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#611 Re: Dust N' Bones & Cyborg Slunks » Neurotic Outsiders & co. tour dates - summary? » 373 weeks ago
I saw the January 1996 gig at the Crocodile Cafe. I recorded the show and got a copy of the setlist. One thing to note: At the time, "Jerk" was entitled "Cunt."
The band had a tour bus parked right outside. Duff hung out with the audience in the lobby/waiting area before the show, chatting with friends (he had grown up in Seattle). I talked to him for all of, like, 10 seconds because he was trying to avoid the rock star vibe and just reconnect with folks. That all changed when Steve Jones walked in. I remember he word a velvet jacket with a collar that was turned up. He looked like a gentleman rock star.
They opened with a cover of "Planet Earth," bunch of girls in the audience singing along and yelling "Switch it up!" like Simon LeBon used to do. That was the pop moment. After that, they ROARED. Tore the place apart. I can't recall the exact order of the songs, and can't get to my tape right now, but I remember they did "Nasty Ho" "Angelina," "Revolution," and "Union" for sure.
Afterward the band made a beeline for the bus and that was pretty much it!
I remember they were called Neurotic Boy Outsiders at the time. While in Seattle they also did an invitation-only show, which I think might have been a matinee. Back then Duff had a relative working for Muzak (a brother or cousin, I think) so maybe it was a corporate gig?
I wish I'd had the money to see the all-ages show at RKCNDY the next day!
Are you looking for information specifically about Duff? He did some reunion shows with 10 Minute Warning, which had a new lead singer. I caught them at a place called Sit & Spin in downtown Seattle (It was - no joke - a concert venue and laundromat. You'd see some guy with a mohawk waiting for his clothes to dry). As I recall, Slash was in town the same night. Only about 20 or 30 people were there for 10 Minute Warning, so all of the GNR fans must have been at the Snakepit gig!
The Gentlemen featured him and Dave from The Presidents of the United States of America. I never caught them but did see Duff with P.U.S.A. at a show they did in a recording studio in Seattle, which was filmed for release on DVD (You can still find it cheap). I sat on the floor right by the amps, and afterwards Duff said he worried about my hearing! We chatted for a little bit, discussing Neurotic (Boy) Outsiders and some of the guest singers they had over the years. He said Sporty Spice was a great vocalist, and he couldn't believe she had such a powerful voice for so small a woman. I didn't bring up GNR at all, not knowing if it was a sore subject at the time.
Really great guy. If you ever get the chance to talk to him, do it!
#612 Re: Guns N' Roses » The General (Rumors & Discussion) » 373 weeks ago
I'd love to hear more of Bucket's work in GNR. He was such a character AND such a genius. The story about his chicken coop in the recording studio, and disappointment when somebody cleaned up dog poop that had been stinking up the place, is exactly the kind of craziness we need in rock and roll. A complete and total individual.
I still hope that, with this being the tenth anniversary of the release of Chinese Democracy, somebody will bless us with unreleased material.
#613 Re: Guns N' Roses » Guns N' Roses tour to continue through 2017(and beyond) » 376 weeks ago
Chinese Democracy is a landmark piece of art in the context of my life. The mystery, the discovery and analysis of demos, the almost mythological chase for details, the entire leadup to the album was a psychological and emotional journey unlike anything I've ever experienced. New fans who can buy/download the album, and track down all the demos all at once, will have no inkling of what an adventure the waiting period had been.
I'm happy for Duff, Slash, and Axl, and I hope they will record great new music together. I just hope they will not settle for going the Rolling Stones route of being a lucrative, reliable, but unsurprising nostalgia act. Now that they've healed their wounds, and made a fortune touring together, I pray they will use this momentum, goodwill, and public trust to continue their creative partnership.
#614 Re: Dust N' Bones & Cyborg Slunks » I hung out with Tommy and Ron in the last few weeks » 376 weeks ago
I would love for Ron and Bumble to tour together. Call it BumbleBucketFootHead. They are so different in terms of personality and style, they'd create something unique.
#615 Re: Guns N' Roses » The Chinese Democracy Sequel References Thread » 376 weeks ago
When The Spaghetti Incident came out, I instantly understood it to be a placeholder between albums, an attempt to keep the band in the public eye in the same manner as Lies.
In theory it should have worked, but it came across as disjointed, which of course it was, with each member having his own tastes and working independently to some extent. If only they had taken the same path as The Rolling Stones with their Blue and Lonesome album: Bunch of guys in the studio, face to face, cranking out tunes they loved. Instead, it sounds like a mixtape assembled at random by people who didn't know each other.
When the secret track was revealed to be a Charlie Manson song, the album was instantly blacklisted in some quarters. "Since I Don't Have You" comes across as a parody more than an inspired cover, and the video did the song no favors.
Rock radio promptly acted like the record never existed and still looked to GNR as a sort of savior (at least when the next "proper" studio album came out), but the general public started to turn away. Could you blame them? Buying GNR stuff at record stores and record shows in the mid-1990s and on eBay in the late 1990s was bargain city. I also remember framed plaques of UYI-era tour backstage passes and tickets getting drastically marked down at mall stores like Hot Topic (I didn't buy any - they looked terrible).
If anything, the record is a precursor to the solo albums by Slash and Duff that were to follow, and a harbinger of the split that would occur.
#616 Re: Dust N' Bones & Cyborg Slunks » I hung out with Tommy and Ron in the last few weeks » 377 weeks ago
Has Bumble made peace with his time in GNR? Near the end, he seemed so sad and disappointed with the whole experience, bot in terms of what touring did to his health and the lack of new studio recordings.
My hope is that he can look back at those days with pride. He brought a friendly, fun vibe to the live shows that I certainly appreciated. His smiles always made the gigs more fun.
#617 Re: GN'R Downloads » [CD-R] Guns N' Roses @ Chinese Democracy "Alternative & Remix Version" » 377 weeks ago
Does anyone have the RockBand multitracks in lossless Flac format? I've only got them in mp3, and would love to finally hear them in their full glory!
#618 Re: Guns N' Roses » THAL Says GUNS N' ROSES' 'Chinese Democracy' Album Is A 'Masterpiece' » 378 weeks ago
Just stumbled upon some recent interviews with Bumble on WRIF out of Detroit that I've not seen posted elsewhere. Direct links to the mp3 here:
#619 Re: Dust N' Bones & Cyborg Slunks » God damn, how great is Estranged!!! » 378 weeks ago
One of the first pieces of GNR memorabilia I ever found was a promo CD with edits of "Estranged" and really weird, rubber-stamped titles on the disc. I half thought it was home-made but have since confirmed it is real.
The edited versions actually heighten the drama of the song. They remove some passages that repeat musical or lyrical ideas heard earlier in the track, leaving a streamlined arrangement. Whereas some of the Appetite-era edits gutted songs, in this case, the cuts make sense. I actually prefer them to the album version.
One time, when the band began playing "Estranged," a bunch of us in the pit waved inflatable toy dolphins at the band. Bumblefoot laughed his ass off. I never could tell if Axl noticed us or not!
#620 Re: Guns N' Roses » The Chinese Democracy Sequel References Thread » 378 weeks ago
So here's something I've never seen confirmed: Was the early, alternate LP title 2,000 Intentions ever mentioned by an identified source in or close to the band, or only ever one of the rumors that Kerrang mentioned? This has always puzzled me, and I've never seen confirmation that it came from within the GNR camp. If so, where was it published and who said it?
