PRESALE HERE

PREVIOUSLY: Guns N' Roses playing small venues, including Roseland, T5 & "The Ritz" (dates)

Guns n Roses @ the Varvatos store in 2010 (more by Nate "Igor" Smith)

Axl Rose's current version of Guns N' Roses are heading out on a short "up close and personal" tour this February, timed to coincide with fashion week (true story). The currently-six-show run kicks off with three NYC shows and also includes a NJ show. They'll play Roseland Ballroom on February 10, Terminal 5 on February 12, and Webster Hall on February 15, except they'll be calling Webster Hall The Ritz for that show, as that was the name of the venue when they filmed Live at the Ritz there in 1988. The tour also brings them to Atlantic City's House of Blues on February 24. Tickets for the NYC shows go on sale Wednesday (2/1) at noon and tickets for the Atlantic City show goes on sale Friday (2/3). All dates are listed below.

In related news, Guns N' Roses tribute band Appetite For Destruction plays BB King's on April 27. Tickets are on sale now.

All dates and the entire "Live at the Ritz" concert from 1988 (it's on YouTube), below...

Continue reading "Guns N' Roses playing small venues, including Roseland, T5 & "The Ritz" (dates)"

Guns N' Roses are going on a tour that hits the Izod Center in NJ on November 17th. Tickets are currently on presale. The passwords are "GNR" and "Better". General sale begins Saturday at 10am. "The band will perform over 2 hours of all of their classic hits" says the ad. All dates below...

Continue reading ""Guns N' Roses" touring, playing Izod Center in Jersey"

Mr. Brownstone @ the Bell House in 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

The wait is over. Drunken Guns n Roses tribute band Mr. Brownstone will return to the stage on Mischief Night, 2010. It's going down at Brooklyn Bowl and tickets are on sale. I may be unique in that I'm now feeling conflicted between this and Antony with an orchestra at Lincoln Center happening the same night.

The real Slash, who is back on the market, will take the NYC stage in less than a week. Tickets are still on sale (Joe Perry's kids' band 'TAB the Band' and Taddy Porter open the not-too-exciting show)

Duff McKagan meanwhile joined and un-joined Jane's Addiction.

Steven Adler wrote a book.

And Axl Rose refuses to give refunds to those that got the short show in Dublin.

Guns n Roses-less stage in Dublin - 9/1/2010 (mlennox)

"The crowd are not amused as the band do not appear on stage until approx 10:25pm. No interaction or apology by Axl to the crowd who are booing etc.. Bottles are thrown on stage during the start of Welcome To The Jungle. Axl tells the crowd to stop throwing bottles at him or they'll leave. The show goes on for another couple of songs before more bottles are thrown at Axl & he just up's & leaves. The Promoters / Venue staff make announecements to the crowd about trying to fix technical difficulties at first (yeah right!) & then tell people they're working to get the band back & ask the crowd to stop throwing things at Axl. The crowd were told another annoucment would be forthcoming but after 10-15 mins, the house lights just came on & crowds started to leave after O2 staff were telling the crowd it was over & to contact MCD for a refund... I was one fo the crowd who had waited for ages & after been told it was over & the band were not coming back on & to seek my refund from MCD, I heard the band came back on at approx 11:30pm but we weren't allowed back into the venue." [bonoman66]

Continue reading "Axl Rose starts show late, ends early in Dublin (video) "

Slash released a special-guest-filled album solo called called "Slash" in March. Four of the five members of the Appetite for Destruction era Guns N' Roses lineup appear on the album: Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler. You can figure out who's missing. Iggy Pop, Ozzy, Lemmy, Dave Grohl, Chris Cornell, and others (even Fergie?) (but not Jack White) appear as guests on the album too. You can stream it, and download a track, below.

Slash is currently on tour in Europe. In fact, you may have heard about how he was "attacked" by a fan on stage at a recent show. That viral video is below.

Slash starts playing North American shows in September. That now includes a September 14th show at Terminal 5 in NYC. $32.50 tickets go on sale Friday at noon. All currently announced dates, the attack video, album stream/download widgets and the full "Slash" album tracklist (with guests), below...

Continue reading "Slash, recently "attacked" on stage, released a guest-filled album, touring, playing Terminal 5"

...because the internet was made so we can look at videos of people falling (below with full March 30th Gun n Roses setlist)...

