Axl's periods of hiatuses

[mortismurphy]

The whole over the top excess ... all that .. was part of the appeal to me as a kid.... as an adult ... the drugs and the antics is a bit of a turn off...but back then... yeah.... i loved that they acted the part of rock stars.

It's who they were.

Oh, I still love it.  That's who the band is to me.

Sort of why I don't get mortismurphy's beef with the Vegas thing.  This has never exactly been a keeping it real, salt of the earth, down to earth operation.

I suppose that is why I prefer the Appetite/Lies era over the Illusion era. The Illusion era, the epic videos, the white shorts, was all a bit embarrassing.

[JAEBALL]

The whole over the top excess ... all that .. was part of the appeal to me as a kid.... as an adult ... the drugs and the antics is a bit of a turn off...but back then... yeah.... i loved that they acted the part of rock stars.

It's who they were.

Oh, I still love it.  That's who the band is to me.

Sort of why I don't get mortismurphy's beef with the Vegas thing.  This has never exactly been a keeping it real, salt of the earth, down to earth operation.

I suppose that is why I prefer the Appetite/Lies era over the Illusion era. The Illusion era, the epic videos, the white shorts, was all a bit embarrassing.

Nah... I watched the You Could Be Mine video last night... that look of the band is just simply...perfect... the purple jacket!!  The band with Matt AND Izzy performing can't be topped for me.

[mortismurphy]

The whole over the top excess ... all that .. was part of the appeal to me as a kid.... as an adult ... the drugs and the antics is a bit of a turn off...but back then... yeah.... i loved that they acted the part of rock stars.

It's who they were.

Oh, I still love it.  That's who the band is to me.

Sort of why I don't get mortismurphy's beef with the Vegas thing.  This has never exactly been a keeping it real, salt of the earth, down to earth operation.

I suppose that is why I prefer the Appetite/Lies era over the Illusion era. The Illusion era, the epic videos, the white shorts, was all a bit embarrassing.

Nah... I watched the You Could Be Mine video last night... that look of the band is just simply...perfect... the purple jacket!!  The band with Matt AND Izzy performing can't be topped for me.

I love that video. It has a funny ending, with Arnie. Probably my favourite Illusion video. It is the trilogy, Don't Cry, NR and Estranged which is embarrassing. I still however prefer the Appetite era and the sound of that album over Illusion.

[JAEBALL]

The whole over the top excess ... all that .. was part of the appeal to me as a kid.... as an adult ... the drugs and the antics is a bit of a turn off...but back then... yeah.... i loved that they acted the part of rock stars.

It's who they were.

Oh, I still love it.  That's who the band is to me.

Sort of why I don't get mortismurphy's beef with the Vegas thing.  This has never exactly been a keeping it real, salt of the earth, down to earth operation.

I suppose that is why I prefer the Appetite/Lies era over the Illusion era. The Illusion era, the epic videos, the white shorts, was all a bit embarrassing.

Nah... I watched the You Could Be Mine video last night... that look of the band is just simply...perfect... the purple jacket!!  The band with Matt AND Izzy performing can't be topped for me.

I love that video. It has a funny ending, with Arnie. Probably my favourite Illusion video. It is the trilogy, Don't Cry, NR and Estranged which is embarrassing. I still however prefer the Appetite era and the sound of that album over Illusion.

So basically you like one GNR record..haha

[mortismurphy]

The whole over the top excess ... all that .. was part of the appeal to me as a kid.... as an adult ... the drugs and the antics is a bit of a turn off...but back then... yeah.... i loved that they acted the part of rock stars.

It's who they were.

Oh, I still love it.  That's who the band is to me.

Sort of why I don't get mortismurphy's beef with the Vegas thing.  This has never exactly been a keeping it real, salt of the earth, down to earth operation.

I suppose that is why I prefer the Appetite/Lies era over the Illusion era. The Illusion era, the epic videos, the white shorts, was all a bit embarrassing.

Nah... I watched the You Could Be Mine video last night... that look of the band is just simply...perfect... the purple jacket!!  The band with Matt AND Izzy performing can't be topped for me.

I love that video. It has a funny ending, with Arnie. Probably my favourite Illusion video. It is the trilogy, Don't Cry, NR and Estranged which is embarrassing. I still however prefer the Appetite era and the sound of that album over Illusion.

So basically you like one GNR record..haha

Two. There is Lies also!

