Considering the train wreck Axl Rose has become, it’s hard to believe that Slash was in a band with him for even a minute. Slash’s mellow demeanor is nearly equal in degree to Axl’s level of personal turbulence. And yet Slash, who created some of the greatest guitar riffs and solos of the rock era (“November Rain,” “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” “Welcome to the Jungle,” etc.), struck lightning not once, but twice, in the wacked-out vocalist department by creating Velvet Revolver with singer Scott Weiland.

The poster child for Ray Bans and top hats spoke to The New York Post.

NY Post: Since your mother [Ola Hudson] was a costume designer for musicians and your father [Anthony Hudson] created album art, were you exposed to rock stars growing up?

Slash: “Yeah. A lot of pop-star eccentricity — a lot of wants and needs and delusions of grandeur. Joni Mitchell was probably my favorite. She was just a very deep, soulful individual. Then, on the flip side, there was Cher, who was obnoxious. She had a lot of attitude. My mom had a store, and she would come into the shop and be demanding and rude.”

NY Post: When Axl finally released “Chinese Democracy” in 2008, What did you think?

Slash: “It was the perfect Axl record — exactly what I would have expected from the final years of us working together, and seeing where he was headed musically. It’s very heavy; sort of a dark, depressing record. He’s f- – - ing phenomenal.”

NY Post: But the two of you haven’t spoken in years. would you be open to speaking again?

Slash: “I’m more standoffish because I know how vehemently he hates me. So that sort of makes me doubt it. But if we ran into each other and all that animosity were to pass for a second, then I’m sure we could have an interesting conversation.”

NY Post: Axl Rose and Scott Weiland are great vocalists, but not so stable. Is that why you worked with so many guests on your new record?

Slash: “Now you’re getting into the deeper psychological aspect of it, which I hadn’t really taken into consideration. Maybe a couple of hours on the couch might pull that one out! I think the whole thing was just inspired by great singers that I wanted to work with. I didn’t think about other aspects of it. But the one cool thing that did come out of this was that it gave me a whole new respect for singers, and changed my attitude toward them given the last couple of guys that I’ve worked with. These people were all amazingly gracious and professional. I’ve done so much session work where I write or play with somebody, and it’s an empty feeling when you’re done because they take off with the material — it’s like being a surrogate. So this time, I had all these people play on my record.”

NY Post: That song “Beautiful Dangerous” is pretty hard-rocking for Fergie!

Slash: “It is. But here’s the thing about Fergie: I met her at club Avalon in LA four years ago. We did a little rock medley, and she sang “Black Dog,” “Live and Let Die” and “Barracuda” like nobody’s business. I just don’t hear great female rock singers like that anymore. It was f- – – in’ amazing. She’s actually more of a rock ’n’ roll singer than a pop singer; I think even Will [will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas] knows that.”

On Tuesday, Slash releases his first-ever solo album — simply titled “Slash” — featuring a range of guest vocalists that includes Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie, Adam Levine, Chris Cornell, Iggy Pop and more.

* “I was a huge fan of old ‘SNL.’ I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Dan Aykroyd over the last few years. He is one of the all-time great actors. He’s just fantastic. I don’t think anybody’s come along who can do what he does.”

* “I was just in the Bahamas. I like hanging out and being outdoors and in the sun. Being near water and diving are fun.”

* “Who do you think my favorite author would be? It goes without saying that I’m a huge Hunter S. Thompson fan. Have been ever since I read ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.’ I’m somebody who actually tweets Hunter S. Thompson quotes.”

* “Right now, I’m reading Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘Hocus Pocus.’ I love the way he writes, and how involved his stories are. They’re very tricky and unpredictable. I also like English author Graham Greene. I just love his sarcastic, dark look at everything. It has a sense of humor to it that’s very English. Definitely twisted.”

* “I’m a big fan of Colombian food, and the marinated steaks that they do. They taste good, and I like anything spicy.”

According to Billboard.biz, North American rock acts occupy all three top-of-the-bill slots at this summer’s twinned Reading and Leeds festivals with Guns N’ Roses, Arcade Fire and Blink 182 set to headline the long-running U.K. events.
Other acts confirmed to appear at the dual-site festival, which takes place Aug. 27 to Aug. 30 at Little John’s Farm in Reading and Bramham Park, Leeds, include Paramore, Queens of the Stoneage, LCD Soundsystem, Klaxons and Pendulum. U.K. band the Libertines has also confirmed that it will reform to perform at the event.

