Fortus says there was only a "brief moment" of chemistry in NuGNR

[Draguns]

I have to say that I'm a bit surprised with Fortus being honest about Nu-GNR. The two shows that I went to for that lineup just didn't seem like there was chemistry. 

[Tom2112]

19 hours ago, Powerage5 said:

As an attendee, I haven’t felt like there’s been much of a chemistry shift between the Ashba/BBF/Fortus lineup than the NITL lineup. The band generally has good chemistry with one another I’ve felt with a couple outliers (Ashba and Pitman felt like lone wolves in the former, Melissa in the latter), with Axl not carrying much chemistry with anyone in either lineup except little glimmers of it here and there. Truth be told, I felt like Axl had a lot more chemistry with the rest of the band in AC/DC than I feel like I’ve ever witnessed firsthand with GN’R. 

Yeh, I agree!  I actually thought the NuGNR had more chemistry sonically than the current band, but I guess not. Obviously there was no chemistry backstage between them though, and I guess they really what he's saying... although, I am pretty sure I read an interview with Fortus talking a lot how gnr in 2013 or whatever year it was is the best he'd ever heard the band... blah, blah. 

I watched that interview and I get it, a d I remember Bumble alluding to all of that. Richard, Robin and Tommy were not fans of Bumbles... but it was more of a positional leverage thing in my opinion "who the fuck is this guy", they tried to make it tough for Bumble but he was tough enough to stick it out and shut them up. Really if they had a problem they should have spoke to the boss instead of shityong on the new guy.

Edited August 29, 2020 by Tom2112

[Silent Jay]

49 minutes ago, soon said:

I think they sometimes work to great effect, like in the heavy parts of Prostitute. And maybe my least favourite examples are from the leaks - the full version of Hard School and Going Down have these odd intros that, to me, feel completely unrelated to the songs.

The saying goes that 'A camel is a horse made by a committee.' CD has some camel aspects for sure.

The heavy parts of Prostitute work superbly imo.

yes, I very much agree. Part of it is what makes this album very cool.

[cineater]

NuGNR was a interesting band.   There was always shit going on.  Richard hated Ron from the beginning.  Tommy briefly quit.  It's amazing the band ever got out of NY.  What went on behind the scene was reminiscent of the original band.   I had a good time.  Thanks to all those folks who came and went.

[fowlerisgod]

18 hours ago, NeonKinight said:

according to GNRontour, There was a moment in the 2002 Tour where axl stopped a song, said something to the crowd, and then the band just went back exactly where they were.

If that's not chemistry, at least musical, I don't know what it is.

But that's actually the whole point : MUSICALLY, New Guns was never a bad band, the only thing missing there was charisma...a charisma that only Richard had, trough the years.  

Finck had charisma... Buckethead had charisma..Slash has charisma..Fortus has no charisma

[moreblack]

20 hours ago, rocknroll41 said:

So basically he says Bumblefoot ruined everything lol.

Well he did

[moreblack]

3 hours ago, Silent Jay said:

lmao Buckethead, that's the beauty of him, he didn't gve a shit.

 

It's also why he was never really a GNR guitarist

[The Holographic Universe]

20 hours ago, rocknroll41 said:

So basically he says Bumblefoot ruined everything lol.

I felt like he was saying it was a tight-knit unit capable of making kicking ass. I don’t know why Axl didn’t insisted on a third guitarist after Buckets departure from the band. Especially, a guy with a gimmick. Bucket was himself and made GNR super cool. Finck and Fortus would have been cool.

[Tom2112]

35 minutes ago, moreblack said:

Well he did

Lots of people said Robin ruined it. Lots of people say Richard ruins the NITL band. What I am saying is that, it's purely opinion! I agree that Bumble wasn't the best fit - they could have hired a Joel hoekstra type, who plays the fuck out of the guitar but also just wants a nice gig and pay check! Bumble wants to make music, not repeatedly play old songs live. 

In my opinion Bumble made the Chinese album much better, and by the time the Chinese tour kicked off in 2009 he was a much better fit for the band. How would the 2006 band have sounded without him? probably pretty good! but it was what Axl wanted, so who "ruined" the band? Axl. Simple as that.

[The Holographic Universe]

12 hours ago, Sisyphus said:

The band really had a problem with Buckethead and then Bumblefoot. Shame for Buckethead especially.

I wonder how Fortus felt when Ashba butchered those solos night after night. What the fuck was Axl thinking? Just the fact he brought Ashba in is a testament how detached he must have been at that point. A Motley Crue clone/reject in GN'R? To reaplace the awesome Robin Finck no less? Thank god those days are over.

However, it made seeing GNR/Axl affordable. I recall seeing them twice for 30$ a ticket. 

