CaliRocker

I saw Van Halen tonight. Kool & The Gang finished at 8:20pm and VH was on at 9pm sharp. I was thinking....I'm glad I'm not at a GNR concert or it wouldn't start for another 2 hrs. Also, 3 guys playing instruments and so much power vs GNR's how many guys playing instruments?

just had to get this off my chest

What a great performance!! rock1 That was so cool of Myles & Gilby to be there for them. I tend to be a little sympathetic towards Axl in certain matters and am glad for him that he appears so happy with his new band but IMO there was NO EXCUSE for him to not be there with his old bandmates. I hope some day he can overcome his insecurities.

I'm not into nuGNR but I've always thought it was good for Axl to move on and make the kind of music he enjoys making and play with guys he gets along with so well and I even thought it was kind of admirable that he didn't want to reunite with the original band just to make loads of money.

However, I'm very disappointed he won't be attending. I know his supporters on here are saying if he went, people would expect a reunion but I don't think so. I wasn't expecting one (even though I would have LOVED it). I think he's a misguided soul and his bitterness about the past has gotten the best of him. There is no good reason why he shouldn't be there and especially since he's been playing the AFD & UYI songs on all his tours. Even if he had put out multiple albums with his new band, I would still think he should attend. If he really wanted to distance himself from the old band he should not have kept the name.

I think the original members going should get up on stage at the ceremony and play a few songs...surely they can find someone to belt out a few of their songs, can't they?...how about a singer from a GNR tribute band?

Anyone know if Axl's cat is declawed?

I like cats but not when they pull a Freddy Krueger on furniture and people.

I doubt Axl's cat is declawed. This barbaric act became illegal in West Hollywood a few years ago and animal rights advocates are trying to get a law passed for all of LA County. When I adopted my 2 kitties from a rescue organization I had to sign a contract stating that I would never declaw my cats.

Cats who are declawed tend to bite a lot and have other issues. Every cat I've known that is declawed has issues, including the first cat our family had (back in the 80's most people declawed their indoor cats because we were ignorant). The 2 cats I have now are not declawed and they never scratch me nor have they ever bitten me. One did wreck the carpet in my last apt but I care more about the health and well-being of my cats than I do about the carpet. Scratching the furniture can be somewhat controlled by good scratching posts and a squirt gun.

I would've always thought Axl was a cat person. Cats are independent, do lots of things themselves, and at times they can be really annoying/demanding.

I think Axl's personality, in a way, intertwines with a cat's.

...and not to mention they are nocturnal like Axl!

I grew up a total dog lover but after our parents said no more ('cause they always ended up taking care of them) we got a cat and I fell in love with them. I have two now - one is extremely affectionate and the other a lap cat.

With regards to the discussion about bladder/kidney issues - yes, dry food is a big culprit! I had my little guy on the best, most expensive dry food for the first 4 yrs of his life and he got blocked w/bladder stones and needed to have surgery ($4000 bill ). After that awful ordeal I switched him to canned and he has been fine since. Please don't give your indoor cats dry food! (their bodies weren't built for that)...or at the very least give them 50% canned/50% dry.

Not sure if this was mentioned on the boards but as I was driving into work this morning I caught the tail end of a conversation on Mark & Brian's morning radio program (KLOS) about Axl being on tomorrow morning and whether or not he'll show (I assume calling in). They were talking about the odd hours he keeps and left it with telling the audience that he will "possibly" be on tomorrow.

Do you think one of the New Year's Eve TV shows would maybe broadcast one of their songs live? Every year they have other acts playing live from Vegas during those shows, I think even after midnight pacific time.

Well that makes him single ladies. GO GET HIM.

How about a new Rock of Love with Axl Rose!

Sure,that simply reeks of desperation,reminds me of how much I disliked poison.

Cant seem to find an appropriate emoticon for this suggestion.

Was totally kidding but forgot the Actually, I'd think Axl would be one of the last rock stars to do a show like that since it appears he wants true love.

Glad to hear GNR put on a great show in my hometown! rock2

Well that makes him single ladies. GO GET HIM.

How about a new Rock of Love with Axl Rose!

I'm a big time original GNR fan but I thought the band tonight sounded much better than I've ever heard the old band sound (okay, I know bootleg & youtube videos can be pretty crappy) but it seems the old guys were always too wasted to play very good.

Apart from the first few songs, I thought Axl sounded okay, especially compared to how a lot of rockers sound live in concert. But I do agree he needs to get in better shape as he sounded rather winded, especially at the beginning. He could take some notes from Mick Jagger who's quite a bit older and in great physical shape.

Happy Birthday Axl Rose! May your year be blessed with peace, love and your favorite music! rock2

Love dogs but don't care too much for little yelping ones.

Did Axl mention in his posts that he has a cat or was it just my imagination?

When GNR first broke big I was away at college and for most of their heday I did not have a TV or radio so I didn't know too much about them except snippets I heard about them when listening to the radio at my parent's or on their car radio. All I knew about them was that they were a really rowdy band with a wild lead singer and that they raised a lot of hell and when they came to my city for a concert they were seen out at the strip club. I knew of their most popular songs and always loved SCOM from the first time I heard it and was surpised that a band like that would have such cool love song. I didn't know much else about them 'cause I didn't follow rock bands like I did when I was in my late teens when I knew the names of most of the band members. You may not believe this but I didn't even know that Slash was in GNR until about a year ago. I had heard of him (from my nephews playing Guitar Hero) but assumed he was in one of the hair bands like Motley Crue or Poison.

