Axl & DJ Ashba

[reayj2003]

Just watching some gigs from 2010-14 and it strikes me, as it did at the time, that there was a chemistry and ease between Axl & DJ onstage that I’d argue I don’t see between Slash and him.

 

I’m aware DJ wasn’t a huge hit with certain fans & hope this thread won’t become a let’s criticise DJ one. I’m just interested in what others think on this observation. There seemed to be a closeness. 

[Tourettes2400]

I liked seeing them together. Actually only saw them live together once, but I have watched a ton of videos from the Chinese area on YouTube and agree they were good together. 
 

With that being said, I am definitely glad to have Slash back!

Edited February 2, 2021 by Tourettes2400

[seely]

Despite the criticism het gets, I think DJ really did try hard for that first year or two of touring. He put a lot of effort into putting on a performance (fine, people may not like the 'Hulk Hogan Hands' things, but you can't deny he tried). He did a fair version of the songs and, as you say, seemed to gel with Axl. He often talked about wanting to create new music, talked about having written demos etc...

 

I think the situation with DJ was, much like Bumblefoot, he became jaded after 2011 or so and became fed up with endless touring/realising that new no music was being produced. At that point, he started going more down the self-promotion route (Ashba Water, clothing line etc...) since that was likely all he was going to be able to get out of Guns.

I think there is a lot of similarity between him and Bumblefoot in that regard, only Bumble seemed to keep holding out hope for a while, whereas DJ went down the self-promotion line instead. 

[reayj2003]

Do you think he really was asked to be involved in current line up? 

[reayj2003]

4 minutes ago, seely said:

Despite the criticism het gets, I think DJ really did try hard for that first year or two of touring. He put a lot of effort into putting on a performance (fine, people may not like the 'Hulk Hogan Hands' things, but you can't deny he tried). He did a fair version of the songs and, as you say, seemed to gel with Axl. He often talked about wanting to create new music, talked about having written demos etc...

 

I think the situation with DJ was, much like Bumblefoot, he became jaded after 2011 or so and became fed up with endless touring/realising that new no music was being produced. At that point, he started going more down the self-promotion route (Ashba Water, clothing line etc...) since that was likely all he was going to be able to get out of Guns.

I think there is a lot of similarity between him and Bumblefoot in that regard, only Bumble seemed to keep holding out hope for a while, whereas DJ went down the self-promotion line instead. 

I agree he grabbed the bull by the horns in terms of his input into the live show. He’s definitely got charisma onstage.

I think Axl perhaps hoped the fans would take to him in as positive a way as he had. He took him on the That Metal Show interview. 

[Dean]

Closeness or 'chemistry' was probably down to lack of stage space due to playing bowling alleys and Bar mitzvah's.

[reayj2003]

3 minutes ago, Dean said:

Closeness or 'chemistry' was probably down to lack of stage space due to playing bowling alleys and Bar mitzvah's.

Not the shows I’m watching or attended. Sold out shows at London o2, Manchester arena, Liverpool arena etc 

Edited February 2, 2021 by reayj2003

[Dean]

1 minute ago, reayj2003 said:

Not the shows I’m watching or attended. Sold out shows at London o2, Manchester arena, Liverpool arena etc 

The whole production nowadays is on a much larger scale to playing arenas and small theatres, plus, the focus was, for the most part, all on Axl, certainly among casual fans during that period. Slash seems to do his thing differently nowadays, I dunno, but even then, he was accustomed to playing smaller venues on his own. There is probably a lot more scrutiny involved when doing stadiums, especially on one of the highest grossing tours in history. The chemistry between them all is perfectly fine, at least to me. 

[reayj2003]

13 minutes ago, Dean said:

The whole production nowadays is on a much larger scale to playing arenas and small theatres, plus, the focus was, for the most part, all on Axl, certainly among casual fans during that period. Slash seems to do his thing differently nowadays, I dunno, but even then, he was accustomed to playing smaller venues on his own. There is probably a lot more scrutiny involved when doing stadiums, especially on one of the highest grossing tours in history. The chemistry between them all is perfectly fine, at least to me. 

I’m not saying I don’t like the current line up. I’ve seen them in 8 stadiums & up close at Caesars palace. 
 

I’m not commenting on production etc it’s the connection between the players. 
 

Not a criticism but an observation. I think Matt Sorum made a comment about his perception of Slash & Axl onstage.

[Walapino]

59 minutes ago, reayj2003 said:

Do you think he really was asked to be involved in current line up? 

I dont think he was offered a serious position on the NITL lineup, im sure Axl talked with him and was nice kinda like "hey if you wanna stay we can make it work" type scenario, DJ was smart enough not to pursue that road, he knew it was over.

[Ifdworld]

i actually heard that version of DJ being asked to joing NITL from a close source, at the time i couldn't didn't want to believe it but i trusted the source as it had close contact with Axl. And sure enough DJ confirmed it soon after. From what i heard he had a contract sent and was gonna do it, but Naty said no and he treasures his marriage like any wise man should. But hey it is what it is. 

