Archive for NME

18 Reasons Why Axl Rose Is The Biggest Legend In Rock

Posted in General Tickets There Blog, Music, News with tags , , , , , , on May 10, 2012 by Tickets There

Guns N’ Roses 2012 European Tour kicks off tomorrow night in Moscow and one week from today, they’ll take the stage at Dublin’s O2 Arena with Thin Lizzy and Vengeance & the Panther Queen as special guests. It’s been two long years since their last Irish shows and this writer for one is dying to welcome them back to the Emerald isle. Home of Paradise City, Guinness and a welcoming crowd.

Old Tickets There decided to celebrate and have a bit of fun with NME’s recent ’18 Reasons why Axl Rose is a….’ can’t actually remember what they were aiming at. Either way, let’s see why Axl Rose is as big a legend as he is.

18: His Attitude

Nuff said really – Axl’s attitude is second to none. He doesn’t let people push him around or tell him what to do, something the population of the Ireland (and indeed the world) could do with a little bit more if we’re ever to convince the courts to hang / castrate the remaining members of Finna Fail, the ‘bankers’ and Dana.

17: Tommy Hilfiger-gate

Axl Rose got into a fight with Tommy Hilfiger, do you care? It lasted all of two seconds in a pub. Imagine that, a small scuffle in a pub. Tisk, Tisk, Tisk!

16: He’s not a one-woman man

Axl Rose in proper rock star fashion sleeps with a lot of women. If you were single, had lots of money and were the front man of Guns N’ Roses, you’d do the same. If not, you’d still try your darndest!  Not NME though, they have a very strict Morrissey A-Sexual policy. Keep on keepin’  down the big fella lads, he’ll only land ye in trouble with mommy.

15: Bob Guccione Jr-gate

Axl Rose got into a fight with Bob Guccione Jr. Do you care? Yes you do because that fight got taken into the awesome ’Get In The Right’. Weighting in at 850 lbs, Guns N’ Roses’. How many of you have had fights turned in to savage songs?

14: Scared of seaweed? WTF?

Apparently Axl doesn’t like seaweed….do you care? Suppose, it’s horrible slimy sh*t. Some people like to bath in it, other people like to whip themselves in worship to God or the Gods of Berlin’s nightlife. Let the man have his pet-fear. Mine is rats, some people keep those as pets. Basic message, people like / hate random sh*t – except at NME where they favor A-sexual men and a confrontation free environment….except of course when they write hate blogs J

13: His non-existent sense of humor?

He told me this joke one time, you would have sh*t yourself. Prove me wrong!

12: He’s got no Patience

Miss-heading heading here, I believe it’s Slash’s fans that have no patience. Axl will distill his talent until it’s perfect.

11: Metallica-gate

Axl Rose and Metallica do not get along so well. Guess it just p*ssed off Metallica that they had to open for Guns way back in 1992. People think it’s because of Montreal, but Metallica’s ‘A Year and a Half In the Life of’ video will show otherwise.

10: He hates poodles

Cannot blame the man, what a waste of life. Silly looking dogs for Beverly Hill wannabes.

9: Not a fan of ‘fans’ …. getting this shit kicked out of them.

A few years back, Axl stopped a show to kick out three security guards after witnessing them getting extremely rough with fans in the front row. Axl stopped the show, pointed to the three men and demanded they be removed. Once they left, Guns carried on. Uncle Axl has your back! Watch the video below if you like (you won’t find this one on NME)

8: Velvet Revolver-gate

Band members fall out. One crowd starts a new band – they have a cyber-spat. Six trolls all doing their best.

Also, Scott Weiland did make that whole comment about being remorseful towards Axl once he learned firsthand what it was like to be in a band with certain old Guns…. Ahem (link – http://gnrdaily.com/news_detail.asp?id=1984  )

7: It’s hard enough remembering lyrics…

A lot of artists use monitors for lyrics. Legendary bands and those that can afford them of course. When you write songs and make a successful career out of that art it doesn’t suddenly mean you’re memory is gifted with the space of terabyte memory stick. When Axl sits in front of one with glasses on and reads them off, then we’ll worry.

6Nirvana-gate

Nirvana is a harsh word. Basically Axl Rose told Kurt Cobain to shut Courtney Love up. Now honestly, wouldn’t we all have loved if it had worked? Maybe Kurt wouldn’t … well, you know, and maybe Courtney Love would actually have shut the f**k up. If you’re listening love, do us all a favor and shut the f**k up you twisted, dried up *insert words commonly used aside ‘epidemic of the late 1980’s* *insert word often associated with degenerate scum who ((should resort to)) sell(ing) their body for sex and almost always follows the first expletive word*

5: White dreads

Axl is so cool he braved the media and put his head in dreads! Didn’t last long, but fair play for trying something new!