Although Guns N’ Roses played a headline set at the Leeds leg of the festival in 2002, this year marks the first time that they will have played the festival’s Reading site. The band is set to headline the Reading leg on Aug. 27 and Leeds on Aug. 29. According to organizers, Festival Republic, the two shows will be the band’s only U.K. appearances in 2010.

Also making its only U.K. festival appearance of the year is Arcade Fire, which headlines the main stage on Aug. 28 in Reading and Aug. 27 in Leeds. Blink 182‘s headline slot is also a U.K. festival exclusive.

Among the other names confirmed for the festivals are Biffy Clyro, Lostprophets, Gogol Bordello, Billy Talent, Dizzee Rascal, The Cribs, Modest Mouse, Weezer, Limp Bizkit, Phoenix and Foals. Full line-up details can be found at www.readingfestival.com and www.leedfestival.com. In line with previous years, national Top 40 network BBC Radio 1 will broadcast live coverage of the event.

Tickets went on sale at 6.45pm GMT today (March 29) and cost £180 ($269) plus booking fee for weekend tickets and £75 ($112) plus booking fee for day tickets. Tickets can be purchased from www.festivalrepublic.com, www.seetickets.com, www.readingfestival.com and www.leedsfestival.com.

A couple of weeks ago, Axl Rose posted a rant on his twitter, denying rumors that Guns would play in Central America. Apparently things have changed, Guns N’ Roses’ official facebook page has published events such as:

Guns N’ Roses live in Panama City, Panama
Time:7:00PM Wednesday, April 7th
Location:Estadio Figali

Guns N’ Roses live in San Jose, Costa Rica
Time:7:00PM Friday, April 9th
Location:Estadio Ricardo Saprissa

Guns N’ Roses live in San Salvador, El Salvador
Time:7:00PM Sunday, April 11th
Location:Estadio Cuscatlan

Guns N’ Roses live in Guatemala City, Guatemala
Time:7:00PM Tuesday, April 13th
Location:Estadio del Ejercito

Guns N’ Roses live in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Time:7:00PM Thursday, April 15th
Location:Roberto Clemente Coliseum

The last Guns N’ Roses show in Brazil for the South American leg of the Chinese Democracy was MAGIC. Magic is the word  i can find to describe what happened on March the 16th at Fiergs in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Getting There
After what happened in Rio on Sunday i was a tad nervous about how they would get everything ready to go for the Porto Alegre show. There was also the fact that the venue chosen to hold the gig was never used for a concert before. It turns out it was the perfect place.

It took us about 2 hours to get to the venue by car, traffic was slow because Fiergs is located in a very busy avenue that is an alternative entrance to the city of Porto Alegre. After getting our tickets from the box office we had to walk about two miles to get to the beginning of the huge line formed by about 6 thousand fans who were still outside waiting to get in. It was 9 PM and i was already tired, the line was moving slowly due to the tight security at the entrance of the venue, beer, cigarettes and a cheap hot-dog… Call that my dinner.

Inside
We finally went  in at around 9:50 pm, by then, according to the original schedule, Sebastian Bach should be at the end of his show and we would have to wait around 10 minutes for Axl and Co to get on stage and start the show. That wasn’t the case though. No band had played by then and the crew on stage looked nervous, probably with problems related to the incidents in Rio. The wait started.

The venue was great. Very well organized, beer price was alright, Guns N’ Roses merchandise was awesome too but, what impressed me the most was the amount of beautiful women hanging there, met many friends there. The atmosphere was magical! i have been to many big concerts in my life but i had never felt like that night. The proximity with the airport was a nice touch, those big airplanes flying over our heads, i can only imagine how amazing it must have been for those up there seeing the crowd at Fiergs as they fly by. PERFECT!

People seemed impatient with the wait, there was no information on what was hapening and, of course, rumours started spreading, canceled show, Axl still in Rio among other stupid things.

At midnight the first band that was supposed to play gets on stage, they get so booed and receive such hostility from the crowd that they had to leave stage after 3 songs. (continue reading…)

Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose has released the following statement via his official Twitter account:

ATTENTION: The March 14th Guns N’ Roses show in Rio De Janeiro at Apoteose Stadium has been officially canceled for this evening due to the stage collapsing because of heavy rains. Stay tuned for more info and possible rescheduling information as we receive it.

