Wolfmother and Slash Tear Up The Wiltern

RockisaGirlsBestFriend
"...During the encore Stockdale invited Slash out to play "By The Sword." Whatever the audience was doing before Slash hit the stage, they turned up 300 notches when he did take the stage. RockisaGirlsBestFriend

Charlie Sheen and Slash to Appear on 'Lopez Tonight'

Lopez Tonight

Charlie Sheen and Slash will appear on George Lopez's new TBS talk show, Lopez Tonight, on Monday, November 16 at 11 PM Eastern time.

Sheen, who has always been open about his years of excess drugs, drink and promiscuous sex, said that he once got some surprising advice from his rocker pal, Slash.

Sheen said, "One of my fondest memories is when Slash from Guns N' Roses sat me down at his house and said, 'You've got to clean up your act.' You know you've gone too far when Slash is saying, 'Look, you've got to get into rehab, you have to shut it down. You're going to die.' "He's a terrific guy and I love him - he's a buddy of mine - but I had to step back from that situation and go, 'Yeah, but you're Slash. Whaddya mean?'"

Slash Wanted to get Jack White on His Solo Album

The star tells all to MusicRadar

With the speculation about special guests continuing in earnest, Slash revealed to MusicRadar that the one artist he couldn't pin down to play on his forthcoming solo album was The White Stripes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather star Jack White.

Slash's eponymous solo album will be released early in 2010 on Roadrunner, with Classic Rock magazine set to bundle the CD with a special collectible issue a full four weeks before it is available online or in record stores.

"Pretty much everyone else that I went after I managed to get."

MusicRadar spoke to Slash yesterday following the Classic Rock Awards and heard the album, but for now their lips are sealed.

They can tell us that the supporting cast of guest musicians is very impressive indeed, and includes rock legends, pop starlets and some genuine surprises. But not Jack White.

Slash told them, "I wanted to get Jack White to sing on something, but he didn't want to sing. He said 'I'll play drums, I'll play guitar, but I don't wanna sing.' He was one guy that I wanted to work with. Pretty much everyone else that I went after I managed to get."

Keep an eye on MusicRadar in the very near future for a track-by-track guide to the Slash solo album from the man himself, plus his thoughts on what makes a killer guitar riff and his favourite riffs of all time as part of their forthcoming guitar-tastic Riff Week.

MusicRadar

Slash Signs European Deal with Roadrunner Records

via Blabbermouth
Roadrunner Records has announced the signing of guitarist Slash for the forthcoming European release of his debut solo album, Slash, in spring 2010.

Slash will see Roadrunner Records enter into a unique and innovative association with a UK media partner — the special-interest media group Future. In a brand new concept in record distribution the standard album release will be preceded by a "fan pack," in which the Roadrunner Records album will be bundled together with a highly collectable special issue of Future Publishing's Classic Rock magazine dedicated to Slash's career. This will be the first format of the album available anywhere in the world.

Slash will release a two-track CD single in Japan on November 11 containing the song "Sahara" (featuring singer Koshi Inaba of the Japanese hard rock duo B'Z) and a version of the GN'R classic "Paradise City" (featuring Cypress Hill and Fergie).

"Sahara" is expected to appear on Slash's forthcoming solo album. According to the guitarist, "the [record] is in its mixing stage and the mixes to this point sound great. We have recorded 18 songs, with one more I want to track." He added, "the record is still slated for a February/March release."

A Modern Classic

"You know, we've only done one show before this, and already we have been criticized for playing the old songs, but I have no intention, and I never did, of denying you something you enjoy, and I thought it was only fair for you to see that this new band can play the fuck out of these songs.

It's very hard to ask a musician to learn to play the part or parts played by other musicians before them. These guys here have worked very hard.

As for you guys ... On lead guitar here we have Mr. Buckethead. You've already met my friend Mr. Paul Tobias. On keyboards once again Mr. Dizzy Reed. On the drums - Brain, and on the keyboards over here, Mr. Chris Pitman. You've met Mr. Robin Finck, and leading us through these rehearsals, General Tommy Stinson.

This is a new song, I hope you like it, this is called "Chinese Democracy."

A Bit More Concerts ...

More Lefsetz readers' responses. Read part one here.

Kevin Lyman Responds

Only thing I will say we never take buy ons and merch rate is 10% or none for most bands...if someone will not put their name to a letter you should not post it.. because they don't really know what they are talking about .at least kid rock has an opinion and always will.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
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Bob,

Kid Rock's attack on Kevin Lyman is laughable, I was there in 1998. Warped Tour was an incredible concert event that is cost effective for fans and touring artists. Kevin is fair to the artists, he rewards those who work hard and are loyal and he punishes those who complain about their slots or act like rock stars. Kid Rock behaved terribly the whole 2 or 3 weeks he was on the tour, at the time he was nothing, he didn't contribute to the draw and it was basically a favor that he got booked in the first place, despite this he complained nearly everyday and treated people abhorrent.

At the time I was working for a small hardcore band named H2O, we did the tour that year in a Winnebago until it broke down, Kevin put all of us up for free in two tour busses that had spare bunks and we completed the tour. That summer was one of the best of my life, Deftones killed it everyday, we did a show in Wisconsin with Ozzfest called Skatin Meets Satan at Float Rite Park, a memorable day.

Perhaps what Kid Rock is really upset about is that Fletcher from Pennywise came out to visit that summer, Pennywise was not on the tour. Fletcher confronted Kid in Asbury Park, NJ and tore his gold chain off his neck and threw it away. Now, this was definitely an immature move but it was hilarious at the time and many felt deserved.

I have enjoyed an 11 year career in the touring business and I, amongst many others, owe a great deal of thanks and praise to Kevin Lyman. In addition to giving people great opportunities, he teaches a great ethic of work hard and be frugal.

Please withhold my name.

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I notice that some are taking a poke at Kevin Lyman and Warped Tour. I have been heavily involved in concert production, both from the promoter side and touring side, for over 20 years. I had the pleasure of being on Warped Tour 2 years in a row and I still don't think there is a better summer tour/festival. I watched the band I work for go from Warped Tour into Arenas, thanks in part to Warped Tour. All those bands and activities for that price cannot be beat. Usually, the bands spend all day walking around in the crowd, meeting their fans and joining the party. Bands get to make friends with other bands, and the crews do the same.

All the side stage bands do not have to buy their way on, although I'm sure that some do. Of course there are sponsorships, this is not the 60's anymore.

And the 30% merch that they are taking, they pay the venue merch rate with the bulk of that. I did a few shows where the venue didn't want to cut a deal. You should see them trying to count in merch for 70+ bands and have doors open by 11am. A total nightmare. After 15 years, they do what works. Do people make money, of course they do. And they do it without raping teenagers and their parents.

And as far as "biggest star in the world in 1998", sounds like sour grapes to me.

