Fizzles and Bringdowns 2009

January 17
VH1's Sober House Premieres. Steven Adler shows up wasted, with syringes in his pants pockets, and a tin foil package full of heroin down his pants. Chaos ensues and he gets taken to the home of a staff member to spend the first night, both to protect himself and the other participants.

January 26
Steven Adler is arrested again.

January 27
A mere 8 weeks after it's release, Chinese Democracy plummets to number 57 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

January 29
Former Guns N' Roses manager Alan Niven tells Classic Rock magazine that Axl fired him "to wrestle control of GN’R!" Of the new GN’R, Niven comments: “Y’know, everyone has the right to make the music they want to with whomever they wish. But just be up ’n’ up about it. All this ‘last man’ standing stuff from Axl is horseshit. He wore us all out. Drove us all off. And for a personality like Axl, solo work only makes sense. If he wants to be Elton Rose then more power to him. Go for it. Pull it off. He has the talent to do that. But don’t pretend that one person alone represents the idea of Guns N’ Roses."

February 6
Axl Rose breaks his silence and gives his first public interview in 9 years with Billboard magazine. He addresses rumors of an upcoming tour, "no plans, but there's talk. Management and our promoters are really excited with the offers coming in both here and worldwide." Axl mentions that they're "finalizing a video for 'Better' and writing a couple others now." On the subject of Slash, Axl had this to say "one of the two of us will die before a reunion and however sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is. Those decisions were made a long time ago and reiterated year after year by one man. Anyone putting his own personal entertainment above everything else is sickening."

February 9
Matt Sorum reveals that Velvet Revolver hopes to announce their new vocalist in April.

February 9
Steven Adler heads back to rehab (again).

Febraury 9
The third single from Chinese Democracy, "Street of Dreams," appears on eBay and YouTube. It is never played on the radio, seen in stores, acknowledged by the band or heard from again. Copies of the promo disc are fetching over $150 a piece on eBay.

February 13
Regarding Velvet Revolver's new singer, Duff McKagan tells Opie and Anthony that "I think we have the guy ... yeah. You'll be blown away by the quality. I think we have the right guy. We all know he's killer."

February 14
Nick Sterling auditions for Guns N' Roses.

February 18
Jimmy Fallon says that he wants Axl Rose to appear on his new late-night show. Jimmy calls Chinese Democracy "awesome."

February 23
Rumors of a European festival tour begin to trickle in. Organizers of Spain's Kobetasonik festival list Guns N' Roses as a headliner on the festival's web page. Other rumored dates include June 26 in Norway, August 1 at the Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth, England and June 12-14 at the Download Festival also in England. There are also reports of dates in Italy for the month of June.

February 27
Axl is interviewed by his longtime friend Del James. In the interview Axl says the he considers Slash "a cancer and better removed, avoided -- and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters, the better." In regard to a release date for the sequel to Chinese Democracy Axl says he has no idea and that he doesn't care.

March 4
Rolling Stone reports that Axl Rose intends to follow last November’s release of Chinese Democracy with a worldwide Guns N’ Roses stadium tour this summer. Guns’ manager, Irving Azoff, tells Rolling Stone that the band has big plans for this year. "We have some exciting things in the works this year for GN’R, I’m looking forward to it." Hits Daily Double reports that a co-headlining tour with Van Halen is in the works. Rumors suggest that Guns' set will feature a full orchestra and lavish stage show.

March 5
Canadian Sports Station, TSN, announces a contest to win a trip to see Guns N' Roses perform live "somewhere in the world."

March 9
Velvet Revolver demos with Gord Prior leak.

March 18
Bass Player magazine publishes an interview with Tommy Stinson where he mentions tour dates beginning in April. "I have a feeling it's going to happen, but I'm not holding my breath. It seems that every time that ball starts rolling, it rolls a bit Like a square wheel at first."

March 20
An update on Nomad Recording Studio's MySpace page reads "JT Longoria is the process of mixing new tracks for Izzy Stradlin" As of today (July 24), there is still no release date for this record.

March 21
Guns N’ Roses add guitarist DJ Ashba for “upcoming tour.” The phrase "upcoming tour" is later redacted from the band's website.

March 26
Duff McKagan's Loaded announce Spring tour dates.

April 14
Chinese Democracy comes to the Rock Band 2 videogame.

April 17
Sick, the new album from Duff McKagan's Loaded, sells 1,400 copies in the United States its first week of release.

April 22
Guns N' Roses front-of-house engineer, Ken "Pooch" van Druten appears in a pair of videos discussing the band's Waves audio set-up for their upcoming tour. Pooch talks about the challenges of live mixing a 9-piece band. You can hear the musicians rehearsing "Sweet Child O' Mine" in the background. The videos are removed from YouTube in a matter of hours and the tour is called off several days later.

April 28
Richard Fortus tells KDHX 88.1 FM that Guns "hopefully, will be announcing dates soon, I hope."

April 30
Matt Sorum tells Joe Bosso at MusicRadar that Velvet Revolver needs "a singer soon. We need the right guy in six months. We can't wait another year. Otherwise, it might not matter."

May 7
Slash appears as a mentor on American Idol's rock week.

May 19
Bumblefoot jams with Duff McKagan's Loaded at the Gramercy theater in New York City.

June 1
Slash announces that Izzy Stradlin will play with him on his upcoming solo album.

June 7
The NY Daily News reports that Axl Rose has fired and rehired his manager, Irving Azoff, at least three times in the last five weeks.

