So will be the first time Axl, Slash and Duff have toured together since 1993.
Will they be able to stay together through the tour?
Who’s going?
I’m trying to talk myself out of the $1745 Welcome to The Jungle Pit Experience tickets for FedEx Field.
IMO it still ain’t G’n’R without Izzy. He wasn’t just a rhythm guitarist, Izzy’s part was a distinctive layer that brought it all together. If you pan the speakers all the way left or right on Appetite or Illusions, you can hear that Izzy and Slash are definitely not playing the same thing.
I honestly don’t think this tour will go on as planned. It may start, there may be some shows, but I don’t see it reaching it’s regularly-scheduled conclusion.
And he wrote songs.
This will be a hot mess. The only thing I would pay for is the popcorn I need to sit back and watch this next episode of “Real Housewives of Gn’R” with a snack.
I don’t know what will be worse: Axl’s drama, watching Slash play without a shirt, or something I haven’t thought of yet.
Question: let’s say this is NOT a clusterfuck. Axl is reasonably well-behaved, gigs start kinda on time, no shenanigans internally or with other bands involved. How domesticated would that feel? I just don’t see the odds in favor of a Good scenario.
My understanding is that they sounded great here last week at the Troubadour.
To be clear: that would totally cool if they could maintain that level. Here’s hoping; but I am still grabbing popcorn.
It won’t be lack of talent that does them in.
GnR at Troubadour. Sounds pretty good!
From the looks of Axl, it might be a massive coronary that does this tour in. Or choking on a ham sandwich.
I hope he spends the next few months hitting the treadmill.
I will say, that footage from the Troubadour does look pretty badass. It’s nice to see Slash in front of the old logo again!
Better off putting the ticket money on red in Vegas. Better odds on a positive return.
I once overheard someone say this in a bar. “Axl Rose? Who the fuck is that fat, old Queen?”
This is something I might have been interested in 20 years ago. If the band can sucker some promoter to front them millions of dollars, I say more power to them, but they’re not getting me to buy any.
Hard to believe Appetite for Destruction was the state-of-the-art in hard rock 29 years ago. I was 10 years old; 29 years before that, doo-wop was still king, Elvis Presley was in the Army, and Axl Rose wouldn’t be born for another 4 years.
I’ll be seeing them at Coachella (probably). Festivals like that have to be on a pretty tight schedule. It will be a good test of their punctuality.
If you listen to Appetite, Van Halen 1, early Aerosmith - the guitar tones are suprisingly raw and primitive. Look at EVH: Strip away his phase shifter and whammy bar and you have the ultimate simple guitar-into-amp tone. You can really hear the strings breathe and all of his fingerwork because the tone is so unprocessed.
Same thing with Slash’s idol, Joe Perry - listen to him and Brad Whitford play on Mama Kin: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n0nW8CWnaGg
The “handmade” tone of that intro guitar is closer to Chuck Berry than it is to many guitar tones used on rock today.
When GnR broke, Slash did two things: 1) reinvigorated the Les Paul similar to how Hendrix revived the Stratocaster (funny, because Slash was playing an LP replica at the time!); and 2) became the guitar hero for his era representing…hmmm…“authentic” play - direct, flaws and all, handmade-sounding playing. He arrived with “retro” credibility; his sound and approach harkened back to the Badass Old Days*.
He’s still got it - as said upthread, talent won’t be their problem.
ETA: *I would argue that Jack White hit the ground running as a guitar hero for the same reasons: a very handmade sound; a clear embrace and respect of blues and rock roots while presenting a fresh interpretation; great songs.