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NEW Steven Adler interview with Mitch Lafon


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1 hour ago, JustanUrchin said:

Fascinating disclosure of legally significant facts by Mr. Adler, even if unintentionally.

Backing up.  While I sold my tickets last summer after Gn’R sounded like, well, Gn’R for the first time since ’90—the party feel that only Adler can bring to the seedy lyrics and raunchy guitars—but before the S/D/A reconstituted partnership arrived at my venue, I stumbled upon the Adler interviews today and had to re-read the transcripts.  Several times.  The legally relevant parts, anyhow.

Judging by the comments here, it is apparent that few, if any, posters ever saw Gn’R live.  That means, of course, the o-r-i-g-i-n-a-l five individuals who signed a recording contract as Guns n’ Roses, registered the brand (band) name, executed a p’ship agreement, and recorded and performed the band’s music under said recording contract.  I’d venture to say that those who were never part of the scene when it mattered are the types twisting and turning legal facts to suit their opinion that Adler’s fourth replacement drummer—who looks like he rolled out of the sleeper of a rig and has all the feel of the Elephant Man on the kit—is in any way imaginable better suited to play AFD and Lies while Adler stands on the side of the stage and watches this lardass in a skull cap and prison loafers deaden badass songs (and thinks about pushing his fourth replacement down the stairs.  Funny, incidentally!).  The whole damn stadium turned the volume up to 11 and erupted when Adler rocked the stage last summer.  I thought he—and they—were going to break my Periscope feed.

Axl has released 15 songs in 26 years—and counting—14 of which landed on Wikipedia’s worst all-time albums.  He was the butt of late-night talk-show jokes.  Axl was playing high school proms without Slash and Duff.  Slash and Duff, meanwhile, were winning Grammies and pumping out rock music.  As, too, was Izzy.  Album after album.  I listen to Octane, so that is my barometer for new rock music.  Octane does it better than anyone, for my money.   For all those Axl-apologists, Adler’s songs, like “Good to Be Bad,” were in heavy rotation on Octane, and rightly should have been, over Axl’s solo band’s piano and synth mid-tempo Liberace sissy pieces or whatever-the-hell-it’s-called-music.  Or perhaps we should rename it “The music that has everyone in the stadium taking a piss break and grabbing a beer for a few songs each show.”  Even Slash and Duff rewriting key parts in those songs cannot grab fans’ attention.

Where was I?  Slash has retained his own counsel and separate management.  Duff has retained his own counsel and management separate and apart from Slash and Axl.  Axl, meanwhile, is managed by live-ins.  And his finances are managed by in-laws of said live-ins.  These third-world live-ins are, unsurprisingly, wholly unqualified and unprofessional.  The last I checked in on Gn’R world, for instance, the news was that one of his live-ins was raging publicly against AC/DC fans—a band even more iconic than Gn’R.  The employees of this legal entity—Adler’s fourth replacement drummer, Izzy’s whatever-the-number replacement guitarist and the two others adding noise to classic songs—are managed by Axl’s live-ins.  

Why does any of this matter?  And what does it mean?  First, both straight-ahead Gn’R fans and those few, but pouty, fact-denying Axl-apologists have cause to celebrate that Adler is refreshingly honest—he just blurts shit out when asked.  He’s the only one of the five who is still rock n’ roll.  And, of course, the term of the NDA, if one year, would have exhausted, if signed on January 2, 2016 or thereabouts, thereby releasing Adler to say whatever the fuck he pleases as he, given the content of his interviews, gave the S/D/A money machine the finger after not re-upping as a stand-by employee for another year.  Good for him.  Say what you will about him changing his life and living with boundless energy, as if that is somehow suspect, but the man has conviction—he did what very few others would:  stood by and watched his fourth replacement Elephant Man thud through his songs, swallowed his pride, took the stage and showed everyone that he owned the stage, and after one year decided that money and two songs here ‘n there is a fraud to the fans and himself.  I am proud of him.  Sincerely.  It is also, if I were his counsel/management, a tactic of which I would approve and a crafty negotiating maneuver.  It puts the pressure back on S/D/A to trot him out there for ALL his songs.  Remember, he was publicly drumming his truth about S/D/A the very month before Duff approached him with the NDA on January 2, 2016.

