Axl Interview, Detroit Radio, 2002

[RussTCB]

1 hour ago, themadcaplaughs said:

It was a risky tour, playing arenas that big with a whole new lineup. The Las Vegas shows were going to receive rave reviews and heavy attendance because they were playing small venues to rabid fans. A festival show is also not the most accurate gauge of interest because you have people there for other bands and people who just see a music festival as a "place to be." 

As someone who worked in concert promotion at the time, I remember the general consensus was that the band bit off more than it could chew with those shows. Obviously, there were some sell out shows, and the Madison Square Garden gig was a cool surprise, but a lot of the shows sold very sluggishly and the band seemed to pick some truly bizarre places to play. I have to assume Clear Channel's hope was that, as the tour picked up momentum and shows got good reviews, more people who were initially hesitant to see the band would buy tickets at a later time. Unfortunately, the trifecta of the disastrous VMA performance, the Vancouver riot, and the pretty terrible reviews at the Tacoma show (which ended up being the de facto first show of the tour) really turned off the general population. 

As the tour went on, the reviews did get better and better, and after Madison Square Garden, I remember there was genuine media interest in that lineup, but for Clear Channel I'm sure it was too little too late. A lot of the initial shows undersold, and they were probably looking for any excuse to pull the plug on the tour. When Axl bailed on the Philly show, they wasted no time in cancelling the whole thing. 

Thanks for sharing that. Very interesting and sounds spot on. 

[janrichmond]

21 hours ago, DieselDaisy said:

Hallucinogenics, telepathy or is this an android Jan? Your brain has clearly been fried.

 

7 hours ago, soon said:

     

I was trying to give nuGuns a fair crack of the whip, i just thought i should try a bit harder to appreciate that era. I ain't really feeling it tbh  but hey, at least i tried 

[RussTCB]

For those interested, this is how the concert ended:

I don't know why but this is all that's consistently on YouTube. Every so often the entire concert gets put up and it's worth a watch.

[F*ck Fear]

They should have played Riad more than once on the NA leg of that tour.

[janrichmond]

@RussTCB Have you watched this?

 

[RussTCB]

22 minutes ago, janrichmond said:

@RussTCB Have you watched this?

 

I don't think I'd ever watched that, no. I skipped around a little and saw that the full version of Patience from Detroit is on there at the 1 hour mark. 

Not sure if anyone else can figure out why Axl was so mad, but something definitely sounds .......off....... with that version.

[ToonGuns]

I'm sure a few folks round here might call me crazy but I'd love to travel back I time to attend this tour. I was lucky enough to see Guns in Leeds 2002 and I'd love to return to that era. Also saw them 2006 and 2012 but 2002 was the best. The "reunion" was great in 2017 but to be honest the excitement had gone. 2002 felt exciting and the start of something special. 2017 feels like the end. I just hope Axl see's sense one day and releases CDII, even if as a LE boxset.

[MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle]

"How do you rebuild something that got so big...how do you make a whole bunch of guys that are something else, into something that already was."  - Axl.  

Fuck. What do you say to that? 

Thanks for posting the vid @janrichmond  

[janrichmond]

@RussTCB go to 59:37 and it says what could be wrong.

[Gackt]

2 hours ago, janrichmond said:

@RussTCB Have you watched this?

 

Watching that again, the ending to RiR3 has to still top the list of the worst moments in GNR history; I really hope at least one person from that line-up writes a book detailing their time in the band, and what all happened in that time period that isn't common knowledge.

[RussTCB]

1 hour ago, Gackt said:

Watching that again, the ending to RiR3 has to still top the list of the worst moments in GNR history; I really hope at least one person from that line-up writes a book detailing their time in the band, and what all happened in that time period that isn't common knowledge.

I'd love that too, but I don't think it'll ever happen. I used to think the gag orders weren't a thing but I have to assume we'd have heard anything at all by now if they weren't :/

[Iron MikeyJ]

The crowd was absolutely dead that night in Detroit. Probably the worst crowd support I have ever witnessed for a "headliner". So that played a role in the walk off imo. I also vaguely remember some sort of band issue between Finck and Stinson. If I remember correctly, one of them got visibly frustrated on stage. Then a few songs later, Axl pulled the plug.