Gary Ferenchak

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Bob,

Your back and forth with Mr Fogel is interesting. While the numbers are impressive for this year's tour, I don't see how they can possibly expect more of the same for the next U2 tour if they release another empty, rambling, tepid, recycled album like 'No Line.' I used to have U2 on my list of bands that "you've gotta see before you die, man!!!" - not anymore. Sure, there's those diehards out there that will see them every time they come through, who show up because of 'The Joshua Tree', and the 'young money--pop the collar on your polo' crowd referenced earlier in an ACDC rant who has nothing better to do with their time or money. It's the rest of us who are really feeling jilted as of late, and are going to stop shelling out good cash for last century's crap with a new stage production on it.

It's not Broadway. It's freakin music.

--The point is-- that something smells. While things might still look good on the skin for now, this apple is rotten and eventually things are going to deflate.

Clearly 'too big to fail' doesn't apply to the concert promoters, as much as they'd like it to.

Chris Schetter

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Please withhold any identifying info.

Nickelback this and Nickelback that, but come to Southern California and they are having a tough time selling tickets. In Irvine just over 7,000 in a 15,000 person venue and San Diego they have sold 5,500 of 9100 but that is misleading because Blink 182 has sold over 18,000 at the same venue.

As for Liza you can buy all Gibson Amp shows with No Service fees at the Hollywood Palladium.

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There is an ex-president in Texas that should be getting all of this wrath, not one a concert company or musical act or another. None of this would be said in such a manner, if the economy didn't tank...

You all have such great passion to point out what's wrong in our little business, while your real anger should be at these people that suddenly made every one of us examine every dollar we spend on anything and everything, not just concert tickets!

Let's use this emotion to protest the real problems, and "tear down the war," which is the real issue? Did the 60's just tire everyone out on the topic of making a change?

Anytime commerce and art get together it is tough, always has been. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. We all love music and we all love the live spectacle. And everyone has always thought the ticket prices are too high, until the show they want to see comes. And now, everyone in this business is evil, is the feeling I get, when I read what everyone has to say.

There is competition for every show and in the end it comes down to who has the right combo of guarantee, venue, ticket price, amenities and so forth. All of your readers know that, the act has to say ok eventually, so why direct all of this nasty shit at promoters?

Meanwhile, all of the Monday morning quarterbacks are here running everyone down and I don't know what you are doing to make this better, and then there's the people who hold your name back and spout off...except Kid Rock, who always signs his name to his statements, which I always admire. The rest should be ashamed. Hit and run is illegal in most states.

Danny Zelisko

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I've run venues for 27 years in Australia.
In the 80's we were getting $2 out of $10 from an act and the act paid for the promo and supplied the PA. We paid a guarantee
In the early 90's we were getting $2 out of $20 and the act supplied the PA. We stopped paying guarantees and the act/promoter took the risk and did the promo.
By the late 90's we were getting $1/$2 out of $30-$40, we supplied the PA, and did more advertising.
Now we are getting $2 out of $50-$80, supply top line digital PA desks and lighting, video and do advertising, pay for security etc.

So don't whinge about the beer price and the extras.

The agents/promoters need to share everything around. If we got 10-20% of the gross we could keep prices in line.

The greed displayed by agents and managers in part echoes the conditions that brought down the economy in the last year. We are all in the same business and the greed brings us into disrepute and will affect sales.

Younger bands keep the prices down (on the whole) and ensure that fans are happy.

Will Springsteen miss the $10m if he lowers his prices?

If you piss off your audience enough they revolt.

It''s not the artist that suffers but the promoter who pays the guarantee.

And if your promoter suffers do you just move on, or do remember that your promoter built your career and help make your career and made you a lot of money in the past.

I love what I do and am happy to have had a long career in making people happy.

I like to think that I have showed integrity over my time. And that brings me business.

And agents/promoters who do the same continue to work with great artists.

And much like great record labels fans respect great promoters.

Neil Wedd
www.billboardthevenue.com.au
www.thornburytheatre.com
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Ryan Downey:

When Kid Rock says, " treated me like a bitch," what he means is, "Lyman refused to treat me like I'm better than everyone and instead treated me like anyone on the crew, at the merch table or in any band ever on Warped."

The Pennywise / Kid Rock / Warped Tour stuff came up a little bit in the exhaustive Oral History of Vans Warped Tour I wrote which appeared as the cover story in the most recent issue of Alternative Press.

I attempted to cover 15 years of history and did over 30 interviews. This was a minor, though entertaining, footnote. The anecdote came up a few times with a few people, so when I interviewed Fletcher (Pennywise -- like NOFX & Bad Religion, you know, "the California bands" -- is part of the heart and soul of the tour and has done it a zillion times) I asked him about it and he told me the story. Much of it made it into the piece.

From how the Warped Tour folks tell it, Kid Rock & his handlers were one of those camps like Alien Ant Farm who came on the tour with rock star attitude and didn't understand the communal and egalitarian way the tour was and continues to be run. So a drunken Fletcher went a little overboard and called him out for it in a comical way.

Did I contact Kid Rock for his side? No, as this was a large story about Warped Tour, not him. The little bit about Pennywise and Kid Rock served to illustrate a larger point about how Warped Tour operates: regardless of your style of music or place in the industry scheme of things, if you treat everyone with respect you will be respected. If you come into the punk world acting like you're hot shit -- even if you are -- you're going to get made fun of by the VWT family.

Plenty of others outside the punk world, from Sugar Ray to Katy Perry, DID figure out how to make the best of Warped and managed to get along within the community while blowing up their careers at the same time.

And Fletcher sees the humor in the whole thing now and doesn't begrudge Kid Rock his success one bit.

Kevin Lyman and Fletcher Dragge are two of the most down to earth, well-intentioned and honest people in this crooked business. I don't know Kid Rock and have never met him, but "down to earth" doesn't seem like his style. And that's cool because the world needs rock stars. It's just that the Vans Warped Tour does not.

Kid Rock and Warped Tour makes about as much sense as Kid Rock and iTunes, or Kid Rock and Twitter.

Different strokes, ya'll...

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Wow, this Lyman thread sure is interesting. The guy who worked for H2O hit the nail on the head (for the most part), but he withheld his name??? I think that sums up a lot - we all have to make a living and in these very challenging times we all don't want to offend anyone who can help in that. I bet he wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to make money working with Kid Rock, and why should he? He probably has mouths to feed. But, that is a statement in itself.

I was the Warped Tour marketing dude for its first two years (1995 and 1996), and it was indeed a great experience. 1995 was No Doubt, Sublime, Quicksand, Face to Face, L7, Orange 9mm; 1996 was Deftones, 311, Blink, Bosstones, NOFX, Unwritten Law and many others. At its core, it was the essence of punk rock. That spirit was instilled by Kevin.

