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APPETITE FOR DISCUSSION
Welcome to Appetite for Discussion -- a Guns N' Roses fan forum!

Please feel free to look around the forum as a guest, I hope you will find something of interest. If you want to join the discussions or contribute in other ways then you need to become a member. We especially welcome anyone who wants to share documents for our archive or would be interested in translating or transcribing articles and interviews.

Registering is free and easy.

Cheers!
SoulMonster

38. MAY 2017-JULY 2018: MORE TOURING AND THE RELEASE OF APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION: LOCKED N' LOADED

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38. MAY 2017-JULY 2018: MORE TOURING AND THE RELEASE OF APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION: LOCKED N' LOADED - Page 2 Empty Re: 38. MAY 2017-JULY 2018: MORE TOURING AND THE RELEASE OF APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION: LOCKED N' LOADED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:55 am

NOVEMBER 13-29, 2017
THE SECOND 2017 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR ENDS

The next show of the tour took place at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN, USA (November 13), BOK Center in Tulsa, OK, USA (November 14), T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV, USA (November 17), and Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, CA, USA (November 18).


November 13, 2017
Cory Wasnewsky
November 14, 2017
Geoff May
November 17, 2017
Ulrich Planer
November 18, 2017
Jimbo Phillips


For the show in Tulsa, Dave Grohl joined the band on guitar for Paradise City. Before the show in Sacramento, AC/DC's Malcolm Young passed away and the band dedicated both Knockin' On Heaven's Door and Whole Lotta Rosie to his memory.


Melissa in Nashville
November 13, 2017
Slash and Grohl in Tulsa
November 14, 2017
Duff and Grohl in Tulsa
November 14, 2017
Dizzy  in Sacramento
November 18, 2017


Review of the show in Las Vegas by Josh Bell writing for Las Vegas Weekly on November 20:

Five thoughts: Guns N’ Roses at T-Mobile Arena (November 17)

1. Guns N’ Roses’ former reputation for extreme tardiness (which was mainly just lead singer Axl Rose’s reputation) has turned into something like extreme punctuality, but plenty of fans clearly were caught off-guard when the band took the stage just 15 minutes after the show’s listed start time, with no opening act. The empty seats quickly filled up, though, and Rose and his bandmates played for a marathon (and somewhat exhausting) three and a half hours, ending right around the time one of their concerts might have started back in the ’90s.

2. The last time GNR was in town, in April 2016, it was for the kick-off of the still-running Not in This Lifetime semi-reunion tour, bringing Rose back together with fellow original members Slash (guitar) and Duff McKagan (bass), along with bandmates who’ve been working with Rose since Slash and McKagan left. That show was impressive, but the band has clearly gotten tighter since then, as well as increasing its stamina, sounding great from the first notes of “It’s So Easy” through the final notes of “Paradise City,” the older members meshing seamlessly with the later additions.

3. Also back in April 2016, Rose was recovering from a broken foot and performed the entire show sitting down, but this time he almost never stopped moving, and even with all the exertion, his voice still sounded fantastic. Rose’s frequent (as in, nearly every other song) mid-show breaks have become part of his mystique, but whatever he does backstage every few minutes to refresh himself, it’s worth it if it allows him to wail through epics like “Estranged” and “Coma” sounding nearly as powerful as he did 25 years ago.

4. Three and a half hours left a lot of room for a variety of material, including six songs from 2008 pre-reunion album Chinese Democracy, which were enhanced a bit by impressive lead guitar work from Slash, but there was only so much he could do for plodding dirges like “Prostitute” and “Sorry.” At least punchy rockers “Better” and the album’s title track have semi-decent hooks.

5. The band also threw in a whole bunch of covers—from GNR hits like Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die” and Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” to concert staples like The Who’s “The Seeker” and Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” (an instrumental with dueling guitar solos from Slash and Richard Fortus). The holdover tributes to Glen Campbell (“Wichita Lineman”) and Chris Cornell (“Black Hole Sun”) were interesting left-field song choices, but felt slightly out of place, especially since they were presented without comment. Surely there are at least some vintage photos of the band members hanging out with Cornell that could have been displayed on the video screens?


DJ attended the show in Las Vegas:

Hanging @gunsnroses Sic show. So good to see them back together! @axlrose @Slash @DuffMcKagan
sound better than ever! 🎩🤘
Twitter, November 18, 2017


The final shows in 2017 took place at Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA, USA (November 21), Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, USA (November 24), The Forum in Inglewood, CA, USA, (November 25), Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, CA, USA (November 28), and a return to The Forum in Inglewood, CA, USA (November 29).


November 21, 2017
Pat Halloran
November 24, 2017
Arian Buhler
November 25, 2017
Arian Buhler
November 28, 2017
Arian Buhler
November 29, 2017
Arian Buhler


The final show at The Forum in Inglewood was broadcast live and on demand on SiriusXM.


Axl in Oakland
November 21, 2017
Duff in Los Angeles
November 24, 2017
Frank in Inglewood
November 25, 2017
Slash in San Diego
November 28, 2017
Richard and Slash in Inglewood
November 29, 2017


Arlett Vereecke, the band's former publicist, attended one of the shows at the Forum in Los Angeles:

I thought they played exceptionally well. And you have to give Axl credit for singing for four hours, night after night. [...] It is unbelievable. The one thing... Yeah, you cannot beat it. I mean, Slash is better than ever, Duff is better than ever, Richard is doing a very good job, he's a great guitar player. And the band is good. Axl is at his best as far as his voice is concerned.


LA! That was it! Final show if an 18 or so month run. It's been a fucking blast! & tonight was a fitting end to it all! Thanks for being there tonight! We'll see you again down the road! Cheers! iiii]; )'
Twitter, November 30, 2017

❤End of tour for 2017❤ Last post but too many feels so I literally couldn’t.... Crying or Very sad

I’ll just say:
My life is forever changed. Forever full. Forever better. The depth of my gratitude knows no bounds, and breadth of my hugs can never be wide enough to squeeze and hold onto this experience, and what this new family gave me. I. love. u. all. You believed in me and helped me be my best. I hope I did the same for u, I hope I made u proud, as I was deeply proud to be a part of something that touched - and will continue to touch so many lives. I cannot wait for what’s in store, and I am in awe x humbled each and every time I think of what we did and what we will do in the months and years to come. So much love and so much respect to EVERYONE who worked so hard, and of course, the fucking amazing fans who have touched my heart and made me smile from ear to ear no matter what. I love youI love youI love you, Melissa
Instagram, December 2, 2017


Brain would also attend the show at the forum and comment on having Slash and Duff back in the band:

And especially seeing it now with Slash and Duff, I mean, I'm just like, "Okay, I get it." Slash is great for a reason, you know, like he gives it the thing. Now it's real. [...]  But, you know, seeing that last show it was, you know, and seeing Duff and Slash and everybody, I mean, I thought it was, you know, it was amazing. [...] I saw the Houston one and I saw a couple of others. But just seeing that show with Slash and stuff, I just, you know, and Duff, I mean, they're just so awesome, you know. It was sick.


Brain would also talk to Axl after the show, which was particularly long:

[...] even now, like, the last gig I saw and it was like, you know, I think they played for three hours and 40 minutes and then, you know, literally when I went backstage to say what's up to Axl he was like, "Yeah man, I think that was our longest gig, it was three hours 40 minutes, I'm gonna go for 3:45 tomorrow." [...] You know, you're fucking... 3 hours and 45 fucking! Like, you know, I was like, "Okay," you know, I guess I was like, "He's constantly pushing, constantly testing," you know, it's rad and I like that, you know.


And talk about his relationship with the band and crew:

I'm still really tight with the, you know, people in the camp so, you know, as far as like being able to go they always hook me up, you know. I went to one of the rehearsals and stuff and I saw Slash and met him for the first time. I never met him before. And met Duff for the first time, you know. But Duff actually came to the show in Houston that Melissa and I did, you know, so that was cool, yeah. He watched it, or whatever, so that was kind of cool. And I think Dizzy was there and then Frank came and then, you know... I know a lot of the people still in there, Del, I mean, Del and I are, you know, I mean I love Del, he's like... I always consider him a friend whether or not I even had anything to do with Guns N' Roses or whatever, you know. So I feel like, you know.... And doing some of these remixes... you know, I've done some of these remixes I've always felt that connection is still there, you know, or whatever.
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38. MAY 2017-JULY 2018: MORE TOURING AND THE RELEASE OF APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION: LOCKED N' LOADED - Page 2 Empty Re: 38. MAY 2017-JULY 2018: MORE TOURING AND THE RELEASE OF APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION: LOCKED N' LOADED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:55 am

THE NOT IN THIS LIFETIME TOUR IS ANNOUNCED TO CONTINUE IN 2018 AND BEYOND

Not In This Lifetime Returns to Europe, Summer 2018

The resurgent Guns N’ Roses and their massively successful Not In This Lifetime Tour continue to show no signs of slowing down as the band storms into 2018 with 13 stadium shows lined up across Europe, as well as festival headline slots at Download Festival UK, Paris and Madrid, Italy’s Firenze Rocks and Belgium’s Graspop Metal Meeting.

Starting on 3 June 2018 at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, the Live Nation produced tour will steamroll across Europe including shows scheduled in Denmark, UK, France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Holland, Poland, Norway, Sweden as well as multiple shows in Germany. For the first time in the group’s history the international rock icons will perform in Estonia, at the renowned Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. Tickets go on sale Thursday, 16 November.