4: Terrible dress sense

Terrible, sorry that’s an NME typo. Awesome was the word we were going for there. Axl’s dress sense on tour has always been something that gave Guns some of their character. Mixing and matching everything from SWAT gear, to kilts, to union jack jackets and bandanas. Axl has been at the forefront of everything that was cool about the late 80’s and 90’s and now he’s doing it for the new millennium. The infamous yellow jacket was worn at a very wet show and doesn’t make regular appearances so don’t judge an Axl by an NME.

3: ‘Chinese Democracy’

First they released the (arguably) biggest rock album in history, follow that with a massively successful EP and then two massive double albums that spawned numerous successful singles and were chock full of fan favorites. Then there was the covers album, live album, greatest hits and eventually, the most anticipated album in music history. Impressive?

During its conception, announcement and eventual release, Chinese Democracy amassed more stories than the folklore of a small European country, provided music analysts with world breaking stats (most expensive album in history..yaday..etc) and countless comparison arguments (Beatles entire recording career was completed in half the time of the recording of Chinese Democracy… Remember that?). Ex-members, managers, session players, friends and family of the band were inundated for a decade+ about the album. It’s been toured since 2002 and finally saw release in late 2008. Upon the album’s release, there were rumors that the record company had simply snapped the mix from Axl’s hand and gone ahead with the release he did not endorse. In response, Axl snubbed all partnerships and release hysteria and basically dropped off the face of the planet for several weeks before finally re-emerging to answer fans questions…directly. No middle man, nio pushy agenda ridden media drone – Axl went online directly to Guns N’ Roses fan forums and spent several hours a night for over a week talking to fans, answering their questions and giving his version of events for the first time in roughly two decades.

The album could have been the biggest seller of 2008, but due to Axl’s refusal to acknowledge its release, it managed the number 3 on the US Billboard Top 200 and debuted in the top 5 position of 26 different sales charts. In the four years since it’s release, Chinese Democracy has started to win original naysayers over with some critics begin to voice the opinion that it stands the test of time extremely well and the more you distance yourselves from the line-up controversy, the album stands out as the gem it truly is.

2: Cornrows

After trying the dreads, Axl went for cornrows and they actually looks pretty savage.

1: Guns N Roses

Love him, hate him – Axl is the spirit of Guns N’ Roses. After Izzy, Slash and Duff all quit, Axl was left without the core lineup that helped write those magic songs and make them famous. Fortunately, he was able to replace them all with extremely talented, sh*t coll musicians including Tommy Stinson from The Replacements. DJ Ashba from Sixx:AM and Beautiful Creatures. Guitar virtuoso, song writer, producer and all round legend – Ron Thal. The incredible Richard Fortus who doubles as lead and rhythm in Guns three guitar attack lineup. Richard has played The Psychedelic Furs and Thin Lizzy as well as Guns. Live drummer Frank Ferrer has been with the band since 2006 when he had to jump in to fill the gap left by Brian Mantia who left the tour after he became a father. Frank has since become the backbone to their powerful live sound and has extensive touring / recording experience. Dizzy Reed (Rock N’ Roll inductee and twenty two year Guns N’ Roses veteran) is still there providing backing vocals and keyboards with a little help from Chris Pitman who plays keyboards, bass, 12 string guitar and mellotron (sher why not?). Chris has also been involved in writing some of the highest profile tracks on Chinese Democracy as well as playing on them all.

Together they make up a band of younger, aggressive musicians who aren’t afraid to explore new sounds and shake up the confines that some fans wish to banish Guns to. Life changes, if you don’t change with it you gain two things – moss and guided tours. Guns N’ Roses are still fresh, still fighting fit and sounding better than ever. The man who wrote / co-wrote 46 of Guns N’ Roses 64 studio tracks still stands tall as leader of this great band and one of rock n’ roll’s greatest legends.

GUNS N’ ROSES: LIVE @ THE O2 DUBLIN – MAY 17th. TICKETS ON SALE NOW

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Axl Rose – Asshole or Hero? NME Ask The Question!

Posted in General Tickets There Blog, Music, News with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 29, 2010 by Tickets There


**Before Reading This Article – Be Fair and Head over to NME and Read the original post by clicking this sentence**

Tim Chester over at the English music scenes answer to a cheap gossip rag, New Musical Express has posted a question based piece entitled, ‘Axl Rose – Asshole or Hero?’. Now normally the NME isn’t worth reading, replying to or taking any notice of at all, well not unless you want to know which shop Pete Doherty just walked out of or what brand of cigarettes Amy Winehouse smokes (Thanks Daily Gossip!). But this time Tickets There is taking the liberty of branding the author, the magazine and their staff a bunch of over the hill, raised on camp indie bullshit-artists, with as much right to write about Rock N’ Roll as a Nazi has to a fair hearing.

