The Catcher Shanghai'd

The rumors of GNR taking a trip to Shanghai to film a new video kept coming, zeroing in on early October. Meanwhile, the rumored release date crept up a notch, now landing on 12/03, just before the show in Madison Square Garden, New York.

"Axl Rose was spotted in Shanghai on Tuesday (October 8). Was the Guns N' Roses mastermind taking Chinese Democracy to the streets instead of the studio? Who knows ... there's still no release date in sight." (MTV, 10/09/02)

"Guns N' Roses were apparently [...] in Shanghai [...] last week [...]  recording a video for the track 'Catcher In The Rye', which is taken from their forthcoming new album 'Chinese Democracy'." (Metal Hammer, 10/20/02)

"We had the following sent to us from a DJ at a radio station. They are doing an interview with Axl and his management sent over the following info to them:

3. The interviewer should ask about:
d) He spent some time in China and wrote songs there - what was it like?" (Metal Sludge, 12/06/02)

"Bach: And than you were telling me the other day that you lived in China for three months?
Axl: Yeah, we went and stayed in China for about three months, Beijing, Shanghai, and Xian." (Eddie Trunk show, 05/05/06)

As Paul Buckmaster mentioned Axl'd just returned from the Middle-East in June, it's possible he made at least two separate trips there in the space of six months, instead of one three-month trip. The trips would've occured on both sides of the Eurasian mini-tour.

"Trunk: That inspired the name of the album at all?
Axl: No, [the name] was before that, but then I just thought I should go. I wanted to go before they banned me. So, you know, I mean Chinese Democracy that doesn't quite work for the government over there." (Eddie Trunk show, 05/05/06)

'Fucked up and out of place'

On 08/28/02, the band went through a secret rehearsal at the Radio City Music Hall, New York, gearing up for the VMA's.

"We didn't have what we were doing on stage worked out until [...] the day before the show." (Axl, WRIF, 11/21/02)

"[MTV Executive VP] Dave [Sirulnick] came to me and said, 'You should really come over to see this.' It was the night before the show, and they were doing a rehearsal, and it was Axl. And you just thought, 'Where’s he been? What decade are we in?' And he had this big band - and they were a great band, you know - but he was doing Guns N’ Roses material, and they were great. It really was a surprise." (Kurt Loder, MTV, 11/22/08)

The original idea would've likely been to play the first single off CD, as the album release would've occurred within a week.

"At MTV's annual awards show [on 08/29/02], publicists buzzed through the audience whispering about a big finale." (New York Times, 03/06/05)

"The day of the show, they didn't let us go down that street. I had to get out of the car, run past the police, and they're telling me I have to stop, and I'm like, 'I've gotta sing.' And the best part was, as I'm running down the street, I had to run past all the people lined up to get into the building, and they're going, [puts on dumb rock fan voice] 'Hey, there goes KID ROCK.' I thought that was pretty funny. [...] I had, like, police chasing me down the street, and then our security and MTV had to clear it with them, but... It was very interesting." (Axl, WRIF, 11/21/02)

"And with just minutes to go in the broadcast, a screen lifted away to reveal the band and Mr. Rose, in cornrows and a sports jersey, looking strikingly young. The musicians burst into 'Welcome to the Jungle,' one of the original band's biggest hits, and the crowd went wild. But on television Mr. Rose quickly seemed out of breath and out of tune. He ended the performance, which included the new song 'Madagascar' and the original band's hit 'Paradise City' in a messianic stance, raising his arms and closing his eyes. He left the audience with a cryptic but tantalizing message: 'Round one.'" (New York Times, 03/06/05)

As can be heard, the VMA medley did no favors for Axl, as the WTTJ section kept asking for long wails with virtually no guitar solos in between. Thus Axl kept losing breath in between verses, resulting in a lackluster performance.

"Axl Rose brought Guns N' Roses back to the MTV Video Music Awards Thursday night for the first time in 10 years, but the frontman indicated that the wait for a new album from the band will continue. 'You'll see [the album], but I don't know if 'soon' is the word,' Rose explained to [Kurt Loder] immediately after unveiling the current GN'R lineup to an American television audience for the first time. 'It will come out, and we'll do some more recording and start the American leg of the tour,' he promised." (MTV, 08/30/02)

"Guns N' Roses will begin a 40-plus date North American arena tour in late October in the Northeastern U.S., according to sources. This will be the band's first full-blown U.S. tour since playing 29 shows in 1993 that grossed $13.7 million." (Billboard, 08/30/02)

Plan B was still in the works. Do the mini-tour and the VMA's, head back to the studio, and complete the album for a November release. The return to the road would happen in October, which would also be a slight necessity, as the record company requires roughly eight weeks to set the release up properly after the album is turned over. Hence, late-September completion equals late-November release.

