2005.04.21 - Associated Press - Georgia Club Hopes for Guns N' Roses Show

Georgia Club Hopes for Guns N' Roses Show

By JANET MORRISSEY
For The Associated Press

Guns N' Roses fans nationwide started buzzing recently when Atlanta radio station 96Rock began advertising that the reclusive Axl Rose would be performing at a club in Cartersville, Ga., on Friday.

Even more exciting: Rose was said to be teaming up with former bandmate and songwriting partner Izzy Stradlin. The promo on the rock station's website promised a "three-hour set," with the $20 tickets limited to one per customer.

But it appears there will be no show. "Axl will not be there," GNR manager Merck Mercuriadis told The Associated Press.

Why not? The answer was unclear Thursday.

The radio station's program director, Jeff McMurray, initially stood by his promotion. He told AP he had seen contracts signed by Rose and Stradlin to appear at Coyotes, capacity 2,000. While he admits it seemed odd that a band of GNR's stature would play such a small venue, McMurray said it's not an unusual move for big-name bands. He recalled U2 and REM playing the Hurricane, a tiny club in Kansas City, a number of years ago.

But after further investigation, McMurray backtracked. "Although we have contracts stating that they'll be there, evidently (the contracts) are not from Axl Rose," he said.

The radio station promotions were pulled — but the club continued to promote the gig. On Thursday morning, a voicemail on the Coyotes' phone still said GNR was coming to town.

"I sent off a certified check. It was a legitimate booking agency," Coyotes manager Pete Grim said. "I had asked (the agency) several questions about the status of Guns N' Roses because I do know that Velvet Revolver is out and lots of the members from Guns N' Roses went there. But he assured me it wasn't the Velvet Revolver people — it was actually Rose and other original members."

Grim said he dealt with a booking agency called Bryant Entertainment. AP could not locate a phone number for the company. Strangely, the radio station would not provide a number. Requests to the radio station and club to pass on messages to the booker yielded no results.

The gig would have marked the first time that Rose — the Howard Hughes of rock — had performed publicly since promoter Clear Channel pulled the plug on his comeback tour in 2002.

The original GNR lineup imploded in the 1990s over egos and disputes over musical direction, leaving only Rose and keyboard player Dizzy Reed to continue under the GNR name. Partway through the comeback tour, Rose failed to show up for a gig in Philadelphia, causing riots, which led to the tour's demise.

Rose and his much-hyped album, "Chinese Democracy," which is 10 years in the making, have not been heard from since.

Of course the show didn't happen. Associated Press, April 26, 2005:
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Ga. Fans Disappointed by Axl's No-Show

By JANET MORRISSEY
For The Associated Press

Axl Rose hasn't cut a new album in 10 years, but his name still draws crowds — even without the man himself. That was the case Friday night at Coyotes, a small club in Cartersville, Ga., about 40 miles outside of Atlanta.

Contrary to all evidence, Coyotes insisted that the Guns N' Roses frontman would emerge from his self-imposed seclusion to play a gig with former bandmate Izzy Stradlin on its humble stage.

The strange story began a few weeks ago, when Atlanta radio station 96Rock started advertising the show. The Associated Press called GNR's manager, who said Rose would not be performing. The station pulled the ads, but the club promised the show would go on, producing a contract apparently signed by someone other than Rose.

In the days before the show, club manager Pete Grim was a bit nervous as word spread about past riots by disgruntled GNR fans. So Grim removed all the club's chairs and tables, replaced glass bottles with plastic cups, hired about 30 bouncers and dropped the cover charge from $20 to $15.

He also handed out photocopies of a three-page contract with booking agency Bryant Entertainment and copies of what he said was a $1,500 certified check sent to the agency as a down payment.

Along came Friday night. About 400 people showed up at Coyotes, some from as far as Florida and Tennessee. The bar's beer prices magically doubled.

Coyotes stuck to its story until the eleventh hour — which in this case was shortly after 11 p.m., when Grim took the stage to give customers the not-so-unexpected news.

"I pretty much knew they weren't going to show up," said Michael Mustin, 25 — who nonetheless came more than 100 miles from Hayesville, N.C.

Grim said the booking agent, John Bryant, had promised as recently as Thursday night that Rose would be there, "and he was going to expect his money whether I advertised it or not."

All three telephone numbers listed on the contract for Bryant Entertainment were out of service. A fourth number, which Grim said he used to reach Bryant on Thursday night, had a recording saying the subscriber was no longer receiving calls. The contract listed the company's offices at addresses in Winter Park, Fla., and Chicago Ridge, Ill. But cross-checking these addresses found the Florida address to be home to a chemical company and the one in Chicago a private residence.

Craig Serritella, 28, from nearby Canton. Ga., said he was skeptical from the get-go, but the chance to see his favorite band was too tempting to resist. "I mean why would they come to Cartersville, Ga., of all places," he said.

The fans, disappointed but not surprised, left in peace.

"No confrontations. No altercations. No arrests," said Cartersville Police Lieutenant T. Ellis.

And no Axl.

Basically a big prank?

Soulmonster wrote:Basically a big prank?

It seems that this was the case.