Absolutely shocking performance by Dj Ashba in Buenos Aires

[RandallFlagg]

At least Ron gets the Estranged leads, imagine Ashba's bends... the horror... the horror...

[Bruno P.]

Or the November Rain outro.

[jbhutto]

THIS is your punishment, ye mere mortals. Axl has purposely plunged GnR into Ashba™ Purgatory. 1000s of guitarists at his

disposal, all capable of playing the GnR classics note for note, even 2 in the band, instead we get the stitched hat one.

From a different POV, Ashba has actually kept things sort of interesting. Granted it's usually for something

cringeworthy/facepalm like the music poem.

[FabioRoses]

i have nothing to complain about DJ. saw the video, didn't seen anything that makes me think "oh shit, he's the worst guitar player in the world". i mean, you guys are right, if you can complain about a bad Axl's night, you can complain about a bad DJ's night, but he's doing pretty well in GN'R.. you guys are all about complain, complain, complain, nothing is good enough.. he's a human, not a robot, obvious there'll be mistakes..

[RandallFlagg]

He's not terrible but he's not very good either, I used to be ambivalent but the years have worn my patience down, not that it matters what the hell anyone on a message board thinks or subscribes to lol. He's enthusiastic and can play the very basic that a guy in his position ought to be able to and is obviously not an adept musician up to these standards, he's better than his mistakes and I think everyone is weighing in because Axl gets his fair share of irate criticism cause we know what the guy's capable of, we know Ashba is capable of swag and hashtags and sixx:am and his live performances. It's the other sideshows and the complete ignorant bliss he seems to carry for being hated on yet not understanding why, if he wasn't bothered he wouldn't bang on about it. Then this whole self aggrandizing bubble he surrounds himself with, the rest of the band make him look better if we're being honest.

(By carrying him, and being less attention seeking, not cause he's a better player than 'em)

Edited April 9, 2014 by RandallFlagg

[Nosaj Thing]

The original GN'R looked like a cohesive unit. Leather pants, leather jackets, they were pretty much in the same get-up. They looked like they were in a band. At least they did to me.

lol cohesive unit, and you're saying that by how they looked like or what they wanted to wear on stage? Who gives a shit about that. It's irrelevant. I'm fan of the music they created, not in love with their faces or their clothes. How ridiculous is that. And even if you wanted to point that out, it was the 80s - by the 90s they all changed their looks. If you never considered the 2001 line-up to be Guns, then what's the damn problem with Buckethead or Finck looks?

Make up your mind.

I can be judgmental about whatever the fuck I want to be judgmental about. Buckethead has a fucking bucket on his head and a mask covering his face, he looks fucking ridiculous. With that being said, I've praised his work and his ability to release new music plenty of times, I don't dislike Bucket but I can call a spade a spade. His musical style matched the direction Axl wanted to go in; I've always said I'm interested in hearing their work together, he's very talented, I concede these points. But I was never into the creepy looking band Axl tried to assemble.

Yes, you can judge whatever you want but by judging something you shouldn't because it's superficial and irrelevant you're making a fool of yourself. Buckethead looked ridiculous to you, but why are you focusing on what he wore on stage and - at the same time - praise his work? That's a bit weird. As long as the guy can play guitar and write good music, the rest is unimportant. Do you think Axl wanted Buckethead in the band because he had a bucket in his head? Come on now. Or, in your opinion, Axl should have not worked with Buckethead because of how ridiculous he looks to you? Is the Guns N' Roses name the problem to you? 'Cause honestly, that's a been-there done-that discussion and there's nothing we can do about it.

Yeah, I think this current band is a circus act too. Because of how they dress, how they play, and their inability to do the slightest thing right.

I only judge them for the current events. No new music, playing other people's material for money, Ashba being a complete loser on stage - not being able to play a 3-chord outro right and Axl being unable to sing. That's a circus.

[kanudo19]

The original GN'R looked like a cohesive unit. Leather pants, leather jackets, they were pretty much in the same get-up. They looked like they were in a band. At least they did to me.

lol cohesive unit, and you're saying that by how they looked like or what they wanted to wear on stage? Who gives a shit about that. It's irrelevant. I'm fan of the music they created, not in love with their faces or their clothes. How ridiculous is that. And even if you wanted to point that out, it was the 80s - by the 90s they all changed their looks. If you never considered the 2001 line-up to be Guns, then what's the damn problem with Buckethead or Finck looks?

