Axl Rose Rant on Conan O' Brien - 2002

[NostalgicRock]

Anyone know more about this? the backstory and stuff?

[Blackstar]

It was in response to this joke by Conan O'Brien after the 2002 VMA's: "After the Guns N' Roses performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, the band will promptly change their name to Fatty McGoo and the Guys Who Aren't Slash."

[Blackstar]

Axl: Is Conan here tonight? Okay, you know, Conan is Mr. Conan O’ Brien, my good friend Conan. You see, I read a little while ago that he was on a diet. And now and then, you know, you need a break from a thing like that, so I brought him some donuts. These are a special Krispy Kreme Conan O’ Brien dedication from me. [...] “Axl’s White Trash Bistro Catering” has some Conan donuts here. [...] He won’t mind, my good friend, he won’t mind. [Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY, USA, December 5, 2002]

Edited July 28, 2022 by Blackstar

[adamsapple]

Gotta give it to Axl unlike those fake TV people he doesn't need a team of writers to come up with a good joke or a little story.

I miss those Axl rants. For me a real GNR concert isn't complete without one.

Life was better before Twitter, Facebook, Insta etc. #hashtagmyass

 

[Sausagebrain]

1 hour ago, Blackstar said:

Axl: Is Conan here tonight? Okay, you know, Conan is Mr. Conan O’ Brien, my good friend Conan. You see, I read a little while ago that he was on a diet. And now and then, you know, you need a break from a thing like that, so I brought him some donuts. These are a special Krispy Kreme Conan O’ Brien dedication from me. [...] “Axl’s White Trash Bistro Catering” has some Conan donuts here. [...] He won’t mind, my good friend, he won’t mind. [Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY, USA, December 5, 2002]

Now THAT'S how you 'clapback'.

[opalho]

50 minutes ago, adamsapple said:

Gotta give it to Axl unlike those fake TV people he doesn't need a team of writers to come up with a good joke or a little story.

I miss those Axl rants. For me a real GNR concert isn't complete without one.

Life was better before Twitter, Facebook, Insta etc. #hashtagmyass

 

I was rewatching the Guns N' Roses Chicago '92 performance, specifically for the rant before "Live And Let Die". Absolutely incredible

[Nintari]

54 minutes ago, adamsapple said:

Gotta give it to Axl unlike those fake TV people he doesn't need a team of writers to come up with a good joke or a little story.

I miss those Axl rants. For me a real GNR concert isn't complete without one.

Life was better before Twitter, Facebook, Insta etc. #hashtagmyass

 

I'll go a step further and say life was better before the whole damn internet.

[axlvai]

I read the internet, i know whats goin on.

[adamsapple]

1 minute ago, axlvai said:

I read the internet, i know whats goin on.

"I find out what's happening in my own band on the internet!"

Pittsburgh 2002. Legendary.

 

 

[Blackstar]

That was a good one, too (probably in response to comments on fan forums ):

Axl (introducing the band): My name is Fat Bastard and these are the Yes Men.  [Target Center, Minneapolis, USA, November 14, 2002]

[©GnrPersia]

2 hours ago, Blackstar said:

Axl (introducing the band): My name is Fat Bastard and these are the Yes Men.  [Target Center, Minneapolis, USA, November 14, 2002]

lol but wait... weren't they?... aren't they? 

[Nightrain7]

Never really understood the amount of 'fat shaming' Axl received in 2002. He wasn't fat at all, just wore oversized jerseys. 

[Dean]

MSG was a great fucking show, I still throw it on now and again. 

[NostalgicRock]

7 hours ago, Blackstar said:

That was a good one, too (probably in response to comments on fan forums ):

Axl (introducing the band): My name is Fat Bastard and these are the Yes Men.  [Target Center, Minneapolis, USA, November 14, 2002]

any footage or audio of this? 

[jamillos]

5 hours ago, ©GnrPersia said:

lol but wait... weren't they?... aren't they? 

Then again, if he didn't have yes men back then, he would have had no men. Think about it.  

[Blackstar]

27 minutes ago, NostalgicRock said:

any footage or audio of this? 