No, I love the Illusions. I just do not like them as much as Appetite.

[D-GenerationX]

I suppose that is why I prefer the Appetite/Lies era over the Illusion era. The Illusion era, the epic videos, the white shorts, was all a bit embarrassing.

Ah, then I get it now.

That's my favorite era of the band.  1991-92.

The goto picture of Axl in my head is not the guy in leather and avaiators with the bad teeth.  Its the white shorts, boots, bandana, beard, and #22 Mean Machine jersey.

[jarmo]

The goto picture of Axl in my head

Did you just get a funny feeling? 


mortismurphy pretty much only loves the old band. I'm sure he doesn't have issues with the strippers on stage before they got Appetite out though... Or the inflated Appetite monsters. Or the chaps.



/jarmo

[mortismurphy]

Do you not have a favourite era - let me guess, this era? The era of glitter balls and flying pianos?

[D-GenerationX]

Part of what has always drawn me to GNR is the over the top excess of it all.

I've seen Pearl Jam probably 10-12 times in my life.  They come out on a basic stage with freakin' candles lit.  I would never want to see GNR in such a fashion.

[D-GenerationX]

Do you not have a favourite era - let me guess, this era? The era of glitter balls and flying pianos?

Its all the same.  There are no eras.

There is no Dana.  Only Zuul.

[JAEBALL]

Do you not have a favourite era - let me guess, this era? The era of glitter balls and flying pianos?

Its all the same.  There are no eras.

There is no Dana.  Only Zuul.

Lol @ The ghostbusters reference

[jarmo]

Do you not have a favourite era - let me guess, this era? The era of glitter balls and flying pianos?

Not really favorite. I've enjoyed them all. The albums are like soundtracks of different chapters of my life. I don't sit here and wish it was the 80s again or something. Or think that was the greatest time ever and nothing could top it. That sounds pretty sad to me. Sounds like old people talk! "Things used to be better back....".

I don't recall going to see the band in 1991 and wishing Steven Adler was there to be honest. The show was great.

Same thing in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.





/jarmo

[pilferk]

It's kinda hard to know what the guy is sitting on in the bank.  I am just tossing numbers out there off the top of my head.  If you believe some of those celebrity wealth sites they say Axl is worth 200 +.  But who  knows.

The guy has no kids and has never been married, huge savings there
Had no real drug problems or serious visas.
Has had the most song writing credits on the guns back catalogue, hence bigger royalty cheques than any other member
Huge world tour in the 90s, then many big festivals in the 2000s.  Where I am sure the split of each show is equal amongst band mates
And all the time has lived a very reclusive lifestyle.   That means cheap.  If you don't leave the house you don't spend money

Regardless. I am sure he is sitting on fat bank and is set for life.   10, 50, 100, 200 million take your pick.  But the original point is, with money comes lack of motivation to get out there and work for more

We're going a little far afield, but...

Keep in mind, net worth typically includes property value.

The guy has owned his place since the early 90's, right?

I don't know what other property he owns, but given what we know of his place....yowza.

Also keep in mind that GnR's back catalog still sells (meaning ALBUM sales, not even publishing rights and use rights, etc) pretty well.  Then add royalties and the like. Then add tour income, etc.  I don't know if Axl is a spender or a saver, but...it wouldn't surprise me if he had a sizeable nest egg.

[D-GenerationX]

As long as you are smart with your money, you should be all set.

Axl is not like some dumb ass athlete or movie star investing in night clubs and vodkas.

[pilferk]

Remember the backstage set-up?

They would insist on this elaborate set up with awesome spreads, booze, pinball machines, the whole bit.  And some nights, never even used it.  Money wasted to set up, tear down, and for the stuff itself.

Then you had all the fines for lateness and the overtime costs for the crew.  Not cheap.

Just an FYI:

None of the above would be costs to the band.

Venue pays out for anything in the rider (and might pass along, if the demands are extravagant, the cost to the promoter via increased "something" (0.5% extra on the gate, maybe?).

Promoter is paying the fines and OT costs for the crew (if there are any..only union positions are being paid hourly...lots/most of the roadies are paid by the gig).  Rarely does that get written into the contract for the promoter to recoup by reducing payment to the artist....and, honestly, rarely does the venue even try to collect the (relatively small, in a boilerplate) fee for going past "curfew".  The venue does reserve the right to pull the plug, though.