[BangoSkank]

39 minutes ago, Ifdworld said:

i actually heard that version of DJ being asked to joing NITL from a close source, at the time i couldn't didn't want to believe it but i trusted the source as it had close contact with Axl. And sure enough DJ confirmed it soon after. From what i heard he had a contract sent and was gonna do it, but Naty said no and he treasures his marriage like any wise man should. But hey it is what it is. 

Can you imagine if he was a part of the reunion? I'm sitting here stunned from the thought. The fans here would meltdown. 

That said - why in the world would you turn that down? And what would his role have been? So many questions.

[Dean]

1 hour ago, reayj2003 said:

I’m not saying I don’t like the current line up. I’ve seen them in 8 stadiums & up close at Caesars palace. 
 

I’m not commenting on production etc it’s the connection between the players. 
 

Not a criticism but an observation. I think Matt Sorum made a comment about his perception of Slash & Axl onstage.

The way I look at it is that there is more ground to cover on a massive stage in stadiums than what there would be in smaller venues, making it less likely for the musicians being around each other as much as what they would be on a smaller stage that maybe gives the belief that there is no chemistry, that is my opinion on your observation. I also believe that musically, this incarnation of the band is superior to '09-'14 for the most part. That said, I'd still rather listen to '01-'06 ahead of any other era - those early shows had the same scrutiny about there being no chemistry. 

1 minute ago, BangoSkank said:

Can you imagine if he was a part of the reunion? I'm sitting here stunned from the thought. The fans here would meltdown. 

That said - why in the world would you turn that down? And what would his role have been? So many questions.

Top hats N' Roses. Just think of the fantastic swag we'd have!!

[allwaystired]

2 hours ago, reayj2003 said:

Not the shows I’m watching or attended. Sold out shows at London o2, Manchester arena, Liverpool arena etc 

No, they very much weren't 'sold out'. All three of those shows had huge amounts of the tickets given  away for free via 'seat-filling' websites, and even just by asking at the box office! 

I got a choice of the best seats or standing tickets for all three shows. Took standing, for one of them. Great shows in my view, but they sold very very poorly. 

As to the original point- yeah I think Axl and Ashba did have chemistry (at least to my eyes) and I felt that they seemed to be a band who had a future really......time has proved me wrong! 

Edited February 2, 2021 by allwaystired

[2020_Intensions]

Just because Slash & Duff are back doesn't mean DJ couldn't have stayed .. This isn't a proper reunion .. After hearing Slash butcher most ChiDem songs that were played this tour I absolutely would have liked to have Ashba so him & Fortus could deliver great performances of those songs like they did for years prior

[HollyWoodRose84]

7 minutes ago, 2020_Intensions said:

Just because Slash & Duff are back doesn't mean DJ couldn't have stayed .. This isn't a proper reunion .. After hearing Slash butcher most ChiDem songs that were played this tour I absolutely would have liked to have Ashba so him & Fortus could deliver great performances of those songs like they did for years prior

Imagine if Slash was the original player on CD and then Ashba was hired to replace him and played the tunes the way he did. Would you still call it butchering?  I think we just have our ears trained to the way a song “should sound” because it was recorded that way on the album. Slash returning showed that the last 7 guitarists (minus Fortus) Axl recorded with and toured with all lacked one thing. 
 

Soul. 

[MaskingApathy]

4 hours ago, reayj2003 said:

Do you think he really was asked to be involved in current line up? 

No

2 hours ago, Ifdworld said:

i actually heard that version of DJ being asked to joing NITL from a close source, at the time i couldn't didn't want to believe it but i trusted the source as it had close contact with Axl. And sure enough DJ confirmed it soon after. From what i heard he had a contract sent and was gonna do it, but Naty said no and he treasures his marriage like any wise man should. But hey it is what it is. 

Interesting

1 hour ago, BangoSkank said:

Can you imagine if he was a part of the reunion? I'm sitting here stunned from the thought. The fans here would meltdown. 

That said - why in the world would you turn that down? And what would his role have been? So many questions.

I would melt down and I'm pretty sure that Slash wouldn't go for him joining also.

59 minutes ago, HollyWoodRose84 said:

Imagine if Slash was the original player on CD and then Ashba was hired to replace him and played the tunes the way he did. Would you still call it butchering?  I think we just have our ears trained to the way a song “should sound” because it was recorded that way on the album. Slash returning showed that the last 7 guitarists (minus Fortus) Axl recorded with and toured with all lacked one thing. 
 

Soul. 

Agreed

[Gunner55]

I thought I recall reading somewhere that Axl and DJ grew up in the same area, obviously at different times however. So they had that in common and just gelled well. I felt it was eye opening that when Axl did That Metal Show he insisted on DJ being there, hell even if it was just to sit in as moral support. 

I respect DJ for doing his thing and giving it 100% despite how corny some of it is, but that doesn't mean I have to like everything he does. Some of his previous music I really enjoy (ie: Beautiful Creatures, early Sixx AM), but that's about it. His new stuff isn't for me. Even trying to go back to Sixx AM stuff. Like, it's good, but nowhere near as good as I remember it being when I was 18 or 19.

