October 14, 2010 London, England (Discussion)

[Lara]

A GNR reunion? oooh can we have Robin back? 

That's the only reunion I would be interested in! 

[Layflats]

I imagine Tommy Stinson has a great deal of respect for Duff and vice versa.  Both these guys have racked up quite a rock n roll resume.

I love how one member of Old Guns makes a cameo and the conspiracy theories fly.  It probably went down like this.

Axl - who the fuck is that down the hall...Duff!
Duff- what's up dude, in London, might check out the gig tonight
Axl- we should work something out on some songs...for the fans...what do you remember...let's check with Tommy
Tommy- fuck yeah, let's do it.

No one hates each other, it's a thrill for the fans.  Duff looks great too when he's not bloated with alcohol.  The longer this tour runs the more I pray for US dates.  As a lifelong Guns fan I can say without a doubt that this band is bringing the heat every night.

[kollemann]

After 17 years Axl and Duff together on stage.Fantastic

[jarmo]

This was a pure coincidence.

Duff was in town on business and stayed at the same hotel and on the same floor as Axl.

Then Duff joined the band on stage.

Nobody planned anything in advance.


Just a crazy coincidence.




/jarmo

[horsey]

Nothing wrong with fucking yourself...  don't take it so hard (no pun intended).

not to worry got the whorm on the hook as far as fucking goes lol.
he's trying to play hard ta get this guy i have in mind.but it's not out of the question fucking myself either lol.

[StardustGirl]

Let's speculate once and imagine it does happen that Duff returns...how would you then react??

I would be bloody disappointed and would lose a lot of respect for the band. Don't get me wrong, Duff joining the band on stage was a beautiful nostalgia thing, but the band has moved on since the 90s and with all due respect to Duff, I really don't think he has enough to offer musically for the band as it is now (meaning Duff seemingly prefers different direction in music if judged by the style of VR).

[AxlReznor]

This was a pure coincidence.

Duff was in town on business and stayed at the same hotel and on the same floor as Axl.

Then Duff joined the band on stage.

Nobody planned anything in advance.


Just a crazy coincidence.




/jarmo

I figured that was the case. I'm still pretty bummed out that I missed it. If I could afford to see any show on this tour, that would have been the one I'd have been at.

[Halo69]

This was a pure coincidence.

Duff was in town on business and stayed at the same hotel and on the same floor as Axl.

Then Duff joined the band on stage.

Nobody planned anything in advance.


Just a crazy coincidence.




/jarmo

Crazy as hell, some things are just meant to happen. How did Axl found out Duff was there? i mean i heard the noise story, that he heard some loud music on the other room, but how was he sure it was Duff? Did he actually knocked on the door to see who it was? or did they saw each other leaving the rooms?

[Albert S Miller]

What a nice surprise indeed .  Gotta love Duff, that must have really been a nostalgic moment for both Axl and Duff. I enjoyed hearing this and glad it took place all in good fun, why not right?

[AxlReznor]

This was a pure coincidence.

Duff was in town on business and stayed at the same hotel and on the same floor as Axl.

Then Duff joined the band on stage.

Nobody planned anything in advance.


Just a crazy coincidence.




/jarmo

Crazy as hell, some things are just meant to happen. How did Axl found out Duff was there? i mean i heard the noise story, that he heard some loud music on the other room, but how was he sure it was Duff? Did he actually knocked on the door to see who it was? or did they saw each other leaving the rooms?

I can just imagine Axl knocking on the door, like "WHAT THE FUCK'S WITH THIS NOIS.... Holy fuck, it's you!".

[GNRVahland]

This was a pure coincidence.

Duff was in town on business and stayed at the same hotel and on the same floor as Axl.

Then Duff joined the band on stage.

Nobody planned anything in advance.


Just a crazy coincidence.




/jarmo

Crazy as hell, some things are just meant to happen. How did Axl found out Duff was there? i mean i heard the noise story, that he heard some loud music on the other room, but how was he sure it was Duff? Did he actually knocked on the door to see who it was? or did they saw each other leaving the rooms?