Get on the Nightrain now to get first access to tickets on the 13 stadium shows - presales starts Monday, 13 November at 10am local venue time.

Summer 2018 tour dates:

Jun. 03 - Berlin, Germany - Olympiastadion
Jun. 06 - Odense, Denmark - Dyreskuepladsen
Jun. 09 - Donnington, UK - Download
Jun. 12 - Gelsenkirchen, Germany - Veltins Arena
Jun. 15 - Firenze, Italy - Firenze Rocks
Jun. 18 - Paris, France - Download
Jun. 21 - Dessel, Belgium - Graspop Metal Meeting
Jun. 24 - Mannheim, Germany - Maimarktgelände
Jun. 26 - Bordeaux, France - Matmut Stadium
Jun. 29 - Madrid, Spain - Download
Jul. 01 - Barcelona, Spain - Estadio Olympico
Jul. 04 - Nijmegen, Netherlands - Goffertpark
Jul. 07 - Leipzig, Germany - Festwiese
Jul. 09 - Chorzow, Poland - Stadion Slaski
Jul. 13 - Moscow, Russia - Otkritie Arena
Jul. 16 - Tallinn, Estonia - Tallinn Song Festival Ground
Jul. 19 - Oslo, Norway - Valle Hovin
Jul. 21 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Ullevi Stadium


In April 2018, a show on July 24th in Reykjavik, Iceland, was added to the tour [Iceland Monitor, April 24, 2018] and in May it was announced that the band would play in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on November 25 [Press Release (Yas Marina Circuit, May 8, 2018].

Being asked if she thought the band would continue touring:

Well, they're only scheduled now for next year, you know, for the European festivals. I would think they're gonna do more shows. Yeah. I mean, there's such a demand for it, you know, there are plans for things, but, you know, not to be discussed. Not for shows. I cannot discuss what their plans are, it's not my place. And I'm not at liberty to discuss. All possibilities, nothing is definite, so, but we'll soon see.


In 2018, the openers for the 2018 were announced to include Ghost, Gojira, Greta Van Fleet, and Rival Sons [Ultimate Guitar, March 12, 2018].

Being asked if they intended to return to North America soon:

I don't know, either. I don't know. Would like to, you know. We'll see. I have no idea. I'm always the last person to know. You guys will know before I do.


Talking about the upcoming European tour:

Guns N’ Roses will be headlining European festivals this summer, it’s going to be a 110 percent performance and a huge blast. I love doing European fests and this is the first time we’ve done any proper festivals over there on the 'Not in This Lifetime Tour.' It’s indescribable to explain these shows. I’m looking over and seeing Axl, Duff and Dizzy whom I’ve known forever, but it also feels like an entirely new experience with Richard, Frank and Melissa. It’s like being in a new band, except there’s a chemistry that is established from days of old, so it’s a natural thing that’s always been there.


In May a, Asian leg of the tour was announced for November 2018:

Guns N' Roses will embark on a seven-show Asian tour in November. The trek, which will kick off on November 8 in Jakarta, Indonesia, will include the band's first-ever visit to Manila, Philippines, as well as stops in Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi.



Facebook announcement
May 19, 2018




TOURING FOR "YEARS TO COME"

GNR will continue to tour for the years to come.


This comment does not seem aligned with Slash, who in late July 2018 would state that he would tour extensively with the Conspirators in 2019:

We're [= Slash and the Conspirators] going to do the U.S. this fall, and then I'll be out with Guns N' Roses in in November and December. Then we'll get together and do Europe, and after that it'll be South America, Australia… we'll try to hit as many places as we can. Because as much as I enjoy the writing and recording process, when I'm creating music it's always with the intent that it should be played in front of an audience. For me, that's always the endgame — to get out there with the band and perform the music live. That's what I love the most.


And a few days later he would say he wasn't aware of any GN'R touring in 2019:

Well, we’re touring Southeast Asia, Dubai and South Africa in November, all of November. And so that’s the last leg of the NITL tour that I’m aware of at this point. So, I’m with the Conspirators September-October, and then looks like I’m gonna be doing some stuff, we’re gonna be doing some international stuff in January-February. And then March, I think he’s gonna be doing some Alter Bridge stuff, and then April we’re gonna go into South America. And then we’re gonna probably do some stuff in the summertime, probably... I’m not gonna say right now, but...


And that the tour in November of 2018 would be the end to the GN'R touring cycle for now:

That's it for the 'Not In This Lifetime' tour. Then I'm going go back out with The Conspirators, and we're going to do a whole world run over the next year. We'll see what happens with Guns, the next cycle."


This could suggest that either Slash was not aware that there were plans between Axl and the management to continue touring in 2019, or that no such plans existed and Fernando was referring to touring after 2019.

On October 5, 2018, it was announced that the band would do their first ever show in Hawaii on December 8 [GunsNRoses.com, October 5, 2018].


Last edited by Soulmonster on Sat Mar 16, 2024 7:03 am; edited 2 times in total
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Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:55 am

FEBRUARY 16, 2018
DIZZY RELEASES ROCK 'N ROLL AIN'T EASY

Already back in 2004 Dizzy would talk about a solo record he wanted to release:

I do have plans to do the same [=release a solo record like Tommy] in the future. I will definitely be putting together some demos soon.


He would mention this again in 2005:

And I wanna put out something of my own material, too, pretty soon.


And in 2008, Del James would mention he was producing the album:

And oh yeah, obviously since I'm producing Dizzy Reed's solo album, I've been listening to that everyday and while it is work, it is a labour of love. Dizzy is such an amazing songwriter and talented musician that his album is going to blow people away. Mark my words!

Dizzy is in the process of recording his solo album. Dizzy is a great songwriter but not very many people know this. I’ve known Dizzy has a record in him for a real long time. I co-wrote some of those songs but they were already great ideas before I ever got involved. He’s fucking good. And the list of people who have jumped on board to help Dizzy, to play on his solo record, cause it’s not a case of five guys in a band who have rehearsed these songs inside out. So some of the GN’R guys, like Frank Ferrer on drums, Richard Fortus on guitar, Tommy Stinson on bass, they’ve all come down. Frankie Banelli from Quiet Riot played some drums. Adrian from No Doubt played drums on a song. Mike Dupke from W.A.S.P., Mike Duda from W.A.S.P. played some bass, Greg Coates from The Bangkok 5 played bass, Chuck Wright, guitarists include Todd Youth from Danzig, Murphy’s Law and D-Generation. Alex Grossi. Whitey Kryst from Iggy Pop. Ricky Warwick from The Almighty…Bobby fucking Hamble. Oh man, Bobby from Biohazard comes down to the studio say hello to me, right? I ain’t seen this guy in like 8 years. We hug and going on tour the next day. I’m like, “hey Bobby, so what are you doing right now?” and I’m holding the guitar. He knows that I can’t play the fucking guitar so Bobby wound up playing a killer solo on a song called “Cheers To Oblivion.” And that’s how it’s been. There’s been a bunch of talented friends getting involved because every one is supportive and believes in Dizzy Reed the musician, the songwriter with a phenomenal voice. His voice is the secret weapon to the whole project. Dizzy & I are producing it.


Looking back at the decision to make a solo album:

Some years ago – about 10 or 11, I had a bunch of songs in my head that I needed to get out. And so I made some demos and started playing them for some friends of mine and they, in particular Dell James who co-produced the record with me, said ‘you know what we need to record these for real.’ I was a little bit skeptical at first and but we found some studio time and I went in, and we got all kinds of great musicians to come in and play on the record. We wanted to do it “old-skool” style in a live sort of situation and capture the moment. And we did – I think it turned out great.


Being asked if the songs had been intended for Guns N' Roses:

I think they were kind of in my head and I needed to get them out, get them out of my head. More than anything. I think certainly when I have an idea, the first thing I think of is Guns N' Roses, because I'd be foolish not to. But in this case, you know I had some some lyrical and vocal melody ideas that I put down and it started to shape up more and more, "Maybe I should go record it?" And that's kind of what we did.


Still, a release didn't happen quickly and while touring with DFR in 2011, the band would play songs off of Dizzy's future solo album:

We’ve been playing these songs around the world. A lot of people are waiting for my record. These things take time, sometimes a couple of years, sometimes 16 years.


The solo album would be called Rock And Roll Ain't Easy, and Dizzy expected it to be released in the summer of 2011 [Dalton Now, May 18, 2011]. Then, in late 2011, he expected it to come out in 2012:

I keep ticking away on my solo album when we have some down time. If we have some significant down time then I’m out performing those songs with whoever I can get together to play with me.

I recorded a record last year, called ‘Rock and Roll Ain’t Easy,’ under my name, that should hopefully be coming out the first part of next year. When Guns N’ Roses aren’t touring I’ve been out supporting that already.


Describing the record:

I am singing, or, crooning as I like to say. It’s very rootsy, very groovy, very rocking, a lot of cool piano based songs, and about half of it is guitar-based songs.


In May 2012, Dizzy would provide an update:

It’s actually something I started tracking probably four years ago, so before it gets into ‘Chinese Democracy’ sort of territory I’ve got ten years [laughs]. Just between touring constantly with Guns N’ Roses and when I’m not touring with Guns N’ Roses I’ve done some other things and I’ve actually been out playing the songs that I’ve recorded around America. Right now the whole process is at the stage where I want to get some good mixes of the songs. Once I have a good solid month or two off that’s going to happen and then it will be done for everyone to hear. It will be about twelve songs.


