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Bright Eyes 2005

 Rep: 27 

Re: Fernando's link to leaks? And the craziness that is gnr

Bright Eyes 2005 wrote:

when did they say that CSS?

Axl said it during the Eddie Trunk interview back in 2006 and Duff denied it soon after Scott Weiland lashed out after he'd left (or got fired from) Velvet Revolver.

I believe that it was in an interview with Classic Rock magazine.

Eddie Trunk: There were some rumors circulating recently that there was talk that you would do or that there was rumblings about possibly doing shows with the original line up of the band and then... All rumor?

Axl Rose: No, that's all nonsense. That's just people starting stuff for whatever reason.

...

Duff McKagan: I know he was really paranoid about that and we had to allay his fears at one point, when we were writing for 'Libertad'. He got wind that our manager at that point had been talking to Axl about bringing Axl over to what was our management company back then. And Scott freaked out that we were getting GN'R back together and we weren't going to make the second record. I don't know where it came from. There was no contract on the table or pens ready to sign. Maybe now he's convinced himself that's what happened.

The conspiracy theorists don't want to believe any of that though.  It's no fun that way.

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.

Bright Eyes 2005

 Rep: 27 

Re: Fernando's link to leaks? And the craziness that is gnr

Bright Eyes 2005 wrote:

Another interesting, and potentially telling event in the late 2005 period was the delay of GH2 until March of 2006.  Why would Universal, looking to make some cash during the Holiday shopping season, delay the GH2 album?  Likely because they felt something more profitable was coming (a dvd and live album); or they felt it more profitable to release the GH2 when the reunion gigs were announced.  It all makes sense (events, the calendar, Ross Halfin who is close with Slash being in the know), and of course (as someone has mentioned above) none of the members would discuss business deals of this magnitude with the press--not even Slash.  It's bad etiquette, and would potentially wreck future deals, and kill the element of surprise that they all want when and if something eventually does happen with a reunion.

Also, this episode goes to show, regardless of what members may tell the press, deals like this can and do come together quickly--sometimes totally unforeseen by those who are directly involved.  Although I do believe Duff's meeting in London with Axl was unplanned, it does make one wonder a bit what goes on behind the scenes?  Obviously, neither would ever leak word if something was trying to be organized, and all parties know the huge amount of cash they would make from even one reunion tour (the power of the $$ can never be underestimated, even by Axlites).  One never knows--heck Axl's lawsuit against Azoff could (total speculation) be a negotiating tool to get a better deal from Live Nation for a reunion tour--Axl knowing he is going to lose and owe Irving the 1.8 million, and that his debts are going to force him to suck it up and do one big tour with his former band mates at some point?   It's tough for anyone in the industry (ask anyone in the concert industry and they will tell you they think a reunion will eventually happen) to fathom the original band not reuniting at some point sooner than later due to the huge pay out they would make.  The $$ are off the charts, and would surpass anything they made during the Illusion tour.  Will it happen, who knows, but I for one still believe it is more likely to happen than not, and sooner than later.

monkeychow

 Rep: 661 

Re: Fernando's link to leaks? And the craziness that is gnr

monkeychow wrote:

It's tough for anyone in the industry (ask anyone in the concert industry and they will tell you they think a reunion will eventually happen) to fathom the original band not reuniting at some point sooner than later due to the huge pay out they would make.

In most cases I would agree, but I'm really not so sure in the case of Axl.

It's not because I'm trying to spin some kind of Axl-ite "he's an artist" kind of stuff, (although of course I do admire Axl's artistic ability very very much), but to me the telling point is the history of GNR. A glance at the history of things and Axl's music shows he's an  emotional guy, be it the anger,  punching a photographer, diving into the crowd to take a camra, riots, walking off stage, going underground and so on.

People can look at this negativety as some do here, or positivitely (as Ron/Tommy do with the Axl's the real deal kind of comment), but either way, one thing seems constant - Axl does what his head tells him to do regardless of what others think is in his best interests from the non-emotional point of view.

So for this reason I think that if Axl doesn't emotionally want to hang with Slash and co again, no amount of 'common sense'/rational/financial type arguments, such as the potential for money, success or impact will change that.

If it was about money, they could have done a tour this year, pocketed $200 million and had a wall of handlers keeping them appart off stage. But it's not about the money. Just as it wasn't about money at st louis and any other incident.

I wouldn't entirely rule out a reuinon simply because as they get older people get nostaligic for their youth, and hated can fade over the years. So maybe one day Axl wakes up and looks at his life the way duff seems to, that something like GNR happening to them is a freakish thing that can happen in a life, and that all anyone did was do the best they could to manage their own deamons, their own personality issues and that no one's perfect. Maybe he thinks that all bullshit aside, musically they had something special and it'd be fun to play again JUST for that reason. That could happen tomorrow, or it might never happen in 50 years.

So my personal opinion is that a cash based reunion will never happen, and that the only chance is a friend based one, which is unlikely at this stage but not entirely impossible forever human's being the emotional creatures we are. But i'm sure not holding my breath for it.