It wasn't until this past spring that I even knew that much about Axl. He was in the news and I became interested in him and the old band member's bios, though I always enjoyed their music. I have nothing against the new GNR, I just take a while to get used to new stuff as you can probably tell. I'm a total classic rocker. If I would have followed music during GNR's heyday like I did at other times in my life Axl probably would have been one of my favorite frontmen because I like vivacious, entertaining lead singers (i.e. Jim Morrison, David Lee Roth) and I like how Axl wears his feelings on his sleeve. Most other lead singers are boring compared to him. I also love unique voices and his range.

http://www.poptower.com/married-to-rock.htm

I saw it this past weekend as a repeat (Sat I think??). It's just another lame reality show filled with women with fake boobs. I only wanted to watch it to see Duff and he did have a few appearances, a couple at his home and another at his wife's photo shoot. He seems like a really nice guy and his wife the most pleasant of the 4 women.

I recall somewhere in the Axl (Dexter) posts where a forum member was telling him that one of GnR's songs was played at an Obama campaign office where this guy volunteered and Axl responded with something to the effect of...cool gig. I tried to look for it but that thread is way too long. I know it doesn't mean he voted for Obama but I got the impression that he had positive feelings about him.

Sprite - I also agree with your post. The media screws with us and too many people are gullible.

DJ reminds me of Criss Angel a little bit, who is in his early 40's and looks great.

I think DJ looks young more because of the way he dresses. It's hard to tell because he is hidden by the hat & tattoos.

Slash should have walked off stage lol

not like they did a parody of his wife or kids

it was on a guy who he hasnt talked to in years and who referred to him as a cancer

Slash being displeased was more than enough...........too much even given how axl claims to feel about his former band member

parts of it were actually a little humorous

I agree and had he walked off the show people would have said he did it to brown-nose axl. But I do think the parody was pretty lame except the dog dressed up as Slash was kinda cute.

I read somewhere (maybe on these boards) that it looks as though Axl had some sort of skin peel treatment (not sure what the procedure is called). He definitely looks unusual to me in the NBA video in addition to his eyebrows being almost gone (on a side note - that was a really good interview of him, he seems really nice and happy there).

I used to think he probably did botox but when a person has botox injections they can hardly make any facial expressions--look at a lot of the celebs who can only move their mouths and Axl doesn't appear like that. I think it's possible that he is just aging well.

In addition to genes, how much time you've spent in the sun has a lot to do with how much you'll wrinkle. All the people I know who were really tan all the time when they were younger have a lot of wrinkles now (I'm talking about white people). I have a friend who is 2 yrs older than Axl and also a redhead and she has minimal wrinkles and I know people 10 yrs younger who have a lot of wrinkles. Either way, I think he looks more natural now. I'm not sure about the cancer thing, probably just a rumor.

Never mind the spandex-era, Axl is clearly heavier than he was just 4 years ago......

4 years is a pretty nice amount of time in which one can lose/gain weight.

He doesn't look bad for his age.

I don't like when guys wear their shirts unbuttoned all the way down--maybe it reminds me too much of the disco era. I'd rather see rock stars not have a shirt on at all while performing.

Nowadays I think Axl looks much better in T-shirts like in this 2nd photo and he looks good in this color. In his recent photos I don't think he looks fat at all, he's just right now. He was too skinny in the late 80's.

As far as the biker shorts, not at his age but I bet he still has nice legs...they say the legs are the last to go.

I think now it would bother me if a band is really late but when I was younger and had been to a dozen concerts the one thing they almost all had in common was that there was a long wait for the main act to take the stage. I don't recall anyone ever getting mad or throwing things. I also saw the Atomic Punks (a Van Halen cover band, who by the way were excellent and sounded exactly like VH) and they started after midnight and a very, very long wait and nobody appeared mad.

So I don't know, has a lot changed in the concert world since the 80's?

I also think it doesn't help when people exagerate. I read a comment after a recent article where someone said it was a "5 hour" wait at Sturgis and we all know that's not true.

One of the most talented, unique bands - RUSH - at #75

What a load of crap this list is...

I don't understand why they started 1 hr late because Axl twittered about 1.5 hrs before the show saying he was backstage. I hope someone gives an explanation, but they probably won't. I wonder how Ron feels about this late start??

"Roadhouse Blues" by The Doors

I'm probably unqualified to post on this thread 'cause it's been years since I've been to a concert (last one was U2 in '92) and I've never been to a gn'r concert but based on all the video clips I've seen of them over the years I think Axl is the most fun to watch and has a great stage presence.

I saw Queen in '83 and Freddie didn't stand out to me; saw Prince in '83 or '84 and he was charismatic but I'm not really into his style of music (liked Purple Rain at the time); Bono was okay but nothing to write home about. Too bad I never saw Axl live during his heyday - that would've been something.

Surprised nobody has mentioned David Lee Roth - anybody know how he was in concert?