Talking about what type of record it would be:

It’s definitely a rock record. All the guys who are in Guns now have at least performed on one song and Richard Fortus, my dear friend, played on a lot of songs.


And that one song was written with Ricky Warwick (Thin Lizzy):

Yes, one of the songs was co-written by Ricky Warwick who of course sings for Thin Lizzy now. He co-wrote one song with Del James and myself and then he played on another song. There are just all kinds of great musicians from all around LA who appear on it. It’s really exciting. I just can’t wait to get into the studio and work on the proper mix now and then get it out.


Talking about a possible release date:

This year would be great but I hate to set deadlines for myself and as you know, some records can take a really long time to come out [laughs]. Just happens for some reason in my life, I don’t know why that is [laughs].


And who is singing on it:

I do all of the lead vocals. It’s just something that I wanted to do and get out of my hair basically. It has been something that has been sitting around for a long time and a lot of people have heard the demos of what I have done and they all told me that I should record it for real and put it out there so I am. Del James came to me with an opportunity and we found a studio and everything just seemed right with that as we were able to get some great performances. I went in there and sang my heart out as they say.


In 2014, Dizzy would talk more about his solo music and explain that he had to put it on ice due to the costs:

I’m also starting to mix some tracks that I recorded and sang on a few years ago.  I was playing those songs for a while but, I had to put the whole thing on hold.  So, if I get that all squared away I’ll let Wikipedia know when it’s going to come out and then I’ll be touring to support those songs, as well.

Starting about six years ago, I had some demo stuff I was playing for people. My good friend, Del James, who is a jack of all trades with Guns N’ Roses, and who is also a tour manager and co-writer and one my closest friends for about 30 years listened to it and said, ‘We’ve got to get this stuff recorded for real the right way.’ I had ground loops; I was just demoing it for when the time was right. So we found a situation where we could actually go in and do that and recorded 12 songs that I’d written or co-written with Del. A whole bunch of great musicians were kind enough to come in and play on it.

I had to put that on the back burner for a while though. It was getting expensive and I had to pay the bills. I was out with Guns and started doing cool things like The Dead Daisies. So I just recently dusted it off and it’s getting mixed and is going to be out soon. I was kind of worried to go back and listen to it thinking I would want to change everything, which I did at first. If I was allowed to go back and re-record my very first recording in junior high, I’d still be there trying to get it right. You have to move on at some point.

I've always tried to stay as well-rounded as possible and as open minded as possible. Opportunity can come knocking in many different forms. And expression can, you know, ideas, creativity can be expressed in many different forms, and there's no point limiting yourself. And it's always good to grow and not take any quote/unquote genre, not to take it seriously would be [?] yourself. So I try to listen to as much as possible and, you know, at the end of the day I'm a rock and roll guy. I love the old, that sort of mid 70s sort of style of music is kind of where where I come from. But I understand making it sound modern or, you know, doing different versions of songs. I've certainly had my fingers in a lot of different projects over the years. So but, yeah, you know, when I write most of the time it's, you know, sort of blues based rock'n'roll music.


He got going with the album first when Del James found him a studio he could use with delayed rent payments (="spec time"):

But anyway I was doing that, got a call from Del, saying, "I found this place, spec time, let's do it." And so going in to do it without a without a band was kind of a challenge.


After its release, Dizzy would also mention it had been difficult to get interest from record labels:

The labels that we shopped it to said that they did not know how to market it. Which my original suggestion would have been, you know Guns N’ Roses fans (laughs) – just saying! I just think that the industry is kind of in a state now; I guess it always has been, no one wants to take a chance and I don’t know – I think they were just afraid. So with Mark and Golden Robot records, they heard it and were excited about it and that was it. It’s great.

Mark (Alexander-Erber, President & Founder) has got the right sort of vision for artists like myself, as well as all the other upcoming bands that he has signed. One thing that he said to me right away was that he wanted to put me out there with some newer bands, as opposed to what most people would do and put you out there with so-and-so from the 80’s, which just does not make any sense to me because I don’t think that way – I don’t feel that way. This record is new – it’s now and I think that he has the right vision for all the bands on his label and it’s refreshing actually. It took a long time to put it out. I never gave up hope and Golden Robot records finally heard it and they put it out – it’s a great moment for me.

It was ready to put out. I just needed a home for it. I don't know why people passed on it. I did get a couple times, "We don't know how to market it." My answer was, "How about to Guns N' Roses fans? I'm just saying." [laughs] I don't know. That's the business. You just never know what people are going to... If you don't have the power, you have to rely on other people's decisions sometimes, and that's what happened in this case.


In late 2014, the songs were being tracked and mixed:

I'm also in the process of mixing my record finally. I tracked 12 songs over about a two year period, but it's been about four years. I just kind of put it on the back burner because I couldn't get the mix right and I finally found the right guy to mix them. And so that should be done hopefully by the first part of next year.


And finally in late 2017 a release date of February 16, 2018::

Guns N' Roses keyboardist Dizzy Reed will release his debut solo album, "Rock 'N Roll Ain't Easy", on February 16 on digital, CD and purple vinyl via Golden Robot Records.

[...]

"Rock 'N Roll Ain't Easy" is 12 tracks (or 13, if you download the digital version) of rock with Reed uniting with fellow members of Guns N' Roses, along with some other greats, including players from W.A.S.P., Quiet Riot, Psychedelic Furs, Thin Lizzy, No Doubt, The Replacements, Queens Of The Stone, and more.

[...]

"Rock 'N Roll Ain't Easy" track listing:

01. This Don't Look Like Vegas
02. Mother Theresa
03. Cheers 2 R Oblivion
04. Fragile Water
05. Dirty Bomb
06. Mystery In Exile
07. I Celebrate
08. Understanding
09. Crestfallen
10. Forgotten Cases
11. Reparations
12. Rock 'N' Roll Ain't Easy



Rock N' Roll Ain't Easy
February 16, 2018


The album would be released by Golden Robot Records in Australia, and Dizzy would explain how this came to be:

So yeah, my record had been done and they took a long time to finish it, 10 years, but it was finally done and we're trying to find a home for it and weren't having some luck, really, didn't have much luck. And Richard Fortus played on, you know, a lot of the song on the record so he's always mentioning it to people. And Angry Anderson was opening for Guns - or Rose Tattoo, I can't remember. And he's on that label. He's on Golden Robot Records and the president, the CEO, the head of the label, Mark, was actually out with Angry Anderson, you know, helping him, he's a tour manager for him. And Richard got to talking to him about it and he mentioned he had a label and he said, you know, Dizzy's got a record that needs a home and put us in touch. And I liked what he had to say and now it's got a home and every people can hear it. It's out, finally.


Talking about the album and the long process:

You have to stick to your guns, and do what's true to yourself and how you feel. You can't give in. There were a lot of obstacles and barriers that I had to overcome. A lot of it was schedule. Guns N' Roses is my priority – I'm always going to do that — and with Hookers & Blow, there was a sudden demand for us. It's a business, so you have to do what's right for you in that respect. There were times, I think with this record, where I kind of just wanted to give up, but I didn't, and I persevered. That's part of the whole... it's amazing that it's called 'Rock 'N Roll Ain't Easy', because it wasn't easy to make this record and put it out. I'm proud of the fact that we were able to pull it off, and be able to bring in all these different musicians to play on it and make it sound like a record. We did it old-school — it was all done in the studio; everything was recorded in a live sort of situation. It's something I've always wanted to do, and we did it. It was always in the back of my mind, and it really sort of dragged me down for a long time. There were financial issues, and there were scheduling issues, and then trying to find the right guy to mix it. We shopped it to a few labels, and right away, we got the feedback that they weren't interested, which was kind of weird. They didn't know how to market it, and I was like, 'What about Guns N' Roses?' I don't know. Just a suggestion. [Laughs] When we met Mark [Alexander-Erber] at Golden Robot [Records], he had the right ideas for it. He looked at it as a new record, not as something that was sort of connected to a fallback, nostalgia thing. It was a new thing, and that was important.


Discussing the title song:

I had about 6-7 songs that were demoed up that we knew we were going to record. And I knew that I needed to write a few more. Dell said that we need that one big, sort of not ballad but mid-tempo sort of song. And I was in a spot – I had kind of gone full circle in my life and I was sitting there in this apartment, I had just split up with my wife – my first marriage was over with – and, um, I was in this shitty little apartment in North Hollywood and all my stuff was in my truck. When you’re down and out like this you let that work for you. So I grabbed my guitar and I sat down and I wrote Rock ‘n Roll Ain’t Easy in about an hour. It was raining, of course, and I sat on the balcony of this place and that sort of set the tone for it.


And talking about all the musicians that were featured on the album:

Mike Duda and Mike Dupke who were both in W.A.S.P at the time – Mike (honestly we’re not sure which one) had been a friend of mine for a very long time. He was one of those friends that were like ‘you have gotta record this for real’. So I had them and then Richard Fortus, who is a great friend of mine, and we have done so many things together including, obviously Guns N’ Roses, and a few others things – so those guys really set the tone too for where the record had to be. We cut the majority of stuff [together] and then brought in other people.

Asking like Frank Bonelli to play. With Rock ‘n Roll Ain’t Easy, I wanted it to sound like Zeppelin – I didn’t want it to sound like a ballad and it didn’t need all the dings and pings it just needed a big, fat f**king ass beat. And I played with Frankie up at the Cat Club at a thing called The Four Dudes and I know him because my friend Alex, who plays on the record too, we have a band called Hookers ‘n’ Blow together and they are friends so I know Frankie through him and I needed John Bonham and I said ‘you know what – we need Frankie as he’s the next best thing.’ And he just nailed it – he was perfect. So we asked him to play on one more song and he picked Forgotten Cases as he loved that song so he added his thing to it.