[rocknroll41]

52 minutes ago, moreblack said:

Well he did

I half agree and half disagree. I liked bumble’s contributions to the album, but I feel his personality didn’t really fit with the rest of the band.

3 hours ago, soon said:

He went on to work with the Brain/Bucket/Sacaturo/Melissa camp for Electric Cinema. 

I feel like he's popped up with various people form that camp in addition to Electric Cinema? Possibly he appears on one of the Kind Regards albums? I could be wrong about that part though.

Usually I defer to you on this stuff - but I know he's done at least some wok with them for sure. Its the only post CD music from him that Im aware of.

Oh yeah I forgot about Electric Cinema. Thanks for the reminder! Strangely enough, that must mean that Paul is closer to Bucket than even Axl/TB are these days!

Edited August 30, 2020 by rocknroll41

[Tom2112]

5 hours ago, ShadowOfTheWave said:

That and Axl's barely concealed disdain for Ron.

Not sure where that comes from? If Axl hated him, he would have stopped paying his cheques and hired another crazy guitar player! Axl had the people in the band that he wanted. I've honestly never heard him say a bad word about Bumble... but who knows? I know Bumble suggested that his departure wasn't smooth.

[rocknroll41]

12 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

Not sure where that comes from? If Axl hated him, he would have stopped paying his cheques and hired another crazy guitar player! Axl had the people in the band that he wanted. I've honestly never heard him say a bad word about Bumble... but who knows? I know Bumble suggested that his departure wasn't smooth.

I think Axl said at the 2016 China Exchange interview that he was “a big fan of the last lineup” (as in the Ashba/Bumble lineup). I think he wanted that lineup to last until his retirement, and then must’ve felt “betrayed” or something when Bumble chose to quit. Which, ironically, is similar to the falling out that Axl also had with Slash in 1996 (and that’s made even more ironic by the fact that Slash then returned, following Bumble’s exit).

Edited August 30, 2020 by rocknroll41

[The Holographic Universe]

22 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

Not sure where that comes from? If Axl hated him, he would have stopped paying his cheques and hired another crazy guitar player! Axl had the people in the band that he wanted. I've honestly never heard him say a bad word about Bumble... but who knows? I know Bumble suggested that his departure wasn't smooth.

Well, Bumble made public complaints as a hired hand. That’s just unprofessional. 

[The Holographic Universe]

10 minutes ago, rocknroll41 said:

I think Axl said at the 2016 China Exchange interview that he was “a big fan of the last lineup” (as in the Ashba/Bumble lineup). I think he wanted that lineup to last until his retirement, and then must’ve felt “betrayed” or something when Bumble chose to quit. Which, ironically, is similar to the falling out that Axl also had with Slash in 1996 (and that’s made even more ironic by the fact that Slash then returned, following Bumble’s exit).

I think that’s Axl revising the history of that era. He also said he shouldn’t have been on tour in the early 90’s and that the tour was forced on him to save Slash’s life. I don’t think that was true at all. Axl wanted to tour and be the biggest band in the world. Even, Matt said it was Axl’s idea to extend the tour to sale more records. 

[Blackstar]

Brain seems to be the only one who was and still is on good terms with everybody (or almost, because I don't know about Bumblefoot).

18 minutes ago, rocknroll41 said:

I think Axl said at the 2016 China Exchange interview that he was “a big fan of the last lineup” (as in the Ashba/Bumble lineup). I think he wanted that lineup to last until his retirement, and then must’ve felt “betrayed” or something when Bumble chose to quit. Which, ironically, is similar to the falling out that Axl also had with Slash in 1996 (and that’s made even more ironic by the fact that Slash then returned, following Bumble’s exit).

I reckon that Axl enjoyed touring with that lineup, but wasn't interested in making new music with them (other than having Bumblefoot and maybe Ashba lay down guitar on songs from the Buckethead/Finck era).

[Tom2112]

33 minutes ago, The Holographic Universe said:

Well, Bumble made public complaints as a hired hand. That’s just unprofessional. 

Well, I'm sure he went through the proper channels as well in fact he has spoke of this... and he got nowhere with it, in fact his emails and calls were probably not returned (A story most membners of NuGNR could probably share too). So... while unprofessional as a hired hand, it's not a bad way of getting attention when the powers that be are giving absolutely no respect.

Also... and this is a big one! when Bumble publicly gave out about GNR 1) he was being strong armed into a tour after a near fatal car accident, leaving him with spinal issues to this day 2) He was also being forced to reschedule a lot of his solo dates, because the powers that be just decided on a whim to book dates, giving less than zero fucks that the hired hands might need to be consulted about availability before doing so! you might say "They hired him, it's his job to be there" and to a point yes, but if someone looks at their schedule, and asks management "Are you booking for these months" and he gets the all clear, and then that changes then the real unprofessional side is the employer. 

