Duff McKagan Says It Was 'Great' Playing With Axl Rose And Guns N' Roses

[AXL DEMOCRACY]

Classy.  As Duff has always been.  The guy is class all the way.

[w.axl.rose]

I had no idea Axl [Rose] and GUNS N' ROSES were in London ? I had no idea.

 

Not sure why that was funny... 

That's HBK for yah 

anyway thanks for posting this, really enjoyed reading this.. 

[HBK]

I had no idea Axl [Rose] and GUNS N' ROSES were in London ? I had no idea.

 

Not sure why that was funny... 

That's HBK for yah 

anyway thanks for posting this, really enjoyed reading this.. 

HBK I Love So Fine

 

[AxlReznor]

Didn't know he knew Tommy

10 Minute Warning opened for The Replacements when they played Seattle in 1984.

[Voodoochild]

Maybe this is a tiny step in the two working together again... 

No offense, but I think thats exactly the kind of thinking Duff tried to avoid for people when he kept low profile after that gig.

[One.In.A.Million]

Maybe this is a tiny step in the two working together again... 

No offense, but I think thats exactly the kind of thinking Duff tried to avoid for people when he kept low profile after that gig.

Duff is quite the businessman, he does alot of meetings with businessmen these days. Duff has matured alot and seems to be almost the polar opposite of what he was like in 92-93.

Good on you Duff, it was out of this world seeing you with GN'R in London. 

[reayj2003]

Why has Duff joining GN'R not been added to the news section?

[NicoRourke]

Maybe to avoid stupid reunion shit ?

I guess lots of journalists get infos from fan boards / sites and if they were to see such a headline they would start writing about reunion without even getting the facts.

No need to fuel such things.

[LunsJail]

Duff really seems to have a good head on his shoulders. It's cool he got to meet up with Axl.

[Sergott]

I think people went overboard with this news....my girlfriend showed up last week, and she said did you know Duff McKagen is back in GNR?  And I am like no he's not.  It was just one show, and she is like (my son) just read it on yahoo.  This is my problem with Duff playing.  I love Duff and I love Guns N Roses, but I want these stupid reunion ideas to go away.

[zombux]

the reunion shit will never go away, either people will babble about it when some ex-member makes a guest appearance, or rant about it if nothing like this happens at all, it's a lose-lose situation. but GNR was never an easy band to be fan of, so one has to get used to it. fuck the rest.

[Voodoochild]

the reunion shit will never go away, either people will babble about it when some ex-member makes a guest appearance, or rant about it if nothing like this happens at all, it's a lose-lose situation. but GNR was never an easy band to be fan of, so one has to get used to it. fuck the rest.

That pretty much sums it up. Couldnt have said it better.

[scans n' copies]

For some reason I have always thought that Duff was one of the coolest mofos on the planet.  This interview just helps solidify that sentiment. 

I do find it a bit tough to believe that he had NO idea that GNR were in London, but who knows???  His columns in Seattle weekly are awesome by the way.  They're a great read about a nice variety of different topics.

I'm a big fan of So Fine, too!

[AXL DEMOCRACY]

Coming from Duff I believe it 100%. 

If it was coming from another former member....well, not so much.

[wight gunner]

What it does prove is that Duff is his own man.  Didn't need to seek permission from Slash or Matt to do the appearence, but decided that it would be a fun thing to do.

And why not? He and Axl, I'd guess have a bit of making up to do, there were court cases et al after the split, and whatever your views on the whys and wherefore's the bottom line is/was a business partnership which each had their own vested interests to look after. That doesn't have to be personal, but in the case of Duff, I see as Duff just wanted to play music and all he could see was an implosion taking place. Yes he walked, but I'd say that at the time, the band wasn't what he joined any more and just wasn't going to wait around and (in his view) waste time and energy in something that was in his eyes falling apart.