Everybody else [that played on the record] just sort of fell into place. Ricky Warwick (Thin Lizzy) played on a couple of songs, and they were so many others. There was a whole list of other people that we wanted to play on the album but we just couldn’t work it out logistically. And a lot of good friends of mine that are local musicians around LA. Myuko Kai – she’s from Japan- she’s an amazing guitar player, Greg Coates is a great bass player and Chuck Wright from Quiet Riot played on some songs too.

Adrian from No Doubt played on a song called Fragile Water, which I originally recorded for a movie soundtrack a few years before that for an indie film called The Still Life and I did the score for that – I added a couple of songs, and we kind of did it ass backwards where he came in and added drums later and he said ‘look’, and he got a hold of me, ‘if you ever record that song for real I want to play drums on it’, so we asked him to do it and he showed up. He had a golf game in the morning and then he came and he laid down the track and he left – he did a great job.

And the thing too, the way we did it in that environment, it was a situation where there were people who would have never played together. And Del had a lot to do with it – he orchestrated a lot of it and was kind of like a Frankenstein sewing it all together so we had Chuck playing bass, and Bumblefoot plays guitar and Richard – so you have the drummer from No Doubt, the bass player from Quite Right, guitar player from GNR…


And talking about why it had taken so long to get the album released:

We started recording that record that 10 years ago. I ran into so many barriers and so many obstacles and basically didn't really have time to pursue what I needed to do and come up with the financing for it and everything. I gave up on it so many times. And I don't think I ever did have expectations for it, I just wanted to do it, get it out of my head. [?] thought people should hear it. So I didn't really have any expectations. I'm getting a lot of positive feedback and that's good. But at the same time, a little surprising because I never really thought about it.


Talking about when the songs had been written:

I wasn't really keeping track. But you know, probably three or four years before that I started, you know, coming up with a lot of that material. There's, you know, a few songs that we kind of wrote once we were in the studio, like Rock'n'roll Ain't Easy is another one, cuz we needed a song like that. So I kind of sat down, put that together and Mystery In Exile is another one. But all the other stuff had been sort of compiling for a few years, not more than four years, probably.


Some of the songs probably went back more than 10 years though, since James had been talking about being involved in the production of the record back in 2008 [see previous quote in this chapter].

Talking about Del James' involvement:

He helped me with a lot of lyrics, yes, and also some of the arrangements. He also - him and Ricky - brought in the song Vegas and I just kind of thought, you know, fix it up a little bit. The main thing about that is, you know, he was sort of the catalyst, you know, he got that ball rolling. Del, along with a few other people, like Richard Fortus and Mike Duda and a few others, were, you know, trying to convince me to make a record because I had some demos that I had worked out and they really liked them. So Del ended up finding a studio and so he co-produced it with me and did a great job. We work very well together.


In April 2019, Dizzy would release a music video featuring Hookers & Blow for the title song [Blabbermouth, April 25, 2019] and in June, he released an animated video for Forgotten Cases [Blabbermouth, June 9, 2019].


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38. MAY 2017-JULY 2018: MORE TOURING AND THE RELEASE OF APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION: LOCKED N' LOADED - Page 2 Empty Re: 38. MAY 2017-JULY 2018: MORE TOURING AND THE RELEASE OF APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION: LOCKED N' LOADED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:55 am

MAY 4, 2018
A REMASTERED APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION IS ANNOUNCED

Back in 2013, Axl had talked about wanting to remaster Appetite for Destruction at some point:

I wouldn't mind re-mastering it sometime.


And that there might be some versions of songs worth releasing:

Not that I'm aware of but it's worth a look. There aren't any new or different songs but maybe a couple versions of things that we felt didn't quite make the grade, although most of that made it out as bootlegs back in the day.


And then in 2017-2018 it became increasingly clear that the band was about to release a new version of Appetite for Destruction. As Steven had just sullenly suggested, the promotional campaign from Guns N' Roses that had started in 2017 turned out to be "just an ad for a box-set of CDs" [see previous chapter]. But there was more than a mere collection of CDs as a press release would point out in early May: "Appetite For Destruction will be made available in a 4CD/1Blu-ray Audio Super Deluxe Edition with a 96 page book featuring unreleased photos from Axl Rose's personal archive, a 2CD Deluxe Edition, 2LP 180-gram heavyweight vinyl edition, 1 CD remaster, and digital download/streaming equivalents" [Press Release from Geffen/UMe, May 5, 2018].

There would be three different packages available. The most expansive version would be the "Locked N' Loaded Edition Box Set" coming in a "custom 12x12x12-inch solid-wood box that's wrapped in faux-leather and sports embossed, instantly identifiable artwork with a hand-sculpted and hand-painted 3D cross on its front doors" [Press Release from Geffen/UMe, May 5, 2018]. The contents inside the box would include "a dozen 12x12-inch lithos of new illustrations visualizing each Appetite track, 5 custom buttons with various band logos, 5 custom hand-sculpted metal-cast band skull face rings, 5 custom hand-sculpted metal-cast band skull face lapel pins, a replica of the band's first stage banner from the '85/'86 club days, a bandana, a 2-inch collector's coin with unique imagery stamped on both sides, 2 24x36-inch wall posters, a 12x24-inch Robert Williams painting litho, 5 never-before-seen band lithos, 6 replica gig flyers, 3 replicas of classic show ticket stubs, two temporary tattoo sheets featuring life-size tattoos of the band members' tats, 6 iron-on stitched patches, 5 metal-stamped guitar picks of the band skull faces with stamped signatures on the back, a turntable mat, a microfiber vinyl cleaning cloth, a 7-inch large-hole custom adapter, and finally, a 32gb metal-cast USB stick with 192kHz/24-bit, 96kHz/24-bit, and 44.1kHz/16-bit uncompressed audio files of all of the tracks included on the 4 CDs" [Press Release from Geffen/UMe, May 5, 2018]. More specifically, the box would contain 73 songs (49 of which were previously unreleased, mostly from Charlton manny's Sound City demos). The price of the Locked N' Loaded box would be $999 and only 10,000 units would be manufactured [CNBC, May 28, 2018].

In addition there would be a "Super Deluxe Edition" that would only include the music, and a "Deluxe Edition" that would only consist of two CDs [Press Release from Geffen/UMe, May 5, 2018].


Locked N' Loaded Box Set
Contents of the box
Contents of the Super Deluxe Edition
Contents of the Deluxe Edition
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Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:56 am

MAY 4, 2018
SHADOW OF YOUR LOVE IS RELEASED AS A SINGLE TO PROMOTE THE RE-RELEASE OF APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION

Together with the press release regarding the upcoming release of deluxe editions of Appetite for Destruction, the band would release Shadow Of Your Love as a single. The recording stemmed from the first work with Mike Clink in 1986.

Guns N' Roses are spotlighting "Shadow of Your Love" to promote the new expanded and "Locked N' Loaded" editions of their groundbreaking album Appetite for Destruction. A snippet of this outtake from the original sessions provides a tease for the reissues on their new GNR.FM website, after twice surfacing as a B-side.

"Shadow of Your Love" actually pre-dates Guns N' Roses. Written by Axl Rose and his childhood friend Paul Tobias, the song stemmed from Rose's days in the band Hollywood Rose; they even made a video for it. [...]

Although the song didn't make the cut for Appetite, it first surfaced on the 12" version of "It's So Easy," the lead single from the album. Guns n' Roses also considered it for G N' R Lies, but gave it even greater exposure as the B-side for their hit cover of Wings' "Live and Let Die."

And then, to do Shadow Of Your Love. That particular recording was what we... that was when we went in to try out Mike Clink before Appetite, when we were going through trying to figure out who was gonna be the right guy to produce us. That was the song that we did, that’s the version of it that we did. And so, it’s just cool, I mean, you know, it’s like one of those things that we never thought it would see the light of the day, just put it out there as one of these songs on this record, with all these, you know, different versions, and live versions, and this and that and the other. And actually we got up and start playing it. I haven’t played that song since 1985.



Shadow of Your Love
May 4, 2018


The single earned 1.1 million audience impressions in three days of airplay across all rock radio formats in the U.S. in the week ending May 7, and was GN'R's first track to crack Mainstream Rock Songs in nearly a decade and its 22nd entry overall Billboard/Blabbermouth, May 11, 2018].


WHO PLAYS ON THE SONG?

With the release of a new recording of Shadow Of Your Love, fans and press and Steven would speculate who was actually playing on the song. Jamie Adler, Steven's brother would deny that Steven was playing on it and also speculate that Slash's solo was newly recorded:

We just listened to it here in the green room out here in Sydney waiting for this TV interview. Even Slash guitar solo is totally different than the original and the drums r completely different. It sounds like it's recorded on different gear. We didn't have that type of gear that sounded that clear back then he just told me. Axl voice is for sure from that and Izzy guitar is also but the drums and Slash solo is for sure not the same.
Facebook, May 15, 2018


Meegan would be asked on social media and respond that nothing had been added and that it was all original [Instagram, May 5, 2018].

Fernando Lebeis would later state that the song was fully remastered from the original tape:

[Fully remastered] from the original tapes.