Rio update on Sunday 14th March via Axl’s Twitter:

All injuries appear to be minor. There were originally radio reports of a fatality which has fortunately turned out to be false. Initial reports are that our staging is for the most part ok but a more accurate assessment is being made. No word yet on if the show will be moved to tomorrow the 15th or another night. Reportedly Baz’s truck driver is ok as well. Thank you again for your understanding. Axl-

Rio update on Sunday 14th March via Axl’s Twitter:

They’re now saying the venue actually experienced a minor tornado. Either that or regional Global media blowing usual hot air. J/k !! Love, El Gordo!!

GnR played a WILDLY successful show in Brasilia, greeted by a huge, high energy crowd. The crowd sang EVERY WORD to the new songs in unison and the band itself was visibly surprised, especially Bumblefoot and DJ Ashba. From the moment they opened the set with ‘Chinese Democracy’, the crowd jumped and sang every note, for almost 2 hours and 30 minutes. Dj Ashba in particular fed off of the energy: he stagedived THREE TIMES.

In the middle of the concert, a group of 70 people unraveled a giant banner with the band’s new logo painted on it. As the banner took shape, the band tried to play at the same time they stared at it in awe. It was right before Axl’s center walkway and even he could not hide his shock.

People of all ages were there, including MANY people who were not even born when ‘The Spaghetti Incident?’ was released; none of them cared about who ever was in the band before. DJ seemed to be the fan favorite band member (apart from Axl) in this lineup.

Axl looked very thin and in great shape. Another fun fact: as he played ‘The Wall’ at the piano before ‘November Rain’, he changed the lyrics to ‘on and on you’re just..another bitch on my balls’.

Judging by the response the new material and the band are having on the SA tour so far, a reunion seems to be more and more unnecessary.

Setlist:
01-Chinese Democracy
02-Welcome To The Jungle
03-It’s So Easy
04-Mr. Brownstone
05-Sorry
06-Better
07-Richard Fortus Guitar Solo [James Bond Theme]
08-Live And Let Die
09-If The World
10-Rocket Queen
11-Dizzy Reed Piano Solo
12-Street Of Dreams
13-Scraped
14-DJ Ashba Guitar Solo [The Ballad Of Death]
15-Sweet Child O’ Mine
16-You Could Be Mine
17-Jam [Another Brick In The Wall]
18-Axl Rose Piano Solo
19-November Rain
20-Bumblefoot Guitar Solo [Pink Panther Theme]
21-Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
22-Shackler’s Revenge
23-Patience
24-Nightrain
ENCORE
25-Madagascar
26-Paradise City

Important Events:
-Show of 2:30hs. They played twenty songs.
-The show began one hour late.
-You Could Be Mine had vids of F1.
-DJ Ashba jumped to the crowd three times in the show!!

Guns N’ Roses leader, Axl Rose arrives at Rio one day before the opening show in Brasília, the capital of Brazil.

Discretely, the singer and leader of Guns N’ Roses, Axl Roses arrived at the International Airport Tom Jobim on the morning this Saturday, the 6th. Pushing his own luggage car followed by a few security men and friends, Axl walked across the lobby with a serious face. From there he went to the Sheraton Hotel in São Conrado, a southern neighborhood in Rio, where he will stay overnight to then, head to Brasília on a private jet for the first concert of the South American Tour, on Sunday the 7th.

Guns N’ Roses last show in Brazil was in 2001, when they played in Rock in Rio 3. This time, the band will do 5 shows across the country, starting with Brasília on the 7th then Belo Horizonte, on the 10th; São Paulo on the 13th, Rio on the 14th and closes the Brazillian leg of the tour in Porto Alegre on the 16th, where gunsnrosesfans.com will be for the coverage of the gig.

The Chinese Democracy South America Tour starts tomorrow in Brasilia - Brazil. Here’s the complete list of confirmed gigs. Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Porto Alegre are already sold out, most of the other venues have only a few tickets left, so if you want to be part of this, you better hurry!

Santiago(Chile) location is still uncertain due to the earthquake that destroyed part of the ‘Club Hipico‘ where Guns N’ Roses were supposed to play at.

Date	City	Venue
March 7	Brasilia	Ginasio Nilson Nelson
March 10	Belo Horizonte	Mineirinho
March 13	Sao Paulo	Palmeiras
March 14	Rio De Janiero	Apoteose
March 16	Porto Alegre	Gigantinho
March 18	Montevideo	Estadio Centenario
March 20	Buenos Aires	River Plate
March 22	Santiago	Estadio Hipico
March 25	Lima	Explanada del Estadio Monumental
March 30	Bogota	Parque Simon Bolivar
April 1	Quito	Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa

Axl Rose, 48, is on a three-week bender — and he just won’t quit

It was just after 8 a.m. on Feb. 12, and for the last three hours Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose had been knocking back cocktails of vodka, cranberry juice and champagne at hip NYC lounge Greenhouse. Hot off the stage from an electric two-hour gig at the John Varvatos  store on the Bowery, Rose still had enough energy to keep the party going with his entourage of 20 or more rockers and hangers-on.

