gnrstuffcoolyea12

How about those Live and Let Die screams? Amazing!!

I haven't heard much Melissa so far (I still have some catching up to do since I worked the past two nights). But what is it that you guys like about her? And how is she better compared to Pitman?

Those aren't hooray for tolerance! questions either...I'm being serious lol. I'm all for Melissa, if she provides to be a useful member of the cast - which it seems like she is so far.

Praise be to Fede.

Sorry being lazy and don't want to sift through all these pages...

1. Do we have any videos of Chinese Democracy and/or Better yet? I'm dying to hear what Slash did to those.

2. Did Richard get any solos, or was it all Slash on lead?

3. How was the on-stage interactions between everyone? Did Slash and Richard stand next to each other and jam at all? What about Axl and Slash...any back-to-back poses, hugs, pats on the back?

4. What was Melissa like on stage? Is she a better presence than Pitman?

5. Axl Rants? Band Intros? What did Axl talk about??

So is Pitman out then? Was he not at the show?

Wait...what?

Is this girl-Pitman?

Hey all...I'm like 4 hours behind. Did I miss anything? Last newsworthy item I saw was the tour dates announcement. Is there still supposed to be a press release? 

Pretty cool design actually. Much better than the previous years. I'll be getting this if only just for the shirt:

7 Roses = 7 Band Members??!

Sorry to start another conspiracy theory...its getting boring around here again.

http://www.mygnrforum.com/index.php?/topic/209126-rumor-some-members-may-be-out-of-the-band/page-15

Post #222

Awesome! This is the kind of thing I was looking for. Reading it now, it definitely seems legit. But the comments afterward are hilarious to read now that we know its true. And that's not a dig to anyone who called bullshit to that story...at the time it seemed impossible, and there was no really reliable sources.

It just makes the Axl-Slash-Duff reunion that much cooler, knowing how utterly impossible the thought of it was for the past 15-20 years up until a few months ago.

I mean, there was a well documented near miss in 2006. Weiland was flipping out behind the scenes over if, I remember it was rumored that the OG GNR was billed for that download festival.

If timelines are correct, Todd Kerns said they were aware of it a year and a half ago, would t that put it around the time Slash and Perla split?

What happened in 2006 with Weiland, the "near miss", and Download reunion rumors? Did it have to do with Slash's visit to Axl's house?

I don't really remember, but sounds interesting.

I also believe the interview was coordinated. Normally Slash doesn't like Axl/reunion questions, and like StrangerInThisTown just said, where did the interviewer even get that knowledge?

Going outside of the box here, but maybe they are trying a new way of hype-marketing - built on leaks and non-official sources of info. Think about the Jan 5th announcement of Coachella followed by the press release the next day naming Axl, Slash, and Duff...we knew all of that already. As did every music website that were reporting/regurgitating the rumors.

Another thing that makes me think that they are doing a weird style of marketing is Axl's sister announcing Axl's Kimmel appearance. She would know as well as anyone to not reveal any information without Axl's consent. Makes me think that it was coordinated also. Within an hour, it was reported everywhere that "Axl is rumored to be on Kimmel Tuesday".

It could be a way of making a huge announcement, yet still keeping it a surprise/secret at the same time. And being GN'R fans, any rumors that actually come true is still a surprise to us. This is also a good way to build hype....just a little tease of info here and there. By the time Monday night rolled around and Fernando told us to stay tuned at 9:30, we were all like full blown crack heads drooling at the thought of an official announcement.

I would be surprised if that is the actual case. Just trying to figure out a reason why the GN'R camp does the things they do, because it almost always does not make sense.

Sorry ahead of time if this is posted in the wrong section...

Supposedly the reunion has been in the works for about two years now. Some "insiders" here and at other boards claimed they knew about the reunion talks prior to Slash's bombshell about him and Axl. Just out of curiosity, I was wondering if anyone recalls any hints or reports from the past year or two up until Slash's August 2015 interview.

When reunion rumors really began to swirl in September and October, an article from June 2014 came to mind. After the Vegas shows in 2014, an article about the success of the residency began its rounds, and it claimed that Axl told an "insider" that he wants to get the original group back for a global tour.

(http://lasvegassun.com/vegasdeluxe/2014/jun/09/guns-n-roses-tour-expand-hard-rock-hotel-residency/)

Most people, including myself, dismissed it as either garbage or misquoted, since a reunion with Slash would never happen. But now, given all that we know, there's no reason not to believe what that "insider" said.

So besides the obvious (DJ and Ron leaving, Del James/Slash tweets, and stuff of common knowledge), does anyone remember any articles or board posts that we previously dismissed as garbage, but now look like they were actually legit?

