Are we perhaps setting ourselves up for massive disappointment?

[ice cream sand pig]

you guys are great. i love this board. im still in the it could go either way camp. im with bridge in that theres no direct proof, but i also see how one could easily come to the conclusion that its on. i wont be disappointed either way. im stoked something is going on, and i am enjoying reading all the speculation.

Oh RJ, only once in a few thousand threads does someone humble us with such relaxed innocence.  Here's to ya.  

what can i say, this is a magical time for the residents of gnr land. activity after a hiatus... its like christmas for us. in america, porn site activity goes down by 30 perecentish on christmas. in japan it oddly enough raises by a similar margin. i wonder if gnr landers are looking at less porn these days?

i appreciate you taking on the role of resident skeptic! its a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.

[pilferk]

By "we", I don't just mean this forum, but the entire GN'R online community that is squeeing and in an uproar over the idea that a reunion is imminent.

Let's be honest...Axl and Slash didn't mend their fences until sometime late last year or even into this year. You really think that's enough time to:

1) Clear away 20+ years of crap
2) Hug and be best friends again
3) Decide to want to reunite
4) Set the wheels in motion

I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but as much as I desperately want an Axl/Slash reunion, I don't see it happening or any announcement coming anytime "soon." I suspect January 6th will roll past with some other band announced as the headliner of Coachella, possibly some new version of newGNR.

With regard to the TV ad featuring the Argentina '93 show footage, well, it wouldn't be the first time a newGNR show was promoted with old GN'R imagery.

I am not saying this is the deal, I have no inside info. All I am saying is, how do we know this isn't just some giant troll to build hype for a new tour with totally new members and the release of the Chinese Democracy II album?

I mean given history, can you really not foresee January 6th coming and "GUNS N' ROSES" with two brand new, unknowns as the new lead guitarists and someone new announced as bassist, with no hint of anything involving a reunion?

All I am saying is we should keep our expectations incredibly low. Because I think everyone who is so certain that all these clues mean a reunion and everyone is all excited is going to be let down big time.

No, at least not for me.

To be massively disappointed, I'd have to have high expectations that a specific, certain, outcome was definitively happening.  That's not going to happen, for me, until there is an actual announcement, or something more concrete than rumors and teaser of questionable meaning.

Right now, we have a mystery that could have multiple solutions.  One seems more apparent, and thus is getting more discussion, than the others..  And I'm perfectly happy to engage in that speculation. It's interesting.  But really, all we know is it's "something".

The only way I'm disappointed is if it all falls to shit, and ends up being "nothing". And doubly so if we never find out what it was actually FOR.  And even then it's not a massive, soul crushing disappointment.

[raindog]

Love that article desperately trying to read something into Duff's use of L.A.M.F.

Psssst.... Guys.....it means he likes Johnny Thunders. 

[Kenan]

Nobody "owes" you for being a fan- if you buy an album you get to own the music, if you buy a ticket you get to see a show, if you buy merch- it's yours to keep.

I'll refrain from quoting the lyric from Sorry- but thinking you are "owed" is entitled nonsense.

Emily, did you read my post at all?

Please let me know where exactly did I write the band owes me personally anything?

And as for "just" buying merch, albums and tickets, how do you think all those bands earn money? Does it misteriously fall from the sky? No. It comes from companies and agencies that are investing into those bands (making them basically "brands") as a result of active and devoted fanbase. If there were no for fans, do you think GNR would be as popular as they are today?

So once again, no, they do NOT owe me personally anything but they DO owe it to the thousands of fans to get in front of the computer and spend 45 seconds of their life (it takes only one of the guys to do so), if in fact the reunion is not going to take place, to post a short statement and deny it.

Speaking of, it would be actually entitled and immature to genuinely believe the fanbase does not deserve a clarification and should be kept in the dark for this long. Do note these have been ongoing (and hyped up by media) for more than 4 months now. How longer do you think we should wait? What would be, in your opinion, appropriate time frame for denying the news articles, statements from musicians and people related to the band?

How longer do you think loyal fans should be kept in the dark or simply ignored on the matter? Or maybe, you believe the band should communicate with the fanbase only when there's an album to be sold or a new merchandise shows up in the online store?

For the record, I honestly believe something good is going to happen, possibly including Slash as I personally cannot fathom either one of them would knowingly deceive fans for this long by not denying it.

[jarmo]

Love that article desperately trying to read something into Duff's use of L.A.M.F.

Psssst.... Guys.....it means he likes Johnny Thunders. 

Don't you almost wish he posted a photo of a cup of coffee or something just to see the "secret meaning" behind it? 



/jarmo

[raindog]

Love that article desperately trying to read something into Duff's use of L.A.M.F.

Psssst.... Guys.....it means he likes Johnny Thunders. 

Don't you almost wish he posted a photo of a cup of coffee or something just to see the "secret meaning" behind it? 



/jarmo

They grow an awful lot of coffee in.....Brazil! South American reunion tour starts now!

[C0ma]

Love that article desperately trying to read something into Duff's use of L.A.M.F.

Psssst.... Guys.....it means he likes Johnny Thunders. 