Make up your mind.

I can be judgmental about whatever the fuck I want to be judgmental about. Buckethead has a fucking bucket on his head and a mask covering his face, he looks fucking ridiculous. With that being said, I've praised his work and his ability to release new music plenty of times, I don't dislike Bucket but I can call a spade a spade. His musical style matched the direction Axl wanted to go in; I've always said I'm interested in hearing their work together, he's very talented, I concede these points. But I was never into the creepy looking band Axl tried to assemble.

Yes, you can judge whatever you want but by judging something you shouldn't because it's superficial and irrelevant you're making a fool of yourself. Buckethead looked ridiculous to you, but why are you focusing on what he wore on stage and - at the same time - praise his work? That's a bit weird. As long as the guy can play guitar and write good music, the rest is unimportant. Do you think Axl wanted Buckethead in the band because he had a bucket in his head? Come on now. Or, in your opinion, Axl should have not worked with Buckethead because of how ridiculous he looks to you? Is the Guns N' Roses name the problem to you? 'Cause honestly, that's a been-there done-that discussion and there's nothing we can do about it.

Yeah, I think this current band is a circus act too. Because of how they dress, how they play, and their inability to do the slightest thing right.

I only judge them for the current events. No new music, playing other people's material for money, Ashba being a complete loser on stage - not being able to play a 3-chord outro right and Axl being unable to sing. That's a circus.

Relax, the guy's just saying that all the different styles of the band members didn't exactly match back in 01. You had a guy with a bucket on his head, fink who looked like someone who escaped from a mental instituion, tommy looked like willy wonka's cousin and then you had axl...

[Nosaj Thing]

Relax, the guy's just saying that all the different styles of the band members didn't exactly match back in 01. You had a guy with a bucket on his head, fink who looked like someone who escaped from a mental instituion, tommy looked like willy wonka's cousin and then you had axl...

That doesn't make sense to me either. It was 2001. The band sounded good. They debuted new songs. They made the old songs justice. Axl voice was not stellar but he had that power and desire of wanting things done. I don't know, the rest is irrelevant to me. Honestly.

Like I said, if I found them to look ridiculous I would say so but I'm not able to do that because I didn't care and I kind of like Buckethead's looks. I enjoy breakdance so maybe that doesn't help either.

Edit: I laughed at "Robin looked like someone who escaped from a mental institution"

[RandallFlagg]

Many folks dress in the hip cliché fads and their music is flavour of the month watered down garbage but look the part so they sell, it is irrelevant what GNR wore cause their music was one of a kind and so fucking raw and in the spirit of rock n' roll decadence. They didn't really release anything cohesively from 01-08 and then the guys were a mix and match parade so you can get no proper grip on the band, there was an album out there somewhere they were playing tracks from, and the odd tour but it was like a revolving door until recently and now they tour 5 songs from a 10+year old great album and the old line up's tracks and there's just not enough in the ether or ''collective'' of these guys to actually establish them as GNR, way too many colours from the past 30 years muddying the current waters.

[Facekicker]

The old band just had a very identifiable look - like the bastard sons of Aerosmith and The Rolling Stones.

Bucket and Robin couldn't have been more different and a lot of fans either didn't like it or didn't get it. But they were authentic in their own right.

As for the current line-up? Ron and Bumble and the rest are fine....it is DJ that is just all wrong.

He looks, acts, and plays like he belongs in Poison or Motley Crue, the very bands that were the antithesis to GNR.

And he is very fake in everything he does. I mean, the guy deliberately burns the finish on a pristine Les Paul with cigarettes in a totally misguided effort to look cool. Jesus fucking Christ how did it come to this?

[Nosaj Thing]

See, talkin' about Ashba, I wouldn't mind the 15-year-old emogirl looking person he is (even though he's 40 years old) if he would be able to play guitar properly. Man, I wouldn't care about any of that if as soon as he touches a guitar he plays it like no other. But in this case, all he does is draw attention to himself because he was bullied as a child. He even disrespected his bandmates when they were jamming music he would never be able to write or play. I mean, come on - if you're going to do that and play horrendously bad, then maybe you need to think what your priorities are and the band you're "representing".

