On Sunday Night, antiMUSIC co-hosted a viewing/release party for the new Led Zeppelin DVD along with HappeninHarry.com and Buzztone.com at the Cat Club in Hollywood. GNR frontman, Axl Rose was among those who showed up for the party.

Contrary to popular opinion and press reports, Axl was down to earth and very friendly with those who approached him and freely answered questions. A lot of people commented on how good he looked as well and in person Axl did appear fit and youthful.

I was among those who had a quick question for Axl. Of course, the burning question I had was if Tommy Stinson was correct that “Chinese Democracy” would be released by the end of the year. Because I did not identify myself as a member of the press to Axl, I cannot quote him but from what he did say, he seemed hopeful that patient fans would finally have the album by the end of the year.

He elaborated a little bit that he was co-producing the CD and eluded to the fact that he wants to make sure it is a perfect as possible before it is released.

One thing that may bear in the equation is the recent changes with Geffen Records. Last week MCA Records was effectively folded and most of the roster was moved over to Geffen. Word on the street is Geffen will be reorganized and in effect become once again a full self-standing record company (over the past few years Geffen was ran as part of Geffen / Interscope / A&M). What that means is there will be more muscle behind a new GNR release when the time comes. Although Axl didn’t really touch upon this recent change, it may be a favorable factor in the release of the album. Or it could mean that Axl, like many musicians, is simply a perfectionist and couldn’t sit with the idea of releasing music he felt wasn’t perfect.

Editorial

On a personal note, I have to say that I was really surprised at Axl in person. He is nothing like I would have expected, given all that I have heard and read about him. He seemed very friendly (he was friendly and talked with everyone who approached him), he seemed very content and even down to earth. Perhaps, if I would have identified myself as a member of the press it would have been different, since, to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, some press outlets have had a pretty antagonistic attitude towards him. (We won’t go into whatever reasons that may be, we here at antiMUSIC do fall into that category too). So maybe it was better that he didn’t know who he was talking to and thought I was just some guy at the show. That way I got to see how he interacts with regular people and again I was surprised and just how different he was from the public image persona. Of course, that is based on my one encounter with him but I can say that in a lot of ways, I’m glad that public perception is wrong. I’ve witness far less popular “rock stars” act like total jerks to people and while it must be a pain to a rock star to be approached by “fans” everywhere they go, it was good to see that Axl, at least in this case, approaches those situations positively and doesn’t’ blow people off like some other stars tend to do.

With this personal experience behind me, I have to say that I will bear that experience in mind when I view developments within GNR. Although, I’m a cynic at heart, after having met the man and been proven wrong, I will be far more open to giving him the benefit of the doubt in the future. … with that said, I hope that the album does finally get released soon. That way we can move on to other things, and let Axl stand or fall on his music and not just headlines.

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Final word.

For L.A. and Las Vegas area Guns N’ Roses fans, antiMUSIC is sponsoring two separate birthday parties for Dizzy Reed this week. The first party will take place on Wednesday night at Happenin’ Harry’s Hollyweird at the Cat Club. The Dizzy “F*cking” Reed band is set to play at 11:00 followed by an all-star jam (you never know who is going to show to these things). The Rembrandt’s Phil Solem will play a solo set earlier in the night and Beautiful Creatures’ Joe LeSte will lead his side band “The Vagabonds” in a set of classic rock covers ranging from Elvis to Aerosmith.

Then on Saturday, Dizzy’s Birthday bash moves to Las Vegas for a free midnight performance from Happenin’ Harry and The Haptones at The Tailspin Bar & Grill. Harry will be joined by special guests including Dizzy Reed as well as Jeff Duncan (Armored Saint, Odin) and Vik Foxx (Enuff Z’nuff, Vince Neil).

You can get all the details on the Dizzy Reed Birthday bashes at Happeninharry.com