Why do you think Axl constantly sabotaged the old band and new band with his tardiness in the studio and in concert?

[DieselDaisy]

Marc, there are a lot of fans who have become disillusioned along the way and now mostly post on the non-gnr boards (e.g. Anything Goes):

- Some of them are old school (1985-93) purists.

- Some of them may have supported Axl around 2001 but became disillusioned when Democracy was delayed and the Finck/Buckethead line-up collapsed.

- Some dropped out 2011 onwards, fed up with the 'greatest hits' touring.

So at various stages fans have, dropped out. It does not mean they do not like Appetite for Destruction any less.

[Guest Len B'stard]

You are wrong but, if thats the way you feel, then why are you still here? Time for you to move on to bigger and better things

Honestly im here cuz of the Anything Goes section and the people there, i rarely post about the current band at all and to be honest, i think the majority of activity on this site has little to do with the music of GnR.

Shame cuz i used to love this band. Oh well. As far as me being wrong, if we're both still here in the years from now we'll see but even you gotta admit the degree of positive activity has been a tad thin on the ground and furthermore, without wanting to offend you, if your view of GnRs

Future is some kinda big time rebirth or even a period of some kinda output then, no offence but i think you're trippin'.

But whatever, as you say, onto bigger and better things

That said, i hope nothing i said here has been offensive to you or anything, for what it's worth i think it's really cool that there's someone here from the bands inner circle that takes the time to answer peoples questions or whatnot, i hope I didn't come off like i was tryna give you a hard time or something, i think it's really cool that you come here and that

Edited October 7, 2013 by sugaraylen

[axlsalinger]

Not too many people here have to do their job in front of 20,000 people watching their every move.

Not on here, but you do not have to look far to find people who play to much greater figures than that (40,000, 70,000 etc): Springsteen, McCartney, Roger Waters, U2. No major artist from the world of popular music, be it Beyonce or Metallica, suffers from the same 'disease' as W. Axl Rose. That is just fact.

By the way, '20,000', I take it you are using a South American show as an example haha?

I am not defending Axl per se, because it's kind of ridiculous to come on that late. That being said, I have never been too concerned about this issue - way too much is made of it. I am a night person (not as extreme as Axl), and I understand why he'd want to come on a bit later at night. It's kind of stupid anyway (imo) to start rock concerts at 8:00pm.

I am going to assume all artists you mentioned have some kind of stage fright. We think of them as "pros" and it shouldn't bother them like it would somebody new to the game, but I've heard many athletes and musicians say that you never really get over it. There used to be NHL goalies that would throw up before every game. Bon Jovi is an example of somebody who's pretty professional and goes onstage on time every night, but I remember him saying a couple of years ago that he still gets really nervous before a show. When you factor in Axl's issues, I am sure there were times (especially in the old days) where he simply couldn't go on at a certain time, just wasn't in the right frame of mind and waited until he felt it was time. He took it to an extreme, but if you force Axl Rose in a bad or unstable mood to go onstage and perform in front of thousands of people when he's not ready, you are going to get either (a) him leaving early, or (b) a bad show.

The solution is pretty simple to me (and they seem to have adopted this idea recently), set the start time for 11pm (or maybe 10:30) and give him an hour or so's leeway. This way he's not performing too early in the day (remember, he's pretty nocturnal and slept all day, so our 9pm is more like his 4pm). As he said once, bands used to come on around midnight all the time in the 70's. Rock is a lot more corporate now, and while it has its pros and cons I don't think it's a good thing in the end.

[AndreCC]

Axl doesn't have bad intentions in showing up late to a gig. When he is not ready to go on then I don't think you would want to see him up there anyways. When he is ready to go on then you will get 100% from him. If he is not ready you will get nothing. That is the way he is wired and it's not his fault. It not like he is waiting for his favorite TV show to end before he goes on.

I took a gamble when I asked him to play piano at my wedding. It turned out he was on time but if he was not, I would not have been upset because I know that time is something that is not always on his side. Time is not something that Axl can really control. Do you really think he would just let the fans wait all night for no reason. Do you think he likes paying huge overtime fees? With Axl there is no wine until it is time.

While i feel you're the best person possible that could testify that here.

Marc, do you realize at least one time he was late to a show because he was having dinner with the Girl he was dating (the brazilian model, can't remember her name, but it was very recent).

How do i know this? The girl posted it on facebook she was having dinner with Axl, and this was posted when he was already supposed to be on stage!

Also there's a bodyguard who said somewhere that back in the Illusion days. At least on one show Axl only went on stage when a football game he was watching was over and that he had a tv monitor and was watching the people in the crowd from his dressing room and mocking it?

This last one is what it is. A rumour, but the first one i mentioned was true and confirmed.

[BangoSkank]

The solution is pretty simple to me (and they seem to have adopted this idea recently), set the start time for 11pm (or maybe 10:30) and give him an hour or so's leeway. This way he's not performing too early in the day (remember, he's pretty nocturnal and slept all day, so our 9pm is more like his 4pm). As he said once, bands used to come on around midnight all the time in the 70's. Rock is a lot more corporate now, and while it has its pros and cons I don't think it's a good thing in the end.

Agreed. Either Axl should come on at 9 or the show should be listed as starting at 11. And people that can't make it because work, etc. just shouldn't come. It's so well known that he comes on late that I'm shocked people still complain about it.