Guns N' Roses 2006

EFISH

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Guns N' Roses 2006

« on: December 20, 2006, 07:27:34 PM »

2006 has been a great journey for Guns N' Roses so I decided to write this recap. Enjoy.

"Guns N' Roses: A look back at 2006"
By: Eric Fishbein

If you trace back one year from today, you would find nothing but empty Guns N' Roses forums, an official site not updated for years, and not a sign of what was about to hit us. The words Chinese Democracy were still in the back of the minds of every single Guns N' Roses fan, and we hoped, that just maybe 2006 would be a lucky year. As I write this, on December 20th, 2006, the last day of the U.S Tour, I look back at what this year has given us in the world of Guns N' Roses.

Back in January, Guns N' Roses were gearing up for what was sure to be an intense year. Axl was being sighted and photographed for the first time in 4 years, first at the Korn tour announcement party and he even appeared in Rolling Stone when he mentioned 3 of his favorite tracks on the album, "Better, There Was A Time, and The Blues". Mid-February is where the excitment began. 4 studio demo's from what was said to be for Chinese Democracy leaked onto the internet. The songs were coincidentally, Better and There Was a Time, as well as I.R.S and Catcher In The Rye, a song which featured Brian May. The fans were overwhelmed and overly-excited at how great these tracks sounded, and now had hope that Chinese Democracy was getting closer, and that it was going to live up to it's fame. Shortly after, GN'R announced that will be be touring Europe.

Now, I'll fast forward to May 12th, 2006. A week before, we had a lengthy radio interview with Axl on Eddie Trunk's program where Axl told us just what we wanted to hear, "The album will be out in fall, late fall." He also mentioned that the current line-up has a new addition but was going to keep it a surprise. The week leading up to the 12th was complete mayhem, filled with rumors of the new guitaris and alot of anxious yet scared fans. There was no way we could know what to expect. That night will be a milestone for Guns N' Roses. I feel it was the first time Guns N' Roses felt like a band in over 13 years.
May 12th, 14th, 15th, and 17th gave us a complete mindblowing week. Guns N' Roses played 4 shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City accompanied by new guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal. Everybody worried that Axl would sound like the helium-bound, squeky voiced guy that he sounded like in 2002, but we were in for a shock. His rasp was back, black leather jacket on, and he sounded and looked like the badass mother fucker that we all know and love, Axl Rose. The biggest surprise of the year came on May 17th, when Axl invited ex-member, Izzy Stradlin on stage to guest on tracks Think About You, Patience, Nightrain, and Paradise City. It was a moment that will never be forgotten in the history of Guns N' Roses.

The 4 night stint at Hammerstein Ballroom was over, and the Guns N' Roses fans could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The event that occured on May 18th was not only bizzare, and entertaining, but it deffinetly helped promote that GN'R are back. Guns N' Roses were set to perform a surprise acoustic gig at a club in New York for Rossario Dawson's birthday party. Axl moved Tommy Hilfiger's girlfriends drink so that it wouldn't get knocked over, and Tommy decided to push Axl and start a scuffle. Axl was heated but played it cool, and Tommy was kicked out of the club, and then they performed an awesome acoustic set. This was all over the media and deffinetly showed the public that Axl and Guns N' Roses are back and this is something the media still make reference's to today.

The new guitarist, Bumblefoot deffinetly became a quick fan favorite, showing us his savage skills on guitar, and his dedication to his fan-base by answering all of his email's personally. Axl was also different in the sense that he seemed much more mellow. He doesn't get upset or rant nearly as much, and is always cheerful on stage. Lead guitarist, Robin Finck's appearance has also changed since the last incarnation of GN'R and his style is now, in plain terms, a hippee. So anyway, GN'R flew across the pond to start their European Tour, which the first date was in Madrid, Spain.

The next step for GN'R was to play the famous Rock In Rio Festival in Libson, Portugal. They rocked it hard as thousands of us internet fans sat with our faces to our computer monitors, watching the show live via webcast in awe at how fucking awesome Guns N' Roses is. The tour continued very smoothly, with dates selling out, playing huge festivals, and making new fans every step of the way. They have added new songs Better and I.R.S to the setlist and new songs, The Blues, Chinese Democracy, and Madagascar which were played on the 2002 tour are still on the setlist, and tweaked to sound even better than they did before. There Was A Time, a complex song was played only twice. Izzy started showing up as a guest to play a few of the classics, which was a great treat to the fans! All was well on the GN'R night train, until they reached Sweden.