 

This show will always live in gnr more it seems. Along with plenty of others, lol.

[RussTCB]

24 minutes ago, Iron MikeyJ said:

The crowd was absolutely dead that night in Detroit. Probably the worst crowd support I have ever witnessed for a "headliner". So that played a role in the walk off imo. I also vaguely remember some sort of band issue between Finck and Stinson. If I remember correctly, one of them got visibly frustrated on stage. Then a few songs later, Axl pulled the plug.

 

This show will always live in gnr more it seems. Along with plenty of others, lol.

Yeah, the crowd was so odd that night. Probably the weirdest crowd vibe I've ever had at The Palace besides Van Halen on the Balance tour. 

[Stress Fracture]

I still can't work out exactly what Axl did to himself to look and sound the way he did in 2002. Especially when he managed to turn it all around again in 2006.

For all the complaints fans have about him today, we're lucky he didn't go full Michael Jackson.

[MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle]

1 hour ago, Iron MikeyJ said:

The crowd was absolutely dead that night in Detroit. Probably the worst crowd support I have ever witnessed for a "headliner". So that played a role in the walk off imo. I also vaguely remember some sort of band issue between Finck and Stinson. If I remember correctly, one of them got visibly frustrated on stage. Then a few songs later, Axl pulled the plug.

 

This show will always live in gnr more it seems. Along with plenty of others, lol.

How weird.  Any idea why the crowd was so dead?  I've never understood why people pay the money and take the trouble to go see a band only to be really unenthusiastic about it on the night.  Maybe the got bad vibes from band?  

[soon]

One can only imagine the pressure Axl was under and there are rumours of a mental health collapse around this time.  But to me, and Im being serious, one need not look past his attire to   note that something was off.  I don't care what he wore before or since - he's playing dress up in the big kids clothes here.  The duality of having the confidence to book an arena tour with a new band with no album and then conversely thinking he needs to dress like Korn to be cool - even if it makes him look foolish and petite - is quite something to fathom, imo.   

I'm fascinated by this era.  I enjoy them live.  But its mostly the raw potential of this lineup the excites me.  And it was never nearly realized (as amazing as some performances were).  Even in that they mostly made CD, it never reached its potential.

They ended up with three guitarists because people kept getting frustrated with lack of progress and sometimes leaving.   And then in one of the most cliched of comedic troupes; the guy chases two girls in desperation because he ultimately fears he'll end up alone, only to have both come to him and then he's too overwhelmed and he's screwed himself.

[Gackt]

I'd blame dead crowds on people that go to rock shows, stand in the pits but don't move at all  compare that to a south american show which looks like waves on an ocean from all the bouncing

Axl & Buckethead would have had a ton of potential together, but there were too many issues going on that made it an impossible situation:

• The lack of new music being done; Axl would show up to recording studios on his own time in the early morning hours while everyone else worked with bits and pieces pieced together
• Robin Finck being welcomed back into the band shortly after Buckethead was recruited as his replacement, leaving a sense of betrayal and lack of confidence
• Apparent bullying within the band
• Disgust with the riots and chaos that happened at Vancouver & Philly

I believe pneumonia was the reason that shows had to be cancelled due to illness in 2001, but the straw that likely broke the camel's back was the nasty letter from Rose after he left the band.  Getting some kind of window into what was happening between the end of the tour in 2002 and March of 2004 would be a gold mine of information, besides "the band went on a hiatus", because a lot likely happened involving the recording of Chinese Democracy and future plans for the band.

[MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle]

I agree with you Soon (my like button isn't working). Good point about his odd attire at this time, it's very telling.  He was perpetually battling an identity crisis, among other things.  I think he admits this in several interviews, never knowing who he was or what he was supposed to be doing.  

I don't think there is any one reason why Axl turned out the way he did, or did the things he did, especially in 01/02 era, rather a combination of factors created a sort of 'perfect storm'.  Identity crisis, mental health issues, lack of confidence, legal battles, love and relationship battles.  And two things that are hugely significant as well as related: Slash leaving and lack of creative inspiration.  

After everything he's been through I hope that Axl is happier these days.

