Axl Beats Down a Pap at LAX (...and the Media Scuttlebutt)

So much Guns N' Roses news ... so little time ...

Regarding the Axl/Paparazzi incident at LAX on December 10:

The first account came via LiveDaily (owned by Ticketmaster/Irving Azoff BTW),

At Los Angeles International Airport, Rose got into a scuffle with a paparazzo that ended up with a few bloodied participants. Even with Rose flying to Taiwan there is still concern about whether he will be in the mood to perform, a question that had been raised earlier in the week when the rest of the band flew to the gig without the singer.

TMZ picked up the story the next day, and they followed-it-up the next day with this video which proved that the whole thing was true:



Interestingly, a guy named "Tom" posted the following comment on page 2 of the TMZ article,

They'll probably delete this but this whole thing is a scam. I was at the airport that night and I'm actually in the video ... The paparazzi were taunting Axl for ages and the whole thing kicked off when one of the paparazzi knocked into his mom. This video looks as if it were shot by somebody at the airport but was in fact shot by one of the paparazzi team. We saw them all standing together laughing about this afterwards. So they basically MADE this news knowing that taunting him and shouting swears at him would piss him off. I think this is disgusting behavior from the press, shouting insults and curse words around families to elicit a response from a celebrity. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Also, if this is disputed I am prepared to go on record to expose the lengths this reporters will go to.

Posted at 12:11PM on Dec 11th 2009 by Tom

Guns N' Roses official(?) Facebook page issued a statement regarding the fracas,

Axl Rose Accosted by Belligerent Paparazzi at LAX

Lead singer of Guns N' Roses unhurt in encounter with unruly photographers


(Los Angeles) December 10, 2009 –
Axl Rose, lead singer for the legendary rock group Guns N' Roses, was unhurt last evening when he was accosted by an unruly group of paparazzi at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

At the time of the incident, Mr. Rose was en-route to Taipei, Taiwan, to kick-off Guns N' Roses’ tour of Southeast Asia including shows in Taiwan, Korea and Japan.

Mr. Rose, who was about to enter a security checkpoint at LAX when the altercation took place, was approached by a group of unchecked and unruly photographers who became aggressive with the singer and female members of the traveling group.

Mr. Rose was not injured during the unprovoked attack and was able to board his flight without further incident.

Next up, Rolling Stone published these awesome pictures of the scuffle:





If you're unfamiliar with the members of Axl's entourage, the young man in the leather jacket is Fernando Lebeis, son of Axl's personal assistant, Beta Lebeis (not pictured) who was apparently struck by the paparazzo "They hit our moother." The beautiful young woman restraining Mr. Rose in none other than Sasha Volkova, a model who has been linked to Axl for man years. Her artwork appears in the Chinese Democracy booklet.

But wait - there's more! This morning at 2:30 AM, Axl Rose released a statement via the band's official Facebook page. In it, he denies releasing the initial statement (above), "calls-out" manager(?) Irving Azoff, the press, and Kim Jong-il:

Axl Rose denies releasing press statement regarding rumored LAX incident. "I did not release any statement or authorize either any statement or anyone to release a statement regarding anything at any airport anywhere.

We had recently began working with newer individuals in management in relation to our current Asian tour in support of our Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" in addition to Irving Azoff's though as it happens we are once again touring Asia without management of any kind.

Imo this non sense may be some type of manufactured or publicity stunt.

We're looking forward to performing in Osaka and Tokyo Japan doubling our pyro show and with our "new" full stage as local requirement have limited us on its use in our last performances.

Thanks to everyone who's come out to see us. It's been really fun so far and the addition of our new guitarist Dj Ashba joining us along w/ guitarists Ron Bumblefoot Thal and Richard Fortus, gives the night a kick in the pants.

Hope to see the rest of you soon!!

And to any publications running this; please feel free to tack on whatever negative agenda supporting nonsense you generally do (You know who you are!!). After all it's only someone else's livelihood you media police state, no fun, spoil sport, communist bastards.

Peace!!"

The band's currently in Seoul, South Korea where the promote was "sorry" to inform them they would not be able to use a helicopter from the airport to the venue as North Korea would "wonder" what it is!!

CLASSIC AXL ROSE!

This stuff is too good.

Bob Dylan, the Creative Process and the Media

I borrowed a stack of CDs from the library this week. A mixture of old and new stuff: a Hollies anthology, the Franz Ferdinand disc (which I'd never heard and I like a lot), and a very good, live, Faces set.