In June, Steven would again state that parts of the song was re-recorded, and that it was not him playing drums:

We recorded that song, that song is not the same song we recorded. When we recorded Shadow Of Your Love, we recorded it when we did the EP Live Like A Suicide. If you’re listening to it, that’s not me playing drums on it. The guitar has obviously been put in, because it sounds newer.

The vocals, the bass, the rhythm guitar, that’s from 1985, but the drums, that’s not me playing. I know how I play, and that’s not the same guitar solo. You can hear it, it sounds brand new. Half the song sounds really old, and the drums and lead guitar sound new. They have better equipment nowadays, and we did that demo for 300 dollars. It sounds different.

This was 1985, in 1985 we did the Live Like A Suicide. I really don’t think that’s me playing, because if you listen to Live Like A Suicide, the drums sound completely different to Shadow Of Your Love. The guitar sounds completely different, it sounds like it’s been added in there, with better technology than we were using on that 300 dollar demo tape.


Alan Niven would state that Tom Zutaut also thought Steven was not on the released version:

Well, according to Tom Zutaut, who's heard the track, he thinks Steven was replaced, too.


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:57 am

MAY 4, 2018
A MUSIC VIDEO FOR IT'S SO EASY IS RELEASED, AGAIN

In May 2018, Blabbermouth announced that the band was releasing an old music video to It's So Easy to commemorate the forthcoming rerelease of Appetite for Destruction, making it sound like this would be the first time the band had released a video for It's So Easy [Blabbermouth, May 21, 2018]. This is not correct, although the band made the original version of the video way back in 1989 [see earlier chapter] and it had been decided to not release it at that time, an edited version of the video had been released in November 1999 in connection with the band's release of 'Live Era '87-'93' [see earlier chapter].

The video that had been released back in 1999 was "a mildly modified version of an old but rarely seen video shot at the Cathouse in Los Angeles in 1988, with original footage of ex-wives and naked women replaced with still photos from a Robert John Guns N' Roses photo book" [Rolling Stone, November 9, 1999]. The version released in 2018 does not contain any photo stills from Robert John but rather video footage of Axl and Erin engaging in S&M sex, which could mean that this version was more identical to the original version produced in 1989, if not identical.

For quotes on the recording of the original video, please see the relevant earlier chapter.




In 2018, Alan Niven would claim that the S&M sex had been included by Axl and the director Nigel Dick unbeknownst to Niven at the time. He would also state, in 2011, 2012, and 2018, that he had decided to not release the video because he felt it would be detrimental to the band's or Axl's reputation [see earlier chapter for quotes on this].

When it was released in May 2018, Niven made the following comments:

So for it to come out now, I mean, you know, I hope he asked Erin whether she minded at this point, but it's, you know, I'll say it bluntly, it's the great band being compromised by the one individual again. Do I think it's appropriate, no, I think that's a bit personal. I mean, if you want to make, you know, bondage tapes with your girlfriend, you know, keep them at home, Axl. I'm not sure the rest of the band want to be associated with it, you know. And it's just another marker of Axl thinking, "It's my band, I'm in control."

And I'll tell you, obviously a lot of people have got in touch and said, "Did you see this is out?" and I took a look at it and it's been expensively transferred and it's a re-edit of the original edit that Nigel did. It's a different edit. So they've spent time and money on it. And really, I mean, you know, whatever.


Niven would also argue for why the inclusion of S&M footage was unnecessary:

When you have live footage as good as that life footage is, I mean, that band is on fire, it's just wonderful footage. When you've got that then you've got everything you need. And I'll tell you back in the day one of the battles that we used to fight all the time was between video production people and the record label going, "Well, we've got to have a storyline in here because just looking at the band playing their instruments is not interesting enough." Bull-fucking-shit. What it really boils down to is all you really want to do is see the band [...] And for me, I would say that with It's So Easy and the footage filmed in the Cathouse, Guns had potentially a perfect band video. And did the rest of the band really want to make it about Axl and his girlfriend, either? I mean, you know, there's a certain imperious arrogance that that's forced on the rest of the band.


Niven would finally prophesize that the band would experience a backlash for releasing the video and that the band management was doing a poor job to not prevent it from being released:

I mean, how fucking clueless - to borrow Fernando's word - can you be? Have you heard the name Harvey Weinstein? Have you forgotten, Axl, that you were on the cover of People Magazine and the headline on the People Magazine was, "Battered beauties"? I mean get a fucking clue! I mean, this is not going to be accepted that well. Michelle Anthony, who runs Uni, she's a feminist, for God's sake. I'm absolutely stunned that she has associated her company with the content. That blows my mind. I mean, I employed Michelle Anthony to replace Peter Paterno as the band's primary attorney back in the day. I thought it would be really good to have a brilliant and bright woman's touch involved in the whole situation. You know, and now I'm looking at this and going, "Michelle, you are a feminist, what the hell have you agreed to put this out for?" And at the end of the day, you know what the observation is? The observation is really simple: A brilliant piece of band performance is compromised by Axl's ego. End of story. So go watch it. You know, go watch that footage, it was intense, it was amazing, it was an amazing night in that club. And had somebody not being clueless in their management they'd have been smart enough to sit Axl down and say, "Listen, let's just do the band footage and get the band footage out there," because that really did capture a moment and an intensity. And you can watch that footage and go, "Yeah, let's see another band up there with that kind of vibe.


In the end, despite Niven's predictions and harangue, the band did not experience any issues from releasing a video featuring non-explicit footage of what is presumably consensual yet kinky sex.
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Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:57 am

JUNE 3, 2018
THE 2018 EUROPEAN SUMMER TOUR KICKS OFF IN BERLIN WITH SLITHER

REHEARSALS BEFORE THE TOUR

It is not clear when rehearsal started, but clearly after February:

We haven't started rehearsals yet and I haven't really heard when, yet. You know, I'll find out, I'm the last one to know, I'll get a call and be ready. So I don't know. [...] But as far as rehearsals with GN'R, I don't know. I'll be ready when they call me.



JUNE 3: BERLIN OLYMPIASTADION

The touring of 2018 started with the summer tour of Europe. The first show took place at Olympiastadion in Berlin on June 3. Dizzy had looked forward to visiting Berlin again where he had family:

Well, the main thing is the first show is in Berlin and that's where my grandson lives. So I get to see him. I'm really looking forward to that, yeah, and just getting some good food, man, and seeing some good friends over there. I have a lot of friends over in Europe. Don't really get to see each other that much, so that'll be fun.



June 3, 2018
Ulrich Planer


For this tour the band started playing the Velvet Revolver cover Slither after Axl had suggested it:

When we first started rehearsing, we had a pretty lengthy set list. And we had a list of songs which we called "alternative tracks." And "Slither" was actually on there two years ago, but we just never did it. And then we started rehearsing for this last European festival and stadium run that we did. Axl said, "Let's try Slither." We just fell into it and he really dug it. But in a lot of ways for myself and for Duff, it also had a little bit of homage to Scott [Weiland]. All in all, it was a really cool and cathartic thing to go out and play that song after all these years — especially after losing Scott and playing it for all these people.

Axl wanted to play it. [...] "I'd like to try Slither."

This whole tour has been a healing process of sorts for Axl, Slash and Duff. [...] Same thing with doing "Slith­er" from Velvet Revolver. Axl singing that song. Its all part of the healing pro­cess. Plus that song rocks hahahahaha.



Duff in Berlin
June 3, 2018


Dave Kushner from Velvet Revolver would later discuss GN'R and Axl covering Slither:

It was funny to hear Axl's reaction. I don't know if you saw it, but after they did it - he had a weird reaction to it, like, 'If that didn't really go the way I planned it...', it was, like, this weird, kind of, like, 'Okay, well, that's done,' some weird thing like that. But I thought it was alright. Sometimes I hear the song, even when we did it, it doesn't seem as great as I remembered. Just that song, in particular, it's got a weird kind of thing to it. I just thought it was weird, but I knew about it. [...] I didn't know they were gonna do it, but I knew it was on the setlist because I've done the rehearsal, I went to get something from Duff or something, and they rehearsed. We were all kind of living in the same part of LA, we went to rehearsal, I think it was Duff, and he was, like, 'Dude, check this out,' and he was pointing on the setlist on the floor, and I was, like, 'Really, dude?'. He said, 'Yeah, it was actually Axl's idea. I know, it's weird.' Just thought it was an interesting thing.


Talking about playing Slither:

Yeah, finally [we are playing it], yeah. (laughs). [...] I mean Slither came up as far as Guns is concerned like really, really early on, but we just really never did it. And then this last leg it came into the set and everything. So now I’m going well, you know, that’s really a song I may or may not do with the Conspirators. So we’ll see.

But early on when Guns got back together, we were talking about different songs we might possibly do. And Slither's always been on the set list. We just never did it until this most recent European tour that we just did and Axl said, “Let's try that song”. And he just fell in love with the groove and the cadence of the verses and stuff. And so, yeah, it's funny. So it gets the second wind all these years later.

When we first started rehearsing, we had a pretty lengthy set list. And we had a list of songs which we called "alternative tracks." And "Slither" was actually on there two years ago, but we just never did it. And then we started rehearsing for this last European festival and stadium run that we did. Axl said, "Let's try Slither." We just fell into it and he really dug it. But in a lot of ways for myself and for Duff, it also had a little bit of homage to Scott [Weiland]. All in all, it was a really cool and cathartic thing to go out and play that song after all these years — especially after losing Scott and playing it for all these people.