In 2001, I was managing a band called Alien Ant Farm, who at the time, had the number one rock single in the world with their bad-ass cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal". They were not punk rock, and probably not unlike Kid Rock, they were on the tour for other reasons, and they were not so happy on that tour. They wanted to have prime slots (after all, they had a global number one single), and they let it be known, probably not very tactfully, that they expected the best slots, and more often than not, they did not get them. After an altercation with some real punk rock bands on the tour, they dropped off. Interestingly, Kevin called me that night genuinely asking that the band stay on the tour. They didn't. Kevin, being truly punk rock, was trying to teach them humility and gratitude in light of their explosive success, and also being a smart businessman, didn't want them to leave the tour. I'd be willing to bet that in hindsight the band wishes that they would have stayed on the tour and slugged it out like the other bands.

Ironically, the band accepted an invitation to appear at this summer's Warped Tour date in Pomona only days after Michael Jackson's death, one of their first gigs since reuniting after a hiatus (I haven't managed them since early 2007).

When I was booking shows at ski resorts in the early 90's with bands like No Doubt, The Offspring, Sublime, I needed professional production and I needed credibility, and Kevin provided both. Shortly thereafter, he hired me as the marketing dude when he launched the Warped Tour. He should not be condemned for building Warped Tour into a commercial machine; he should be applauded, just as Tony Hawk has done for skateboarding. If being "cool" has legs and broad appeal, it ultimately is sold to a larger audience. Kid Rock should know this, he has done the same thing, and I applaud him for that.

While Kevin and I have had a couple of challenges in our relationship, he is a good righteous dude, a true punk rocker, and a savvy businessman. He is one of my most valued mentors, and I am sure that there are dozens others like me who feel the same way. Truth is - we are all trying to get ahead and make a living in this business, and that isn't always easy, particularly in this environment.

Kid Rock and Kevin actually have a lot in common, the big one being success! I'd bet Kevin would invite Kid to perform on Warped anytime, and hey, maybe Kid should take him up on it. As Rodney King says, "can't we all just get along?"

Name included - JOHN BOYLE

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I was at the Warped Tour when Kid Rock played... He's great now, but was absolutely awful at those shows. As in "hold your hands over your ears" awful.

And Warped Tour isn't as much about the music anymore as it is about a "teen scene"... Although, if 10% of the kids get hooked on music, god bless em!

Richard Zweiback

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Seth Hurwitz:

there's just a few people that have stayed a true course on what they feel is right, and don't rationalize impure decisions by deciding that their money priority is holier than others

I don't know how he did it, but somehow Kevin Lyman has not fallen prey to success, and has not taken the bad path most everyone else has when they have created something good

I think it boils down to having fun

which isn't a matter of "getting it", or making having fun a strategy...it's either in you or it isn't, and the public always knows

Kevin still has fun, so the people that work for him have fun, and then the bands have fun, and then the people going to the show have fun

that's really how it works, and I look forward to the day when our business has finally ousted the ones that don't get it

you call it imploding...I call it karma

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Hey bob, not trying to beat this to the ground but as a band that has participated in the Warped Tour ten times, I can tell you that Warped's success isn't smoke and mirrors. The success is in the willingness of Kevin to take a chance on up and coming bands, to see past the horizon line on fads and fashion and keep on coming up with tour line ups kids want to see year after year. We never have paid more than 10% of merch, always have been treated equally out on the tour, and always name check the tour as one of reasons for our 16 year career. Just my two cents..

Vinnie Fiorello
Less Than Jake.

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Bob,

Long time reader, had to jump in on this one. Kevin is a stand up guy with a vision that he created on his own, from the ground up. This was all before any major talent buyer paid attention. Nobody was doing a festival tour for independent bands when he started. I was at that Warped tour date in Chicago the other day and was very happy to see how far the tour has come. You can't fault a guy who's seeing these types of numbers when his tour has maintained integrity for 15 years. I have learned that most people will diss someone who's having success, for no reason at all. I don't buy the concept that he's selling "cool" -- each year, he not only has the "latest" bands, but he books old school acts that played some of the very first years of the tour still, year in, year out. This IS a cool tour, you have the new and the old, something for everyone. I saw a number of people brushing 40 years old attending to see acts like Less Than Jake and NOFX. People should stop using "band math," $40 x Sellable Capacity = Promoter's Profit......don't work that way, festival tours are expensive to produce. $40 ticket price is a steal for a day at this tour. Kevin stepped out and gave a handful of acts their first shot by booking them on his tour. If anyone has done it the right way, it's him.

Best,
Lucas Keller
Uppercut Management

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KL would not take my $ for buy on. Lord knows I tried.

J.M. Busch

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You know Kevin is not gonna remember, but we were fortunate enough to get him to speak at a conference of production pros about five years ago. Even then he was way ahead of the curve and i still find myself talking about him as an example of how to make touring work in the "brave new world" of digital distribution and the total irrelevance of record companies. He is--IMHO--an example of what is RIGHT about the biz


Bill Evans
Editor, Front of House Magazine

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Hey Bob,

I can vouch for Lyman on how he handles WARPED bands. I rep a band that recently did four dates on the Kevin Says Stage and one on the Ernie Ball stage at WARPED. The band IONIA, is a local draw around New York and New Jersey; Kevin gave us a chance, we did not buy on to anything but an insurance rider (which was cheap and easy), we were allowed to keep all of our merch sales, and we had a great time mixing into the fans, bands and pop culture. From what I saw, the thousands of teens at all of the venues we played at, were having a great time meeting their favorite bands, buying merch, and giggling at each other - looked good to me.

I just went to All Points West, and although Jay-Z was epic, the food and drink prices were aristocratic, and a shirt cost $45 - I didn't see one giggling teen spending any money within miles of that spot. I am guessing APW took a bath (all puns intended due to the rain) compared to the three local WARPED dates to NYC.

As for Kid Rock - This year, there is a band named GALLOWS out of the UK that is on the WARPED tour; they are super hardcore punk rock. On numerous occasions during their set they "called out" the more glitzy teen-pop bands on the tour. Those bands that are a bit more studio oriented, consumable radio play types. I can only imagine the situation that would occur if Kid Rock was in the pit of a GALLOWS set at WARPED; wow pandemonium.

Eric Ervin
EEP! Artist Management

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I just spent two days at the Warped Tour in Saint Louis and Kansas City. The bands there are pouring their souls on the ground every day to thousands of fans and building followings the old fashioned way....they are earning them. Kevin and his team are giving these bands a chance to play on a stage every day to hone their message and their talent......he should be praised and thanked for his 15 year commitment.

Marty Albertson

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Kevin Lyman is one of the biggest contributors to the music industry and to letting artists grow as well as management companies, specialized products who help the industry and families all across the world. He has also blessed me personally and artists I have worked with who have needed a reason to go on.

Bruce Hablutzel pres.Starzz Promotions and Management...