All the AFD/UYI members have grown older, some have grown wiser and others have try to grow their way off the substances that have blighted the original band and subsequence lives since. Those that have grown wiser, were pretty wise to begin with, they didn't try and play the media to get at Axl, they just shut up and moved on.  In the media spotlight, everything is magnified and this meeting was always going to get the media going on about having the re-union. The truth is, all that really happened was it presented closure to both parties and opportunity to do what they do best and play some good music. 

Duff didn't need to be shown how well Gn'R's are doing, nor was he made to see what he is missing, if that was the case, he wouldn't have played ball and perform at the O2, no "shut up and strum" message required. Will Duff get to play on the next album? Maybe, but I wouldn't bet on it nor would I expect it to happen for anybody else either.

Axl has, like anybody who has gone through the issues and shit that has blighted them and come through the other side, decided who he will speak with from his past, from a therapy sense, he has also chosen to exclude those that has ceased to exist in his world.  Duff was always on the side of a willing to work/communicate with in Axl's mind, indeed he said that a few years back and has lived up to that statement. Planned or not, it does show that Axl has brought closure to the troubled past. If I remember correctly, Beta had a big part in that and being on tour and "bumping" into Duff was probably the best way to meet and finally get the awkwardness of facing each other over and done with. It didn't allow doubts and rehearsal (The I'm gonna ask this, he'll say that, then I'll do that and so on) that precedes any reunion by appointment, of once previously close people that have been parted by any kind of dispute. 

[zombux]

Didn't know he knew Tommy

10 Minute Warning opened for The Replacements when they played Seattle in 1984.

this is new to be, but I always felt they both are mid-80's punks, so it makes perfect sense

[FunkyMonkey]

Maybe this is a tiny step in the two working together again... 

No offense, but I think thats exactly the kind of thinking Duff tried to avoid for people when he kept low profile after that gig.

But didn't Axl say something like he wouldn't mind working with Duff again in the fan Q&A.  Maybe not the obvious, but doing something together down the road.

[chineseblues]

Maybe this is a tiny step in the two working together again... 

No offense, but I think thats exactly the kind of thinking Duff tried to avoid for people when he kept low profile after that gig.

But didn't Axl say something like he wouldn't mind working with Duff again in the fan Q&A.  Maybe not the obvious, but doing something together down the road.

I think he said he wouldn't mind having Duff play a song or two at a show, which is wehat ended up happening.

[FunkyMonkey]

I think he said he wouldn't mind having Duff play a song or two at a show, which is what ended up happening.

Now that you mention it -- does anyone have the direct quote from the chat?  I looked, but there's a lot there.

[faldor]

I think he said he wouldn't mind having Duff play a song or two at a show, which is what ended up happening.

Now that you mention it -- does anyone have the direct quote from the chat?  I looked, but there's a lot there.

Neemo posted this over on www.gnrevolution.com

Would you consider a reunion with the 'Appetite' or 'Illusions' lineups?

No.

Why not?

A lot more reasons than I'll get into here now. Different reasons for each version and each individual. The Izzy bit was fun -- and also fun because we didn't have to rely on him in any way, which is how he prefers things and works better for everyone. That said, you never knew if Izzy would be there or not or if he'd remember the song or decide to leave early. It didn't cause any problems, because we were doing our show regardless and didn't have to depend on anything, but it did open everyone's eyes a bit and blow minds.

He called, asked to come out and negotiated a deal with management that it's probably best that none of us knew about or the fun would've seemed a bit more like being used or taken advantage of spoiling the moment. As it was, we had a great time.

It'd be highly doubtful for us to have more than one of the alumni up with us at any given time. I suppose Duff could play guitar on something somewhere, but there's zero possibility of me having anything to do with Slash other than by ambush, and that wouldn't be pretty. He wrote that whole bit about not having his guitar in Vegas, I'd assume, to save face. I was told by both the Hard Rock and different Guns industry people who had come out to be supportive of the new band and were a bit surprised to see him there, especially guitar in hand, but just assumed it was a surprise for the show and we were in on the arrangement.

Steven [Adler] brings assorted ambulance-chasing attorneys and the nightmare of his mother. One gig, or even a couple songs, could mean years of behind-the-scenes legal aftermath.