What is amazing reading through this, to this point (page 13 is where I am at now), is that there is no mention of Irving Azoff.  Azoff was the manager of Velvet Revolver in 2005/2006 (they switched in 2006, likely due to some of the things mentioned about the reunion deal he was likely working at that point in time).  There is no doubt, UMG and Azoff wanted a reunion, and there is no doubt that is why he signed onto be Axl's manager.  As nuts as Axl's lawsuit against Azoff is--mainly because is does not refute Azoff's claims to commissions for concerts he booked--it definitely hits the mark regarding Azoff's intentions with GNR and his monopoly of the concert industry.  Keep in mind, when Merck was fired in 2006, everyone in the industry knew Azoff was going to be GN'R's manager, it just wasn't made official until 2008.  Also, the time frame for the 2005 early 2006 reunion stuff really makes sense--Axl and Izzy started hanging again in that time, and Axl happened to hang with Sorum in NYC early in 2006.  I also posted here in that time frame, that I heard from a DJ (member here) that he had heard rumblings from his contact at UMG that a reunion was being negotiated in that time frame.  James and I exchanged PM's about it, and he was the only one, after I shared my sourcing, who saw that there was something potentially happening.  I also had a friend of Dizzy's tell me something could be going down during that period.  Very interesting--Aphex is definitely well sourced.

My thought about the later leaks is likely that Azoff was somehow working with UMG to promote the Skwerl leaks, in hopes of it finally getting Axl to release the CD and see for himself--from Azoff's point of view--that this new band was not going to work commercially and a reunion was needed. 

Another note, I believe that when Sanctuary failed, UMG bought them, and then Azoff negotiated a new deal between GNR and UMG in 2008 which: erased Axl's recording debts to UMG, retained his 1/3rd of the publishing which UMG received in the Sanctuary buyout, and then helped UMG erase their losses by convincing Best Buy to purchase the CD for an exclusive release. 

Azoff goes way back with GNR, and was aware of them in 1986, as he was and is a close friend and business associate with David Geffen.  Geffen originally approached and wanted Azoff to manage GNR in 1986.  He also had a hand in putting VR together, and was their original manager until Libertad, when he then cut ties with Slash and Duff, but stayed on as Weiland's manager.

In this climate, all things considered, both (U2 and GNR) sold well--pushing 5 million physical units in 2009 is a miracle!  GN'R is even more impressive--did it without any publicity, a hit single, any tour, and Axl was nowhere to be found besides a few chat sessions.  The album will surely push some more units with the tour.  If those rehearsals are any indication, they are going to put on a helluva a show.  Asbha is very impressive (Blues solo and outro are out of this world)!

Yep, top story posted...amazing timing Irving!  This mini-tour will now be followed, reported on, and generate a buzz for Canada, and that will lead to MASSIVE South American shows followed by Summer in Europe, etc.  This is gonna be great!!!  Axl will get some good pub out of this--the paparazzi is not well liked, and defending your woman (was this set-up by Irving) against the paparazzi will score him even more points!

Wow, been gone for nearly a year--checked in once and not much has changed.  Not trying to start an argument, but the gist of this thread is ridiculous.

--GNR are selling fantastic for this tour!  Better than 2006 (most of the Canadian shows will be sold out by show time).

--The Asian shows will be big--those stadiums (take Taiwan for instance) are huge--even if they don't sell out, there are going to be massive crowds.

--The stage set-up, band, lighting, delivery, and organization provided by Irving Azoff is going to make this the best GN'R tour since UYI.  They are doing things correctly, and publicizing correctly.  Gone are the days of Merck, and his superficial hype machine.  To us, it may seem like the promotion is not huge, but note that the concerts promotion started with local radio for the Canadian dates.  Irving and his Ticketmaster machine know how to deliver a message, and they are delivering it on a local level via local radio.

--U2's new album is fantastic, but after listening non-stop to some posters self-righteous insinuations that U2 are Gods of the Rock Universe and will outsell everyone with fart sounds reverberating through a synthesizer was hilarious, and is even more so now.  TheIR last album landed with a thud, that to those inside the industry was even more disturbing than Chinese Democracy's U.S. sales.  U2 is a bit stale right now, at least from a sales perspective.  Artistically, the new album is brilliant.  Funny thing, and it's debatable, Chinese Democracy MAY have higher worldwide sales than U2's new album.  It's somewhere over 6 million--no one can quite tabulate (some reports have it over 10 million), but the thing did gangbusters in certain areas of the world (one wouldn't know that reading through many of the posts here).

--Bottomline, if you love GN'R, what a day it is!  The staging, set-up, lighting, video screens, and everything artistically look better than we have seen since 1993!  It looks like Universal, when they renegotiated with Axl and Irving, committed to funding part of this tour (boxes in photos of Taiwan say "Universal"), and you can tell. It also does not hurt havingTicketmaster and Live Nation helping, and Azoff knows how to build momentum on the touring side better than anyone.  The man demanded perfection, more rehearsing than they had done in ten years, better equipment, sound men, etc.  The set-list looks great, and the band is about to deliver. 

MAYBE IT'S PART NOVELTY, OR HOW AXL CARRIES HIMSELF, BUT WHEN GN'R ARE ABOUT TO TAKE THE STAGE, THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF WANTON MADNESS THAT NO OTHER BAND BRINGS--ITS SOMETHING TO BEHOLD, AND ITS GOD DAMNED WONDERFUL!  THE ANTICIPATION IS BUILDING, THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!  ROCK N' ROLL GNFR!!!