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Lonn Friend:

Great Kevin moment. I'm with Richie and Jon in Vancouver while they're tracking Keep the Faith and Lollapalooza comes through town. I convince the boys they need to see Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. Jon is not interested, Richie is. We're standing on the stage and a downpour ensues. Eddie is swinging from an electrical vine like a crooning Chimpanzee the rain starts pouring down in Biblical sheets. The canopy is really sketchy were we're huddled. Kevin comes over and says, 'Lonn, it's dangerous up here, you should take the guys off stage." If memory serves, I said, "Dude, you tell 'em." So Kevin delivers the news to Jon that it would be best to move but Jon shot back one of those looks that if it could speak would have sounded something like, "it's cool, man. I'm Jon Bon Jovi. Lightning would bounce off of me." Kevin gave me what I will describe as snicker, turned his head to my guests and said, "Hey man, I know who you are but you're getting off my stage now because I am responsible for you."

Kevin Lyman ran production on the Palladium RIP parties, local live urban legend. Only time a band didn't hit their mark was at the 7th and last party where the aforementioned Bon Jovi headlined later that 92. Kalodner asked me if Jackyl could open and I said sure, but Jessie James has to chain saw on stage the disgusting sofa from my office, a relic of the HUSLTER studio where god knows what found its way into the cushions. Sure enough, during the Lumberjack song saw solo, Jessie went to work, foam and material flying everywhere. End of set, Kevin comes over and says, "Thanks, Lonn, for making a fucking mess of my stage! I'm gonna need another five minutes." Then his face cracks and a genuine smile appears. Kevin Lyman is the best.

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Merch rates are retarded at some venues. Although some bands go too far. A fifty dollar tank from motley and areosmith is just greedy when the top cost is 9 bucks!!!!

Average percentage is 25. I love venues that do 20 but that is becoming very rare.

Sue

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Arthur Fogel lies. In Barcelona none of both shows sold-out. OK, you can call it a success as most of the tickets for the enormous 90,000 seat stadium were sold. But there were hundreds of tickets at the boxoffice the first night, and a few thousands the second night. Technically Fogel will say it's soldout, and will be proud of his fake numbers. Truth is scalpers were selling at super cheap prices because no one was buying. Truth is, I asked at least 20 people about the show... most people were dissapointed. Weak performance, lots of technology to blind us and make it all look spectacular and hide the poor new songs they were playing. Ands for the bad view is some parts of the stadium, and for the ridiculously high prices (150 euros) for what whas supposed to be the best and closer seats. A circus is what it was. Of course, Mr.Fogel will keep on preaching us. Fuck him and fuck them all the stupid greedy people (artists included) in the music biz. They should get out in the street and check with fans.

Please don't put my name if you publish this.

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Hi,

In another (almost literally) galaxy, the rule of thumb for big shows was that 85-90% of the gross went towards all expenses involved. A sell-out (term seems used rather loosely of late), was 100% sold, and that last 10-15% was the clear profit. Nobody was smiling until 9/10ths of the seats had gone, at face price. All calculations were based on that knowledge; you could boast about selling 19,000 tickets in a 20K venue, and it looked like a good house; and of course you could paper the upper-tiers, and it looked like a great house. Neither good in the former instance, and certainly not even good but pathetic in the latter, of course.

We had AGENTS then, like Frank Barsalona and Barbara Skydel at Premier Talent, and menschy promoters like Delsener and Graham, and they gave the artists and mgmt. a clear picture of possibilities & options.

A clear picture is NOT what I'm getting from these U2 stats that you are battling over w. the producers of the tour. I rely on you for the clear picture. How do these putatively astronomical numbers work out in real life these days?

Please, help me through the smoke and mirrors of the concert industry in 2009.

Best,
Danny Fields

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Bob,

U2 is doing a groundbreaking tour that most people I speak to (in the 23-30 year old age bracket as I am 25) are excited about it yet instead of applauding them you and many of your readers just sound ignorant in being negative abt this tour. This band is selling hundreds of thousands of tickets per market and you call it "cracks in the edifices". Does a band have to underplay a market for you to consider the tour a success? We should be applauding Live Nation for finding a way to open up the capacities in these venues to include more people. Since when is being inclusive a bad thing. This is not the 60's, your favorite band is not going to play a club for 10 dollars a head. Everyone needs to stop crying about the golden age and enjoy the fact that many older bands are still able to perform and do so at a very high level. And the idiot who said something abt U2's new album having long term effects on there ticket sales is not giving U2 enough credit. This band has enough hits that they will sell out arenas for the legnth their careers without putting out another record. Most people going want to hear the classics they grew up listening to anyway. Also, blaming the promoters for lack of breaking new bands is also ignorant. So many different forms of music exist now and so many more societal niches exist that there are going to be less bands that appeal to the masses. It is common sense but it doesn't mean the business is falling apart, rather you are going to see more bands that cater to abt 5-10,000 fans per market in the future then arena bands and I don't know that there is anything wrong with that.

Jarred Arfa

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Bob:

The problem with the concert industry is debt, debt, and more debt. Look at the Live Nation and Ticketmaster debt load on the following Morningstar and Standard and Poor links.

http://quicktake.morningstar.com/Stocknet/san.aspx?id=288597

http://www.alacrastore.com/research/s-and-p-credit-research-Research_Update_Ticketmaster_Entertainment_Corporate_Credit_Rating_Cut_To_BB_Still_Watch_Neg_Live_Nation_B_CCR_Still_Watch_Pos-711224

The debt load is a combined $1,751,000,000.00 that's billion not millions. Their future if they merge will be to buy everything under the sun and fee the concert going public to death. Drive premium seats to Ticketmaster's secondary market. There is no other way to make their debt payments and show a profit, it will not come from the marginal profit deals that the promoters receive from the agencies, artist and management.

The SFX consolidation that grew to be Live Nation is a failure. There are indy promoters of all sizes like Jam, Bowery, IMP, and Another Planet. AC, Superfly that are profitable. They are not over employed, and show yearly growth. But being a national promoter you are trying to make one size fit all.

Of course Blink 182 sold out in their hometown, of course Bob (Kid Rock) sold out two stadium shows in his hometown on Detroit. That is what hometown bands should do. Look at these two acts' business in Miami, Raleigh or Kansas City and get a reality check

Live Nation has priced themselves out of the market, with the national tour promoter business model. What works in Detroit does not work in San Diego.

I was recently in the Fillmore in San Francisco, and all I can say is spend some money on upkeep. If Bill Graham ever saw a venue in that kind of disrepair his screaming voice would still be echoing thru the streets of San Francisco. Live Nation venues across the country are not well kept and the monies for general maintenance do not exist. One day Live Nation, and the artists will realize it all starts with the fans, and greed will kill you in the end if the debt load does not get you first.

Bob withhold my name if you post this

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"Did you really think people were going to want to overpay to see the Stones, believing this was the last tour, when that whisper campaign began TWO DECADES AGO?"

Bob,

Two? Try FOUR !!

The Stones' first "farewell tour" was in 1969 !!! Look hard enough and you can still find their "1969 farewell tour" T-shirts!