It was cool to do it. In a way, I think it was sort of cathartic for Duff and I to be doing it. Scott was always very supportive of the idea of Guns getting back together, and I was such the anti-Guns guy. I have to be honest. It was just me being stubborn and whatnot, so it was great being up there performing that song, something that we did with Scott, and [since] he had always thought that we should get back together, it had a combination of little things to it.

If you got a hold of an old set list from 2016, you saw there was a set list and then there was an alternate set, which was just songs that we could do audibles with [and] move shit around. It was on there, and the band actually jammed it way early on just to get the groove together and all that. But it just never came up. Then, when we went into rehearsals for the European tour, Axl came in [and went], 'Let's try 'Slither'.' It was never even something that we've talked about, but hearing Axl do it, considering he's channeling a little bit of Scott in that, and then Duff and I sort of having been with that song since its inception, the three of us doing it together was very cool. I couldn't put a verbal description of that feeling, but that was cool.


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:58 am

JUNE 6-12, 2018
THE 2018 EUROPEAN SUMMER TOUR CONTINUES

THE SHOWS

After Berlin followed shows at Dyrskuepladsen in Odense, Denmark on June 6. where the band would play Shadow Of Your Love for the first time since 1987, at Download Festival at Donnington Park in England on June 9 and at Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on June 12.


June 6, 2018
Ulrich Planer
June 9, 2018
Crap/Bergeron
June 12, 2018
Ulrich Planer
June 12, 2018
Machlev and Gallup


Review of the show at Download Festival by Andrew Perry writing for The Telegraph:

Guns N' Roses, Download Festival - review: a set dispensed with feral purpose showing the band are back to their best
4/5 stars

When Guns N’ Roses last played at Castle Donington’s race track 30 years ago, two fans died in the crush to see them. Back then, they were fifth from top bill on the main stage, but in the months since they’d turned into one of the world’s biggest rock band.

Much has changed at the festival, formerly known as Monsters of Rock and since rebranded as Download: sturdy crash barriers divide up the crowd to prevent such human tragedy happening again. There’s also the best disability provision of any weekender in the UK, with vast viewing platforms for wheelchair users, and “performance interpreters” for the hard of hearing, who enthusiastically air-guitar all day.

This year, Download has even “gone eco”, providing maps and schedules on a free app rather than on paper. There are also stalls selling prosecco, and decent coffee. Whatever next: diet metal?

The mood on site on the Saturday was of electric anticipation for Guns N’ Roses. Would they be late? Would they cause a riot? In the years since their megalomaniacal frontman Axl Rose fired the rest of the band, in 1996, he has done much damage to the brand, routinely taking to the stage three hours behind schedule with a batch of substandard hirelings.

Eventually, career pragmatism and imponderable lucre lured Rose back together with iconic top-hatted guitarist Slash, as well as founding bassist Duff McKagan, for a reunion that’s already the fourth highest grossing rock tour ever ($480million and counting), and has been near-universally garlanded.

Amid deafening applause, this line-up tellingly took to the stage one minute early, and soon ripped through It’s So Easy and Mr Brownstone from 1987’s Appetite for Destruction. Initially, either age or infirmity seemed to have shorn Rose’s voice of its familiar upper registers, with the squealing ably covered by Slash, whose string-bending virtuosity was a spine-tingling wonder to behold.

Guns N’ Roses’s reputation essentially rests on that one era-classic album, and any rumours that they may be striking back with new music this summer were scotched, with the announcement of an Appetite deluxe edition subtitled Locked N’ Loaded, due later this month.

As they were listed to perform for a whopping three and a half hours, you wondered, indeed feared, how they might fill the time. Initially, there was no flabby soloing, as songs from Appetite (including a joyous Welcome to the Jungle) as well as selections from 1991’s Use Your Illusion twin-set (a swingeing You Could Be Mine) and even Axl’s white elephant from 2008, Chinese Democracy (the Queen-ish Better), were dispensed with feral purpose.

A pattern soon emerged whereby the mighty GN’R doubled as a covers act – quite possibly the finest on Planet Earth, but the selections grew increasingly surreal as the hours went by. Initially these ranged from The Misfits’ apt Attitude (sung by McKagan), through to Slash’s endless widdly widdly reading of Nino Rota’s Love Theme From The Godfather.

Often the versions were nods to absent friends, including the late Chris Cornell from Soundgarden (Black Hole Sun), and then, of all people, Glenn Campbell – a straight country take on Wichita Lineman, with Rose holding back from his now restored scream – in context, a heart-stopping curveball.

Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here, rendered instrumentally with Slash and second guitarist Richard Fortus trading solos for eons, rammed the memorial pathos home a little forcefully, but after such indulgences, all would be forgiven, thanks to Sweet Child O’ Mine, a singalong doubtless heard on the streets of nearby Nottingham and Derby.

Then came November Rain, Rose’s fingers weighed down on the piano keys by a Liberace-esque dazzle of jewelry – one diamond-encrusted ring featured an emerald the size of an ice cube.

Set-closing romps through Nightrain, and Paradise City (cue fireworks), confirmed that Guns N’ Roses are back on peak form – better even than when they first hit the stadium circuit, drunk and on hard drugs, in ’91. Now, they just need to write another world-beating album.


At the end of the year, Slash would point to playing at Donington as the highlight of 2018:

You know, I have to say Guns N’ Roses headlining Donington. There’s been a lot of high points on this whole Guns thing, but that was like coming full circle. We played 30 years ago, fourth or fifth down from the headliner. It was a massive gig with major ups and downs, ‘cos of the kids that got trampled [two fans were crushed when the crowd surged towards the stage during GN’R’s set]. That was just a huge high point and a huge low point all within 24 hours. To come back as a headliner there after everything we’ve gone through up until we got back together was a massive deal. I had a bunch of my family there. It was really cool.


On June 10, Alan Niven would comment on the ongoing tour and compliment Axl:

Well, yeah, and let's not lose sight of something. When this whole project was announced the conventional wisdom was, "Well, let's see if they actually play both Coachellos and they'll probably have an argument and fall apart by the time they get to Mexico." I gotta an e-mail from one of the band members saying, "18 months, who would have believed it?" You know, I'm just gonna take my hat off and go, "Hey guys, well done, because you've exceeded expectation. You've gone out there and you've really delivered." And whatever I think of that Ax on a personal level, on a professional level I am very impressed with the fact that he's gone through an amazing workload for anybody of any age, let alone somebody in his 50s. And the fact that he's prepared to go out there and do a three hour show is just to me mindboggling. I don't know how he does it.



Slash in Odense
June 6, 2018
Richard at Donnington
June 9, 2018
Dizzy in Gelsenkirchen
June 12, 2018


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:59 am

A FUTURE REUNION OF THE APPETITE LINEUP?

Despite Slash and Duff rejoining Guns N' Roses, there was an interest to see a full reunion of the Appetite for Destruction lineup, at least from many fans, Steven [see previous chapters], and Alan Niven:

But what I would say is it would take grace and brotherhood, and for those who are to make that decision to have a sense of brotherhood and a memory of how it all got put together. And if that memory can be revived, if contemporary egos can be put aside, and if there can be a little brotherhood in it, then I think it might be possible. [...] if the five of them can recreate in their consciousness the perception of "we are a band," which they were at one time, instead of certain egos deciding that they're more important than the other or wanting to be controlling. If they could just remember, when they had nothing and everybody was against them, and remember what it took to be together and to be supportive of each other, to be brothers, if they could do that I think they could do it.


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:59 am

JUNE 14, 2018
AXL, SLASH AND DUFF PLAY WITH THE FOO FIGHTERS

In between tour dates in June 2018, Axl, Slash and Duff would return the favor from November 14, 2017, when Dave Grohl joined the band at their show in Tulsa, OK, USA, by joining Foo Fighters on stage at Firenze Rock in Firenze, Italy, to play It's So Easy.




Foo Fighters' drummer, Taylor Hawkins would comment:

So we did this amazing Foo and Guns mashup, which was just amazing. Axl waits until our encore, everyone else went back to their hotels, because our shows are really long. But Axl is so sweet, and he waited until our encore. I was watching him the whole time, like fuck, Axl Rose is still watching me play drums, oh my god!

I saw him after, I said, ‘That was amazing. Sorry, I probably played it too fast.’ He said, ‘No, it was perfect man. It was great.’ He goes, ‘I’m just glad nobody threw any rocks at me when I got onstage.’ I was like, ‘You’re Axl Rose dude! Everybody fucking loves you dude! It is not 1992 anymore.’ I think a lot of us as musicians, as you said, my eyes lit up when Axl Rose was on the side of the stage, because he’s such a magnificent frontman. Slash is there, and Duff is amazing. He probably has scars from that. It’s all so over now, it’s just about music now, so let’s play ‘It’s So Easy.'

Axl comes out spinning around in a circle, Dave’s banging his head, Duff’s looking at me with his muscles clenched and Slash is doing some insane solo – and our bass player is on side of stage drinking a beer, laughing. It was amazing!



Dave Grohl andf Axl
June 14, 2018
Dave Grohl and Slash
June 14, 2018
Dave Grohl and Duff
June 14, 2018


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:59 am

JUNE 15-29, 2018
THE 2018 EUROPEAN SUMMER TOUR CONTINUES

The next shows on the European summer tour of 2018 took place at Firenze Rocks in Firenze, Italy, on June 15; at Download Festival in Paris, France, on June 18; and Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium, on June 21.