Edited April 9, 2014 by Nosaj Thing

[Facekicker]

Yeah. He hasn't a single redeeming quality. Axl must have been high as a kite when he hired him

[RandallFlagg]

Their look didn't harm them of course, you have to look like you belong together I agree with, which harmed the later band because it was like a circus but that's psychologically what Axl was after I bet. Looking like Velvet Revolver or whatever would've opened him up to blatant jealousy/spite and he went for it mentally to really bury the old guys. It isn't their matching denim or hair that sold them, a lot of bands can sell with very average 'me too' stuff but the sheer power massively overweighed any imagery. You take one look at old GNR if you know nothing about them and think, yeah yeah let me hear it first, these guys look like they play rock n' roll but so does everyone else, that lead singer's a little weird looking and that tophat's pretty comical. Not every hair metal band got anywhere near Guns. Axl didn't half have his own style and it just got more awesome/deranged. If new GNR's music was released properly and followed up they would've established their acceptance imo cause CD was a great record.

Edited April 9, 2014 by RandallFlagg

[Nosaj Thing]

Less make-up and more guitar lessons, man.

[RandallFlagg]

Ashba's look wouldn't matter to me if he was a guitarist that I felt warranted the lead spot in Guns N' Roses and the second in command apparently, it's a very annoying trend he has going on which belongs to a different kind of band than this but we had Bucket Head who had a Bucket Head yet the man was a phenomenal musical addition and he was part of the original vision Axl had.

[TeeJay410]

Basically, all of us would shut up if he could play guitar. Does anyone have problems with Ron's playing or Richard's playing on a level of competency? No. Because they don't fuck up all the time. No one is making shit up out of nowhere when they criticize DJ's playing.

As far as DJ not fitting in the band, I'm not sure his antics would fit into any band. He'd annoy the shit out of me regardless.

[Scumcat Esq.]

As for the current line-up? Ron and Bumble and the rest are fine....it is DJ that is just all wrong.

Yeah, I like those guys too. They're like Chip n' Dale, Tom & Jerry, Marilyn and Manson.

[Bruno P.]

[ITG]

Snake-Pit needs to put his porn career on hold. He has a higher calling.

[sackxl]

While not great surely you are forgetting these performances from Robin "bluesman" Finck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxOw2RNQmj8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgKnqlPqDqs

Everyone sucks on this one /\ !!!

From Fortis orgasm face and horrible tone, to Finck missing more notes than he actually hits and Bumblefoots totally out of place shredfest (although BBF has toned down this and now plays more close to the song esp for songs like Estranged where the guitar parts are signature)

Saying that DJ always came across a real shady charecter with the same motives some others close to Axl seem to possess (easy to work that one out) he seems to be in it for the fame and glory more so than anything

Edited April 10, 2014 by sackxl

[Intercourse]

In a world packed with great guitar players, including two on the fucking stage, how did this clown get the gig?

[RandallFlagg]

I just don't understand it, it's obvious his appearance was crucial to Axl, which is weird because he hasn't gone for that superficial angle before, DJ's musical background are with pretty generic bands but it's rock music just don't seem to jive with Axl's original intentions here, he knows production which is a plus and that's a positive thing, his actual guitarwork isn't particularly interesting and doesn't stand out anywhere near enough to make him seem a viable choice for lead guitarist, his live performances whilst enthusiastic and usually passable can fall apart in technically challenging solos (ought to be simple for him since it's his only focus), Ballad of Death and Mi Amor are pretty good let's be fair but again, most guitarists can come up with good stuff when it's the only new thing they have to do. His look and popularity were a clear part for his inclusion and many thought he'd get Axl back to the top with his 'catchy' songwriting skills and exuberance but he hasn't.

Edited April 10, 2014 by RandallFlagg

[Uncle Bob]

As for the current line-up? Ron and Bumble and the rest are fine....it is DJ that is just all wrong.

Yeah, I like those guys too. They're like Chip n' Dale, Tom & Jerry, Marilyn and Manson.

I seriously can't stop laughing, I've been laughing for some minutes, I'm even crying! HAHAHAHA

[SOLGER]

[RnT]

I didn't understand what you guys are saying... what DJ did at 6:06 is exactly what's recorded and exactly (well, with a bit improvisation) what Slash always did live in this part.