[Politania]

3 minutes ago, MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle said:

I agree with you Soon (my like button isn't working). Good point about his odd attire at this time, it's very telling.  He was perpetually battling an identity crisis, among other things.  I think he admits this in several interviews, never knowing who he was or what he was supposed to be doing.  

I don't think there is any one reason why Axl turned out the way he did, or did the things he did, especially in 01/02 era, rather a combination of factors created a sort of 'perfect storm'.  Identity crisis, mental health issues, lack of confidence, legal battles, love and relationship battles.  And two things that are hugely significant as well as related: Slash leaving and lack of creative inspiration.  

After everything he's been through I hope that Axl is happier these days.

So agree with you. I hope he's happier too. i wish him that so much

[Gackt]

Axl's management was like a huge wall between himself and the rest of the band; only he knows what his psychological state was at the time, but it was apparently a constant game of telephone between the two parties which led to a lot of miscommunication and frustration between everyone.  Who knows if it's any different in the current state of the band?

Edited October 17, 2017 by Gackt

[maynard]

On 16/10/2017 at 12:05 AM, Gackt said:

I dug the new style of the band for a fresh new start, opening the booklet for ChiDem shows you what should have been

I think it's hilarious how they didn't have official studio pics for the album and just used live pics for an album that cost dozens of millions and decades to get made. It's so unprofessional and amateurish. Chinese Democracy is so shit in so many aspects.

As for the 2002 tour. I was completely in love with Axl's band at the time and truly believed it was his big comeback and that the album was about to be released.

By the time it actually got released, Robin was already back in NIN, there was this fatty shredder in Bucket's place, the cool vibe that we had with the 06-07 live shows and leaks was mostly gone, everything was just so shitty.

I don't know if the 2002 tour was a commercial failure. Returning from the shadows with a highly skilled band, trying to prove to the world you still got it by playing AFD + UYI hits and covers was certainly a big artistic failure. Axl fucked up big time, like he always does. What a stupid man.

[felixGNR]

53 minutes ago, Gackt said:

Axl's management was like a huge wall between himself and the rest of the band; only he knows what his psychological state was at the time, but it was apparently a constant game of telephone between the two parties which led to a lot of miscommunication and frustration between everyone.  Who knows if it's any different in the current state of the band?

Band has 3 managers now , so i guess there is no drama between the big 3.

[DieselDaisy]

I had tickets for that 2001 tour, Manchester as I recall, and the tour was rescheduled (from June to December) then later cancelled outright. What really annoyed me was, about ten days after the show I was supposed to attend, Rose played two surprise shows in Vegas. It seemed like a real snub.

And then at one of those same Vegas shows Rose produced the famous, ''I only heard about the tour on the internet''. If anyone ponders on why Rose is so actively disliked, it is moments like that.

Edited October 18, 2017 by DieselDaisy

[RussTCB]

22 hours ago, MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle said:

How weird.  Any idea why the crowd was so dead?  I've never understood why people pay the money and take the trouble to go see a band only to be really unenthusiastic about it on the night.  Maybe the got bad vibes from band?  

I'm working off of a 15 year old memory now, but I know there were a couple of things prior to GN'R that didn't go well. No one was into Mix Master Mike at all. Like, not even a little bit. cky got booed off the stage, literally. As they were leaving the stage, one of them got into it with some fans on the floor and a couple of things were thrown back and forth. Then there's the thing where the only music played over the PA prior to GN'R coming out was the Audioslave album which I think was played more than once. Add all of that together with GN'R coming on late, I think between 11pm and 12pm, and you've got the crowd in a bad mood. Axl barely said anything through the entire show too, so he may have been in a shitty mood to start with.

[MillionsOfSpiders]

10 hours ago, DieselDaisy said:

I had tickets for that 2001 tour, Manchester as I recall, and the tour was rescheduled (from June to December) then later cancelled outright. What really annoyed me was, about ten days after the show I was supposed to attend, Rose played two surprise shows in Vegas. It seemed like a real snub.

And then at one of those same Vegas shows Rose produced the famous, ''I only heard about the tour on the internet''. If anyone ponders on why Rose is so actively disliked, it is moments like that.

I had tickets for the same show. I was so disappointed, especially when he played shows elsewhere but couldn't be arsed to come to the UK! I didn't buy a ticket to the 2006 UK tour because of that.