I can just imagine Axl knocking on the door, like "WHAT THE FUCK'S WITH THIS NOIS.... Holy fuck, it's you!".

That "Holy fuck moment" would be a nice one to be captured on film....there must have been a security cam in that hotel cos I don't expect them to stay in a crappy dark hole...nice little vid for the bonus disc with the next album 

[HBK]

Day 13, AXL Whit Cube In You Head...

 

[Is he struggling?]

Un-fucking-believable.

I'm so lucky to have been down the front for this gig. It was so good, that Duff's surprise was just the icing on an already face-meltingly awesome cake.


A few obeservations:

Around where I was standing (just to the right of the central ramp), I heard about the fact that ithis wasn't the old lineup. Indeeed, during the opening of WTTJ a few charming fellow next to me chanted, 'you're not Slash' right at DJ, who was abot three foot away from us playing his ass off. Those cretins were won over before  the end of the song.

AXl sounded incredible thriughout the night. I was particulalrly impressed by the way nailed the low parts to 'Shacklers' and some of those notes he held on KOHD (seriously, if you haven't youtubed that performance yet, I urge you to stop reading this rubbish and go and do it now!) He genuinely looked like he was having a good time throughout, and I think it showed in the speech he gave thinking the crowd and the o2 at the end.  The so called 'costume changes' were limited to a few changes of his (very sweaty) shirts and hats. No big deal.

Forget any reviews that you might have read about the band being nothing but 'bored looking session musos' They covered that stage like a well drilled special forces unit. I really think that each player in this lineup does justice to the older songs whilst putting their own stamp on it, particularly Bumble.

Once the doubeters were won over, they were going crazy over every last note, even the instrumentals.

The production ans sound mix were spot on throughout the night (at least from where I was) - I was worried after Bach's performance thaTt the vocals would be a bit low in the mix. But everything during G N R came through loud and clear. The pyro was, as always, in impeccable taste.

As for Duff, I think the whole crowd thought they were haulucinating when he strode out and kicked into the opning bass riff from YCBM, just like like it was 1991 all over again. As some others have commented, he did look a little bit lost up on the stage, but I guess in its understandable as in this scenario he was the 'new guy' (yes, the 'new guy' in a band that he helped to satrt over 25 years ago. This goes to show how far things have moved on since the old days and how legit and tight this new band is). There was some interraction between Duff and Tommy and Bumble, but I have to say that I didn't see any signs of a re-ergant chemistry with Axl. I noticed on one occasion that Duff looked at Axl quite warily when he breezed past him duirng 'Nice Boys'. Just an observavtion, not a whine. The fact that those two shared a stage again is astonishing enough.

[The Prez]

This was a pure coincidence.

Duff was in town on business and stayed at the same hotel and on the same floor as Axl.

Then Duff joined the band on stage.

Nobody planned anything in advance.


Just a crazy coincidence.




/jarmo

That's why I love this band so much...you never can tell what's going to happen as nothing is planned. Rock N' Roll as it is meant to be.
Text message this morning of a friend (and als hardcore gunner): 'Well well well, you just can't tell...Duff bla bla bla!'
 
 

[14 Yrs Of Silence]

Jarmo - are you still traveling to the shows?  Did you get to meet Duff?  Did he hang out with the band after the show?

[bolton]

Cool,...could you imagine their meeting,old friends met each other after so many years

[samoice]

wonder what hotel they stayed at then?
gota be the one close to the london city airport?

[Jude]

I wonder why there isn't no news about this on the front page, these are unbelievable news to me. Who believed this would happen?  

[The Prez]

Let's speculate once and imagine it does happen that Duff returns...how would you then react??

I would be bloody disappointed and would lose a lot of respect for the band. Don't get me wrong, Duff joining the band on stage was a beautiful nostalgia thing, but the band has moved on since the 90s and with all due respect to Duff, I really don't think he has enough to offer musically for the band as it is now (meaning Duff seemingly prefers different direction in music if judged by the style of VR).

I assume you were also dissapointed back in the day when the old members left? Did you lose respect for the band back then?

[requiem156]

Man, you people sure can take the fun out of a cool thing.