Bumblefoot is Pissed Off at NME Magazine for twisting his words!

Guns 'N Roses guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal has slammed NME.com for allegedly "twisting" his words "into an attack" on the band's lead singer, Axl Rose.

In a recent interview with Ryze-Up magazine, Thal was asked what advice he would give to newbies in the music scene. "1. Be on time," he replied. "By 'on time' I mean 'be early.' Make sure you're there for when you need to be — wait in your car, communicate, let them know 10 minutes early that you'll be there in 5 minutes, and walk in 5 minutes later. 2. Be prepared. By 'prepared' I mean 'overly prepared.' Know more than you need to. If you're gonna lay guitar parts, know the drum grooves and where all the accents and up-beats and fills and breaks are, know the bass lines... When the bassist doesn't show and they freak out and you say, 'I know the bass part. I can lay it down,' you'll be the MVP 3. Be cool. And by that I mean, be a calm, relaxed, easy-going, soothing presence in the room. When everyone is contagiously breaking into panic and stress mode, you'll be their voice of reason without even trying. Players can be replaced — people are chosen by who others want to spend their time with."

Earlier today, NME.com reported on the above-mentioned interview and erroneously included a comment that was posted on Metal Hammer's web site — "Remember kids, only massive goobers make a habit of not being on time." — as part of Bumblefoot's response. This prompted the guitarist to pen the following missive via his Facebook page:

"Some 'info' sites will twist anything into an attack on Axl, lol (only way to get more readers and hike up rates on advertisers I guess...) NME is *not* a legit source of music info by any stretch. Not only do they make up quotes that aren't true (I've NEVER used the term 'massive goobers' in my life, lol), I also didn't speak to Metal Hammer. NME is using a piece of an interview I did with Ryze-Up magazine. If NME is going to point fingers, they should have more integrity and class in what *they* do, yes?"

He added:

"I'm at the venue early, I'll have dinner with crew, watch opening acts, get warmed up, I'm at every meet-n-greet, and I'm ready to get on stage at show time. That's me. My advice was for musicians starting out, hopefully it served its positive purpose :)"

GNR member (not AXL!!!) Storms off stage

Wow, first a Guns 'N Roses concert is delayed and it's not Axl's fault, and now a GNR band member storms off stage..... and it's not Axl!  Since when did Mr. Rose become the group's goody-two-shoes?

What happened was as follows:

The band was playing the final stop on their first tour of India last Wednesday in Gurgaon, just outside New Delhi.  The concert went off well, according to a New York Times review by Kabir Taneja, with Axl Rose taking the stage on time and the band playing a 3 hour set.

But the show apparently didn't end well. Taneja said that after the band returned to the stage for an encore, Rose thanked fans and told them that playing India "has been a longtime dream."  He then dedicated the concert to the memory of sitar legend Ravi Shanker who had died the previous day. The band then took their final bow.

At this point, Axl decided to play another song and called the group back on the stage but Tommy Stinson apparently did not want to. Taneja reports, "he was visible from where I sat nearly throwing his bass backstage, as a roadie tried to stop him."  The band began performing Rose Tattoo's "Nice Boys" without Stinson, when Axl left the stage only to return moments later followed by Stinson.  At this point, Stinson, " threw his bass onto a pile of equipment, flipped the middle finger at some crew members and left. The band finished the last song without a bassist."

You can read the full review of the concert here.  Thanks to Anti Music for the Axl update.

Hired Guns N' Roses show postponed, and its not Axls fault!

Normally I wouldn't bother posting about a postponed/canceled/failed Guns N Roses concert, since it's nothing new.  BUT, in this case the reason for the postponement of GNR's show in Jakarta, Indonesia isn't Axl's fault!  And, yes, that is shocking news.  I'll give the details on that in a second, but first I need to share this wonderful find on facebook I got:

That's a photo of Axl's boarding ticket receipt.  PLEASE NOTE THAT HE IS CHECKING 18 BAGS!!!   I know that you need a shit ton of stuff while touring, but that all would get checked separately by the roadies with the tour gear.  SO, that means this is all Axl's personal items.   Pretty different from his days entering the jungle:

Back to his show in show in Jakarta, Indonesia after the jump...

Back in High School

Paul  Stanley

Eddie Van Halen (he could almost pass for Valerie Bertanelli here.  Weird)

Tommy Lee and his sweet 13 year old mustache.

Steven Tyler or Howard the Duck?

James Hetfield 

 

 Kirk Hammet

Marilyn Manson

Gene Simmons

 

Slash!

Last but not least - Dave Mustaine

Secret Axl 'N Hired Guns show at John Varvatos last night!!!

Last night I found myself at a Seventh Void headlining show at the Highline Ballroom.   Seventh Void are made up of Kenny Hickey and Johnny Kelly from Type O Negative fame.  They're a good band.  But, this review is not about their show.  Some time during their set I got wind that Axl's new version of GNR was going to hit the stage over at the John Varvatos store on the Bowery.  Obviously, I thought there was no fucking way that Axl was going to play at the former CBGBs at 1am on a school night, but the rumors kept circulating and eventually I figured that if it was true, and I chose to miss it, well then I would be really fuckin pissed.

So, 1am rolls around and me and a few friends headed over to Varvatos.  The door was wide open and we ran like fat kids to a cake once we heard the music that was coming from inside.   It was true, Guns N Roses were playing a secret show, for free, and somehow we made it in.  That was a surreal moment.

After pushing our ways up to the front, we managed to catch the first song (You're So Crazy), and by the second song (Mr. Brownstone) the place was beyond packed.  All the clothes were removed from the store, but even so the venue must have held only around 200 people tops.   Those people included  Sebastian "Axl is my best friend" Bach, Kevin Bacon, the Oslen gnomes,  Alberta Cross and I am sure a few other notables, but no one could be bothered by them with Axl on stage.

As far as the actual show goes- the only thing that could have made it better was if it was the original lineup up there.  Otherwise the band consisted of DJ Ashba and Bumblefoot on guitar, Dizzy Reed on keys, Tommy Stinson on bass and Frank Ferrer on drums.  Axl looked and sounded great.  His voice was dead on and even on a 10 foot wide stage he managed to run around and do all the trademark Axl moves.  The vibe of the show was indescribable - everyone was so happy to be there and sung along with every word.  Even though it was packed, you could still move around and had room to breath.  Axl interacted with the crowd, smiling and slapping everyones hands.  I was amazed to see how un-nnoyed he was was by the cameras people were flashing literally inches from his face.  The show lasted about an hour and 45 minutes and included a massive 17 songs.  17 songs!  And surprisingly they were mostly the classics.  He only played a couple off of Chinese Democracy, and even tossed in a cover of AC/DCs 'Whole Lotta Rosie'.   It was an unbelievable night.

The set list:
1. You're Crazy
2. Mr. Brownstone
3. I Used To Love Her
4. Welcome To The Jungle
5. Street Of Dreams (Blues)
6. Sorry
7. It's So Easy
Then Axl chatted a little bit and introduced the band to the crowd. I think it was John Vavatos who came out and introduced Axl
8. Patience
9. Rocket Queen (probably my favorite song of the night, vocally dead on)
(some jam thing, most guitars)
10. Catcher In The Rye (This sounded great)
11. My Michelle
12. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
13. Whole Lotta Rosie
14. Paradise City
The band left the stage for a minute, but came back pretty quickly for an encore.
15. Sweet Child O' Mine
16. This I Love
17. Nighttrain

And some pictures.  Note Axl's hair is real, he appears to have a handlebar moustache, and he sweats... alot.