June 15, 2018
Crap/Bergeron
June 18, 2018
Crap/Bergeron
June 21, 2018
Tim Butler

When asked about the craziest show from the touring since he rejoined the band, Slash would mention the show in Firenze:

I mean, it is... in the heat of the moment right now it’s hard for me to pick one, but there was one place that we played, I think it was Italy, just recently... in Florence, where the crowd was so intense that it seemed like... like they were gonna implode. [...] Like if you go any farther, any louder and any more high pitch your eyes are gonna ignite. It was really intense.


Before the band's show show at Graspop, Axl and Duff would watch Duff's daughter Grace McKagan's band The Pink Slips play at the Kavka Hall in the heart of Antwerp [HLN, June 18, 2018].


Melissa in Firenze
June 15, 2018
Axl in Paris
June 18, 2018
Duff in Dessel
June 21, 2018


The tour continued with shows at Maimarktgelände in Mannheim, Germany, on June 24; at Matmut Stadium in Bordeaux, France, on June 26; and at Download Festival in Madrid, Spain, on June 29.


June 24, 2018
Jessica Minnis
June 24, 2018
Arian Buhler
June 26, 2018
Ulrich Planer
June 29, 2018
Jose Maria Campoy


Richard would talk about the interplay between him and Slash in Bordeaux:

Like, tonight was really good for that, Slash and I were really playing off of each other well. And, you know, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. And tonight was really, you know, I'd say something and he would answer me and it was like this conversation and it all was very smooth and flowing and really have things happen, you know, seamlessly. It was cool. You know, some nights it doesn't happen, you know.



Duff, Slash and Axl in Mannheim
June 24, 2018
The band in Bordeaux
June 26, 2018
Slash in Madrid
June 29, 2018


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 03, 2024 12:00 pm

JUNE 29, 2018
APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION: LOCKED N' LOADED IS RELEASED


Appetite for Destruction: Locked N' Loaded
June 29, 2018


Andrew Daw, SVP, global marketing at Universal Strategic Marketing, would explain the rationale behind the contents of the releases:

[The reunion of Axl, Slash and Duff] opened up the conversation to what we could do on the catalogue. We’d always wanted to do something special with Appetite For Destruction, it is one of those generation-defining records that we always felt needed special attention from a market perspective. It was an exciting moment for us when we found how receptive the GNR camp was to the idea.


And Slash would state that they wanted to put everything they were aware of into it:

The box set was for the 30-year anniversary. We wanted to put everything in there that we're aware of. There was stuff we had in the can that no one has ever heard — plus some live stuff and different things that the band has done and put in this one package. It was fun to get all that stuff together. It was cool to sit there and remaster it and hear that stuff again for what's been years and years.


Daw would also emphasize Fernando Lebeis role in putting the Locked N' Loaded project together:

In a word, ‘Fernando’ [started it]. It started with a call on November 19, 2015 with Steve Berman at IGA, who has a longstanding relationship with the band and had been talking with Fernando Lebeis from [GNR Management] Team Brazil. Fernando let us know the Coachella dates were going to happen and asked us to explore what we could do with the catalogue.

Over the years, fans and collectors talked about recordings that were known about but never released. We organised a list of the content and music and a small internal group including Bruce Resnikoff [president/CEO, UMe], Andrew Kronfeld, [EVP marketing, UMG]; Jeff Fura [senior director A&R, UME]; and other key members of UME/IGA concentrated on Appetite For Destruction specifically and we launched it from there.

We got together with Fernando, who has been absolutely fantastic to work with on the project, and we started on the music content. Jeff Fura started pulling tapes from the vaults and we would regularly find gems. As we sourced the resources, we found all the original analogue tapes for every single piece of music. We have had almost daily contact since with Fernando, band members and wider management involved with GNR across the past two years.

It’s been a long time in the making, has been very confidential for long periods and a huge task to keep an exciting secret for almost three years. From the start, we wanted to give the GN’R world the best project we could. It sounds so incredible, people are going to be blown away from the remaster all the way to the 5.1 mix, to the rare and unreleased material. And when you actually see the box, your jaw will drops, it’s a custom art piece. [...]

Once we reviewed the vault tapes we started finding some really unique material like original flyers, tickets, unseen photos. Added to this, Fernando began to open up some of Axl’s personal archives and we had some uber fans who had a lot of collectables that we were able to incorporate. If you look at all of our flagship catalogue projects, we would usually put together a super deluxe, deluxe, LP and remaster. In relation to Locked N’ Loaded [Edition] we realised quickly we had something very special with additional material that wasn’t just music based, music we could add to additional formats we couldn’t have in the other configurations.

We then looked at a variety of format options for Locked & Loaded but it became very much about consciously not creating something really special, the all bells and whistles set. You can’t put something this immersive in a card box. We then made the decision to make this particular format available directly to fans in order for us to have this available at the best competitive price for the fans. Essentially, we wanted to create something really special that the band are happy with and the fans would be excited about. Judging by the early reaction that’s certainly the case across the world.


IGA vice-chairman Steve Berman would mention that prior to the Coachella shows, Axl had shown little interest in revisiting the past:

I think that you have to look at the whole picture of what was going on with the band and the sensitivity. Axl was, is, continues to be, I believe, focused on moving forward creatively. There was not a desire at that point to look at the past. Once the opportunity came together, when [manager] Fernando [Lebeis] called and said, indeed, that they were going to do Coachella [April 2016], and we started the conversations about what can we do for the fans around this? I’m a fan of the band; I grew up on the band; what can we do that can celebrate? And, at that point, it was let’s now go back and organize all this incredible art that exists from that period of time and put it together. And that was the genesis. It was never ignored. It had to be about timing.


Daw would describe the band members reactions to the finished product:

Mixed I guess. We had a few reactions. I know that obviously we had the conversation with Slash early on about Manny Charlton’s specific recordings, and the fact that they were on bootleg and he hadn’t heard them as great quality as we were hearing. But then his reaction to the packages when we started putting them together, we just got a note back that just said, “Wow.” Duff [McKagan], we walked through the box and you could genuinely see he was quite emotional in regards to some of the pictures, forgetting about moments. You can see him almost become childlike a little bit and going back to that moment, that was quite interesting. You know, having Axl personally give us photos from his own archives of the band was a really special moment for us as well. All of the input we’ve had from the guys and the management team and Fernando has been really phenomenal. Everybody said to us that 90 percent of what we’d ask for we’d get “No” for and it’s actually been the other way around.


And defend the $1,000 price tag on the Locked N' Loaded box set:

Part of our decision-making with the management team was that we would normally do from a super-deluxe down. When we got into this package, we just started to realize there was just so much great content, great elements — music elements and non-music elements — that we just felt, what could you leave out? So that was part of the aspect of, “Okay, if we’re not going to leave these things out, what do we put it in?” And then it became a case of, “Well, you can’t really put something that immersive into a cardboard box.” So then it was, “If someone’s going to purchase something at an expensive price, or a premium price, then let’s make sure it fills up and they’re getting high quality products that they’re really proud of, that’s really unique, quite aspirational and is something that can almost be like a mini trophy or ornament for you to have at home.” That’s really what we tried to create and what we promised the guys that we would deliver — something that was really high-end and what we felt was worthy of Guns N’ Roses.


Slash would also defend the price:

[Laughs] A lot of people were complaining about the price of it [$999], but there's so much stuff in there. And the box itself is this wood thing that's hand-done in leather. You can get all the material in a less grandiose package. It's really cool. For me personally, it was cathartic to get that stuff out there.


Slash would refer to the process of releasing the box set as "fine" and "cathartic":

Umm, well, I mean the box set, you know, I guess it’s... it’s finally got the chance to release a lot of stuff that we had in the vault, that we’ve never released before. So, that was, that was really... just fine to do; fine to put together, and cathartic, as well.

But the actual box set as far as all the old material, after all these years, knowing that all this stuff exists and it's just sitting there, it was actually cathartic to get it all out. It was really cool to go in when we mastered it to sit there and actually listen. I've never gone back and listened to any of that stuff — I just know it exists — and to sit there and listen to all of it was really, really cool.



NOT INCLUDING ONE IN A MILLION

One In A Million would not be included in any of the new editions [Blabbermouth, May 7, 2018] and Fernando Lebeis and Slash would comment on this omission:

It was a band decision, collectively.

We collectively decided that it just didn’t have any place in that box set. It didn’t take long. There wasn’t a big roundtable thing over it.



ALAN NIVEN IS NOT IMPRESSED

Alan Niven was not a big fan of the box, it's price and contents, and would take a dig at Fernando Lebeis who had recently referred to parts of the fans as "clueless" [see previous chapter]:

For me personally I think it's a little bit unfortunate. Actually, I might borrow a word from the esteemed manager of Guns N' Roses, Fernando, and used the word "clueless". [...] But with the box set, first of all the pricing I thought was absolutely out of the park. To ask somebody to pay a thousand dollars for a box set especially since it's basically stuff that anybody who's a real fan of the band they'd have found most of that stuff back in the day. The word "bootleg copies", that I think came from one band member's cassette of demos - and I think Zoots has even found out which band member it was - but [there were] bootleg copies of the GN'R demos available in the cool vinyl stores in Manhattan before we even had Appetite for Destruction released. They've been around forever. So, I mean, the fact that the demos are there is, you know, okay, it's cool, whatever. But let me walk you through this from my point of view.

[...]