M. Krivin

___________________________________

i played for $250 tonite in a crowded, loud, smokey bar where the only draw was the $1.50 beers-- certainly not me...most people are there to get drunk and meet a girl-- and not for the music...my job is to keep the beer flowing and the guys thinking they can get laid....im actually quite good at that! i make about $50,000 a year playing in and around DC as a solo acoustic act and the patrons of these bars are getting the covers of the orginal artists for free!! in fact, last nite, someone told me i did a better cover than the original artist! maybe thats where all this live "concert" shit ya'll are blabbering about is heading: to small local bars where the music is heard free and costs are covered by alcohol....rock on!

Jon Fritz

___________________________________

Bob,

The "superstars" may be having a tough summer, but the jambands are killing it. Low ticket prices, long shows, great bills, lots of value for the dollar, that's always been our business plan. Fans first, that's our deal.

Of course you already know all of this, but I feel like it is getting lost in all the talk about live nation/ticketmaster etc.

The biscuits have had our biggest summer ever, by far, with shows in the 6000-10000 range throughout the summer. Sure we had our "Clevelands on a Wednesday", our smaller club shows, but the kids love those shows, and they are a nice change of pace from our red rocks show that don strasburg rolled the dice on.

How does an unknown band do 7000 people at red rocks? With great support and a low ticket price. 8 hours of non-stop music, all for $36. And priced to sell, that is exactly what we did. Kids came from all over to see it, just like they do for all jamband shows.

So in our little world, the music business IS alive and well. We had two successful summer festivals that we own, Camp Bisco and Bisco Inferno (our red rocks fest), and a host of other successes.

One bit of interesting info, advance sales have been down, while day of show sales have gone through the roof. Promoters are freaking out leading up to the show, but we have to tell them again and again, there is nothing to worry about, the shows have all been great, our fans are just sick of paying 40% more for their tickets by using ticketmaster. And time and time again we have walked away selling more tickets than ever before.

And then, of course, there is phish. Not many people are mentioning it, but one band doesn't have any trouble selling out shed shows instantly. $49 for a four hour show. It comes as no surprise to me that it is a band within our genre, where the quality of music and value for the fan is the focus. Even knowing that I can most likely get walked in the back door, I have no problem shelling out the $50 to see my favorite band in top form.

As for selling our new album, that's where we are going to have to get really creative. We have a plan to roll the album out in bits, two singles at a time, complete with remixes, videos, and all kinds of other interesting content. We'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers, love the blog,

Marc Brownstein

___________________________________

Ladonna Vivaldi:

So in the midst of all of this promoter/agent/ticket gouging/bashing going on back & forth, the one culprit who remains nameless is the artist. Among the reasons Live Nation has razor thin margins, and is supposedly laying "on their death bed" (hey, at least Arthur Fogel had the BALLS to sign his name to his rant, you spineless name-withheld coward), and is resorting to these apparently desperate deeply discounted no-fee free Weds whatever measures, is because they are beholden to the preposterous fees imposed by the same artists who deign to take the stage and claim allegiance to their fans.

It's all bullshit. Which is why I am ripping their tunes freely and downloading their torrent concert DVD's as a result of not actually being able to afford to attend their live performances.

The last show I saw was Radiohead, and after realizing that my prized $45 ticket turned into a roughly $90 ticket after service fees, facility fees and parking, I vowed never to support that machine again. For the record, every second of that concert was worth it, but rare is the act who can warrant such unsurpassed musicianship and dazzling artistry. Certainly not Madonna or Britney today, perhaps U2 back in the day, but now it's all about spectacle as Mr. Fogel says, the bigger the better. Anything to detract from the lack of genuine talent.

I demur with Mr. Fogel, there is much more that fans want than just a dizzying visual distraction. I don't particularly feel a deep emotional or spiritual connection with Bono on the giant video screen, as I once did when I could literally just elbow my way up to the stage and be within spitting distance of him, without having to pay "Golden Circle" or VIP prices.

It used to be about having the gumption and the passion to be willing to go hand in hand, toe to toe, with the artists you believed in, because as a fan we felt they believed in us. They needed us to survive, just as much as we needed them to feel alive. Now, they mock us, and expect us to pay for their privileged, blingtastic, chauffeured, private-jetted, failed album lifestyles. So fuck Bono, fuck Madonna, fuck the Stones, fuck Beyonce, and all of them. They will find out sooner or later that their fans have better things to spend their hard earned $200-$300-$400 on than lip-synched, tape-enhanced parodies of rock stars.

So don't hate Live Nation, all they're doing is trying to deliver entertainment, but they're just at the mercy of greedy artists and their Shylock managers with their ridiculous 85/15, 90/10, 95/5 + all-in deals, now they want a cut of everything from parking to concessions too. They're the ones causing Live Nation to increase everything from the price of parking to hot dogs. One day it will (and should) come to light that very seemingly altruistic, popular artists do scalp their own tickets, raking in generous profits from secondary markets, and are nothing short of hypocritical mercenaries. But boomers do as boomers can (we are one stupidly bloated, shallow generation), and as long as they can afford the Amex Platinum fees, they will continue to perpetuate this gluttonous cycle. Like I said, no more live concerts for me until this whole mess settles down.

Time to start pointing the finger in the other direction, and boycott the artists. When promoters finally refuse to pay their exorbitant fees, just let them try to put on their own concerts and pay for their own productions, crews, insurance, busses, catering, etc. I'll bet you suddenly ticket prices would be a lot lower if it was their own money on the line.

___________________________________

Bob, funnily enough, I wrote about this the other day, and I thought you might be interested:

http://www.download-not-available.com/quick-takes/what-live-entertainment-can-learn-from-chic-fil-a

and on the implosion in sales of concerts, this has been happening in less obvious ways for several years already. In fact, last year was the aberration, with concert sales up. Back in '06, I believe it was, concerts had a terrible year because they were relying too much on the old acts. That hasn't gotten any better, but a couple of fresh names (The Police and AC/DC) momentarily freshened it up.

While of course I'm bullish on live entertainment overall, the Big Rock Star model of concert going is definitely petering out. The future is a niche market, and some of those niches will be incredibly profitable.

I don't know if you're familiar with my company, but I'm the CEO of Goldstar (www.goldstar.com), and although we're the world's biggest seller of half-price tickets online, our service is designed around getting people out to live entertainment more. When you ask our members what they like about us, the first thing they say is usually "I find out about shows that I'd never have known about" and then second is "and the prices are great." We learned last year that 84% of the time, people come to Goldstar without a clue what show they want to see and we actually connect them to one. This is the inverse of the traditional business.
_Or as I like to say it, most of the industry finds buyers for its tickets. We find tickets for our buyers. In other words, we serve the 850,000 or so people who are Goldstar members and make sure we've always got lots of things for them to do.

The price is a way to remove barriers to trial. Our venue partners tell us that 80 to 90% of the people we send them are people they would never have seen otherwise, so the whole point of the exercise is to grow the pie for live entertainment.