The Facts: Reading 2010

Guns N’ Roses played Reading on Friday night. In the week leading up to the event, NME spearheaded reporting a speech from Reading /Leeds organizer Melvin Been that the Guns had been issued a warning that their stage times must be adhered to after local councils and police made a similar warning to Melvin a co.

The band were scheduled to arrive on stage at 09:30pm, eventually arriving at 10:30 -an hour late. Their original cut off time was 11:30pm and they managed to play on until 12:00. When the band tried to return for an encore, their sound was cut so the band staged a sit in protest after leading the crowd through an ‘acoustic’ rendition of Paradise City, which saw nearly 90,000 fans singing along and chanting ‘Let Them Play‘ and ‘Fuck You Reading‘(Not a secret, watch the videos). They eventually left the stage after Axl made a comment the band would not play Leeds after the treatment they received at Reading by ‘those responsible’

Coming on Late Ain’t right is it?

For the past twenty years, Guns N’ Roses have had a very obvious, very public, well documented and very much lampooned and hated reputation for showing up late by heritage fans and the music press. In fact, the writer shows a knowledge for this by highlighting (as usual) the low points and incidents of previous GN’R tours, in no great detail or context off course as that might involve some real journalism on their behalf – God forbid. For anyone to act surprised or angry at the group for turning up late has a vendetta because Axl Rose and the band have never done anything to make you think they’ve changed.

Do these people still act surprised when they get wet in the shower? Because they seem to have no comprehension for the flippin’ obvious.

Our Response – Axl Rose – Asshole or Hero?

Rock music has lost it’s way – Rock is now dead. Rock N Roll hall of fame, award shows – heritage bands reuniting, greatest hits set-lists, staying together for the ‘career’, money, album after album of repeated glory day styles, follow the rules, adapt to the industry’s expectations, the fans expectations, pander to the press, bad mouth your band mates and still stick together because there’s no-where else to go. Bands are old, rock is old and it’s fans, it’s bands and the industry built around them to exploit and drain what ever profits it can has finally destroyed what was once a perfect machine for encouraging rebellion. A style designed to give kids a voice to express their views, their difference of opinion and the things the mean the most to them.

Rock N’ Roll, Punk, Rap, Heavy Metal all evolved in each generation to suit new fans, new young people and their lives but the spirit of rock n roll has always been carried over and that message is simple – Don’t Follow The Rules and fuck society, fuck the industry, the government and fuck you, I’ll do what I want.

That message has become a cliché, a punch line for the marketing and advertising industry every time a twenty two year old college grad is given the new Motorhead album to push. The people running things, the bands involved and the new breed of fans, raised on ageing fogies playing greatest hits tours every year while struggling younger bands repeatedly get passed up so rich musicians can make more money. These days bands have to sound like Coldplay or Arcade Fire to get ahead, music that your gran, neighbours and teachers can sit back with, sip wine to and discuss the banking crisis. Very rock n’ roll eh.

Then you take Guns N’ Roses. Old Guns N’ Roses. Slash, Duff, Axl, Izzy and Steven and Appetite for Destruction. Sweet Child O Mine, Welcome to The Jungle and Paradise City. massive. Then Later with Don’t Cry, November Rain, Live and Let Die, You Could be Mine…just as massive. They had it all and could still be out there today, like every single other heritage rock band making money, touring Appetite for Destruction and a choice selection from what ever Appetite rip off they released that year and pandering to the fans every whim and wish. The so called ‘Most Dangerous Band‘ could be there in the O2, top hat, American flag shorts and all, like nothing ever changed in the past twenty years.

Wake the fuck up, things change and people move on.

Slash is gone, playing American anthems to stadiums, selling guitars for Gibson, living up in every respect to the stereotype cast on him. Discussing reunions and his love for Axl. Duff is around, playing in second rate punk bands, writing for Playboy (he’s a journalist now don’t ya know) and still playing with Slash and Matt Sorum in Guns N’….sorry, I mean Velvet Revolver. He likes to discuss reunions occasionally aswell. Steven, poor Steven plays in Adler’s Appetite, a band that until recently exclusively played Appetite For Destruction at every show. Again, he mentions the idea of a re-union at every given opportunity.