Honestly it was kind of fun in 2002-2006. The "Freak Show" nugnr was at least mysterious and weird as fuck... and 2006 had Axl in really top form physically and fan service wise via the Eddie trunk interview.... but the Ashba/Vegas/Golden Gods/Bridge School/yellow rain coat era was a total nightmare come to life. Where do we go... where do we go now?? Coachella could honestly go 1000 different ways.

Hahaha I like "The Freak Show" Lineup for 2002-2006. Buckethead and Goth Finck led the movement. I remember being blown away by Finck's transformation that was debuted at the 2006 comeback shows. He went from Miserable Goth Finck to Dirty Happy Hippy Finck outta nowhere. I remember checking the board one day in 2008 and seeing the thread titled "Trent Reznor posts picture of Robin Finck in the studio" - or something like that - and looking at the picture and seeing the return of Goth Finck. That's how we found out he officially left I believe.

And I kind of took my own hiatus from around 2010 - 2013/2014, so I missed a lot of those terrible moments. I still kept up with GN'R, but it went from almost every day to just a couple times a month. I actually watched the Bridge School show about a month ago though...brutal. Unfortunately I missed 2010 Axl, which is regarded as one of his best years in NuGNR. I've been watching some of those shows as of recent. Too bad Estranged didn't return in 2010, because that's tough to listen to now.

What was everyone's toughest period of time as a GN'R fan to get through? What happened to finally end your misery? (it doesn't have to be the length of a memoir like mine ended up being)

NOTE (after I finished writing my post): I didn't realize I was going to write so much, but the memories just kept flowing. But feel free to also comment on anything I mentioned in the post (I'm sure I messed up something, somewhere). I'm curious as to how others remember that time period. I'm sure it wasn't as rough as 1994 - 2001, so I hope someone has some memories of what was going on in the fan-base during those times.

My toughest period was Late 2002 - May 2006...

I actually first became a Guns N' Roses fan in 2002 as a 13 year old immediately after watching them play their surprise VMA performance. Prior to that, I only knew Welcome to the Jungle and Paradise City. I didn't even know a single band member and never even heard of Slash. Even though that VMA performance is widely regarded as crap, something about them got me instantly hooked. Part of it was how much Jimmy Fallon hyped it... and the fact that they just seemed so effin cool. I told my sister that night that Guns N Roses closed out the VMAs, and she asked me "Was Slash there?" to which I replied "I don't know" . Then she asked if they played November Rain, and I told her "I think, it might have been the song in between WTTJ and PC"....which ended up being Madagascar .

Anyways, I became a "Downloading Motherf*cker" immediately after, using Kazaa or Bearshare or Limewire to accumulate a chunk of songs to get hooked on, and purchased Live Era for my awesome CD player. I also became a Guns historian within a few days of the VMA performance. I learned about all of the old guys and the new guys, Axl's antics, and how serious the split from the Classic/UYI Lineup actually was.

The Hard Part:

During my early days as a fan, NuGuns were only active for a couple months before ending that wonderful 2002 tour. Little did I know that it would be 4 years before Axl and Co. surfaced back to the Earth again. This is when I began my daily visits to this board and HTGTH (that's right, 13 years of lurking before I finally decided to make a few posts). Every single freakin day I would check the boards for some news from Axl about going back on tour and Chinese Democracy updates. 2003 came and went without a word I believe.

Sometime towards the end of 2003 or beginning of 2004 there was word of Guns N' Roses playing Rock In Rio Lisboa in 2004. Everyone was skeptical, and even when official word came out, everyone was still skeptical. But we were all excited at the same time. Its been about a year and a half without even hearing a word from Axl (minus the various lawsuits that occurred during that time period), and we were finally gonna see the return of Guns at RIR:Lisboa ("will he still have the cornrows?")!! Welp, what a way to start off the year (actually March) with a letter from Axl cancelling the RIR appearance due to Buckethead's sudden departure. It was crushing. Then we got the Greatest Hits album, which was just a joke to us who were waiting on Axl to finish Chinese Democracy. And there were a couple lawsuits of course. A little glimmer of hope came toward the end of 2004 when GTA: San Andreas was released for the PS2, and Axl played the DJ for the KDUST radio station. I was soooo freakin excited to get that game so I can hear Axl's voice for the first time in two years....that's how desperate it became late 2004.

2005..."This has to be the year" we all thought/begged. From what I remember, 2005 was the year of Merck Mercuriadis, their new manager, and all of his empty promises....and probably another lawsuit or two. But after what looked like some distant glimmers of hope in 2004, but hope nonetheless, 2005 was probably as just as disappointing.