[Sweersa]

1 hour ago, HollyWoodRose84 said:

Imagine if Slash was the original player on CD and then Ashba was hired to replace him and played the tunes the way he did. Would you still call it butchering?  I think we just have our ears trained to the way a song “should sound” because it was recorded that way on the album. Slash returning showed that the last 7 guitarists (minus Fortus) Axl recorded with and toured with all lacked one thing. 
 

Soul. 

I'm not sure what Slash does during the This I Love solo. But it's awful.

[Tom2112]

2 hours ago, HollyWoodRose84 said:

Imagine if Slash was the original player on CD and then Ashba was hired to replace him and played the tunes the way he did. Would you still call it butchering?  I think we just have our ears trained to the way a song “should sound” because it was recorded that way on the album. Slash returning showed that the last 7 guitarists (minus Fortus) Axl recorded with and toured with all lacked one thing. 
 

Soul. 

BS. 

There's a difference between "I like how the original sounds" and what Slash does on TIL. There seems to be zero consideration for structure, it starts fast, the middles fast and the ends faster... As traditional solos go, it's a great example of doing it wrong. If Slash played on that song in the 90s he would have put a far more restrained structured and melodic solo on it... the Slash of today plays a solo that has more to do with technique than soul... which is funny considering you bashed the guitar players who replaced him for having no soul. 

IF Slash played something completely different but beautiful I wouldn't have a problem with him changing the solo. The original is a well put together emotive solo that lifts the song, the current one is absolutely boring, doesn't serve the song however it does serve Slash's ego though. 

DJ Ashba butchered it too, but that's to be expected. I think everyone here before 2016 would have said that Slash would rule on that solo. I don't think anyone would expect such a mixed reaction to the top hatted one.

[reayj2003]

2 hours ago, allwaystired said:

No, they very much weren't 'sold out'. All three of those shows had huge amounts of the tickets given  away for free via 'seat-filling' websites, and even just by asking at the box office! 

I got a choice of the best seats or standing tickets for all three shows. Took standing, for one of them. Great shows in my view, but they sold very very poorly. 

As to the original point- yeah I think Axl and Ashba did have chemistry (at least to my eyes) and I felt that they seemed to be a band who had a future really......time has proved me wrong! 

Depends which year. 2010 was a good selling tour. First night at o2 sold out, Birmingham & Manchester must have been close. I was at those three.

2012 Liverpool, Glasgow & London O2 night one were packed. Admittedly Newcastle wasn’t and the second o2 show was noticeably empty. I got very cheap seats that night.
considering they played so many uk city’s it did well. 
 

I thoroughly enjoyed all those shows. Glasgow 2012 In particular was a great show.

Edited February 2, 2021 by reayj2003

[Tom2112]

3 minutes ago, reayj2003 said:

Depends which year. 2010 was a good selling tour. First night at o2 sold out, Birmingham & Manchester must have being close. I was at those three.

2012 Liverpool, Glasgow & London O2 night one were parked. Admittedly Newcastle wasn’t packed. 
considering they played so many uk city’s it did well. 
 

I thoroughly enjoyed all those shows. Glasgow 2012 was a great show.

Those 2010 shows sold well, many sell outs! not all obviously! However by the time they circled back around in 2012 the tide had shifted, most people had simply had enough! they were willing to go to the shows because Axl was still a great singer... and then they watched the 2011 disaster video and Axl and NuGNR were done. 2012 they played the same venues they sold out in 2010 in Europe and for most they pulled between half and three quarters, I think they still sold out London and a few other cities but it was far less successful.

Had GNR put out a good record in 2015 perception might have changed in their favour, but I think the damage was done and there was no choice but to reboot.

[reayj2003]

17 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

Those 2010 shows sold well, many sell outs! not all obviously! However by the time they circled back around in 2012 the tide had shifted, most people had simply had enough! they were willing to go to the shows because Axl was still a great singer... and then they watched the 2011 disaster video and Axl and NuGNR were done. 2012 they played the same venues they sold out in 2010 in Europe and for most they pulled between half and three quarters, I think they still sold out London and a few other cities but it was far less successful.

Had GNR put out a good record in 2015 perception might have changed in their favour, but I think the damage was done and there was no choice but to reboot.

It was a much larger tour..

Nottingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester & 2 nights at O2. 

[Tom2112]

Just now, reayj2003 said:

It was a much larger tour..

Nottingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester & 2 nights at O2. 

2012? maybe that's it? but in Ireland in 2010 the play Belfast and Dublin, both sold out! in 2012 they played Dublin only and they didn't even come to close to selling out. They were struggling with perception. Awful lot of bad press from 2010 and 2011 if you remember, they were a complete joke to most people. 

[reayj2003]

1 minute ago, Tom2112 said:

2012? maybe that's it? but in Ireland in 2010 the play Belfast and Dublin, both sold out! in 2012 they played Dublin only and they didn't even come to close to selling out. They were struggling with perception. Awful lot of bad press from 2010 and 2011 if you remember, they were a complete joke to most people. 

Yeah, Dublin 2010 didn’t go well I seem to remember. I heard the Dublin 2012 was a good show however. They played TWAT.

Edited February 2, 2021 by reayj2003