Now, as far as the pricing goes, I don't know if all your listeners are aware but basically you can manufacture a printed CD for about 80 cents, you can press a vinyl record for a dollar, if your run is big enough, and I'm not talking about a huge run I'm talking about if you press a thousand records it's gonna cost you about a dollar a unit to press it. So there are your fundamental costs and the actual items themselves, alright, so keep that in mind. Now let's look at it from a different perspective, I - rightly or wrongly, you know, we all have our own points of view - but my point of view is that rock and roll is fundamentally a blue-collar and working-class medium, and at its best rock and roll does a couple of things, it brings people together by their own consent but it also gives at its best a voice to who I might call disenfranchised. And "disenfranchised" sounds a little scholarly, I'll take a phrase out of one of the songs: it gives a voice to urchins from under the street. To me it's fundamentally a blue-collar exercise and part of its beauty and its power is that there are those that we have come to love who speak truth to power and it's a medium way you can give the finger to the man and deservedly so. Part of the reason why I love rock and roll is it's anti-authoritarian and anti-establishments. And I cannot imagine anything more establishment than Rodeo Drive pricing on a box set that is basically old music. That tells me that whoever is in the band, or running the band, has lost the plot in terms of who is your audience. And how did you end up in Malibu? You ended up in Malibu on a wave of blue-collar response. That's how you surfed into that community. That bothers me, that really bothers me, that I look at...Who's going to spend a thousand dollars on a box set? One of your actor friends? Some of your model wife's friends? Maybe, but who else? It's certainly not going to your fundamental audience and that tells me that somebody somewhere has lost the plot. To use Fernando's word, I think it's "clueless".

Now let's talk about it creatively. Mixing is probably one of the hardest things you do from a production point of view. As a producer you make sure the song is worthwhile and worth recording, you try and record the very best performance of that song, and then you have to mix it to make sure that that song reads. And in the mixing of Appetite for Destruction I had the pleasure of watching Barbiero and Thompson mix and they mixed manually, they did not use the automations to the board, so it's like watching two people dance. And they were utterly visceral in the way that they approached the task, and that kept it visceral and it kept it physical, and that was one of the reasons why their mixes work so well. Once you finished mixing you had somebody master, prior to getting the record made into a mother and pressing, and if back in the day you were fortunate enough to be able to get on George Marino's calendar at Sterling Records, you would take your mixes - which will hopefully realized to the maximum - to George and he would do the mastering. And George, when he was alive, was the master of mastering. Go and look at his discography. It's not a matter of opinion, it's a matter of fact. You just have to look at who wanted him to work on their records and the records that he worked on. And when he was alive he was the master of mastering. So 1, we have good mixes; 2, we have a mastering that nobody else could match at the time and certainly can't today. So to "remaster something" to me is merely a bullshit way of saying, "This is how we're going to repackage and resell something," and I think it's invalid and I think the ultimate sense of invalidity is that if we're still talking about this record 30-35 years later, however long it's been - oh yeah, we're a year late on the 30th anniversary - you know- [...] If that record is still in people's consciousness 30 years later and I think there's a reasonable argument to be made that Thomson and Barbiero Moreno did their jobs brilliantly and got it right, you know. So the real whole remastering aspect of it is bullshit. Now, it's all well and good to, you know, get a shotgun down and, you know, shoot the three legged fat pig outside because he can't miss.


Niven would also offer his opinion on what the anniversary release should have looked like:

What should have been done and as much as I think that the pricing is wrong, the content is wrong, and all he extra little bits and pieces are bullshit as far as I'm concerned. What might have been done is this: You're playing a theater in Harlem, reconvene the original actual band that actually played on the record, play it live from top to bottom and release that. And since you want to make it into something that's a little bit special, take the Marquee recordings from 1987 that never got released and were recorded on the RAK mobile and include that in the package. And that way you're honoring the past by being in the moment and maybe creating something that might have a future. And it'll have a future if you put a realistic price on it. So you've got, you know, four CDs, call it 20 bucks, call it 25 bucks, and they've done something that's of the moment, honoring the past and worthwhile. I think the box set is just ridiculous.


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 03, 2024 12:00 pm

JUNE 2018
LEAKS: SILKWORMS, OH MY GOD, REMIXES, DJS INSTRUMENTALS, 2001 VERSIONS

On separate occasions in June 2018 the following tracks were released: Silkworms (featuring Bumblefoot; June 8), Oh My God (June 7), This I Love (remix by Brain); Shackler's Revenge (remix by Brain), If The World (remix by Brain), Madagascar (from 2001), The Blues (from 2001), There Was A Time (from 2001), Ballad of Death (instrumental by Dj), and Mi Amor (instrumental by Dj) [Alternative Nation, June 11, 2018; mygnrforum.com; Tone Deaf, June 12, 2018; GNR Central, June 7, June 26, July 4, 2018].


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Feb 24, 2024 11:41 am

JULY, 2018
THE NOVEMBER RAIN VIDEO SURPASSES 1 BILLION VIEWS ON YOUTUBE

“November Rain” is the first music video from the 1990s to reach the billion-view milestone, and the first one created before the YouTube era to do so. The band's video for “Sweet Child O' Mine" is also the most-viewed YouTube video for a song from the 1980s.

The “November Rain” video was released 26 years ago and its continued success shows the growing popularity of catalog songs as an income generator. The song averaged nearly 560,000 views every day in 2017. Its hits are actually increasing in recent years, with its peak daily views reached on November 25, 2017.

The biggest 1990s YouTube videos after “November Rain” are “Zombie” by The Cranberries with 739 million views, and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” with 727 million.

Music videos off the Guns N’ Roses albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II also include “Don’t Cry,” with 471 million views, and “Estranged,” with more than 111 million. The biggest video on YouTube released in the 1980s is “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” with more than 692 million views.

The YouTube Music statistics show that Guns N’ Roses is popular outside the U.S., with 83% of its 2018 total views from other countries, led by Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia.

The all-time top YouTube videos are still led by recent songs, with its top 20 all from this decade. This places Guns N’ Roses well down behind the likes of the top-hitter “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi, which has more than 5.32 billion.


Slash would comment on the milestone:

It’s surreal. It’s something I don’t know how to imagine – that many people looking at one piece of film. I’ve got to give Axl a lot of credit because that epic video was something that he had this vision of doing. We were all like, ‘Yeah, whatever,’ at the time because it wasn’t just a simple ‘shoot the song in a day’-type thing – it was over a period of days and was like a mini-movie. He was really fuckin’ into it and they did a really good job with it, and for those big videos I would write my own part, and that turned out to be a major part of this whole thing. As much as I wasn’t totally into the whole thing, the fact that it’s become an iconic piece of video viewed by a billion people is pretty cool.


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38. MAY 2017-JULY 2018: MORE TOURING AND THE RELEASE OF APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION: LOCKED N' LOADED - Page 2 Empty Re: 38. MAY 2017-JULY 2018: MORE TOURING AND THE RELEASE OF APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION: LOCKED N' LOADED

Post by Soulmonster Tue May 07, 2024 12:47 pm

JULY 1-24, 2018
THE 2018 EUROPEAN SUMMER TOUR ENDS

The next shows on the European summer tour of 2018 took place at Estadio Olympico in Barcelona, Spain, on July 1; at Goffertpark in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, on July 4; and at Festwiese in Leipzig, Germany, on July 7.

July 1, 2018
Marcos Navarro
July 4, 2018
Ulrich Planer
July 7, 2018
Ulrich Planer


Slash in Barcelona
July 1, 2018
Axl in Nijmegen
July 4, 2018
Frank in Leipzig
July 7, 2018


The band continued with shows at Stadion Slaski in Chorzow, Poland, on July 9; at Otkritie Arena in Moscow, Russia, on July 13; and at Tallinn Song Festival Ground in Tallinn, Estland, on July 16.


July 9, 2018
Ulrich Planer
July 13, 2018
Arian Buhler
July 16, 2018
Ulrich Planer


Before coming to Talinn in Estland, Dizzy would joke about food poisoning:

I had a friend who got poisoned there one time, so maybe I'll bring one of those... I'll hire someone to be my food taster.



Fans in Chorzow
July 9, 2018
Richard in Moscow
July 13, 2018
Duff and Dizzy in Talinn
July 16, 2018


While in Tallinn, Slash would do an interview with Guitar World and comment on being in Tallinn:

It’s my first time here, and its pretty cool. They have a big outdoor venue, and there’s an area called Old Town that’s like something out of a nursery rhyme or children’s book. And the show last night was fucking killer.


The final three shows of the tour took place at Valle Hovin in Oslo, Norway, on July 19; at Ullevi Stadion in Gothenburg, Sweden, on July 21; and at Laugardalsvollur in Reykjavik, Iceland, on July 24. This would be the first time the band would play in Iceland.


July 19, 2018
Lenoir & West
July 21, 2018
Arian Buhler
July 24, 2018
Arian Buhler


Before coming to Iceland, Axl would do a rare interview with Iceland Magazine, and respond to a question about whether they had considered playing in Iceland before and whether they even knew of the country back in 1990:

Yes we’ve wanted to play Iceland for a long time and of course we knew it existed!


And being asked how it feels to play in a new place:

We just want to do a good job for the fans, that after the show they leave feeling they had a good time and maybe make some new fans that just came to see what the fuss was about.



Melissa in Oslo
July 19, 2018
Richard and Axl in Gothenburg
July 21, 2018
Axl and Slash in Reykjavik
July 24, 2018
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
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