Working backwards, it is Duff who approached Steven with the NDA in January ‘16.  Accompanied by his management and/or counsel—“They had me sign a contract thing…”  And from a practice perspective, Adler is omitting that said NDA was reviewed by his management and/or counsel.  But to a drummer who just wants to rock HIS songs, omitting legal nuances is understandable.  It is also Duff who communicated the decision to Adler that he would not have a role in the Troubadour shows.  This is direct evidence that S/D/A p’ship has collective decision-making authority regarding the biz of the entity, weighted or otherwise.  But we already knew that, as I wrote about last spring/summer, after the Opie interview  (“All three of them…”).  The only caveat that I would add, from experience, is that Duff likely has a clause or term in the PA granting him, or assigning to him, the authority or duty to communicate collective business decisions to employees or potential employees.  Sort of the HR guy, if you will.

We likewise know from the “China Exchange” interview other legally significant facts.  For those who want a basis as to what to expect from this business in the near-future, Axl provided a boat-load of info on the creative decision-making of the renegotiated S/D/A p’ship in that interview—ceding to Slash and Duff, but particularly Slash.  Search those threads for a summary as I have no inclination to summarize here.

And, of course, we know that Axl alone has assumed specific division of loss resulting from his quarter century of disrespect towards fans and general assholery the moment we fans put a dollar in his pocket back in ‘87:  not a single no show, notable late start, walk-off or pussy-tantrum at all this (or the AC/DC) tour.  The guy had no epiphany about respect—LiveNation (and its insurers) as well as Slash and Duff’s competent counsel (and AC/DC’s), demanded adult-like, professional behavior of him.  Nothing gets a guy out on stage and his mouth shut on-stage knowing that Slash and Duff walk out of each venue with heavy pockets while he is absorbing and accountable for any losses incurred as a result of his assholery.  Only specific division of loss forces Axl to comply with what rock n’ roll is for everyone else.  What a guy.

If Izzy were to more directly bring the pressure, as Adler has, rather than just telling the minority of fans that S/D/A are a money machine and that Axl is crazy as ever and can’t manage his own life by singing a cover of a song (“Stuck in the Middle with You”) or putting out a song about the money machine (what was it, “F.P. Money?”), then us old-head fans may see something next summer.  Izzy did tweet “Bullshit” to Axl and Duff’s, well, bullshit after their come-out interview with some third-world wanna hump-hump news outlet last fall.  But, again, that is still indirect.

My highlight will be the Cincy show.  Badass.  So happy for the fans!  And for Adler.  And every day that Slash and Duff are up there, Axl is eating his words and intransigence.  While I find no redeeming qualities about Axl as a man, when he bounded up the riser like he was shot out of a cannon to congratulate Adler in Cincy, he, too, showed a little conviction and humility—on top of deep-throating his words about Slash and the original band every night all across the world, there he was, publicly showing respect and adoration for the one guy he relentlessly badmouthed for a quarter-century.

For me, I’m out.  And have been.  But not because of Axl.  Yeah, I know, right?  I sold my tickets last summer because of Slash and Duff, particularly Duff.  Thank you for confirming, Adler, how it went down—as I and others already knew from publicly-available facts and wrote about.  And Izzy confirmed this as well, though less directly.  Buuuut…Slash always has that itch.  And he’s got the creative decision-making authority back, weighted or otherwise, with his band after many years.  And with Adler publicly pestering them with the truth once again, who knows?  One thing we do know:  Adler needs to work on his math as I don’t think South America is 15,000 miles away, but he will never stop speaking the truth about his band, its music and its fans.  And we sure as shit know that S/D/A are playing smaller American venues this time around, and if they try it again with no new music, they’ll be playing Axl’s old stomping grounds in his solo band covering Gn’R music:  high school proms, the random bowling alley, and maybe your very own wedding.

Fantastic write-up of the sorry state of affairs in the band. I wish you posted more often.  Best forum member here along with DieselDaisy, Maynard, and Oldest Goat.