[D-GenerationX]

Remember the backstage set-up?

They would insist on this elaborate set up with awesome spreads, booze, pinball machines, the whole bit.  And some nights, never even used it.  Money wasted to set up, tear down, and for the stuff itself.

Then you had all the fines for lateness and the overtime costs for the crew.  Not cheap.

Just an FYI:

None of the above would be costs to the band.

Venue pays out for anything in the rider (and might pass along, if the demands are extravagant, the cost to the promoter via increased "something" (.5% on the gate, maybe?).

Promoter is paying the fines and OT costs for the crew (if there are any..only union positions are being paid hourly...lots/most of the roadies are paid by the gig).  Rarely does that get written into the contract for the promoter to recoup by reducing payment to the artist....and, honestly, rarely does the venue even try to collect the (relatively small, in a boilerplate) fee for going past "curfew".  The venue does reserve the right to pull the plug, though.

And they just eat all that shit?  Wow.

Even the backstage set-up is not on the band?

If that's the case, then Duff's comment is all the stranger, I think.

[pilferk]

And they just eat all that shit?  Wow.

Even the backstage set-up is not on the band?

If that's the case, then Duff's comment is all the stranger, I think.

Not when I worked at a venue.  We aquired it all, set it up, etc. Everyone else I've talked to did the same thing. I was IT for Finance and Marketing (mostly software stuff and data analysis, but some light desktop and networking, too...plus all kinds of odd shit for the artists when they needed something they thought might be "IT" related).

It can all be negotiated. Almost every show had their own idiosynchratic shit.  And, I guess...you could argue that if there were not riders, maybe the promoter would get a bit more money from the venue, and the band could negotiate a bit more from the promoter.  But, generally....nope. And, generally, the riders aren't all that crazy (feed the crew and the artist type stuff).

I mean, there might be EXTRA stuff provided, that the band brings in themselves.  But the stuff IN THE RIDER is all on the venue.

And don't worry about waste.  Anything unused/unopened would be put to good use....either by feeding the crew, the venue employees or going to a local soup kitchen.  It's not like it ALL went in the trash.  At least not in our venue (and most of the venues around us).

If it was opened....or "exposed"...well, yeah. Some of that too. That stuff had to be disposed of, somehow.  How varied wildly by what it was...

That's really the only "eating" going on.  Promoter expects costs to be what they are...and the OT they pay out is miniscule because there are relatively few hourly employees in the crew (which is the point).  Venues don't try to collect on "late fees" because it's a PITA to do it.  It's not worth the time and effort to collect.  I remember ONE show we actually went after the band (who I will not name) for the fee...and it was because we also had to go after them for a bunch of other stuff, too...so we lumped it in to the report.  I don't think we actually go it, though.

Again, anecdotally...that was par for the course.  That being said, our municipality was a little more forgiving about "curfew" times, anyway.  Hartford is a little stricter (for the XL center, which was then the Civic Center), but even they are pretty forgiving.  If you're doing your encore by curfew, they don't give a shit.  If you're 2 hours past....they might gripe a little bit about officer OT.  If you're 4 hours past, you're paying (and with a midnight curfew time....I can't think of a show that would be).

[pilferk]

If that's the case, then Duff's comment is all the stranger, I think.

Refresh my memory on Duff's comments....??

[JAEBALL]

If that's the case, then Duff's comment is all the stranger, I think.

Refresh my memory on Duff's comments....??

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/guns-n-roses-use-your-illusion-tour/

[pilferk]

If that's the case, then Duff's comment is all the stranger, I think.

Refresh my memory on Duff's comments....??

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/guns-n-roses-use-your-illusion-tour/

Yeah, I don't know what their specific deal was for the tour, or who their promoter was.  Maybe they negotiated a different deal than boiler plate, thinking they could clean up?

That tour (and Slash's comments) was a little odd, too. It was a stadium, rather than arena tour...and things could be ENTIRELY different (as in...union positions, etc, required to run) for that than where I worked.  I don't know.

You also had THREE (ostensibly) headline acts for those shows.  They may have had to negotiate very differently for that to happen. Different crews, different rules, different riders, etc.  That would be a LOT to put on the back of one venue to track, etc....especially if they were stadiums not used to dealing with stuff beyond sporting events.

So it's possible that they did things different for that tour than they do for most of them.