Tommy discusses his departure from GN'R + GN'R reunion

[damnthehaters]

Interesting when he says:  I think Axl got to the position where he was, like, 'Okay, so what am I going to do now? 'Cause I don't have a band. Blah blah blah.'
Indicates to me that Axl was going to continue with the current lineup and just went to Slash and Duff reunion, semi-reunion or whatever this is because his options were limited maybe not necessarily because he wanted to...

I would disagree the last part of this.

The notion that Slash or Duff would just be waiting by the phone ready to enlist as one of Axl's musicians to keep the current version of Gn'r going is far off..in my opinion. These guys were at peace and performing the music they wanted. Obviously $$$ plays a big part..but I think this is going to be more of a collaborative effort than some people are painting.

I disagree.  They can say that they were happy all they want....but, if and when Axl reached out saying he was interested in working together again....both Duff and Slash would drop everything they had (unless Axl was a dick about it and didn't offer much incentive).  My point is, it wouldn't take much to get them back.  They were apart of something huge, successful, and something that gave them many memories.  Who wouldn't want that back?  Even if it only lasts a couple shows.....it's worth it. 

[COMAMOTIVE]

Interesting when he says:  I think Axl got to the position where he was, like, 'Okay, so what am I going to do now? 'Cause I don't have a band. Blah blah blah.'
Indicates to me that Axl was going to continue with the current lineup and just went to Slash and Duff reunion, semi-reunion or whatever this is because his options were limited maybe not necessarily because he wanted to...

I would disagree the last part of this.

The notion that Slash or Duff would just be waiting by the phone ready to enlist as one of Axl's musicians to keep the current version of Gn'r going is far off..in my opinion. These guys were at peace and performing the music they wanted. Obviously $$$ plays a big part..but I think this is going to be more of a collaborative effort than some people are painting.

I disagree.  They can say that they were happy all they want....but, if and when Axl reached out saying he was interested in working together again....both Duff and Slash would drop everything they had (unless Axl was a dick about it and didn't offer much incentive).  My point is, it wouldn't take much to get them back.  They were apart of something huge, successful, and something that gave them many memories.  Who wouldn't want that back?  Even if it only lasts a couple shows.....it's worth it. 

Don't forget what brought about the seperation in the first place. Yes, I'd agree they'd pick up Axl's call in the first second..however - where we may differ is in my feeling (Just a hunch, my friend) that in order for this whole thing to happen..they HAD to have come to an understanding and an agreement about what could NOT happen if they got back together....

[zombux]

Tommy is the man and always has been the man. really can't blame him for anything, he did the best, the best he could. the best he could under given circumstances. THANK YOU!

[Wooody]

5 tours? Axl wanted to tour forever and ever?

 

[Sosso]

Why not Duff as second or third guitarist and Tommy as bassist? It could have worked!

[C0ma]

Why not Duff as second or third guitarist and Tommy as bassist? It could have worked!

Duff was not going to rejoin Guns N Roses (the band he helped make famous) and play 2nd or 3rd guitar while another guy played bass (I know he did it for a song or two here and there but those were guest spots, he's not a guest anymore). I'm sure at some point we'll hear the specifics about how this all happened and what the agreements are, but unless this is a quick one time tour, I don't see them coming back on as 'hired hands'.

Also I get that this guy (Tommy) was around for longer than any member not named Axl or Dizzy... he was a huge part of keeping this band together and came with an amazing pedigree... but Duff is the better bass player IMO.

[Continental_Drift]

I think they're quite comparable "talent-wise" (part of the reason Tommy was such a suitable substitution for Duff back in the day IMHO). To me it's just more a case of- all things being equal- the average rock fan would prefer to see Duff playing bass in Guns and Tommy playing bass in the 'mats (and/or pursuing his other projects)...

[sky dog]

yep....

[Lucky]

wait. there could have been 5 more "chinese democracy starts now" tours?

edit: on a serious note... this does not explain certain past interviews with Tommy.

4 example... there was that interview where he said "I dont know whats going on... there's a few people I considered friends that I reach out to occasionally..."

basically as usual with the band... its hard to get the facts clear and unambiguous.

[draguns]

wait. there could have been 5 more "chinese democracy starts now" tours?

edit: on a serious note... this does not explain certain past interviews with Tommy.

4 example... there was that interview where he said "I dont know whats going on... there's a few people I considered friends that I reach out to occasionally..."

basically as usual with the band... its hard to get the facts clear and unambiguous.

This is why I haven't really said anything yet in this thread. Something isn't right. How can you go from  that quote to 5 tours?  I wish Tommy well. I think he was good to hold GNR together, but I do have my doubts about the 5 tours.

[markreed]

Lots of speculation. So I'll add some.

