axl666

Just in relation to your point that "So that's 10 years on from seeing Slash solo last time and whats happened to crowds post pandemic? Like 10 years ago, ok granted, they knew half the set fully and song choices do absolutely (no shit!) make a big atmosphere difference... however 10 years ago, the same SMKC material also got huge response and there were lots of moshing and pits throughout....literally none of that last night" I went back and looked at the setlist of a Slash show that I attended in 2014 and that I also remember getting a huge response. One thing I noticed is that there was at most four Slash solo songs between GNR songs. So there was a constant infusion of energy, even if people didn't know the Slash songs. Looking at the songs that were frontloaded in Dublin they played Driving Rain, Halo, Whatever gets you by, the path less followed, actions speak much louder than words. Some of these songs I like. They're also very tonally and structurally similar and also on spotify have got some of the least streams out of any Slash songs. So I'm not totally surprised they created a subdued atmosphere even if they were intended to have the opposite effect. I think what I'd do if I was the band would be to mix Slash a lot higher and have a lot more space in the music. I'd be doing a bit less dense hard rock and more things like obsession/confession. I guess I want to hear things like the solo to Serial Killer and I think people would respond really well to that even if they'd never heard it before. So give me that Slash.

I wonder would Slash have a clause in his GNR arrangement that would prevent him from playing the bigger GNR songs.

From the photos that I've seen, the venue can potentially hold 14k. It looked to me like 6-7k there. They section off areas not in use so you don't know those sections are there. The response seemed interested to positive. A friend of mine who flew in said that it was very good and the band was very solid, but it seemed like the place was waiting for something like SCOM to really get things going. He said his impression was that most people didn't know the songs, but they were quite happy to listen to them and Slash. One of the posters above mentioned that Slash was quite low in the mix, which wouldn't have helped. The gig got an excellent review from the main national newspaper. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/review/2024/03/29/slash-featuring-myles-kennedy-the-conspirators-review-treat-of-an-encore-brings-night-of-foot-to-the-floor-rock-to-an-end/

For people who were there, what is the sound mix like live? Can you easily hear slash? I've been looking at some of the band's recent performances. I think it's a mistake actually not to include more GNR songs. They add a lot of highs to the setlist. Whereas most people I think probably wouldn't know most of the non-GNR songs. It'd be different if they were playing in clubs, but these venues are quite big.

What would drop d tuning d to music like gnr? If you went to a gig where all their songs were transposed to drop d would you notice?

I guess with all social phenomena there's a time limit on it. GNR had been a pop culture phenomena for 5 years and might have just been reaching the end of a typical artist cycle. For example, if you think of a band like Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden and all of the bands that in theory succeeded GNR- they all went through a similar popularity wave. Pearl Jam were pretty huge through Vitalogy, a five year period. Alice in Chains and Smashing Pumpkins also had a five year period of significant fame, Soundgarden I would argue actually a bit less. Even Nirvana's popularity was declining by the time that In Utero came out. They were still big artists but they had passed the peak of the popularity. You probably only really catch the cultural zeitgeist once in your career, and GNR did it in 1987. I think one of the mistakes Axl made was attempting to catch the zeitgeist again. I think if he had just realised that all he needed to do was focus on his craft and being consistent in his performances they would still have been big in later 1990s. They mightn't have sold out stadiums but they would definitely have sold out arenas all over the world.

Estranged was on quite a bit but on headbangers ball mainly from what I remember. So mainly to a niche audience. November Rain was in constant rotation. It was on all the time, day and night. Since I don't have you had very little rotation. I was disappointed in this as I thought that axls voice was amazing. You have to realise that once they were pulled from play they were gone. You couldn't see them again unless you actually bought the vhs, which I did:)

I guess for younger people it might be difficult to imagine the context at the time. Effectively, if the media decided to stop reporting on a band, and MTV decided to stop playing them, they were gone. There was just a handful of gatekeepers. I remember walking into a record store and seeing a CD called the Spaghetti Incident and was totally surprised. I'd heard nothing about it. SFTD got a tiny amount of buzz, but mainly in terms of being an afterthought for Interview with a Vampire. Oh My God got even less; I think I remember a paragraph long article about it. In some ways I think that what kept the intensity of the GNR fandom going was the lack of music in the 90s, the insanity of letting the band go and the attempt to recreate something totally new under the same name. It created a puzzle basically that people interested in GNR could try to solve for years on end. I think you see something similar with George RR Martin and the Song of Ice and Fire. I kind of lost a lot of interest in some ways in GNR after the puzzle was solved and the album was released. These days there's so few large touring bands that I'd have been surprised if GNR weren't a success. A lot of the factors that reduced their popularity in the early 90s are long gone. Most young people these days won't know who Nirvana are, let alone bands like Pearl Jam. All the media gatekeepers are long gone. GNR actually outlasted them all, which is kind of interesting.