Nevermind September

As the tour start grew nearer, plans were put in doubt once again.

"It doesn't look like Guns N' Roses will be touring North America in September after all. According to a report out of Indonesia, the band will be performing there in late September, following a tour of Australia. Indonesian promoter Tommy Pratama told the local digital publication Detikcom that he's had to reschedule the concert three times, from Sept. 7 to Sept. 13 to the current date of Sept. 29, but he is optimistic the booking is now firm. He noted that the group was expected to be in Australia Sept. 11-25, and in Korea on the 27th. The popular rumor had been that a U.S. tour would be kicking off Sept. 2." (CDNow, 08/05/02)

It would seem the plan so far had been to finish up the album, do a minor warm-up tour in Asia and Europe (starting fittingly in China), return to the States for the Video Music Awards, celebrate the album release and begin a full tour in the midst of the CD release. Now, they were about to detour through softer markets, buying themselves at least another month before the assumed return to the US. But what for?

"Promoter Tommy Pratama has confirmed to Undercover News that he is in negotiations to bring G'n'R to Indonesia and that it will happen after their Australian tour. Pratama says he was initially talking about touring the band next month, but they have decided to move dates to January / February 2003 to promote the album Chinese Democracy.

[...] The comments confirm news early this year that the long awaited Chinese Democracy is indeed ready for release. Gunners had hoped to release the album in September but the record is now scheduled for November, according to Pratama." (Undercover News, 08/12/02)

In a week, the September slate was wiped clean. On the day the September cancellations were made official, Axl had already arrived to China. His cohorts would put out a press release following the performance in Hong Kong. All bets were off and the tour hadn't even begun.

"[This is] a warm up, so we can have an understanding of how to start our Fall tour. And that's a warm up for the Spring tour. This thing is starting now and much like Use Your Illusions that went for two and a half years, this thing is going to go off and on for the next two or three years, and we'll see how it goes.

[...] Paul [Huge] helped us a lot in the writing and the recording of this record and to me was a vital part of not only the band but also my life. The world tour really wasn't his cup of tea whereas he's much more comfortable in a studio setting.

[...] This is our tour. This is a collection of performances I've agreed to. That I have personally authorized - not someone else's good intentions gone awry, or a reckless promoter's personal agenda." (Axl, GNROnline, 08/15/02)

As Axl had been vocal about the 2001 cancellations being the record company's fault, it's certainly good to hear he'd now gotten abreast of the matter and personally agreed to tour. At this point, there's no doubt whether he personally wanted to release the album in September to accommodate a long road trip. It also alludes that Richard Fortus was hired as first and foremost a touring member, as Huge seemingly wouldn't had wanted to spent a good while of the next few years traveling with the band.

"Guns N' Roses will go back into the studio immediately following the [August] dates to put the final touches on the forthcoming 'Chinese Democracy' album. 'I gave into a lot of pressure on Illusions both internally in Guns and externally in the press, those albums suffered as a consequence, it's not something I'm too excited to have to live with again.

There are a lot of new songs that were just done in the last year that we feel that 'okay, well that bumps a lot of stuff off the previous list'. [...] I think that we'll go on to write some very interesting things with Richard and he's already done some rhythm work and some leads on the album, [...] but it's time to stop [adding new songs] now and wrap up the baby.." (Axl, GNROnline, 08/15/02)

"The first record, everything was written. I went in and rerecorded parts, but it was all written before I got in. It’s funny because that was a big part of why I was brought in. It was because of the writing. I think Axl, he wants a band that can write with him." (Richard Fortus, Ultimate Guitar, 11/26/08)

"It feels right, the timing, and a lot of things. We've sorted it down to what songs are on the record. What the sequence of the songs is. The album cover art is ready. Blah, blah, blah. If you're waiting...don't. [...] Now that we feel that we have clarity as to the album we're trying to make, we're wrapping it up. We've had every obstacle and every strange occurrence that you can have and for us to be playing Hong Kong in a few days is a big step.'" (Axl, GNROnline, 08/15/02)

Certainly, the album was supposed to be ready at that point. However, as there is still work to be done, Axl seemed rather defensive and sounded as if he'd answered same question more than once already. His stance seemed to be that he would not be forced by the management, the record label or any other party to finish up beforehand.

Rather than to cancel the already-booked performances at the VMA's and in North America, Axl then agreed to press on. One question remained: Could the album be completed in September?

Fall for Grace

In late April, the band announced three shows, all four months away. August 17th and 18th were set for appearances at the Japanese SummerSonic festival, while the 23rd was for Carling Leeds Festival in the UK. Rumbling was ongoing as for the album.