Edited by RONIN
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10 hours ago, RONIN said:
15 hours ago, Frey said:
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This literally makes zero sense. Some people (especially Izzy's fans I notice) love to throw out the whole "But X also applies to Axl, so your argument is invalid" nonsense, but you fail to see the crucial difference between Steven and Axl: Axl is irreplacable, and Steven is not.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how reliable or emotionally unstable Axl is or was because there is no GNR without Axl. Hardly anyone will go to see a show made up of only Sluff or even Sluff plus Izzy and Steven. Some hardcore fans, sure, but nothing of this magnitude. The general public won't give a fuck. But as the NITL tour shows, they can be perfectly successfull without Steven around.

 

Well that's true, Axl is irreplaceable and he's certainly a more vital component than Adler -- I think most rational people would agree with you. But as we've seen, Axl by himself is hardly a draw. Nu guns were reduced to a pathetic state by the end of their run. Axl and Slash need each other to make this tour work. As others have pointed out before, the novelty is wearing off fast. It's anyone's guess whether the next round of tour dates in North America will achieve the same success as last year's dates. We shall see. Either way, they need to either add some new marketing to the mix (a new album, AFD5 reunion) or it will get stale fast and they will be doing arenas soon in North America.

Dude, I never claimed Axl by himself is all that great. I'm not a NuGuns fan either and I never payed to see that freak show. The only thing that brought me back to the forums was the Axl/Slash/Duff reunion. As for the rest of your comment, yeah I agree, they'll need to come up with something new or fall flat on their asses, but I assume they realize that (at least I think that Slash, Duff and their teams will realize that, not gonna vouch for Axl and TB because they've shown time and time again how incompetent they are).

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Put yourself in Slash's and Duff's shoes: No matter what, they have to deal with at least one emotionally unstable man-child with a truckload of issues. Obviously they're going to choose the guy who's the face of the band (along with Slash), who wrote a lot of the songs, who brings in the dough and makes this whole thing possible, who seems a bit more rational these days, who they have a closer personal connection with, etc. over the guy who only matters to a couple of hardcore fans and who they've been avoiding like the plague for the past couple of years.

It's also perfectly possible that they don't feel like dealing with two emotionally unstable man-children. They already have to deal with Axl, I wouldn't blame them for not wanting to add another one into the mix.

 

Look, Steven is a huge liability. Aside from a few die hards, most of us are aware of this. All we're saying is, if the right incentive was presented, he would have shaped up (give the guy credit, he didn't open his mouth for an entire year) and if not, Frank could have stepped in. That could have easily worked out. They didn't want him there clearly. There was little effort made in bringing Adler and Izzy back into the fold and THAT is why some fans are irritated. That and Duff/Slash looking like giant hypocrites. Like you said, perhaps Duff and Slash can barely stand working with him (seems to be the case) and Axl clearly dislikes the guy. Whatever it is, let's not use the crutch that it's simply Steven and Izzy being unreliable and not being professional enough for a big tour as the reason for their absence. The big three don't like Steven and don't want to fairly cut in Izzy since they feel they can be just as successful without him (looks like they were right). So in the end, it's basically about money and band politics.

Theoretcially speaking, yeah they could have worked something out if they really wanted, but like I said (and like you said), they didn't want him there for whatever reasons. If Axl, Slash and Duff think Steven is too unreliabe, or too much of a headache too deal with, or too much in combination with Axl, or they just plain can't stand the guy? Not much we can do about that.

As for Slash and Duff being hypocrites: Well yeah, they are. But how is that in any way surprising or new and why are people getting upset over it now? Slash has always been a liar, he's always played the media game very well and it was always clear he'd do anything to get back into GNR. If you read Slash's book, his interviews and what other people like Alan Niven, Marc Canter, Steven, Axl etc. have said about Slash, you get a pretty clear picture about who Slash is as a person, what's important to him and where he comes from on a lot of issues. And Duff? Duff is Slash's best buddy and has been for decades. Duff was always going to choose Slash's side over Steven's or Izzy's. And he's a business man through and through these days, no way would he have declined the opportunity to be part of something like the NITL tour.