June 15
Amazon announces a June 30 release date for the Chinese Democracy guitar tablature book. As of today (July 24) it has not been released.

June 16
New, alternate artwork for the Chinese Democracy booklet appears online. An indie record store in Hollywood is selling copies of the promotional disc for $100. A rep at Universal told me that there are no plans to re-release the album.

June 30
Slash and Friends play the Quart festival in Kristiansand, Norway. The 90 minute set featured appearances from Ron Wood, Ozzy Osbourne and Fergie. The band, which featured Franky Perez on lead vocals, covered songs by Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Velvet Revolver, The Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses, Black Sabbath and more.

July 7
Mister Saint Laurent resurfaces in an attempt to obtain and release a collection of hoarded, unheard songs from the Chinese Democracy sessions. He is, unfortunately, unsuccessful.

July 14
Blogger Kevin "Skwerl" Cogill is sentenced to 1 year probation for leaking 9 songs from the Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy. "No fines, no restitution, no jail."

July 15
A live chat with new Guns N' Roses guitarist DJ Ashba fails to deliver any information on the group.

July 17
Slash tells Classic Rock magazine that Velvet Revolver is "at a standstill."

July 23
Kevin Cogill tells the GN'R Syndicate that Beta Lebeis' son Fernando lied to the FBI and was responsible for past leaks of GN'R material. "He may have been trying to play hero to redeem himself, or he may have mistakenly thought he was somehow responsible. I don’t know."

What's in a name?

The Philadelphia Inquirer
Head Strong: It sounds familiar but looks different
OPINION by Michael Smerconish

For many of us, Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of Summer and the launch of the concert season. The slate of bands stopping in Philadelphia, Camden, and Atlantic City this year looks mostly the same as it did 25 years ago.

Jimmy Buffett. Jackson Browne. Chicago. The Allman Brothers. Def Leppard is touring with Poison and Cheap Trick. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Eric Clapton is out with Steve Winwood. The Doobie Brothers. Peter Frampton. REO Speedwagon. Fleetwood Mac. Aerosmith.

Many of the bands hitting the road this summer - Styx, Yes, Foreigner, and Guns N' Roses - remain household names. But see them live and you'll notice a difference onstage, and not just the expanding waistlines. Many bands are back for an encore, even if the musicians in them aren't. It was inevitable, but many of rock's most successful acts over the last three decades aren't half the bands they used to be.

Seventies and '80s progressive rockers Styx are playing the Borgata this summer, even though guitarist James Young is the only original member remaining. Chris Squire, Steve Howe, and Alan White of Yes are touring again, though lead singer Jon Anderson isn't. Nor is keyboardist Rick Wakeman. His son Oliver is sitting in.

What's left of Foreigner - guitarist Mick Jones is the only founding member of the band still around - will land at the Tropicana Showroom in Atlantic City on July 31.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is still tragically star-crossed (bassist Donald "Ean" Evans died of cancer earlier this month). But that never stops "one more from the road," even though Gary Rossington is the only founding member still on the bus.

Most of the original funk-makers from War are on the road, they're just playing in different bands. Lonnie Jordan anchors the most recent incarnation, but the other original members have moved on to the Lowrider Band.

Not to mention Guns N' Roses, headlining Europe even though lead singer Axl Rose is the only guy you'd be able to pick out of a lineup. The rest of the original GN'R is missing in action, unless you count Slash's appearance in that Guitar Hero commercial.

It's worse for the real oldies, acts like the Coasters ("Yakety Yak") and the Platters ("Only You"). Today it's common practice for tribute bands to capitalize on famous names even though none of the original members is present or approving. There could be as many as 50 incarnations of the Coasters, for example, touring the country today. It's so bad that on three dates this summer the Coasters will be opening for the Coasters.

That explains the Truth in Music Act, which has been passed in more than 30 states - including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and which is working its way through Oregon's legislature. The legislation makes it illegal for performers to use the name of a band if the act doesn't include at least one original member.

Jon "Bowzer" Bauman, singer in the group Sha Na Na and lead proponent of the Truth in Music effort across the country, told me that bands' original members are the ones hit hardest by tribute bands masquerading as the real deal.

"It's a double whammy," he said. "The consumer, the fan, is paying good money. If it's going to be a tribute show, call it a tribute show. And people will pay their prices accordingly ... Don't be claiming you're the group if you're not the group."

That trend is now seeping into the acts of the '70s and '80s. And what it all amounts to is a severed connection between the music we grew up listening to and the people we're actually paying to see perform it today. The songs might sound the same and the set lists might look similar. But Foreigner without vocalist Lou Gramm? Just plain foreign.

Still, many of us keep shelling out big bucks to see musicians playing the songs we grew up on. Even though today albums aren't bought and collected. They're cherry-picked for one or two songs that fit into a playlist. Cover art has become an iTunes graphic. Liner notes? Killed off by Lyrics.com. These days, getting to know a band means becoming its fan on Facebook.

Then again, I remember something Gary Bongiovanni, the editor and founder of the music-industry trade publication Pollstar, told me last year about the bands still making a killing decades later. "There's a lot of demand to see these classic rock acts," he said. "I mean, they're really kind of the heritage of the rock music business."

Maybe it's that sense of nostalgia keeping the same old band names in business. After all, we're clearly still willing to play along for a night, even if it means holding up a cell phone in lieu of a lighter.