GNR have been, publically at least, a part time band for the past 20 years. We don't know what we don't know. And in that light, things change a lot over time. My lfie in 1997-98 when Tommy joined is very different in many ways from my life now. Things happen : parents get sick, kids get born, and grow old, and when GNR aren't working, some people pick up other parts and other bands in their life. So, for some reason, for example, Tommy may have committed to Mats tours before GNR decided to tour. Or perhaps he couldn't tour in 2008 because his mother was dying (for example). It seems like there were 5 occasions when this happened. It doesn't mean he wasn't committed to the band, but more that life became complicated and touring became difficult to commit to. It happens.

Also, as we have seen with Robin, Bucket, Ashba, etc band members often have Non Disclosure Agreements after they leave and don't do interviews. I remember reading a Richard interveiw where he was very articulate about everything except GNR. Band members business (leaving, and post leaving interviews) are often very vague arund exact details. Maybe the deal was that Bumble and Tommy were bound to say very little until any announcement was made about the current lineup. And now it is. Certainly I've left bands and jobs where I've agreed to say nothing publically in return for dollars : it'll be the same thing here.

[Jim Bob]

Tommy is awesome and I loved him in Guns.

However, I got the sense in 2014 that once Duff started filling in for him, and seeing how happy Axl was playing with Duff again, that it was just a matter of time before Duff would re-join the band.

With Tommy saying he had to turn down tours, I don't think there was much question on who would replace him.\

But I could be wrong.

[Lucky]

anyways... I'm sorry I didnt get to meet him, and I cant wait to hear his future music, and hopefully some more of his stuff in GNR. He was one of my favorite members. And to brag a bit... when his first site got overloaded, it was hosted on my server space for a month

P.S. cant wait to see if going down will be played live. it kinda makes a sad good bye to him.... or his goodbye to the band.

[raindog]

Anyone who listened to Village Gorilla Head or Going Down will have known what Tommy could have brought to Guns. A terrific songwriter. But yeah, same as DJ. It wasn't happening. Time to move on.

[sky dog]

Bash and Pop had a bunch of good songs...so did Perfect and both his solo albums...very good songwriter. Honestly, a much better songwriter than Duff. I am not saying he is better for Guns than Duff, but I do think he is more talented as an "artist/songwriter".

[Wooody]

I have a question. Do you think maybe Axl was/is in debt ? and had to pay up?

Either for the lawsuit with with Irvin Assoff, or for something else?

 5 more tours seems like a lot, considering he had toured so much before that..

If he had invested that time and effort he had for touring, into .. I don't know? releasing an album, maybe it would've been released by now..

 

[GeorgeSteele]

I doubt the reference to '5 tours' meant 5 more tours.  Rather, I think that there were 5 times they tried to schedule maybe just one or two more tours and couldn't because Tommy was unavailable each of the 5 times they tried.  For all we know, if he was around for just 1 they would have only done that one.  I mean, 5 tours, wouldn't that be a block of years?  Are so many tours for that long ever scheduled so far in advance?

[pilferk]

I have a question. Do you think maybe Axl was/is in debt ? and had to pay up?

Either for the lawsuit with with Irvin Assoff, or for something else?

 5 more tours seems like a lot, considering he had toured so much before that..

If he had invested that time and effort he had for touring, into .. I don't know? releasing an album, maybe it would've been released by now..

 

So, when Tommy says that...I don't think it was like...5 distinctive tours.  I think it was iterative proposals for a tour or two.  In other words, he was pitched one set of dates, refused, was pitched another, refused, etc.

I also think that maybe, possibly, those refusals (and BBFs departure) moved Axl from "seriously considering what to do in that regards" for a new album to "I gotta put a band back together before I can even think about releasing new stuff". None of that's in the interview, obviously...no indication of it from any sort of official source..but that's my working theory.

[The Wight Gunner]

I have a question. Do you think maybe Axl was/is in debt ? and had to pay up?

Either for the lawsuit with with Irvin Assoff, or for something else?

 5 more tours seems like a lot, considering he had toured so much before that..

If he had invested that time and effort he had for touring, into .. I don't know? releasing an album, maybe it would've been released by now..

 

So, when Tommy says that...I don't think it was like...5 distinctive tours.  I think it was iterative proposals for a tour or two.  In other words, he was pitched one set of dates, refused, was pitched another, refused, etc.

I also think that maybe, possibly, those refusals (and BBFs departure) moved Axl from "seriously considering what to do in that regards" for a new album to "I gotta put a band back together before I can even think about releasing new stuff". None of that's in the interview, obviously...no indication of it from any sort of official source..but that's my working theory.

Also look at the number of times they've been on the road and done additional shows whilst on the road, rather than planned from the beginning.  Would probably be financial lucrative as on route to the next set of shows or in the case of large shows playing an extra date at the same venue.....

So starting with x amount of shows turning into significantly more might be difficult to deal with

[JAEBALL]

At the end of the day I just think Tommy's timing was bad (if he really did want to continue being a part of GNR)

Tommy played the wrong instrument... If he was one of the guitar players or the drummer... there would probably still be an open invitation for his return in some way.