Axl's encounter with police before going to England

[Asia]

Marc, there was a story that Axl mentioned only once, I think. That when they were about to leave for England (their first trip before AFD) he had a run-in with the police and they hit him so hard that he lost consciousness and woke up two days later in a hospital which caused the whole trip to be postponed.

Do you remember that? When did it happen, where was the rest of the band, what was their reaction? Were they very worried, were they very angry? Did anyone do anything afterwards like suing the officers?

[Miss Paradise]

Nice question! I also would like to know about the time Axl was in coma. When exactly it happened He recovered quickly or took a long time? What was the reaction of the band?

I never heard any details about it.

And to me, this terrible incident inspired the best song of GNR.

[recklessroad]

I kind of remember that but I don't know the details. There were a lot of run ins with the police. As far as Coma, Axl may have told me some of the details but I really don't remember them. I have a great memory for somethings but not everything. For that reason I was never that good in school. I guess the details are in the song.

[dalsh327]

Did Slash and Steven get in trouble a lot in high school and when you guys were getting around on bikes? Slash sounded like he was good at getting out of sticky situations.

[recklessroad]

Slash got in trouble at school a lot but managed to stay out of trouble on the streets until he started messing around with dope

[Dariablue]

I thought Alan Niven said in an interview that was one of the stories he made up to garner attention for the band. Similar to the Axl and little dog story. Could be wrong though.

[Asia]

I thought Alan Niven said in an interview that was one of the stories he made up to garner attention for the band. Similar to the Axl and little dog story. Could be wrong though.

I don't remember specifically where Axl said that but I have a feeling it was a much later interview. If I am not mistaken than I think he wouldn't have repeated a made-up story years later. But then again I am not sure of any of that

[Snowmass]

I have the feeling that (I love them all) alot of the '80's bands slightly embellished stories of fights, beat downs etc....especially when they would say "I beat up 3 biker dudes....or we punched 2 cops" etc..... Didn't the Crüe say they "beat up cops" or something along those lines? Again- I'm sure alot of shit went down, but alot was slightly exaggerated.

[Asia]

I would say that such exaggerations and bragging wasn't that much Axl's or Slash's style. Especially in this case it was something mentioned in the context of something else and Axl didn't elaborate on this which is why I found it quite credible... I guess we'll never know, though, what it was like. Just like we'll never know what exactly happened that inspired coma. Generally speaking the truth is we know very little. The guys have protected their privacy very well over the years if you think about it and all the biographies skillfully omit anything that could really shed some light on the truely private aspects of their lives. Despite the war they still protect each other quite well