[Ratam]

Bumble was mistreated for TB.

[Tom2112]

54 minutes ago, rocknroll41 said:

I think Axl said at the 2016 China Exchange interview that he was “a big fan of the last lineup” (as in the Ashba/Bumble lineup). I think he wanted that lineup to last until his retirement, and then must’ve felt “betrayed” or something when Bumble chose to quit. Which, ironically, is similar to the falling out that Axl also had with Slash in 1996 (and that’s made even more ironic by the fact that Slash then returned, following Bumble’s exit).

Maybe Axl did feel betrayed? but at the end of the day Axl is a musician who enjoys the creative process (not the releasing process). He understands the desire to create, so he understands the Bumblefoot was leaving because he saw no future in which he was going to release material with Axl, that he would have a direct hand in collaborating on. You can't just sit on someone and ignore their requests and then be upset when they finally say "enough". Axl could have easily have kept his band together had he released even one single song after 2008. Bumbles one new song per leg idea, remains the best idea that GNR / Axl never used! It could have really changed the course of the band, and created some buzz... instead of the actual history which was of a band slowly dying.

I always thought Bumble was very clear with his intentions regarding GNR, and I can only imagine those intentions were relayed to the boss several times over the years. I doubt there's any doubt as to why he quit. And let's be real, Bumble quit knowing that he was on the eve of making a boatload of cash if he stayed because of the reunion... I mean, I commend it😄I guess if I was Axl I might be slightly offended that someone is saying 'I'd rather not have job security than play with you anymore" 🤣

[Ant]

Axl just seems to think band members are plug n play. 

[The Holographic Universe]

30 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

Well, I'm sure he went through the proper channels as well in fact he has spoke of this... and he got nowhere with it, in fact his emails and calls were probably not returned (A story most membners of NuGNR could probably share too). So... while unprofessional as a hired hand, it's not a bad way of getting attention when the powers that be are giving absolutely no respect.

Also... and this is a big one! when Bumble publicly gave out about GNR 1) he was being strong armed into a tour after a near fatal car accident, leaving him with spinal issues to this day 2) He was also being forced to reschedule a lot of his solo dates, because the powers that be just decided on a whim to book dates, giving less than zero fucks that the hired hands might need to be consulted about availability before doing so! you might say "They hired him, it's his job to be there" and to a point yes, but if someone looks at their schedule, and asks management "Are you booking for these months" and he gets the all clear, and then that changes then the real unprofessional side is the employer. 

I forget the insane world of dealing with GNR. You make valid points. 

[The Holographic Universe]

21 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

Maybe Axl did feel betrayed? but at the end of the day Axl is a musician who enjoys the creative process (not the releasing process). He understands the desire to create, so he understands the Bumblefoot was leaving because he saw no future in which he was going to release material with Axl, that he would have a direct hand in collaborating on. You can't just sit on someone and ignore their requests and then be upset when they finally say "enough". Axl could have easily have kept his band together had he released even one single song after 2008. Bumbles one new song per leg idea, remains the best idea that GNR / Axl never used! It could have really changed the course of the band, and created some buzz... instead of the actual history which was of a band slowly dying.

I always thought Bumble was very clear with his intentions regarding GNR, and I can only imagine those intentions were relayed to the boss several times over the years. I doubt there's any doubt as to why he quit. And let's be real, Bumble quit knowing that he was on the eve of making a boatload of cash if he stayed because of the reunion... I mean, I commend it😄I guess if I was Axl I might be slightly offended that someone is saying 'I'd rather not have job security than play with you anymore" 🤣

I doubt BBF was offered any role in the reunion. 

[J Dog]

It might've ended up being shit, or just weird, but I always wanted that '02 band to hang around a little longer and release CD themselves. Such a strange little era.

The '06 band seemed to have some chemistry. Robin and Axl were in killer form.

[Blackstar]

9 minutes ago, The Holographic Universe said:

I doubt BBF was offered any role in the reunion. 

Yes, I don't think any NuGNR guitarist other than Fortus was ever seriously considered for the Axl/Slash reunion lineup (despite of what Ashba said), as Fortus was the only one Slash would agree on.

Fortus was always a big Slash fan. In 2004 he was spotted at a Velvet Revolver show.

Edited August 30, 2020 by Blackstar

[Gackt]

5 hours ago, ToonGuns said:

Basically I'm just gutted we got so little Bucket in Guns!, so am fabricating completely hypothetical scenarios that "could've been". Aah well.

It's just one of those things where there were too many cliques within the band butting heads with each other, and at some point something had to give.  

There's no way I could see Bucket giving GNR the time of day again with how he was slighted during his time there.