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Exactly. People are so quick to jump at a chance to blame Axl for everything that they conveniently love to forget that Slash and Duff have been treating Steven like shit for years as well. Or maybe Slash and Duff were justified in their treatment of Steven, who knows. Once again, we've only heard Steven's side of the story, Slash and Duff might view things quite differently.

But either way, it's not like Slash and Duff are best buddies with Steven, who had to bend to the will of evil Axl on this whole issue. It's perfectly possible Slash and Duff didn't and don't want Steven involved all that much either (especially in Duff's case). But sure, let's simply blame Axl everyone, easier that way.

None of the original 5 are saints or victims in any of this. They're all pretty fucked up in their own unique ways.

Can't speak for others, but I've called out Duff/Slash numerous times. There's a growing number of fans who are rightfully calling out Sluff for being hypocritical in the way they have handled this "reunion". If it turns out that they signed on to become employees of Axl's Nu Guns, it would look even worse for them. The only thing you can say in their defense is perhaps they wanted to just get the ball rolling and eventually bring the others in, but given Izzy's harsh statements, that theory seems farfetched.

Steven is Steven and his credibility is touch and go. The problem here is that Izzy's brief statements so far are corroborating what Steven is alleging. Steven, for all his impulsiveness and embellishments, seems to be credible when it comes to his talk about finding the gigs he played to be rather unfulfilling and not being what he imagined it would it be. Is it that hard to imagine how lame it would be for an original member of GnR to stand in the back watching some random guy play his stuff...badly night after night while he's only allowed to play a song or two at a handful of shows? I believe him when he said he found closure after these gigs and that if he were to return back to the fold, the proper respect would have to be given. Seems like a pretty fair and balanced statement to make regardless of all the other stuff Steven claims. I also believe him when he says Duff and Slash have been pretty shitty to him. Slash looks like a pretty two-faced person from the way he has treated Steven over the years. I don't think Duff is any better really. 

The blame falls on the big 3 because they are running the show. They have the power to VETO stuff and from our vantage point as fans, given everything we've heard, they have jettisoned Izzy and Steven mainly over money. So the AFD 5 reunion was within our grasp only to be shot down over their greed. They would have still made millions after cutting in Adler and Izzy but they couldn't even bother to do that. It is this realization that leaves a sour taste for some fans here.

 

See the thing is, I never believed in an AFD 5 reunion could ever happen in the first place. If you'd asked before all of this happened, I could have maybe seen Axl, Slash, Duff and Izzy working things out between them somehow, but I never believed they'd include Steven full-time (or at all) in anything, going by their past comments and behavior. So I'm not particularly disappointed about a full reunion being "within our grasp" because being the pessimist that I am, I'm already hugely surprised (in a postive way) at what we did get. And even more surprised that they even threw Steven a bone. I don't have a particulary high opinion of any of these guys' moral integrity, character or intelligence, and my expectations are always lower than low regarding anything GNR-related, which means they did much better than I ever expected them to do (Axl, Slash and Duff even seem like they are enjoying themselves and each other's company on stage), so no sour taste in my mouth.

 

8 hours ago, JustanUrchin said:

Working backwards, it is Duff who approached Steven with the NDA in January ‘16.  Accompanied by his management and/or counsel—“They had me sign a contract thing…”  And from a practice perspective, Adler is omitting that said NDA was reviewed by his management and/or counsel.  But to a drummer who just wants to rock HIS songs, omitting legal nuances is understandable.  It is also Duff who communicated the decision to Adler that he would not have a role in the Troubadour shows.  This is direct evidence that S/D/A p’ship has collective decision-making authority regarding the biz of the entity, weighted or otherwise.  But we already knew that, as I wrote about last spring/summer, after the Opie interview  (“All three of them…”).  The only caveat that I would add, from experience, is that Duff likely has a clause or term in the PA granting him, or assigning to him, the authority or duty to communicate collective business decisions to employees or potential employees.  Sort of the HR guy, if you will.

