shotgunblues1978

Also, Thal started as a Buckethead replacement in every sense of the word. I cannot confirm anything that has been said about Axl not getting along with Ron or not liking his music, but Thal was hired specifically because he could replicate Buckethead's parts consistently. Also, as much as people around here seem to think Ron is the only one with integrity, it was specifically written in his contract that if Buckethead were to be lured back ANYTIME before the band started playing in 2006, Ron was out. That means if Buckethead showed up with guitar in hand 20 minutes before the shows at Hammerstein, Ron would have been out of a gig. Ron knew from the start what he was getting into and that is why I laugh when he whines about no new music.

Yeah, I think it has been established and is pretty well accepted as true that they wanted to get Buckethead back in 2006 and tried until the 11th hour to do so.

I also don't doubt that they tried to get him back again after Robin left (the slot eventually filled by DJ)

Perfectly plausible. But "lllll" can't just stop there, because his venom/bitterness is too great.

The comments about Axl not liking Ron's guitarwork don't add up. If Axl simply viewed him as a necessary evil, someone who could play Bucket's parts in a live setting, then CD wouldn't have featured Ron's guitarwork so prominently, and he certainly wouldn't have had him replace several of Bucket's solos on CD. I know that some will likely claim this was out of spite, but that's also complete BS because Bucket still had the most solos of any guitarist featured on the album.

There's certainly a happy medium that can be reached. GnR has some songs that are probably "must plays" for the casual fans at the shows: Jungle, SCOM, Paradise, November Rain, YCMB, LALD, KOHD. Most people want to see these songs, even if they've seen them performed live many times before.

I think that some of the complaints are valid, in that they have songs they could pull out or replace. For example, would anyone complain if they replaced It's So Easy with My Michelle and Rocket Queen with Think About You? Or if they replaced Mr. Brownstone with Yesterdays? Replaced Madagascar and Street of Dreams with Catcher and IRS? Doubtful. There are at least 6 or 7 songs they could shuffle on a nightly basis while keeping the staples in place.

Lets be honest though, the vast majority of the complaints come from people online who aren't even at multiple shows. For example if they play Dallas one night and Houston the next, the vast majority of the Houston crowd doesn't know (or care) what the setlist was the night before; all they care about is their specific show.

This guy is pretty clearly an alias of another user (BBA?). He posts a lot of vaguely believeable (but completely unverifiable) claims. It's easy to present things as fact when you know that nobody will be able to "prove" them false, and nobody "official" will bother to address them.

But when you look at the actual claims, some of them make no sense whatsoever. For example, he claims that Axl never had a real desire to have GnR be anything more than a "greatest hits" live band, and that he never really cared about advancing the band artistically with new material. But if that's the case, why bother going to such great lengths pursuing Buckethead in the first place? Why bother making so many promises that he (supposedly) never intended to keep just to land Bucket? Why bother trying to get him back on multiple occasions? Let's be real, Buckethead is a great guitarist but he doesn't really add anything to the band from a commercial perspective, UNLESS they are releasing new material that he is a part of (which again, he claims Axl never really cared about).

Similarly, he says Axl dislikes Ron's playing and songwriting. If that is the case, why did he hire him in the first place? And why has he not simply fired him? Why did he feature Ron more prominently on CD than Fortus (not just on lead, but on rhythm as well) even though Fortus had been in the band for 6 years by that point in time, compared to 2 for Ron? Why did Ron have the primary solo on more songs than Robin on the final album?

Like I said, some of what he says is vaguely believable, but he undermines it with his inablity to tone the venom down when appropriate, and also by failing to think through some of the logic (or lack thereof) in some of the statements.

Glad they hit the stage right on time (or early). That goes a long way toward winning over the crowd at these events. Can't wait until they switch things up and close the show with The General.

He should've built the band around Bucket and Brain and given the boot to anyone who didn't like it (bandmembers, producers, managers, etc.).

Adding Buckethead was a brilliant move. It's a shame it didn't work out.

UYI 1. Big fan of the lyrics on Right Next Door To Hell, Perfect Crime, NR, Garden of Eden, Don't Damn Me, and Coma especially.

Solid thread, I have to say the pointless criticisms by people not going to the show have been pretty entertaining.

Criticism A: this is "embarrassing" because it is at a "bowling alley" and it shows how far Guns/Axl have fallen

Obvious Response: clearly, GnR can book (much) larger venues, especially in NYC. Their track record in that town, and the fact that this show sold out in a couple of minutes shows that pretty clearly

Criticism B: the ticket prices are "outrageous"

Obvious Response: so playing the small venue proves they're irrelevant, but the show sold out in two minutes with "outrageous" ticket prices? Which one is it? If they were charging $20 (or $50) per ticket, the same people would be citing this as evidence that Guns is irrelevant, and how it's embarrassing that Axl's been relegated to playing bars and practically has to give the tickets away

Also got to laugh at the argument that if the tickets are "expensive," the show is not "for the hardcore fans." Why can't it be both? Perhaps it is a cool, rare opportunity for hardcore fans and perhaps the band can make some money for performing live. What a concept!