Continue reading "video of Axl Rose falling (and recent Colombia show setlist)..."

"Been waiting outside the Varvatos Bowery store for six hours now. This party better be fun :(" - Nat Thomson

photos by Nate "Igor" Smith

Alberta Cross did in fact play the fashion week party at the Varvatos Store on Thursday night, but it ended up that they were only the opener for a much larger band. That band was Axl Rose and friends aka "Guns n Roses". Packed when it started, people waited for hours for the headliner to appear in the store that used to be CBGB. Over 90 minutes later, after Axl and band had finished a set of seventeen songs to the lucky (and fashionable) people in attendance (like Sebastian Bach and Kevin Bacon), the room was less than half full. People apparently couldn't stay awake - not because of the performance, but because of the (type of crowd it was and the) long wait time followed by the late ending. The show ended around 2:45am.

More pictures, a video and the full setlist below....

Continue reading "Guns n Roses played the Varvatos store (pics, video, setlist)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Jesse "the Devil" Hughes On Axl Rose: "Like any other Guns N' Roses fan, I find Axl to be really insulting. He cost a lot of people their jobs, a lot of heartache and probably some mental breakdowns while he fucked around on a record [Chinese Democracy] for 16 fucking years--just because he wanted to be a dick. I firmly believe that the gods of rock 'n' roll just chose me to kick him out of the gang for gross misuse of power. Axl still has the opportunity to do something that no one expects him to do, which is something cool. I honestly think he can do it, but first, he really needs to control himself a bit, and most importantly, get a real friend."

Rival Schools were the opener, and it wasn't the first time Walter Schreifels shared a NYC bill with the sort-of-QOTSA off-shoot. More pictures and setlists below...

Continue reading "Eagles of Death Metal & Rival Schools played Webster Hall in NYC - pics & setlists"

"A federal judge has sentenced a man who pleaded guilty to leaking part of the Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy to a year's probation. Blogger Kevin Cogill will also serve two months of home confinement, subject his computers to government scrutiny, and record a public service announcement for the Industry Association of America." [LiveNews]

Guns N' Roses' and Axl Rose's lawyer has castigated Dr Pepper, accusing the soda maker of failing to deliver on its "Chinese Democracy" (Black Frog/Geffen) free soda promotion, which the band was never involved in.

Beverly Hills-based Alan Gutman has written to Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. president and CEO Larry Young, accusing the company of operating an online redemption scheme that was an "unmitigated disaster which defrauded customers." Gutman is demanding that Dr Pepper makes good on its offer by extending the period for the offer; he also wants full-page apologies in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal.

Gutman's letter makes clear his view that the original campaign was an "exploitation of my clients' legendary reputation and their eagerly awaited album" and "brazenly violated our clients' rights." He is also seeking an "appropriate payment... for the unauthorized use and abuse of their publicity and intellectual property rights," with the threat of further action if an acceptable offer is not made.

"Now is the time to clean up the mess," says Gutman. [Billboard]

A video someone made while camping out at Best Buy on Chinese Democracy's release day, below...

Continue reading "Guns N' Roses vs. Dr Pepper"

KTXT (88.1 FM) out of Texas posted their list of the 10 most disappointing albums of 2008 on their blog The Couch. This is what they came up with...

10. Weezer - The Red Album
9. The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
8. Mars Volta - The Bedlam In Goliath
7. Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
6. CSS - Donkey
5. Ghostland Observatory - Robotique Majestique
4. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
3. Beck - Modern Guilt
2. Cold War Kids - Loyalty to Loyalty
1. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Cardinology

What are your favorites?

CSS play Webster Hall on December 17th & 18th. Tickets are still on sale. Ghostland Obersvatory are playing Terminal 5 in NYC on December 12th. Tickets are still on sale. Black Kids are playing a private party at Bowery Ballroom on December 9th (no tickets). If you weren't too disappointed, the rest of the BK & GO tour dates below...

Continue reading "What were the most disappointing albums of 2008?"

Kanye West's new album 808s & HEARTBREAK is out in stores on Monday 11/24, but will be streaming at MySpace in its entirety as of midnight (pacific time) Friday night/Saturday morning. Monday is a weird release day.