Watching November Rain on mtv in 92. If you weren't there it's difficult to get a sense now of how big they were. I remember flipping channels on TV and them being on 4 channels in a row. I'm not sure they were Taylor swift level big. They were definitely huge though, maybe a step down from swift level stardom. There was an entire ecosystem of albums that came out within a short period of each other, like dirt, ten, black album, uyi, nevermind. It was a pretty amazing time to be into rock and metal. Then I remember buying uy1 and hearing coma for the 1st time and my mind just being blown as a young person. Just the sound of it and the dynamics.

Just listened to the interview. Very interesting. Your guest really outlined very clearly the complexity of the legal situation. I thought that he was able to explain everything really well. You're a very good interviewer. I appreciated how you gave the guest the chance to provide his expertise without interrupting him.

After reading this thread I listened to it again in the car. Its OK sounding. It's actually pretty heavy in parts. I think I hear the clipping but I wouldn't say its a deal breaker. It's got a light hypnotic groove. I think live it would suit smaller venue. if people knew the song in advance its the type of song that would probably make you bob your head slowly, but it wouldn't bore you.

I think it sounds OK. I remember listening to death magnetic and it was basically distorted as hell and hurt my ears whe I listened to jt in headphones. With the general I hear some things that are probably not great, but I can listen to it on headphones and it doesn't hurt. The vocals I think are distorted to reflect the subject matter. That's clearly an artistic choice it's not an accident.

I think a lot of the dislike of the song is unwarranted. It's kind of synthpop, though a lot darker. If this had been released when it had been recorded it would have been ahead of the pop culture curve by a number of years. I've just listened to it alongside Taylor swifts antihero and they flow quote well. Whereas gnrs 80s hard Rock is different altogether. This is the Chinese democracy that a lot of people talked about in the late 90s, the minstry/nin style music

Did GNR ever give an reasons why: Just Another Sunday, Too Much Too Fast, Ain't going down & Bring it Down Home were never released, even as b-sides? There's some good melodies in there.

Just listened to it. It's great. Definitely in the omg/silkworms area. Lyrics and melody are great and love the groove. This is from someone who kind of liked perhaps. I thought the lyrics were about childhood abuse at first Now not sure? Maybe from school shooters perspective? Am I way off?!

That's a fair point. I guess it depends on the extent you can separate the art from the artist. I don't think I can. So if it went to a jury trial and there was a guilty verdict that would be the moment for me. Everyone's different, I realise that.

I guess maybe people turn to pop culture to escape from the difficulties of the world. If this escape itself becomes distressing that's hard to deal with. I really like gnr but was thinking today that depending on how all this turns out I might need to delete all of their music. I really don't want to do that. I can see why people don't want to think about it.

Like the album, though has a lot of songs I don't listen to anymore like irs, scraped or riad. The interesting thing for me was that whole period rather than the album. People had a sense that axl was trying to create something genuinely innovative by bringing in underground guitarists. He was visiting China for inspiration. He was working at all kinds of crazy hours etc. And then the price of the recording session. Also the fact that he became a recluse at the height of his fame.

Very interesting. I guess in some ways your story highlights the tricky nature of remembering something not from that long ago, let alone 35 years. I guess saying that if something was very traumatic the details would stand out more clearly across time?

In a situation like this with the potential for global attention (already front page story worldwide across all major media outlets) are you better settling immediately, going through a process and eventually settling or going to a jury?

I guess a lot will depend on the testimony of the two other people who were in the vicinity of the alleged events?

How quickly would this be resolved if a). there was a settlement or b). it went to court?

Someone on Reddit posted what they say is the original court document outlining the allegations. The document looks legitimate? https://www.scribd.com/document/686469629/Sheila-Kennedy-v-W-Axl-Rose

What kind of evidence would there need to be to win a civil trial in this kind of scenario (30 year after alleged incidents)? And would it go to a jury or just a judge if it goes to court?

Is it GNR the business that is being sued for the harassment allegations, or the alleged individual manager?