Nick85

American television essentially broke GnR wide open.

Anyone remember a little channel called MTV?

They used to show rock videos and do interviews with bands.

GnR "whored" themselves out to MTV on several occasions.

Not to mention the Grammy's,MTV Music Awards and countless other awards shows they performed on,and happily accepted awards.

What's with the reluctance to see GnR on national tv now?

Something tells me Bumblefoot, DJ Ashba, Dizzy, Frank, Chris, Tommy, and Richard would be thrilled to do all of the above.

What on earth could be the holdup then, and more, why? Tough one.

Some other big name openers that aren't named Sebastian Bach might spice things up a bit. Any word on those yet?

Buckcherry for several dates at the start of the tour.

Ali

Yeah, we've known about those 5 dates for a month now. I'm surprised we havent heard about any other openers, what with the states tour starting next week and all. There was some talk about Bas, but he just tacked on more November dates of his own the other day. Kinda hard to book bands that matter on a whim. Especially bands that might sway someone to buy a ticket when otherwise they wouldn't.

I honestly don't know many people would buy an expensive ticket to see a show if they were only or primarily interested in seeing the opener. Maybe some diehards for the band in question. Buckcherry has had some reasonable commercial success in recent years, but it's hard to say how much of a difference they could make in sales as an opener.

I actually wouldn't mind if there was no opening band, just GN'R

Ali

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts opening for Aerosmith convinced me to go see them again.

I'm not saying the opener would be a major selling point, but it is certainly a decent factor. If you're an average rock fan who's into GNR and the opener, wouldn't you be more likely to buy a ticket?

Some other big name openers that aren't named Sebastian Bach might spice things up a bit. Any word on those yet?

Buckcherry for several dates at the start of the tour.

Ali

Yeah, we've known about those 5 dates for a month now. I'm surprised we havent heard about any other openers, what with the states tour starting next week and all. There was some talk about Bas, but he just tacked on more November dates of his own the other day. Kinda hard to book bands that matter on a whim. Especially bands that might sway someone to buy a ticket when otherwise they wouldn't.

Some other big name openers that aren't named Sebastian Bach might spice things up a bit. Any word on those yet?

Ah, the days where band members other than Captain Ahab had a say...

To be honest, the media actually is the antichrist on steroids when it comes to Axl. But an appearance would of course make relations better and not worse.

Yeah, they crucified him after Rio. But I gotta say, he kinda earned that. He was completely out of practice, out of tune, forgot lyrics and wouldn't sing or move at times because he was pissed. But Axl's solution to not speak to anyone, or performing to promote the band at the cost of running GNR into obscurity at home certainly doesn't help the situation.

Obviously not every show will be sold out. Sell outs are rare these days for every band.

Are there any sellouts in the U.S. yet? In 2006 there were several.

Lol. Who goes on late night talk shows just for a tour?

Roger Waters.

Nuff' said. That's a great example of a modern rock tour that was a roaring success, and was properly promoted. Unfortunatly, our guy thinks the media is the Anitchrist on steroids who will seek to destroy him any way they can. We get half-full arenas.

"Whoring out"?! I swear to God, some of you need to seriously stop drinking the blind-fan koolaid. Aerosmith, The Stones, Nirvana, Metallica, and COUNTLESS other bands have done SNL and similar shows to promote both albums and tours.

Fact is, the media freaks Axl out so he refuses to do the minimum to promote whatever he's doing with GNR all because of that fear, resentment, or whatever it is, he so obviously has for seemingly all outlets of the media.

Lol. Who goes on late night talk shows just for a tour?

Although I disagree with the basis of your question, I will give you that if Axl didn't do jack shit to promote "the most anticipated rock album of all time", then why would he lift a finger to promote the tour...3 years later.

they have a better chance of doing Jimmy Fallon or Kimmel

Fallon would book GNR in a heartbeat. Too bad Axl isn't interested in doing, you know, stuff.

Cheap commercials shown mostly at midnight is hardly enough to promote an arena tour.

Gotta admit, that's still some sweet action!

Yeah, the footage is cool. Kinda makes one wish he'd put out a fuckin' video already. A live DVD is a pipe-dream as it would make ticket-buyers notice that Slash is, in fact, not in the band anymore. Can't have that.

Cheap commercials shown mostly at midnight is hardly enough to promote an arena tour.

You know what the sad thing is? Shows like SNL, Letterman, Leno or any other media outlets that matter would probably laugh their asses off if someone in that circle suggested a GNR performance, simply because of Axl's reputation of being late or a no show. But boy, has he earned that rep.

It's when topics like this are discussed that I can't help but be reminded of the lyrics in 'Sorry'. Is it possible that Axl lumps normal promotion and associating with the media, into the whole "But I don't want to do it" category? I certainly hope that's not his line of thinking.

Right, and seeing empty space wouldnt affect my opinion of the show or the band's performance. It'd just be nice to see a little effort from Axl as far as promotion goes, you know?

Lotsa bands release new singles to support their tour. I just don't get why that's so far from the realm of possibilities with Axl, especially when you consider all the stuff he allegedly has 'in the can'.

I'm going to hear Estranged in a probably 1/2 empty arena. That's the way I look at it.

Yeah, it might not matter to some, but turning and seeing a giant, glaring, empty space in the arena does tend to suck some of the life out of a show...

Axl don't seem to care, so fuck it, just as long as the tour doesn't get cancelled due to the poor ticket sales.

That's what concerns me. Clear Channel wasn't above pulling the plug in 2002, and I still suspect that poor ticket sales had to do with axing some of the shows in 06 & early 07.

I think the 2 riots had a lot to do with it.

They sure didn't help the situation.

Axl don't seem to care, so fuck it, just as long as the tour doesn't get cancelled due to the poor ticket sales.

That's what concerns me. Clear Channel wasn't above pulling the plug in 2002, and I still suspect that poor ticket sales had to do with axing some of the shows in 06 & early 07.

The Orlando show is 95% sold out

The shows will be fine. Sofine is just a cupcake seeking attention.

Let it be known that the word "cupcake" now officially means anyone who states anything that upsets poor little Volcano.

beating a dead horse man...enjoy the show, at least you'll have alot of room to move around...look at the bright side

You're right. It's just lame to watch your favorite band be so content to slip into obscurity, especially at home.

If you look at Live Nation's website, they actually show the seats that are available through their site...And the results aren't looking pretty. The dates they show seem to be only half full at this point, with scores of tickets still available for most, if not, all the shows.

I know Chicago still has tons of GA, lower 100 level, and the entire upper back section tickets available, not to mention over 800 on Stub Hub. To put it in perspective, in 2006 the only tickets available 3 weeks before the show were 'obstructed view' seats.

So, with allegedly two more albums worth of songs up his sleeve, why isn't Axl using any of it to promote this tour domestically? Is he content to let his 'home-coming' tour tank, or is he simply in denial?

Where's the promotion?

I purchase it for the artwork alone, but a new GNR song would send me over the moon.

Is "Going Down" the new "Cuban Skies"?

No, since a re-release would be good news.