And the reason we do it (besides having a profitable business and making a living) is because we believe live entertainment (and not just music, btw) is great and makes peoples' lives better. It makes them more social, connects them to the places they live, makes them smarter and more interesting, gives them interesting things to talk about. It's good.

And we also know that people like to go out to live stuff a lot but don't get out as often as they'd like. We try to cure that.

Anyway, that's more than I intended to write, but since you think and talk about these issues a lot, I thought I'd add a strain or two of thought into your concoction.

Jim McCarthy
CEO, Goldstar

Perversion and Pain

Prostitute (Phrozen Version)

“Scott Weiland is like George Bush to me – I like him now that he’s gone…”

Classic Rock
Slash was unhappy throughout his entire career in Velvet Revolver – and working on his forthcoming solo album has given him a new creative lease of life. The former GN’R/VR guitarist has been talking to Classic Rock about the dissolution of VR and how the band’s split with Scott Weiland pushed him work by himself on a solo album.

“Now at this point I can talk about it,” says Slash. “I always support whatever group I’m playing with – I’ll never say anything bad about them while I’m in it. But fuckin Velvet Revolver – that was the toughest five years, dealing with that band, just because of the obvious [Weiland] and really, really bad management. Joke management for the entire time.

“For some reason in that entire five years I could never be happy. I could never get comfortable and happy with it because it was such a fucking mess. That last tour in the UK was the first time I ever had any fun in that band – because I knew that Scott was leaving and it was a huge relief.

“But, all things considered, Scott to me is now like George Bush – y’know, I like him now that he’s not here. I have nothing bad to say about Scott, but he doesn’t work well with others in a group situation. So towards the end I had written a bunch of music and there were a lot of restrictions because of him writing in Velvet and a lot of stuff that I wanted to do was just sort of squelched. Y’know Slither happened and Fall To Pieces and a couple of other songs I wrote, but it didn’t have the direction that the group – especially before Scott came into it – really set off in. Especially on that last record – which I still think is a good record, but was a lot mellower than [I would have liked].

“Anyway, so I was writing a lot of material and on that last UK tour I started taping a lot of stuff and when I got home I was like, ‘I need to get away from this group situation – I just need to be in control of something and do things my own way’. So it was a relief. And we’ll see – it’s not really about trying to make the biggest record in the world, but I will support it. I’ll go out there and do what I have to do to make sure that people go out there and listen to it cos I think it’s a cool record.”

How will that affect Velvet Revolver?

“Well Duff’s on tour, I’m doing my record, so it’s sort of at a standstill. I haven’t heard any amazing submissions from singers as of late, so I might… Y’know, Velvet when it finds the right guy will be amazing, but I’m in no rush. I’m not freaking out – because that’s how we got Scott in the first place. He was the first decent guy that came up.”

After the Norway gig everyone is going to think Franky Perez is the guy.

“I thought about that. Yeah, Franky’s fucking bad ass. You know, he did some time with Velvet but I think because I was so preoccupied with my record nothing really came of it. Anyway, we’ll see what happens. When my record comes out there’s going to be a lot of different things that I can do so what happens as far as Velvet is concerned – we’re going to be on a hiatus until we lock together and say, ‘Hey, these are our options, let’s see what we’re going to do’. I don’t know if Franky is going to be the guy or what – he’s just a really, really good singer. Even Ozzy came up and said, ‘Who the fuck is that guy? He’s fucking great!’ He actually said: ‘What the fuck am I doing up here? He’s the one that should be singing…’”

In Norway, Franky Perez confirmed that he had worked with VR in the last six months: “I’ve probably known Slash a little under a year. We have this mutual friend and we’ve run into each other a few times but we met – actually met, met – about six months ago. And then I was working with Velvet Revolver for a little bit and then Slash started doing his solo record…”

So you worked with VR after Weiland left?

“Yes. So I got to hang out with all the guys and started working with them and then about the same time Slash had to work on his solo project and Duff was doing Loaded so that dissipated, but the great thing is that I got to have a great relationship with Slash.”

Did he realise that the internet was going to be filled with ‘Franky-is-the-new-Velvet-Revolver-frontman’ stories?

The singer just smiles and shrugs: “Well, you know, if the opportunity comes around, I’m ready.”

For a full interview with Slash & Friends, see Classic Rock 136, on sale 19 August.

Axl Rose: Do You Know Where You Are?

John over at Addictive Thoughts has written a sad and thought-provoking article addressing Axl Rose and Chinese Democracy. An excerpt follows.

In 1999, Axl Rose spoke with MTV’s Kurt Loder over the phone. Their discussion centered on the inevitable: the former rock star’s withdrawal from the public eye and the details of his pending record, 2000 Intentions, which Rose claimed had just received a new working title: Chinese Democracy.

Over the span of the following decade, these two words would take on an immeasurable notoriety and inadvertently come to represent the decay of the traditional music industry. If Guns N’ Roses’ early career – with the band’s all-time-best-selling debut album — was representative of the old industry’s peaks, Chinese Democracy would signify the final nail in its coffin.

One can’t help but wonder what, exactly, the effect of Chinese Democracy might have been if it had been released in 1999; after all, this was the year nu metal arguably hit its commercial zenith, with the likes of KoRn and Limp Bizkit roaring across the airwaves. (I need not point out how insufferable this era was.) Most classic rock bands were dead; the era of cash-grab reunions had yet to begin, since the grunge movement hadn’t exactly reinstated rock ideals; and some of the last groups of the alt-rock movement in the ‘90s were on the cusp of extinction. Legitimate rock n’ roll was, quite suddenly, in high demand.

If Rose had released it in 1999, before the age of Internet piracy and before the New York scene ostensibly brought back “real” rock n’ roll, his work could have lived up to its status. He could, indeed, have been remembered as not only the singular force in the resurrection of classic rock music, but even as the last true superstar prior to the downfall of the music industry.

Of course, that’s just wishful thinking. Expectations of quality aside, Chinese Democracy just doesn’t represent enough – it should have been an Event, but instead it’s just another album; a solid listen with intriguing songs whose longevity will mostly appeal to the pre-converted. And its mastermind, let’s face it, has proven his long-time doubters right: not only did he reveal that he never had a brilliant scheme brewing after all, but it seems he is no visionary – or at least not as visionary as we might have once been inclined to believe.

Read the FULL article here (there's much more).

Related Discussion: Guns N' Roses thread - Addictive Thoughts

He's Back

"Was working on posting a new song of mine on songsbymister.com, and while I was working I started receiving a series of bizarre PMs on my message board, explained best here ..."



"I've been out of the loop for a while. Maybe you guys can help me. The help I need is ...

If word doesn't travel that I have this stuff, I'll never be able to trade it. There are more songs out there, people have them, but I'm very out of the loop. I got the (Rock Band II) multitracks like everyone wanted, now it's time to turn them into something else.

The timing for me couldn't have been better as I really want people to hear my new songs and a lot of people seem to be checking out www.songsbymister.com for the first time due to this stuff.