Axl was approached by a security guard in a hotel lobby after a drunken night out, and was told to keep it down. One thing led to another and Axl was being thrown to the ground by the security guard which he responsed by biting the guards leg. He was put in jail for the night, and all of us fans freaked out. We feared the worst, and we knew what could have happened had he been kept in jail and had to cancel shows. Luckily, he was out with only a fine and once again, we could breathe some fresh air.

The European tour ended with a 2-nighter at Wembley Stadium, and another surprise acoustic gig. 2 songs left in the set for the last night, Axl was sick and couldnt go on, but long-time friend, Sebastian Bach saved the day and finished off Nightrain and Paradise City. It was an extremely succesful tour, one of the biggest of 2006, and Guns N' Roses and their fans were happy as could be. The only thing we had on our mind now was Chinese Democracy.

GN'R were back in the U.S and preparing for the U.S tour. The fans waited impatiently for any news on Chinese Democracy but there was a dry-spout. The dates were being announced and the American fans were pumped to get a taste of Guns N' Roses! A few warm-up dates took place in Vegas and California, and then they played at Inland Invasion in Californa, which was also broadcast over the net. Now GNR were on break for a month. At this time, they were working on finishing up the album, as we later find out in a statement from Merck. Something very surprising that also happened during this time was the launch of the official website www.gunsnroses.com which was very exciting for us!

The U.S tour kicked off in Florida towards the end of October, and GNR sounded even tighter than in Europe! Some nice changes were the occasional You're Crazy and Down On The Farm added to the setlist, and a more frequent Used To Love Her. The band was sounding great and played a sold out spectacular night at Madison Square Garden. They played dates in Canada, and then back to the westcoast.

The entire year, we were promissed by manager Merck Mercuriadis that Chinese Democracy was to be released in 2006 and Axl mentioned it in interviews as well. Merck even went as far to say "There are 13 Tuesdays left in 2006, and you will see the record on one of them." and "It might just show up in stores one day, unannounced.", which made it seem like this whole thing was a joke to him and as if he was teasing us fans that are drooling over the meer thought of one day having Chinese Democracy. Something happened now that was completely unexpected and nothing short of extradinary.

Axl Rose issued a statement telling us that he is going to set March 6th as a tentative release date for Chinese Democracy and will do whatever it takes to reach this date. There are minor touches that need to be done to the C.D and then they will give it to the record company and gear it for 8 weeks of promotion. Furthermore, he goes on to tell us that Merck is fired (which Beta later explains happened before Thanksgiving) and that the way Merck went promoting the CD was ridiculous and not what they want to do. He also mentions a possible video in the works. They cancelled about 5 of the 8 remaining tour dates so that they can finish the album and have it turned it to the record company in time, and he also apologized for not having it out before 2006, which was the plan when he first agreed to the North American tour. Merck then stated that he thinks Chinese Democracy is one of the all-time greatest records and he also states that the reason Axl couldnt do the finishing touches was because of a lack of musical inspiration, but it seemed like just another 'Merck-ish' B.S story so HTGTH decided to not even have it posted on the site.

Tonight is the last night of the tour, and 3-nighter at Gibson Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and the first 2 nights, Izzy came back to play some tunes, like he did in Europe over the summer. Tonight marks a milestone for GN'R, the magnificent 2006 tour will end, and the door will shut on 2006. We all look forward, anxiously to 2007, as we continue our wait for the one thing we've been craving since we first heard those sacred words; Chinese Democracy. Lucky for us, the album is months away from being in our CD players and the hair on my body stands up just thinking about it. 2006 has been so great, a GNR fan couldn't even ask for more, and for that I am thankful. I would like to thank Axl, Guns N' Roses, Beta, and every GN'R fan for making this experience so great. 2006 is about to end, and though it's the same band, 2007 will be much different and it will be a very interesting journey. What's next on this long endless Guns N' Roses journey? Chinese Democracy.


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