Don't you almost wish he posted a photo of a cup of coffee or something just to see the "secret meaning" behind it? 



/jarmo

I love how most people miss that he has a LAMF tattoo on his left wrist that is visible in the picture from holding the bass. As much as I am hopeful for a reunion and believe there have been signs of what is to come... a bass player posting a picture on twitter of himself holding a bass is not what I would call a smoking gun.

[pilferk]

Love that article desperately trying to read something into Duff's use of L.A.M.F.

Psssst.... Guys.....it means he likes Johnny Thunders. 

Don't you almost wish he posted a photo of a cup of coffee or something just to see the "secret meaning" behind it? 



/jarmo

I love how most people miss that he has a LAMF tattoo on his left wrist that is visible in the picture from holding the bass. As much as I am hopeful for a reunion and believe there have been signs of what is to come... a bass player posting a picture on twitter of himself holding a bass is not what I would call a smoking gun.

But...but..he's holding his bass! And it's in a space! He must be rehersing! And, obvs, the only thing he could be rehersing is GNR STUFF!!!! WOOO HOOO!!!!

[COMAMOTIVE]

If you want concrete facts, I cant help you.

Then don't use the words "very clear" when you're speaking unless you can offer facts.

As long as anyone of them is being active in the music industry i.e. earning money from fans by doing concerts, tours, appearances etc., they are morally obligated to address those same fans when needed.

No.  That's an outrageously immature, entitled perspective that too many fans have.  You think they owe you something because you're sitting around the computer making up, spreading, and repeating horseshit rumors.

They owe you NOTHING.  Like Axl said, live you life.  That's your responsibility not theirs.

Wrong (again).  Axl denied the rumors years ago.  He's said nothing this time.  #fact.  In the past, he repeatedly shot down reunion rumors. #anotherfact. 

EXACTLY.  AXL FUCKING SHOT DOWN THE RUMORS!

You're so dense that you couldn't accept it.  So your way of dealing with it is to somehow twist Axl's repeated "no" into a yes.

Wow, pretty sure if I typed this aggressive stuff I'd be in line for a lecture from the powers that be on here.

You need to chill out a bit dude 

Nicely said

[GeorgeSteele]

Yeah, if it ends up being all for nothing, I think 'massive disappointment' would be a fair take, at least for me.  But so what?  All the wondering, anticipation, and hope are part of the ride and it feels good, it's exciting.  If there's a letdown, such is life, everyone will deal with it in their own way, but nobody's losing any years off their life here. 

[D-GenerationX]

Yeah, if it ends up being all for nothing, I think 'massive disappointment' would be a fair take, at least for me.  But so what?  All the wondering, anticipation, and hope are part of the ride and it feels good, it's exciting.  If there's a letdown, such is life, everyone will deal with it in their own way, but nobody's losing any years off their life here. 

I don't see it as a disappointment.  You can't lose what you never had.

I also see this whole thing as a lifeline or sorts, really.  The "looking VERY seriously in regard" to a new album <insert jerking off motion here> isn't exactly panning out after a year and a half.

I see this as an alternative to nothing.  Who objects to an alternative to nothing?

But like you say, if it doesn't happen for whatever reason, what have we lost?  We go back to how things were the past year or so.  Twiddling our thumbs.

[GeorgeSteele]

Yeah, if it ends up being all for nothing, I think 'massive disappointment' would be a fair take, at least for me.  But so what?  All the wondering, anticipation, and hope are part of the ride and it feels good, it's exciting.  If there's a letdown, such is life, everyone will deal with it in their own way, but nobody's losing any years off their life here. 

I don't see it as a disappointment.  You can't lose what you never had.

I also see this whole thing as a lifeline or sorts, really.  The "looking VERY seriously in regard" to a new album <insert jerking off motion here> isn't exactly panning out after a year and a half.

I see this as an alternative to nothing.  Who objects to an alternative to nothing?

But like you say, if it doesn't happen for whatever reason, what have we lost?  We go back to how things were the past year or so.  Twiddling our thumbs.

If you have time for a semantics debate, disappointment does not necessarily require losing something you have.  I don't have a specific source for this, but I will go out on a limb and say it is a historical fact that many millions (billions?) of human beings have been disappointed just from not getting what they want. 

As for objecting to an alternative to nothing, I don't think that's the issue presented by the OP.  My understanding is that he was directing the thread to all who would not only not object to a reunion (or whatever we're calling it), but want it desperately.  To those, he is advising low expectations to avoid massive disappointment.  That, I disagree with.  Have high expectations; if the worst that happens is disappointment, that's a small price that everyone always gets over eventually.

[D-GenerationX]

Honestly, if this somehow doesn't happen after all this, I think my disappointment would be more in how fucking tone deaf you truly have to be to let all this fester and then not deliver.

I'd be bummed there was no reunion, sure.  But I think we'd have to be asking some far harder questions of TB at that point.  And I'm not sure how you could have any confidence in them whatsoever if that's how things played out.

Fortunately, I do not think that's the case.  In fact, I think TB is in for something of an image makeover with the fans if this happens.