In a move no doubt designed to get a jump on holiday sales (and facilitate maximum one-stop shopping), Island Def Jam announced that it has moved the release date for three of the label's biggest albums -- West's 808s & Heartbreak, Luda's Theater of the Mind and the Killers' Day & Age -- from a traditional Tuesday launch up to Monday, November 24. All three albums will be available both digitally and physically on that date.

According to a spokesperson for the label, it's a "one time only" strategy, which will jump the industry-wide release schedule "in anticipation of big Thanksgiving-weekend holiday gift shopping."

It bears mentioning that Tuesday release dates have become more and more arbitrary in recent months: Metallica's Death Magnetic was released on Friday, September 12, AC/DC's Black Ice hit Wal-Mart shelves on Sunday, October 20, and Guns N' Roses' much-anticipated Chinese Democracy is slated for a Sunday, November 23, release at Best Buy. [MTV]

Meanwhile, people are already making end of year 'Best Of' lists.

Speaking of cover bands, here's the video of Mr. Brownstone playing Letterman on Wednesday...

Continue reading "Mr Brownstone - Welcome to the Jungle @ Letterman (video) "

Jesse 'the Devil' Hughes @ MHOW (more by Zach Dilgard)

Guns N' Roses new album "Chinese Democracy" is streaming in its entirety at MySpace. Find out what Eagle of Death Metal Jesse Hughes (someone who has a controversial past with Axl) thinks of it in the video below...

Continue reading "Chinese Democracy streaming, reviewed by 'the Devil'"

Photos by Zach Dilgard

CYPRESS HILL have slated new GUNS N' ROSES album Chinese Democracy -- before it is even released.
The hip-hop legends' frontman, B REAL, said: "It's Guns N' Roses only in the sense of the name, it's not them."

He moaned the only remaining member of the original band is frontman AXL ROSE -- his least favourite.

But after a 15-year wait for the album, released here on November 24, the record buying public disagree. [The Sun]

Continue reading "Cypress Hill NYC show pics, new Guns n Roses album info"

A man accused of posting nine previously unreleased songs by the rock band Guns N' Roses on a website where they could be accessed by the public was arrested at his home early today on suspicion of violating federal copyright laws, authorities said.

Kevin Cogill, 27, is accused of posting the songs, which were being prepared for commercial release, on the Internet blog Antiquiet in June, according to an arrest affidavit. The site received so much traffic after the songs were posted that it crashed, the affidavit states. [LA Times]

by Black Bubblegum

You've come a long way baby...

They say you shouldn't kick people when they're down, but what if they're already kicking themselves? Guns 'N Roses announced that the new GNR track "Shackler's Revenge" from the right-around-the-corner Chinese Democracy will premiere in the Harmonix Music Systems video game Rock Band II due this September.

The band's decision to officially introduce material from their sixth album via a computer game is an unusual one, but it's a move likely to become more popular as the industry begins to recognise just how important music-related video games are. Since its launch in 2007, Rock Band has won several industry awards and netted its developer Harmonix Music Systems $208 million. Music by the Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi and the Who is currently available on the first version of the game, which allows players to form a virtual band and play along to famous songs. Like its rival Guitar Hero, the music video game has found success by tapping into the long-established history of air-guitar playing among music fans into a competition with an all-star soundtrack. [Guardian]

Metallica's Death Magnetic was produced by Rick Rubin, an encouraging sign considering hewhoshallnotbenamed has produced every album since ...And Justice For All. (Sorry guys, I do have an eensy teensy glimmer of still ridiculously skeptical faith.)

In other news that would make Cliff spin is his grave, Death Magnetic will be released in a collectors edition Coffin box set (where have I seen that before?) with a CD of demos, a DVD detailing making-the-album, a limited edition (natch) tee, a flag, guitar picks, and a fold out poster. The "Coffin" is in addition three other releases on their Mission: Metallica website. I think I'll go for that fan-friendly 5LP set, what about you guys?

Metallica recently played all the classics at Bonaroo.

Mr. Brownstone (the drunken Guns n' Roses cover band) is playing a show at Bowery Ballroom in NYC on July 4th. Openers haven't been announced yet, but tickets are on sale. If you like Guns n Roses and alcohol then this is a good option if you're looking for something to do after Sonic Youth and/or the fireworks.

last night (April 17, 2008) in NYC....