One of them was Bob Dylan: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack. The liner notes are fantastic, and I had to share the following piece, written by musician Al Kooper, which I found to be particularly enlightening, especially this passage:

"With the success of the Highway 61 Revisited album, the pressure was on. New producer Bob Johnston suggested that Bob record the follow-up in Nashville with players that Johnston would handpick.

Dylan agreed to this gamble but insisted on bringing Robbie Robertson and myself along so that he would feel "comfortable" recording away from New York City.

Bob was still completing many of the songs when we arrived in Tennessee. A piano was installed in his hotel room. During the days, I was summoned to Bob's room. Bob would teach me the song he was trying to complete, and like a not-yet-invented cassette machine, I would sit at the piano and play the song over and over again, while he finished the lyrics. After a day of this, I made a suggestion to him:

'Bob, why don't you come to the session an hour late tonight? I will get there and teach the band this song and any others we worked on today. That way, you can just walk in, and we will know at least one or two songs that you won't have to sit through while we learn them.'

He assented; it worked out great that first night, and became the modus operandi of the rest of the sessions.

However the reverse could and would happen from time to time. Bob would arrive, go to the piano in the studio and start changing a lyric.

Sometimes he would be in there for four or five hour stretches. The band took it in good humor and played pool and ping pong, watched TV and catnapped.

One night a journalist somehow slipped in with a friend and was asked to come back later as Bob was writing. He returned four hours later and Bob appeared to be in the exact same position at the piano as when the journalist was originally expelled.

'Man...what is he ON?' the reporter asked no one in particular in a loud voice.

'Columbia Records.' Albert Grossman, Bob's manager replied as he showed the gentleman to the door."



The point is, at least for me, that the creative process is something that takes it's own time, and that the media (myself included) is always looking for the sensational story.

Now obviously one cannot compare the creative output of a writer as prolific as Bob Dylan (34 studio albums) with someone like Axl Rose who took 14 years to put out one record - but the point still stands, and it's food for thought.

Oh My God: 10 Years and 14 Songs Later ...

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the release of "Oh My God," the first single of the Chinese Democracy / New Guns era.

10 years later, and what have we got? A few short tours. One album. A whole lot of empty promises. Dozens of missed opportunities, and a handful of scapegoats: Slash, Jimmy Iovine, Buckethead, and Merck Mercuriadis (to name a few).

10 wasted years.

That's my opinion. What do you think? How would you rate Axl's performance as Captain of the Guns N' Roses ship?

You can leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

And now, without any further ado, here's my third favorite Axl rose press release:


September 22nd, 1999

So here's the story behind this music

The chorus: OH MY GOD etc. deals with the societal repression of deep and often agonizing emotions - some of which may be willingly accepted for one reason or another - the appropriate expression of which (one that promotes a healing, release and a positive resolve) is often discouraged and many times denied. Emotionally the song contemplates several abstract perspectives drawing from personal expression as well as from the film (End Of Days) and its metaphors. The appropriate expression and vehicle for such emotions and concepts is not something taken for granted.

Musically the song was primarily written by Paul Huge over two years ago, with Dizzy Reed writing the musical hook of the chorus.

Former member Duff McKagan as well as former employee Matt Sorum failed to see its potential and showed no interest in exploring, let alone recording the piece.

When the demos were played for the new band, Josh, Tommy and Robin were as they say 'all over it.'

Once the opportunity was presented, the song was given priority in our recording process. As the verse, performance and lyrics were decided on, for us (that especially includes Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine) the choice became obvious. We were more than pleased Mr. Roswell (the film's music supervisor) agreed! Our thanks to Arnold and all for the consideration - it is an association in which we have always felt honored.

Paul Huge, Gary Sunshine and Dave Navarro appear on the song as well as Robin Finck. Robin's part was written by Paul and extensively manipulated by our producer, Sean Beaven. Robin was not involved in the writing of the final recording though did participate in the arrangement. All lyrics were written by myself.

Additional programming (jack boots, screeching tires, etc.) was by Stuart White.

The fight of good vs. evil, positive vs. negative, man against a seemingly undefeatable, undeterrable, unrevealed destiny, along with the personal and universal struggle to attain, maintain and responsibly manage freewill can be and often is frustrating to say the least. In America our country's constitutional right to freedom of expression gives us a better chance to fight for that expression than many in other countries enjoy. It can be a big gig, like kickin' the crap outta the devil!

Power to the people, peace out and blame Canada,

Axl