We likewise know from the “China Exchange” interview other legally significant facts.  For those who want a basis as to what to expect from this business in the near-future, Axl provided a boat-load of info on the creative decision-making of the renegotiated S/D/A p’ship in that interview—ceding to Slash and Duff, but particularly Slash.  Search those threads for a summary as I have no inclination to summarize here.

And, of course, we know that Axl alone has assumed specific division of loss resulting from his quarter century of disrespect towards fans and general assholery the moment we fans put a dollar in his pocket back in ‘87:  not a single no show, notable late start, walk-off or pussy-tantrum at all this (or the AC/DC) tour.  The guy had no epiphany about respect—LiveNation (and its insurers) as well as Slash and Duff’s competent counsel (and AC/DC’s), demanded adult-like, professional behavior of him.  Nothing gets a guy out on stage and his mouth shut on-stage knowing that Slash and Duff walk out of each venue with heavy pockets while he is absorbing and accountable for any losses incurred as a result of his assholery.  Only specific division of loss forces Axl to comply with what rock n’ roll is for everyone else.  What a guy.

I disagree with a lot of your post, but yes to the bolded. It's pretty clear Slash and Duff got a pretty good deal legally speaking (which is no surprise because they are surrounded by competent people, while Axl has people like TB at his side LOL) and they do have a say on what goes on with the band, unlike what some people here like to claim.

 

 

 

 

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On 2/26/2017 at 6:45 AM, Frey said:

See the thing is, I never believed in an AFD 5 reunion could ever happen in the first place. If you'd asked before all of this happened, I could have maybe seen Axl, Slash, Duff and Izzy working things out between them somehow, but I never believed they'd include Steven full-time (or at all) in anything, going by their past comments and behavior. So I'm not particularly disappointed about a full reunion being "within our grasp" because being the pessimist that I am, I'm already hugely surprised (in a postive way) at what we did get. And even more surprised that they even threw Steven a bone. I don't have a particulary high opinion of any of these guys' moral integrity, character or intelligence, and my expectations are always lower than low regarding anything GNR-related, which means they did much better than I ever expected them to do (Axl, Slash and Duff even seem like they are enjoying themselves and each other's company on stage), so no sour taste in my mouth.

This pretty much sums up my thoughts as well.  I am very satisfied with what we are getting, and if you told me back in 2013 when GNR was a complete fucking disaster that 2016/2017 would be going so great I would have not believed it at all.  The band sounds great, Axl is kicking ass vocally, Slash and Duff and Axl seem to be getting along well, etc.  I can go on and on, its just going pretty damn well overall.

All I know is based on the limited amount of information I have on Adler's actions the past 20 years there is a full possibility that we have not heard all that there is to hear about Adler-gate.  Maybe we have, but at the same time it shouldn't come to anyone's surprise that Steven is not back full time or even for most of the time.

The shows are selling, the band sounds great, the people on stage visibly look like they are enjoying themselves - its going good right now.  I am happy with GNR at this very moment

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On 3.03.2017 at 2:25 PM, Intercourse said:

 

I was delighted to see the warmth between Axl & Slash in the early days but like many of you, as the months rolled by I started to feel that this is a well oiled cash machine rather than any real attempt to reconnect with each other and the  fans on a more emotional level. Axl has nothing to say to the crowd, no interviews together, the rest of the team bust out the same set list every night... I guess I had hoped for more of an old school RNR experience, more emotion, more warmth, more story telling, more jams, more laughs, more shout outs, ... I didn't expect it to be 1989 again but I had hoped these guys would be more Spingsteen in their approach to the live experience rather than a Vegas strip style show.

 

 

 

 

 

I don't necessairily agree with the rest of your post but the quoted part and especially the bolded fragment is totally spot on, I just couldnt agree more... Totally this.

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man, a lot of you guys have some great posts on this topic...