After feeling like there was nothing left to live for when we hit 2006, Axl - out of nowhere in January - just decided to chat with Rolling Stone at a Korn release party (If I remember correctly, I think the first picture of Axl since the end of 2002 was posted online). He mentioned Chinese Democracy song titles, and what's they're working on, etc. - but promised fans will hear music this year. Ok Axl, we've heard that before. Then BAM! Later that month Guns announce a European Summer Tour!! Ok but we've heard that one before too Axl ("will he still have the cornrows???"). And then "it" happened. Sometime in February, an Angel from the Internets descended upon us with 4 full length demo tracks of never-before-heard songs from the upcoming Chinese Democracy (which at that time was slated for April or May of 2006....LOL ). IRS, Better, TWAT, and Catcher (ft Brian May on lead guitar)...the GN'R fan collective exploded. I would've marked this as the end of my "Hard Times", but I was still waiting to see Guns on stage. We didn't know what Axl looked like or sounded like at that point, and we still didn't know who was replacing Buckethead. Fast forward a couple months and probably a few more lawsuits to May...Axl randomly showed up on the Eddie Trunk show thanks to Sebastian Bach. I don't remember what was talked about, I just remember freakin out.

The Hard Times are finally over:

May 12, 2006, or should I say, May 12, 02 B.CD. - Axl and Co. actually show up, and kick ass, at the first of four Hammerstein Ballroom warm-up shows. He still has the cornrows, but in a ponytail, and he ditched the jerseys! He finally ditched the jerseys! Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal is introduced as Buckethead's replacement...remember that guy (......too soon?? ) ?? During those 4 gigs: we were treated to the leaked songs being played live as well as Chinese Democracy and The Blues, Axl called us a bunch of "Downloadin' Motherf*ckers", celebrities in attendance, good press for the first time in a long time, and perhaps the biggest surprise of all - Izzy Effing Stradlin guesting on Think About You, Patience, and Nightrain (with Kid Rock...obviously).

After those 4 shows kicking so much ass, and the level Axl and the band was performing at, my worries were finally eased. Chinese Democracy was still being pushed back more and more at that point, but it didn't sting nearly as bad as it did during the Great Hiatus of '03-'06. The ball was finally rolling, and most of all....CHINESE DEMOCRACY STARTS NOW!!

Wow...that was 10-13 years ago. Holy crap.

am I the only one who always think of the "ok, nevermind" that we heard live when listening this song ? It's like "hasta la vista baby" in you could be mine...

RIR '01 version of "The Blues" was the first one that I got hooked on. Now that we have more crisp versions out there (just in terms of sound quality - not mix, arrangement etc.) I rarely listen to the RIR one anymore. But I have to yell out "ok, nevermind" every time it gets to that part when I'm listening to the final studio version in my car. As far as I'm concerned, its an official lyric .

Its been a long time since I've gone through 01-02 songs and the leaks, so I don't remember all of the different arrangements that SOD/The Blues had...but I know the 01-02 versions had the distorted guitar(s) and rhythm section come in earlier and harder than the studio version, then quiet back down for the first part of the first verse, then return once again for the duration of the song. Or something along those lines . In terms of arrangement i prefer the 01-02 "The Blues" versions over the current Street of Dreams, but I like the lead guitar licks playing throughout the song in the Chinese Democracy version, which is absent in earlier ones. Overall, I lovvved The Blues when I first heard it back in 2002 (which is when I started getting into Guns, thanks to their VMA performance). I've never heard anything like it before. It had such a cool structure, awesome chord progressions, and Axl crushed it with the lyrics and vocals. I'd love to hear what Slash would do to this song, along with most of the other CD songs, and its still surreal knowing that its a possibility that he will play Axl's material.

*End of Nostalgia Trip

Can someone catch me up with what's going on with Kimmel? I know that Axl's name finally appeared on the guest list, then disappeared. Is that the only reason why people (and the thread title) are saying that Axl won't be on Kimmel tomorrow, or is there more info that I missed?

GN'R's myspace lists Coachella under the Events. Who the hell runs their myspace account (who the hell still uses myspace)? Or can info be added via third party?

https://myspace.com/gunsnroses/events

I doubt that its anything "official"...I'm just curious as to how that got there? I haven't used myspace since 2005ish...so I have no idea how it works these days.

EDIT: Sorry, I realized this is the wrong thread to discuss myspace in - and its currently being talked about in the social media thread. My bad..

Not sure if it was mentioned already, or if it even matters at this point - but Slash's website has been down all day today. Possibly getting a revamp for the "not-technically-a-reunion-but-still-kinda-is" reunion? Or did someone DDoS the shit outta it?

I have a friend who works for another famous rocker, who is still active today, and he told me "everything was finalized about a month ago" but "no idea when there will be an announcement".

That's all that he knew, and no word on what the lineup will be.

I've been a long time lurker and a big fan of (almost) everything GNR related, so I'm not some cupcake. I'm sure most of you will call BS, which is understandable, but I promise I'm not making this up. And I don't want to give any names out, just because I'm paranoid and don't want to lose any trust.