More than a few special guests (and I don't mean the protesters) showed up to the opening party/benefit inside the John Varvatos store (aka CBGB) on the Bowery last night (April 17, 2008). All photos by Randy Haecker, and there's more where they came from at his Flickr.

A lot of these guys were in town to play a different benefit show the night before.

Mr. Brownstone @ MHOW, Brooklyn, NY - Dec 31, 2007 (CRED)

What happens at a Mr. Brownstone show, stays at a Mr. Brownstone show (mostly because nobody that was there can remember what happened there).

* American Music Awards
* VNV Nation is at Music Hall
* Ani Difranco is playing Town Hall
* The Bird and the Bee are @ the Gramercy Theatre
* Buck 65 was moved from Bowery Ballroom to Mercury Lounge

The American Music Awards are on tonight, The White Stripes (friends of Beck) are up for Favorite "Alternative Rock Music" Artist. Their competition? Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance (only three artists are nominated in each category). Nickelback, Maroon 5 & Linkin Park are competing for "Favorite Band, Duo or Group". I guess there's no reason to watch that one. Performers include Duran Duran (who were recently affected by the Broadway strike) and Rihanna (who appears on a new disc of Def Jam rarities). Slash (who has a new book out) and Gene Simmons (who doesn't care about Radiohead) are both presenting awards.

Speaking of awards, below you'll find a bunch of videos from the mtvU ones (including one of Spank Rock live-blogging). What else?

Continue reading "What's Going on Sunday? (American Music Awards)"

same band, same venue, different year...

Once again I found myself being rocked by Mr. Brownstone - this time reunited - at Bowery Ballroom in NYC until the wee hours of the morning on Saturday night (Nov 10, 2007). The four-band show started at 8pm, included a set by all metal Bee Gees cover band Tragedy, and ended around 3 in the morning. The sold out crowd sang along to pretty much every Guns N Roses song you could possibly want to hear (note: Brownstone are a Guns N Roses tribute band). There was lots of booze flowing - on stage and off....

The bass player fell off the stage, more or less on top of me, twice. The lead guitarist once. The guy wearing the kilt took a long swig of Jack Daniels and then spit it right on me. Really. A long, wet stream. I had to clean my glasses. Women were throwing bras on stage. And at least a hundred plastic glasses of beer were tossed up as well. Everyone was sopping wet. [The Year of Magical Painting]

Continue reading "MR BROWNSTONE rocked Bowery, CYHSY tonight, tomorrow"

I have to finish what I started, and I guess that would be compiling the world's biggest collection of people dressed as Amy Winehouse for Halloween. I was already up to 92 pictures. By the end of this post you'll have seen another 166. Some are great, and more than a few paired Amy with her boyfriend Blake Fielder-Civil. This photo falls into both of those categories....

Even more looked less like Amy, and then there were many Amys that decided to hang out with Pete Doherty instead of Blake - a pairing that makes a lot of sense from the English musician drug addict tabloid point of view. This picture falls into both of those categories....

Pete Doggerty & Amy Doghouse

In related news,

After Amy Wino's hideous performance at the MTV Europe Awards last night, she was booed when she accepted an award for Artists' Choice. Pete Doherty immediately came to her defense.

He was asked what advice he would give Wino, "I wouldn't give her any. She's fine. It's all bollocks. People should leave her alone. I went for a drink with her earlier today and she's totally fine. Perfectly healthy and happy.
"People are saying she's out of control, but she's not. She's a sensible girl and she knows what she's doing. She ain't doing nothing wrong." [dlisted]

and even Amy with M.I.A....

Now we'll get to more Amy's in a second, but first: To answer my own question, "no", Amy is no longer playing the MTVu Woody Awards or Saturday Night Live due to visa issues. Oh well - not a big loss considering how scary her last live appearance was. That video, and a zillion more Amy impersonators, below.....

Continue reading "more AMY WINEHOUSE costumes & cancellations"

Satanicide was let back into Bowery Ballroom on Friday night, and chaos ensued....

Queer as Folk - James Suicide & Hal Sparks

Moby & Satanicide

More photos below....

Continue reading "Satanicide @ Bowery Ballroom (Hal Sparks, tattooed strippers, Slash, Moby, etc)"