Audio:

https://vocaroo.com/1h7Fm0GqF75S

Edited July 29, 2022 by Blackstar

[Blackstar]

6 hours ago, ©GnrPersia said:

lol but wait... weren't they?... aren't they? 

Well, they were hired, so part of their job description was to do what Axl wanted them to.

But I don't know if it's fair to say that all of them, e.g. Buckethead, were "yes men."

[NostalgicRock]

2 hours ago, Blackstar said:

Audio:

https://vocaroo.com/1h7Fm0GqF75S

Axl seems like the kinda guy to read a lot about himself on the internet 

[StrangerInThisTown]

21 hours ago, Nintari said:

I'll go a step further and say life was better before the whole damn internet.

Life before the internet sounds awfully uncomfortable to me, no Google for example? Jesus Christ I mean, what did you have to do to look something up..look at an encyclopaedia? LOL yeah no, I’m good

Edited July 29, 2022 by StrangerInThisTown

[mystery]

On 7/28/2022 at 2:32 PM, adamsapple said:

Gotta give it to Axl unlike those fake TV people he doesn't need a team of writers to come up with a good joke or a little story.

I miss those Axl rants. For me a real GNR concert isn't complete without one.

Life was better before Twitter, Facebook, Insta etc. #hashtagmyass

 

There's a rant you can find on YouTube from 1993 where Axl absolutely rips into James Hetfield who'd been making fun of him the previous 2 years.

Just a mean spirited joke by Conan that he'd probably not make today but was unfortunately commonplace sentiment at the time as the 2002 band was mercilessly ripped on.

2002 Axl wasn't 1992 Axl or anything but I don't get the weight jokes from that era. 

[Fanboy]

9 hours ago, StrangerInThisTown said:

Life before the internet sounds awfully uncomfortable to me, no Google for example? Jesus Christ I mean, what did you have to do to look something up..look at an encyclopaedia? LOL yeah no, I’m good

Life before the internet was great, probably greater than now. Yes we have access to more stuff but its not that fun.
How many times I had to learn the route days before going to a new job, I had a poor drawing map on a piece of paper.
Saving money to buy a new music magazine with free cd, or even console magazine, we had free demo with it.
Planning a suicidal mission for some playboy mag, clothing catalogs were the holy graal for teenagers.
Oh well.. I sound like an old jerk, I like the life now, I dont need to twist my mind when Im looking for something.
The beginning of the internet days were great, more freedom, I guess

[SoulMonster]

7 hours ago, mystery said:

There's a rant you can find on YouTube from 1993 where Axl absolutely rips into James Hetfield who'd been making fun of him the previous 2 years.

You can read about Metallica and GN'R after they toured together, including @Blackstar's transcription of that rant, here: (15) 16. JANUARY-JULY 1993: THE SKIN N' BONES TOUR; END OF AN ERA (a-4-d.com)

[BangoSkank]

Reading or watching anything from MSG '02 still gives me pain because my first GNR show was supposed to immediately follow that. Instead my first riot did.

[rumandraisin]

On 7/30/2022 at 1:28 AM, mystery said:

There's a rant you can find on YouTube from 1993 where Axl absolutely rips into James Hetfield who'd been making fun of him the previous 2 years.

Just a mean spirited joke by Conan that he'd probably not make today but was unfortunately commonplace sentiment at the time as the 2002 band was mercilessly ripped on.

2002 Axl wasn't 1992 Axl or anything but I don't get the weight jokes from that era. 

The clothes he wore made him look a lot bigger than he was, but he was in fine shape realistically. Its a miracle any of those 2002 shows even happened considering the mental state he seemed to be in at the time. 

[mystery]

3 hours ago, rumandraisin said:

The clothes he wore made him look a lot bigger than he was, but he was in fine shape realistically. Its a miracle any of those 2002 shows even happened considering the mental state he seemed to be in at the time. 

Its hard to tell because of the clothes like you said but he looked fine. The thing is that even though he reappeared publicly in 2001, 2002 was kind of his reintroduction into the mainstream.

The public by and large hadn't seen him since 1993 so the look, the band, and his voice were an adjustment.