickS77]

On 17.2.2017 at 3:09 AM, SEPTEM said:

This forums name should change.  It should be myANTI-AXLforum.

Seriusly horrible..   So funny how even users with a picture/avatar of him meting and hugin axl says such a bad things about Mr rose.

So what? Because they met him, liked him and are fans, they should kiss his ass at every turn and agree with everything he does?? Thank god not everyone around here is a blind sheep with no mind of their own. It's kiss up like you, that let Axl get away with everything.

[thunderram]

13 minutes ago, Sosso said:

I wonder which songs from UYI he would have been played. Probably Civil War, You Could Be Mine and/or Double Talkin Jive? 

 

Or any of the other UYI songs that were penned and/or covered during STEVEN's tenure in the band. Don't Cry, Back Off Bitch. Perfect Crime. Knockin' on Heaven's Door. Don't Damn Me. Bad Apples. Garden of Eden. Locomotive. Dust N' Bones. Just to name a few.

[PatrickS77]

On 17.2.2017 at 4:15 AM, Oldest Goat said:

I imagine this would be a deciding factor in Axl's mind, the thing is though, after everything everyone is still alive and keen to play, which should outweigh any superstitious bullshit.

And then he breaks his foot at the very show after kicking Adler out because of a back injury. Karma? ;-)

[Sosso]

5 minutes ago, thunderram said:

 

Or any of the other UYI songs that were penned and/or covered during STEVEN's tenure in the band. Don't Cry, Back Off Bitch. Perfect Crime. Knockin' on Heaven's Door. Don't Damn Me. Bad Apples. Garden of Eden. Locomotive. Dust N' Bones. Just to name a few.

Read the article again. Frank should have been played CD, some UYI songs and the covers. Steven should have played 3 or 4 UYI songs, not 10 lol.

[starlight]

49 minutes ago, WhenYou'reTalkinToYourself said:

Axl Slash and Duff don't OWE to Izzy or Steven or anyone else to get them back in the band.

It would be nice, I hope that someday it will happen, but they don't OWE them anything.

Izzy and Steven can do their own shows, play any of the AFD and the UYI songs they want and have every interested fan to attend those shows.

They also can put a very small ticket price since they don't give shit about money.

Everybody owes somebody something.

GNR is also Steven and Izzy's band. They wrote the music that made GNR famous unllke Frank and Fortus.

[Natty]

1 hour ago, Jane M. said:

Are you against all girls or just Melissa? 

What about this one?

Y/N?

Always . 

No ,seriously. Gnr was never a band with a girl and that was fine. It just doesn t fit... 

I dont hate girls. I am girl

 I just don t see why there should be one in gnr

[thunderram]

21 minutes ago, RONIN said:

 

Read between the lines. It's about respect....paying someone what they're worth. What they offered was probably insulting and a giant F U to him so he walked. If Izzy cared only about money, he would not have sold his partnership in the band at the height of their fame. That one fact will always kill the argument that he's in it for the money. If money was that important he would have done what Duff did, and retain his ownership in the band but walk away. He chose to sever all ties. That speaks volumes about where his head was at and how he felt about the band.

 

First, I don't disagree that part of it is a respect factor from IZZY's POV. Makes total sense. But to claim that $$ has nothing to do with it is wishful thinking and clearly goes against what has been said and actually transpired. That was the main point.

With respect to your point about what IZZY did 26 years ago, that was then and this is now. As we've clearly seen from ALL band members, time changes things. What any of the guys did a quarter century ago when they were in their 20's and early 30's isn't necessarily what they'd do today. Case in point, AXL, SLASH, and DUFF are running the band/tour in a manner today in which they wouldn't have done back in 1991. Just because IZZY didn't care about $$ as much back then doesn't mean he doesn't now. Time and circumstances change. (FWIW, his rumored insistence on being paid the same as the other 3 despite not having an ownership stake supports the idea that his stance has indeed changed).

What we do know for certain is that he clearly stated that the reason he's not involved is because (according to him) the other members didn't want to split the $$ equally. We don't know what his role would have been or whether he's right to feel that way. Perhaps we never will. But the underlying point is that $$ is the reason he decided not to be involved. You're adding an additional layer of "respect" to it -- which may or may not be true (I tend to agree with you on that) -- but that still doesn't take the $$ factor out of the equation.

That's all I'm saying. Not judging or saying IZZY's stance is wrong. Just keeping it real.

Edited February 18, 2017 by thunderram