 

it is very sad for me to know that adler hasn't been playing a major role in the tour. he speaks from the heart and knows how much better the band and tour would be with izzy and himself there. I don't think money completely affected the situation. I do feel like it was more "ego" than anything else. axl seems to think "his" band is better off with out izzy/adler. if we knew adler or izzy would be at every show, ticket sales would rise even higher, regardless of price. if the A5 got back together for good, the tour may go down as one of the greatest tours ever. imagine if "gnr" shocked us all and brought out izzy and adler for the 30th, even if it was just one time. that concert WOULD be one of the greatest! people would be talking about "that one concert where gnr got all the way back together" for years and years.

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2 hours ago, Stoymatic said:

man, a lot of you guys have some great posts on this topic...

 

it is very sad for me to know that adler hasn't been playing a major role in the tour. he speaks from the heart and knows how much better the band and tour would be with izzy and himself there. I don't think money completely affected the situation. I do feel like it was more "ego" than anything else. axl seems to think "his" band is better off with out izzy/adler. if we knew adler or izzy would be at every show, ticket sales would rise even higher, regardless of price. if the A5 got back together for good, the tour may go down as one of the greatest tours ever. imagine if "gnr" shocked us all and brought out izzy and adler for the 30th, even if it was just one time. that concert WOULD be one of the greatest! people would be talking about "that one concert where gnr got all the way back together" for years and years.

If the Appetite 5 (w/ Dizzy) played I would spend every ounce of money I could afford on this band. The only reason I dropped all the money on the Vegas trip was because I thought there was a chance of seeing it.. Even if it was only for a few songs. What a huge misfire that was on my part.

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2 minutes ago, Tom-Ass said:

If the Appetite 5 (w/ Dizzy) played I would spend every ounce of money I could afford on this band. The only reason I dropped all the money on the Vegas trip was because I thought there was a chance of seeing it.. Even if it was only for a few songs. What a huge misfire that was on my part.

Axl and Myles are different sings, but this is why I preferred Slash's solo band, at least it was worth the money, them playing GNR songs sound pretty nice and raw. 

Its amazing to see Slash, Axl and Duff together, but the same freaking setlist, no new songs, no interviews, its just boring man. 

The biggest fuck up of the sounds are done by the drummer who has no feel, the lookalike who doesn't even complements the lead guitarist and his solo spots are annoying and the blue haired chick who is good for nothing. 

Bring back Steven and Izzy, fire everyone else. AFD 5 with Dizzy would be the best thing in the world. 

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1 hour ago, Słash said:

Axl and Myles are different sings, but this is why I preferred Slash's solo band, at least it was worth the money, them playing GNR songs sound pretty nice and raw. 

Its amazing to see Slash, Axl and Duff together, but the same freaking setlist, no new songs, no interviews, its just boring man. 

The biggest fuck up of the sounds are done by the drummer who has no feel, the lookalike who doesn't even complements the lead guitarist and his solo spots are annoying and the blue haired chick who is good for nothing. 

Bring back Steven and Izzy, fire everyone else. AFD 5 with Dizzy would be the best thing in the world. 

Aside from the CD songs, I don't mind the set list as much as others. 

I still agree 100% about the drummer/Fortus/Blue Hair situation..... Not because they are not originals but for the reasons you stated.

And YES.. AFD5 + Dizzy WOULD be the BEST thing in music!!

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On ‎2‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 1:12 AM, Ubukitty said:

This. I totally agree. Steven doesn't exactly have the best work ethic, even before GnR. Once he hurt his back I'm sure they thought they couldn't depend on him for a whole tour. I mean what if they promised Steven to the fans and everyone buys tickets hoping to see just that and then something happens and he can't play. That would make GnR look like liars or that they just added Stevens name to sell the tickets and had no intentions of having him play. I really wished for a reunion with him and Izzy but I'm not holding my breath for it and I'll still continue to see the band in concert as long as there's new music, otherwise I'm seeing the same shit over and over and wouldn't pay for that. For some reason I still don't think this means never ever.

I think playing 25 songs twice a day for at least a few months is some hard work and dedication! althought I do agree with you, when popcorn was injured im sure the guys figured he was done for and they couldn't count on him unless proven otherwise. steve did prove them otherwise and was "rewarded" by playing a song or two in a handful of shows. man, I wish he never got hurt...

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