I'm not even sure these people know what they're complaining about anymore. Seriously, who gives a shit? There's not one thing about this show that is worthy of all this whining

2006: Guns plays Rosario Dawson's birthday party at a bar with a capacity under 200, nobody complains

2012: Guns plays some rich guy's wedding, people whine about it

2007: Guns plays private show for fashion designers, nobody complains

2010: Guns plays private show in Moscow, people whine about it

2010: Guns plays 150 person bar (Rose Bar) in NYC, nobody complains

2013: Guns plays 600 person bar (Brooklyn Bowl) in NYC, people whine about it

The simply conclusion that this is something they've done before multiple times, that people previously were cool with, but now since this forum is populated with people who simply live to bitch, we have multiple idiots talking about how it's a new low (despite the fact that they've done similar events at multiple locations within the past 6-7 years)

They could've easily played a larger venue. It's hilarious to see people argue otherwise; it sold out in a couple of minutes at $150 a ticket. But yeah, according to the braintrust on MyGnR, they're ONLY playing this place because they couldn't play a larger venue.

It was cool because it was out of left field, and they did a good job on it.

The album is extremely average overall and it screams "phoned in." Some good covers (Down On The Farm, Human Being, Ain't It Fun), and I've always enjoyed the "I Don't Care About You" cover, but it was painfully clear they were just going through the motions at that point. The Matt/Gilby combo led to the most boring rhythm section GnR has ever had.

The Governor's Ball features two "headliners" playing at the same time each night. In GnR's case, Nas is playing on another stage at the same time. That setup should weed out a good portion of people who have zero interest seeing Guns/Axl.

The best thing they could do is hit the stage timely and play a nice brisk 1.5 hour show.

Didn't the Stones just play a 600 person venue a couple of months ago? I wonder if it upset any of their fans. Probably not. This forum is home to some of the most miserable motherfuckers on the planet

What a boring performance

Nope. I'm sure he did in the days shortly after he left the band but Axl's statements about him in recent years indicate pretty clearly that he wants nothing to do with him ever again.

Or maybe he's still bitter from something that happened almost 2 decades ago.

Like many of the posters on this forum

Oh look, Rusty and niceguy are crying again. Surprise!

While it doesn't encompass "every" variation of rock it is a very eclectic album. You can pick apart the influences on each individual song but as an album there's nothing else quite like it, which is part of its appeal. There aren't many other artists that would have songs like Shackler's Revenge and This I Love on the same album; regardless of whether or not you enoyed CD you have to at least acknowledge that Axl created a very unique album when it is taken in as a whole.

Come on now.... When you watch rio or bridge school or lsten to this I love, you honestly think its better than nothing at all? And even if you do, isn't that such an embarrassingly small victory that its hardly even worth bragging about?

Why would I watch terrible performances from shows I wasn't at? Saw them in Vegas last year and the show was great.

But I guess I should let a bad performance at a show I didn't attend negatively impact my perception of an album that I like, or the good performances at the shows that I've actually attended. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

New GnR is superior to no GnR, which are the two options. For some reason the a very vocal portion of the fanbase can't seem to grasp that concept. A reunion is not happening. Axl is never playing live or making music with Slash/Adler/Sorum again. And he's keeping the GnR name. Get over it.

Ah yes, the old "they were a fucking gang, dude" line about the old band

Here's the reality: Axl and Izzy were close friends from childhood, as were Slash and Steven. Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven bonded to different degrees over some combination of music and drug/alcohol use. It's pretty clear that from early on there were major rifts and varying factions within the band, and it started to implode within several years. Within 3 years of their debut album, Steven had gotten the heave ho and Axl was completely isolated from the rest of the band as he was the only one who was not a full blown alcoholic or junkie. When Izzy sobered up he felt the same isolation from everyone and left shortly thereafter.

Seems pretty clear that collectively they never got along that well and that explains why things blew up so quickly.

In reference to the above post, Geoff Tate to Rocklahoma crowd last year: "You guys suck"

Sounds alright. Crowd looks pathetic but that is expected for a US festival. Hopefully Axl will be "on" for the Governor's Ball show which is by far the most important gig on this tour.

No but I do think he is (or at least was) immensely frustrated that he couldn't convince the other guys in the band to see things his way and that the whole thing couldn't be salvaged.

The Hulkamania color scheme is better than the Miami Vice color scheme of the first, but can't save the generally boring design.

They should stick to more modern designs. The skulls, the half-naked chicks, and other throwback imagery ran its course a long time ago.

Record one more album of new material, empty the vaults, tour for 5 years and retire.