"An insider at the band's management company, Sanctuary, has told Metal Hammer.co.uk that work on the new GN'R album 'Chinese Democracy' has been completed. 'An album exists,' said the source, 'and we expect to have it released before the end of the year. Word is that it's an awesome record.'" (Metal Hammer, 04/25/02)

In May, the guitar player who was approached in late '99 to replace Robin was called to replace Paul Huge.

"I had done a few sessions with Tommy Stinson (bassist from The Replacements) and Brain (ex-drummer from Primus). Tommy and I had been pretty good friends for awhile so when they were looking for someone, Tommy called and asked if I wanted to audition.

At the time I was on the road in Europe [with Enrique Iglesias] so I had to fly from London to L.A. and then back to Ireland during a two-day break [May 17th-18th, 2002]. Got off the plane and went straight to the audition and then got back on a plane!" (Fortus, Anderson Guitars, 04/20/03)

"The first thing I heard Richard play was the beginning of 'Stray Cat Blues' by the Stones and he did it with the right feel." (Axl, GNROnline, 08/14/02)

"I was just getting the sound, and when you play something you play a riff or whatever. You’re doing something familiar to get the sound in the amp the way you want it to sound. That’s just one of those riffs. I was just playing the beginning of it, not even thinking about it. Then Axl was like, 'Whoa!' He was like, 'Wow, "Stray Cat Blues"! That’s big points.'" (Richard Fortus, Ultimate Guitar, 11/26/08)

In mid-June, more dates were announced. A US tour was now rumored to take place.

"Guns n' Roses will begin an overseas tour on August 14th in Hong Kong, which will include the Summer Sonic Festival in Tokyo and Osaka. The band will then head to Europe to play the Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium, the Carling Festival in Leeds, and two additional shows in London. G n' R are then planning to return to the U.S. for a tour to run from September to December." (Rolling Stone, 06/14/02)

The Leeds show would remain in doubt as the organizers experienced difficulty in obtaining the necessary licenses. Controversy seemed to follow GNR to their first European show in nine years, even though this was to be counted into non-related instances.

However, the album was said to have a release date - and lo and behold, it did indeed match Zutaut's prediction. It also matched the previous reports that the band would embark on a US tour in September, conveniently to tour behind the album.

"Guns 'n' Roses 'Chinese Democracy' has been rescheduled for release September 2, almost three years after the original release date. Axl Rose has recorded over 70 songs for this record with various producers." (Undercover News, 06/24/02)

"Guns N' Roses' record company and management has told Launch that rumors that the band's forthcoming album, Chinese Democracy, was to be released Labor Day weekend are untrue. A spokesperson for Interscope/Geffen spoke to the band's management, who replied to the unsubstantiated rumor, 'Where are they getting this from?'" (Launch, 06/25/02)

So, Axl speaks to his management, who speak to the label representatives, who comment to the press? Do it the hard way. But as it turned out, the state of the release was sketchy at best.

The Desperate Trail

In January, Paul Westerberg contacted Tommy Stinson on a minor reunion for their former band, The Replacements.

"Last winter the Internet was alight with rumors of a Stinson/Paul Westerberg tour '” one that would, in typically perverse fashion, have retraced the steps of 1959's tragic Buddy Holly/Ritchie Valens/Big Bopper 'Winter Dance Party' package." (Metro Times Detroit, 08/20/03)

Historically, the Winter Dance Party is divided in half due to the tragic plane crash midway. The full lineup performed in between Jan 23rd and Feb 2nd, while the remaining dates ran from Feb 3rd to 15th. In a moment of morbid ingenuity, The Replacements would've probably hit the road on 02/03/02.

"[Westerberg hints] that some very influential someone kiboshed the surprise Replacements reunion he tried assembling in February, a just-for-kicks tour that would have retraced Buddy Holly's unfinished steps on the ill-fated Winter Dance Party jaunt of 1959. 'I think Tommy was advised not to do it, if you can make sense of that,' Westerberg tells us. 'When I called him, he was anxious and interested in a wild idea like that, and then suddenly had a change of heart. So go figure.'" (CDNow, 04/16/02)

"'It got as serious as one kind of funny phone call,' recalls Stinson of the Westerberg-proposed jaunt. 'We joked about it and I came back and said, 'I really don't have time to do it right now, but thanks anyway.' And that was the end of it.

Then somehow that turned into 'Axl wouldn't let him do it!' and all this bullshit that [Paul] put out in the press. It was really fucked. I can't say it made me real happy; it didn't make Axl very happy either. But in reality it never got any further than the one conversation.'" (Metro Times Detroit, 08/20/03)

Whatever the truth, the tour would've been deceptively close to certain someone's birthday, and he had other things to worry about already.