DoMw94

Gotcha. Appreciate it 👊

I'm just thankful it's not a 30 minute song like it was at my first SMKC show! 🤣 Anything Goes now. Forgive me for the potentially dumb question, but there's a part about halfway through, after the solo – on the studio track it sounds like Slash and Izzy trade parts, but live Slash is playing both (I'm doing a shitty job of describing this in text, hopefully someone knows what I'm on about). Did Slash play both parts in the old days too, or is that a new development?

I know they played it, and that's exactly what I'm referring to! 😂 I personally like the new middle section, but Glasto was closer to the studio version, wasn't it? Cool, and about time they did that, but at the same time I'd like a good recording of the latest incarnation of the song

I'm enjoying the latest version of Rocket Queen. I just wish we got it at Glastonbury so we had a pro-shot of it. The one time I actually wanted them to spend eight years on a instrumental and they didn't. Typical 🤦‍♂️😂 Fingers crossed they're still playing it like this at the inevitable next visit to Rock In Rio in a couple of years 😂

I'm sure their relationship is fine – he wouldn't talk about him like that otherwise. Plus he's made enough guest appearances over the years. So what, he's not there now, business is business. They're both people who keep themselves to themselves outside of 'work' anyway. But yeah, I'm fairly confident their relationship isn't "ruined". Anyway... has anyone got a stream?

Perhaps...

IZZY... Got a mention in an anecdote

Do you mean writing credits? Because I'm sure he played on a chunk of the album

Ah I'm familiar with the quote, but I'd never though of it meaning he was happy in that rhythm role. But you're totally right by the looks of it, fair play

First I've heard of that, could be wrong though. From what I heard he was originally approached to replace Robin in '99. And wasn't much of a GN'R fan before joining the band anyway

Could it be similar to what Alice Cooper has now perhaps? A more traditional lead (Finck/Ashba a la Ryan Roxie) and a shredder/more technical player as well (Buckethead/Bumblefoot a la Nita Strauss). Obviously rhythm is rhythm and takes something of a back seat by its very nature, but lead is a different story, especially with what Axl was trying to do at the time. I don't know, I'm no musician, but if I had to guess, that'd be it. None of it a slight on Richard from Axl – if anything it solidified his position as the man for that job

Yeah, I'm not in that group, but I do follow him on IG and he seems well informed and in-the-know on GN'R/rock music matters. If he's saying it, then I'm definitely believing it

I want both. In an ideal world, keep on putting out the leftovers for a bit, then mark 10 years since the "regrouping" in 2026 with an all-new album and all the trimmings that come with that. A pipe dream if course, since there's no good reason for them – or any legacy band – to release a full-length album, but it'd be cool and would satisfy everyone by doing everything in one way or another

I'm guessing that's the one I have – similar to the released version (no "What can I do, with a bitch like you" part). Wish they'd left that bit in and it was in the released version. I mean, I like the released version, but liked the Rock in Rio version too

That's entirely different and you know it. But nice attempt at stirring the pot 😂

Right, before it was released. It's been released for more than twice that with a different name. But like you say, each to their own I guess 🤷‍♂️ I personally wouldn't call anything – be that a song, an object, or a person – something that isn't its actual name just because I heard something else a long time ago.

But it's not the song's name 😂 I know you're not the only one, so it's nothing personal, I just think it's ridiculous that people so stubbornly call a song completely the wrong title. Every song has working titles, yet somehow this one sticks as if people think it's some cool badge of honour that they knew about it before everyone else. There isn't a song on Chinese Democracy called 'The Blues'.

Why do people still insist on doing this? 😂 The released song is called Street Of Dreams. It's not called The Blues, it was never released as The Blues, and that's been the case for 15 years now.

Ended up down something of a Wikipedia rabbit hole and found a list of all songs banned from being played on BBC radio. It turns out Absurd isn't on there, despite its lyrical content. Do they have a request show we can phone into? 😂 (Edit: One In A Million isn't banned either. There are some pretty weird/unnecessary ones on the list though)

I'm desperate to hear There Was A Time live. Madagascar too. Wouldn't mind hearing Out Ta Get Me live again, that was played at my first show but none since. Hearing their version of I Got you (I Feel Good) live would be incredible too.

As I said, it's not quite as black and white as that. You can refuse, but if that means losing everything as opposed to gaining something, you have to weigh that up. NDAs on the other hand are usually fine in this context. They protect both sides in a sense. If you're daft enough to sign and then blab, that's on you. If you don't sign, you can say what you want – to a point – but won't have the additional knowledge or relationships that could (and most likely would) help you further down the line. The phrase "Cutting off one's nose to spite one's face" comes to mind...

The viewership nowadays is in YouTube and social media. People watch clips of all of them online rather than watching one of them on TV

I primarily cover motorsport but have worked in other areas over the years (My personal website is largely untouched these days owing to outside commitments, but here are some bits I've done). It's a fair assumption, and I agree to a point, it's just sometimes it's a necessary evil unfortunately. But to be honest, it's not the questions that matter, but how you ask them. Refusing if they ask for them in advance can jeopardise the opportunity or the relationship, but steering them to accept conversation topics instead helps. It might not even be to stifle the journalist either, sometimes they only want to know so they can get their client in the right frame of mind if they have multiple commitments on the same day. You've just got to look at each situation individually. I'm fortunate that a lot of the people, teams, companies, and manufacturers I deal with regularly are ones I have a good rapport with so there's mutual understanding/expectation when we go in – but that kind of thing takes time and is the result of carefully fostering the relationships. Not every asks for questions in advance (it's been very rare for me), but if they do, they probably won't forever. I tend not to go in with explicit questions anyway – and I do say that if asked – specifically because, like you alluded to, I want a natural conversation. I want them them to open up, and I don't want to put words in their mouth or back them into a corner where they can't open up. It comes from something I was taught at uni: "be like Michael Parkinson, not Terry Wogan", meaning don't always stick to a list of questions, ask your next one based on the answer to the last – that way you don't miss an opportunity to let them give you more on their own. But yeah, long story short, we don't like having to do it, but accept we kind of have to. That being said, it doesn't always happen and it depends on who you are – on both sides.

If any fan is going to any show to hear one new song they need their head checked 😂 I always find it hilarious that people think the release of Perhaps will help shift tickets when 99% of people there just want to hear Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child O' Mine, and Paradise City