[GeorgeSteele]

Honestly, if this somehow doesn't happen after all this, I think my disappointment would be more in how fucking tone deaf you truly have to be to let all this fester and then not deliver.

I'd be bummed there was no reunion, sure.  But I think we'd have to be asking some far harder questions of TB at that point.  And I'm not sure how you could have any confidence in them whatsoever if that's how things played out.

Fortunately, I do not think that's the case.  In fact, I think TB is in for something of an image makeover with the fans if this happens.

Keep in mind, if it doesn't happen, might be because they all couldn't come to terms, which would not necessarily be anyone's fault.  Anyway, doesn't matter, I think it's happening. 

[ITARocker]

If nothing is  going to happen, the new incarnation of the band with 2 (or 3) new players will be a total fiasco. Axl knows that and if he hasn't stopped the rumors up to now there are obvious reasons. I don't know if we can talk about a full reunion, but knowing Axl, at least we'll see duff mckagan re-joining the band.
Axl won't dissappoint his fans that much...

[D-GenerationX]

If nothing is  going to happen, the new incarnation of the band with 2 (or 3) new players will be a total fiasco. Axl knows that and if he hasn't stopped the rumors up to now there are obvious reasons. I don't know if we can talk about a full reunion, but knowing Axl, at least we'll see duff mckagan re-joining the band.
Axl won't dissappoint his fans that much...

I don't know how you'd possibly sell it.

Clearly there has been a huge drop off from their prime to all the replacement line-ups.  And I guess he's retained most of however many fans that wound up being over these past 15 years.

But can you even retain all whatever number of people that is, if you pull what looks a pretty serious bait and switch?  Can you really say definitively there won't be people that get fed up and say, you know what...fuck this guy?

[dmathski]

To think that a reunion isn't going to be announced very soon at this point is just asinine. You must be a huge pessimist to think that at this point.   

Given the history of this band, I tend to expect the worst and hope for the best.

Ya I hear you I had tickets in 2002 and 2006 here in San Diego and both shows were cancelled. This is different though. It's too big to fail. Bigger than Axl. Too much money on the line.

[BOILER GUNZ]

The fanclub just closed to all new members.  You can no longer join in.  Makes me think presales for something are coming and this prevents scalpers from joining in

Yeah, I can confirm this.

I signed up last month, but did not properly activate it or something.

And now I can't.  Damn it.

Of course, the homepage still lists memberships for 2013-14, so who the fuck knows if that is even the fan club going forward.

I've been able to log in and navigate the dashboard account. and it took my renewal payment for the  $10 digital membership but it still denies me access to the nightrain? I contacted wonderfull union, no reply...?

 now it says they are out of stock. I can still log into my dashboard account.  I called the credit card people to make sure it was not something on my end.  nope, good to go there.  check my debits, none from gnr or wonderful union so my membership payment never processed yesterday?  and now when I retry it says there is an error 10 code issue to report to customer service.  what a fucking joke...you cant get a reply from anyone there at wonderful union email or phone number.  I m being fucked around by a handful people I like to...

[Will]

I do think some people on all message boards jumped the gun a little bit, as our friend Goldstein would say (remember the 2001 European tour? hehe)

For now we have a "classic logo" on the main site (which content was removed - a bit strange), crowd shots on the social networks and a teaser with a Live Era (1999) version of Jungle. To me it's a little bit "light" to say there's gonna be a full tour with half the classic line-up.

Axl Rose has now disappeared for 18 months and Slash will be playing a show with his usual band on NYE, I don't see it as big sign of whatever. Now if Slash had cancelled his show on NYE that would be another story. I wonder what he's gonna say to all the people in the room before and after the show who will ask him about Coachella/ the new tour/ the reunion...

Anyway, if it does happen it would be nice to see those 3 on the same stage again, I'm just wondering what kind of chemistry we'll see between Axl ("not in this lifetime") and Slash ("feat. Myles Kennedy"). A tour would be cool, if Slash doesn't go back to his usual band afterwards (otherwise GN'R would just be a "side project"?) and if we get at least one or two brand new songs!

Next Tuesday will be interesting. If GN'R really headlines Coachella I would be very surprised, but it'd be a nice surprise!

[ckgent]

The fanclub just closed to all new members.  You can no longer join in.  Makes me think presales for something are coming and this prevents scalpers from joining in

Yeah, I can confirm this.

I signed up last month, but did not properly activate it or something.

And now I can't.  Damn it.

Of course, the homepage still lists memberships for 2013-14, so who the fuck knows if that is even the fan club going forward.

I've been able to log in and navigate the dashboard account. and it took my renewal payment for the  $10 digital membership but it still denies me access to the nightrain? I contacted wonderfull union, no reply...?

 now it says they are out of stock. I can still log into my dashboard account.  I called the credit card people to make sure it was not something on my end.  nope, good to go there.  check my debits, none from gnr or wonderful union so my membership payment never processed yesterday?  and now when I retry it says there is an error 10 code issue to report to customer service.  what a fucking joke...you cant get a reply from anyone there at wonderful union email or phone number.  I m being fucked around by a handful people I like to...

Its still holiday season, maybe you should give it a few days.