Axl does not discuss reunions, he does not give interviews, he does not play national anthems to baseball stadiums full of 40/50 year old Americans who point and remember he was the guy who sang Sweet Child O’ Mine. He keeps the band fresh. He works on his music in his own time, he tours and plays shows ranging from 2.5-3.5 hours with a new band of incredibly tight musicians playing half hits and half new material. He goes on stage when he’s ready, he releases his music when he’s ready and he does what he likes, when he wants to do it. Not when people tell him he should do it.

He makes no secret of this and anyone that tries to argue that is an opinionated, but faceless moron following the sheep and the lead taken by people set out against Axl for personal grudges. Ya see, musicians who don’t pander to the press become enemies. People who won’t do what they’re told become a nuisance. and people who tell you to fuck off after you’ve devoted yourself to them for years on end get pissed off.

Axl Rose does what he likes when he likes. He doesn’t set out to piss off fans or anyone else but anyone turning up at a Guns show expecting to see the band on time is a straight up retard and fuck knows where they’d get the idea that was going to happen. It might, it’s not like they never turn up on time but you only hear of the occasions when they don’t. It’s not like every other band in the world always turn up on time, but then again – they don’t make as interesting reading as Axl.

He doesn’t pander to press, to fans, to x-band mates, to record companies or to anyone who else who tells him what he should be dong. He’s nearly 50 years old and he knows very well what he’s doing and how he wants it done. he knows when he’s ready to walk on stage to give the best performance he can and he knows when his musics ready. The Press, managers, fans and no-one else knows this because they all suck off the ‘product’ he’s giving the world. if you don’t like it – fuck off, if you question it – fuck off and if you have a problems guess what – Fuck Off!

Rock N’ Roll is rebellion and Axl Rose rebels against pretty much every rule in the book, whether it’s the industry making them, Society making them, the fans making them or his band making them. He will give you a fantastic show as long as you don’t throw shit at him (by the way, how many of you would remain in your chairs at work if customers came along throwing bottles and coins at you with a spot light in your face blocking your view?? Ya, fuck off!).

Axl Rose is the last true hero of rock n roll because he’s the only one famous enough still telling pressure and rules to go fuck themselves and anyone that can’t see that has no business being a fan of rock in the first place. Fuck off and listen to Radiohead and leave Rock N Roll alone for people with some balls.

Moving On:

Guns N’ Roses play Belfast on Tuesday, Dublin on Wednesday. Don’t go if you want Slash, don’t go if you have somewhere to be after. Go if you want to see the last true icon of a rotting genre, that once gave people alot of hope before it’s originators, it’s fans and it’s spokespeople were absorbed back into the system the movement set out to defy in the first place. He might also play a few cracking tunes while you’re there.

NME – Stick to reviewing The Kings of Leon, The Libertines and The Klaxons. That seems to be as much danger as ye can handle. I hear there’s a fat, squirrel eating lesbian naked somewhere – go quick, there’s a cover due!

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Comments on the Net

Posted in Music, News with tags , , , , on September 7, 2009 by Tickets There

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Have you ever noticed the amount of sher, unfounded hatred on the internet? Now, don’t bother mentioning my reviews. They’re based on bands music and sometimes I like to get silly but I’m not insulting them anymore than they’re insulting the whole idea of music with their presence in that industry,

But seriously, I generally visit a select number of sites every day to check out new and updates so I can pass them on second hand to you folks when you trip across my blog on the very rare occasion I feel it’s worth mentioning. All I see on these sites (NME, Blabbermouth and several others) is just hate filled people writing the most horrible comments about everything. As a Guns N Roses fan I used to spend a lot of time on gnrdaily.com until I just couldn’t handle reading another thread of people constantly ripping into each other about how ignorant the other person was. Either their absolute gutter hatred fueled comments or they’re sneery and sarcastic. People just tearing into everything for the sake of it and trying to act cool or smart or tough or basically anything they aren’t in real life without adding anything positive to their message.

I know it’s fun and all but I rarely see the same people ever commenting anything good or positive on other posts. Like they only comment when they hate something. I’m not going to go into a huge thing about this because it’s not really music specific but people please, comment occasionally on things you like or say something good. Stop trying to look tough over the net because everyone will instantly know you are a total pussy (does that make it look like I’m trying to be tough?).

If you see something you don’t like, try and look at it from all angles and maybe be constructive if you feel the need to have yourself heard. Otherwise, remember that if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.

(As for my site, comment whatever you like. I tear away into bands so it’s only right that bands and fans tear away into me. God knows there’s enough own goals on my blogs to castrate me if you want. I’m directing this comment more at people who can’t shut up insulting everything from bands cloths, music, homes, speeches, life-style and whatever else. )

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