When I first started getting the files, I thought they were fake for sure, but then my drummer figured out how to make it work and I was like "oh fuck."

Hope to have more GN'R info soon guys. First I gotta wait for the hoarders to come to me. May take longer than I'd hoped for word to spread that my contacts at Electronic Arts have finally paid off."

-Mister Saint Laurent (MSL)

You can check out some new (and old) songs by MSL at songsbymister.com

Nardwuar the Human Serviette

My good friend Patrick recently turned me on to indie-rock expert Nardwuar, and his unique brand of Guerrilla journalism / "taking the piss." I'm amused.

"Who are you?"





Speaking of Duff, he blogged recently that he lost a bag at the airport, and it got me thinking - what would happen if Axl's luggage got misplaced? Does Axl carry around CDs of unreleased material? Is this the only way we'll ever hear "Atlas Shrugged" or "The General"? Personally, I don't check my bags - I always do carry-on. I don't trust anyone with my stuff.


Finally, I want to say "hola" to my readers at the ROCKIN' SLASH FORUM. Gracias Juan Manuel.

Slash And Friends Rock Norway

By Scott Rowley for Classic Rock.

Backed by an all-star band including Jason Bonham, Chris Cheney (formerly of Jane’s Addiction), guitarist extraordinaire John 5 (Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie), and star-in-the-waiting Frankie Perez on vocals, Slash & Friends played a 19-song set of rock classics that, in a strong summer of classic rock events, stands as one of the highlights of the summer.



It started with Slash, Bonham, 5, Cheney and Perez ripping the arse out of "Immigrant Song." Perez, a Las Vegas rocker who’s done his own solo album and worked with System Of A Down side-project Scars On Broadway, is the perfect fit – amiable but bad-assed and blessed with a voice that can handle a Led Zeppelin classic as easily as AC/DC’s "Highway To Hell" or Nazareth’s "Hair Of The Dog." His take on "Slither and "Fall To Pieces," meanwhile, surely marks him out as the frontrunner for the vacant Velvet Revolver spot. (Backstage Perez and Slash revealed to Classic Rock that Frankie had been working with VR post-Weiland, before Slash’s solo album and Duff’s Loaded commitments put it all on hold.)



For "Nightrain," McQueen’s Leah Duors takes over on vocals. Slash has long championed the all-girl band and Duors shows why, with a vicious Axl-with-PMT vocal, and a stage presence that belies her current little-league status.



After Leah, it’s time for the big guns. Rumours were that Ronnie Wood had fallen off the wagon again. It’s possible, but you can’t tell. The tracks Woodsy joins them for – "Honky Tonk Women," "Stay With Me," "Knocking On Heaven’s Door" (cheekily – or sincerely? – dedicated by Slash to Michael Jackson) and "It’s Only Rock’n’Roll" – were custom-built for sloppy, boozed-up playing. Teddy Andreadis plays piano and sings in a great Dr John meets Joe Cocker voice. It’s a riot.








Black Eyed Pea Fergie is next up. Cynical? Don’t be. She looks like a rock goddess, and she sounds like a rock god, taking "Black Dog" by the scrotum and hitting high notes that Mr. Plant just can’t anymore. By the end of it the audience is a huge braying horny mass of Viking puppy dogs, with its tongues out and eyes on stalks.



Fergie: “How do you feel?”
Crowd: “RAAAAAARGH!”
Fergie: “I said how do you feel?”
Crowd: “ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!”


The last time I saw Ozzy Osbourne perform was with Black Sabbath at Download 2005. Sabbath were sluggish, dreary and at the end of their tether. Tonight, by contrast, Ozzy is a ball of energy. “Lemme see your hands!” he shouts, and the whole field sways. The guy next to me starts walking around, randomly humping the legs of strangers. “Let’s go fucking crazy!” You’ve heard it a million times, but seeing it work like it does today is a sight to behold. John 5 brings Randy Rhoads back to life as they plough through "Crazy Train," "War Pigs," "I Don’t Know" and "Paranoid." The sound is so big I swear it created a new fjord behind us.







Then he’s off and Frankie and Fergie are back on for "Whole Lotta Love" and "Paradise City." The show ends, Fergie writhing on the floor, Frankie leading the charge, Slash soloing into the night. “This is one of the best gigs I’ve had in a very long time,” says the man himself.





There's more to the article here.

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle

Aftenbladet
Skambankt frontman Terje Winterstø Røthing slaughters Slash, Ron Wood and Ozzy Osbourne over the show at Quart yesterday.


Skambankt frontman Terje Winterstø Røthing played at Quart yesterday. Later in the evening he complained about Slash.

The group which went by the name "Slash & Friends" arrived on the scene Tuesday evening at Quart. Slash shared the stage with Ron Wood, Ozzy Osbourne, Jason Bonham and Fergie. How well this worked, opinions varied during and after the concert. One of those who wasn't satisfied was guitarist and vocalist Terje Winterstø Røthing. He played with Skambankt earlier in the evening.

"This is the great rock 'n roll swindle. And you can quote me on that."

"Can you elaborate a little?"

"What can you really say beyond that? The biggest karaoke show ever."

Reviews after the concert were varied. Torgrim Øyre of Dagbladet described it this way: "Slash & Friends - one of the most unlikely gigs in Norwegian festival history." He gave it four stars, and described the group as a "high-profile cover-band." Harald Fossberg of the BBC was "not impressed," and called the scheme "Slash Karaoke." He gave it three stars, as did VG.


Audiences we spoke with after the concert were divided in their opinions. Arne Grimerud walked out before Ozzy went on stage.

"It was just sad. To see my old heroes up there doing karaoke wasn't anything special. It was a fun experiment, but nothing more," he said on his way out of Bendik Bay.



Sonia Nes had traveled from Denmark to get to the concert. "Fantastic! We'll never see this again. People from Guns N' Roses, The Rolling Stones, and Black Sabbath together on the same stage. It was great," she said.

Vidar A. Hansen who came with a large group of friends spoke with us immediately after the show.

"Slash is a genius, but Fergie on vocals for "Sweet Child O'Mine" was not so great. Ozzy, however - well, he is Ozzy, 'The Prince of Fucking Darkness!' It's amazing that he's able to sing at all, and he actually did quite well. This was the best show - it worked surprisingly well," he said.

Slash Karaoke

"Not impressed."

There isn't much to gripe about, but we ended up with a glorified karaoke in the amphitheatre for a somewhat goofy start to the festival.

When the Guns N' Roses guitarist slipped onto the scene we got a lot of hits - and half hits - from the last decade, performed with a kind of respect, but with little extra.

Ron Wood received points for attendance, but didn't perform as if he was completely present. When he and Slash were struggling to find the key of the backing vocals on old songs like "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" you knew that this was going be a long and strange evening.



Slash surrounded himself with a group of halfway-decent performers, one of whom was John 5. The man has a long resume - David Lee Roth to Marilyn Manson - and he rubs his guitar neck with so much joy that it almost glows. But it ended like a version of Guitar Hero in "Advanced" mode.

Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas was a breath of fresh air in between all the guitar solos, and she showed that she can stack-up to Robert Plant ("Black Dog") and Axl Rose ("Sweet Child O' Mine"), but she should really drop all the pole-dancing - it was in excess even for an audience that included a fair amount of people who were young when Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" came out.



"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" was the only song dedicated to Michael Jackson, the rest of the concert was an obvious homage to so-called "Dad-Rock" - read: '70s and '80s guitar-driven hits.

And in such a setting Slash has proven himself again and again.

Almost at the very end we got the world's spookiest grandpa, Ozzy Osbourne, for a round of old Black Sabbath tunes. He was calm in the grandeur, as he sprayed the audience with water time and time again.



It was kind of sweet to see Ozzy radiating joy and jumping around (to the extent he can) on stage.

But unfortunately, even with a living legend this was quite dead.



PS: McQueen, who played second-to-last, came on with a guitarist who had only been with them for three days. It felt like a scene from last year's Quart.

Aftenposten

Dads Who Rock

This week, Rolling Stone is featuring a 34 picture photo gallery of 'Dads Who Rock.'

Above is guitarist Slash and his little boy Cash at the Nickelodeon's 2009 Kids' Choice Awards on March 28, 2009.

Happy Fathers' Day guys.

-Daddy Mack (aka The Mack Daddy)

Happy Birthday Diz

Darren Arthur "Dizzy" Reed, was born on this date, June 18, 1963 in Hinsdale, Illinois.

He is best known as the keyboardist for Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured and recorded since 1990.

Aside from frontman Axl Rose, Reed is the only member of Guns N' Roses to remain from the band's Use Your Illusion era.

These days you can catch Dizzy playing with his newest project, 'Empty V.'


Empty V plays once a week at the Dragongly in Santa Monica, California.

In 'Empty V,' Dizzy is joined by Eric Dover (Slash's Snakepit), Scott Griffin (LA Guns), and Troy Patrick Farrell of White Lion. They play the "hottest hits of the Eighties," everything from Huey Lewis to Prince.

You can listen to Dizzy's Glam-Rock masterpiece, "The Air," by clicking on the video below.

Happy Birthday Diz!

Ron: "I Would Love to Get Out There and Play"

Nightwatcher's House of Rock
Interview and text by Nightwatcher © 2009

May 31, 2009

NHOR : Any plans yet for touring that you're aware of?

RT : Right now nothing is confirmed. Nothing is definite. If pieces fall into place, it could happen. That's the most political way I can say I know nothing. (Laughs) In other words, it could happen, I hope it happens, maybe it'll happen, I'd like for it to happen. I know a lot of other people who would like for it to happen, and if everything works out it will happen. But there are a lot of variables involved, down to every little thing to making sure that all the pieces are in place so that we can do this the right way.

NHOR : That's a very skillful way of dodging that question, I'm impressed....

RT : Thank you. I'm getting good at this. I think I'm going to run for mayor soon. I've had years of practice now. (Laughs)

NHOR : Now that 'Chinese Democracy' has been released, are you relieved that at last you don't have to continually answer the question, "When is the album coming out?"

RT : No, because now everyone's saying, "When's the next album coming out?" (Laughs)

NHOR : So... when's the next Guns album coming out?

RT : There ya go. I think it was about two days before people starting coming up and asking me, "So, when's the next album coming out?" Man, give us a chance. (Laughs)

NHOR : Are you satisfied with your performances on 'Chinese Democracy', or are there some that you wish you could go back and change?

RT : I'm as satisfied as I'm capable of being. Because no matter what I do, within a week I'm hearing all the things that I'd want to do differently. What I'd want to add, change the tone, or replay. That's always how it is. Because with any album, the mixing process is never done. It continues for years after the album's out, it's just happening in your head. And the stuff that's in your head, you can't do anything about it. You're haunted by it. So within a week of anything I do, whether it's my album or 'Chinese Democracy', I start getting haunted by little things. Like, how I bent that note, man I should've got more of a squeal out of it. Or, shit, I should've put a harmony on this. I could've had a better melody for that. Whatever it is. So I am as happy as I'm capable of being.

NHOR : Your solo albums and with your band Bumblefoot are very non-commercial in relation to what gets played on radio these days. Whereas with Guns there's a much better chance something you've played will be played on radio. How did you feel hearing something you've played on, such as the new GNR, on the radio for the first time?

RT : I think I felt hungry. I was on my way to dinner. (Laughs) It was cool. The first time I heard it there was a feeling of relief. Not just for myself, but there were so many GNR fans who were waiting for so long for music to be legitimately released. It was a feeling of being happy for them, that they finally got that, after such a long wait and sticking it out, that something was finally out there. I was pretty damn happy.

NHOR : The album recently was certified platinum here in the United States. Amongst the Guns camp, is there satisfaction in how the album has sold thus far?

RT : It's hard to say. I think it's pretty much a given, with pretty much any musician, no matter how much it sells, you're going to want to sell more. Those are the driving forces that keep musicians going. The constant striving to do more, do better, to up it even more. That's just something which is inherent in every musician's nature. So I never really asked them. I never said, "Hey Axl, are you happy with this shit?" (Laughs) We don't talk about that stuff. We talk about stupid movies, crack jokes and stuff like that.

But I could only assume that most people feel like I do. I would love to do more videos, and just shove it down the world's throat even more. I would love to get out there and play for every person that has ears and do whatever we can. Because you know, when you put out an album, it's like having a baby. You want to raise that baby for the most life that it can have. You want to do what you can for it. So it's that kind of thing. What can I do to give this baby a better life? That's pretty much how it is. So no matter how well it's doing you always want more for it. It's the paternal instinct.

NHOR : What is the one thing that people would be surprised to know about Axl?

RT : I don't know. I find that people that don't know him are the ones that have all these crazy ideas about him. The people that do know him have a lot of good things to say about him. He's got some really nice friends who have become my friends. I've crossed the line from people that don't know him to one who does, and I don't know what people know or don't know anymore. I do know that there's a lot of wrong information about him out there. It kind of bums me out to see and read things that I know are totally bullshit.

NHOR : A lot of people have this conception of the new Guns N' Roses just being Axl and the rest of you being hired hands, which I'm sure you're aware of. How much of a band is this configuration?

RT : That's just part of the whole negative crap that's part of the baggage of being a new Guns N' Roses. That whole thing of blah blah blah, they're just hired guns... blah blah blah... they're not the original members blah blah blah you're not my real mommy, blah blah blah. (Laughs)

Considering there are guys in the band who have been there 18 years to whatever amount of time it is, and considering that we see each other on a daily basis, and when we're not, we're speaking to each other all the time, hanging out and doing things together, jamming and playing on each other's albums, and doing everything band members do... I'd say it's pretty much a band. Whether people want to acknowledge that or not, that's up to them, and whatever floats their boat. It doesn't change the truth.

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