“It’s kind of his thing,” said Greenhouse co-owner Barry Mullineaux of Rose’s early after-partying that morning (Mullineaux later named a rose-colored champagne cocktail “the Axl Rose” in honor of the rocker’s wild morning at his club.). “His shows always run late, and he’s a true rock star so he liked to have after-parties after all of his shows.”

But Rose’s recent high jinks are legendary even where rockers are concerned. For the last three weeks, the singer has been on an epic bender in New York, tearing through the city’s nightclubs and bars like he’s still the stick-thin 25-year-old who became a worldwide phenomenon after the release of his album “Appetite for Destruction.”

MAP OF AXL’S BENDER

Since he arrived in the city for his Fashion Week concert on Feb. 11, he’s gone out nearly every night (and continued on till the morning), usually crashing afterward at his $1,550-a-night suite in the Essex House Hotel. His assault on New York night life has made him a one-man stimulus package during the scene’s winter doldrums — and the city’s nocturnes are thrilled.

“It’s like he’s teaching the next generation how it’s done,” said one source who has joined Rose on at least half a dozen of his jaunts, where Kings of Leon singer Caleb Followill has also been spotted. “Who’s a bigger rock star than Axl Rose?”

One of Rose’s guitarists, Richard Fortus, is in the process of getting started on an elaborate back tattoo at Graceland in Brooklyn, which will take some time to complete.

Though Rose, who lives on the West Coast, has been in New York on and off in the last couple years, night-life insiders say he hasn’t hit the town this hard since 2006.

That year, Rose was in town to play a show at the now-defunct club The Plumm — and got into a punch-up with preppy designer Tommy Hilfiger. (Rose moved a drink that belonged to one of Hilfiger’s friends, so Hilfiger hit him in the face. The clothier was shown the door, and Rose later performed “You’re Crazy” — dedicating the song to Hilfiger.)

Now, the rocker, who turned 48 on Feb. 6, is back on the rampage in the Big Apple. Rose asked to play the concert at the Varvatos store — for reasons that are still unclear — and proprietor John Varvatos was happy to oblige. “We thought they were only going to play five or six songs,” Varvatos said of Rose and his band. In fact, he played 17 to a packed room which included Kevin Bacon.

Rose clearly enjoyed the show. Following his appearance at the store, also the former home of CBGB, Rose raved on his Twitter account: “The NY shows were insane!! Love the free form laid back vibe . . . John [Varvatos] was really great! And to keep CBGB’s rockin’?! Badass!! . . . We all had a great time, it was a madhouse!! . . . I LOVE NY!!”

He wasn’t kidding. The next day he made late night stops at 1Oak followed by a mid-morning bash at Essex House.

On Sunday night, Feb. 14, Guns N’ Roses played a late-night gig at Rose Bar to a crowd of 150 that included Mickey Rourke. “Are you as hung-over as I am?” he snarled between GNR hits “Paradise City” and “Welcome to the Jungle.”

Then he went upstairs to a private suite where the party continued from 3 a.m. until 8 a.m.

Two nights later, he hit the Spin Club for pingpong games with none other than Scarlett Johansson. (He later showed up at posh watering hole Avenue, paddle still in hand).

On Thursday, Feb. 18, he crashed three clubs: The Box, SoHo’s Goldbar and SL in the Meatpacking District. At the last venue, he expressed an interest in buying a house in the metropolitan area — possibly in Connecticut, an insider there said. He capped off that night at a private loft in NoHo, where he drank a $1,000 bottle of wine with members of the Black Eyed Peas.

Although he has no wife or children to worry about, the middle-aged rocker has put on at least 15 pounds since his heyday and doesn’t appear to have a strict eating and drinking regimen to keep him in tip-top shape. Dressed in unbuttoned shirts and chunky man jewelry while sporting a wacky biker mustache, he looks more like a Western outlaw than a skinny metal kid.

Rose refused to give an interview for this article, but people who know him say his hard partying is simply a balance to his tough road schedule. “He works hard on the road, so who cares if he wants to blow off some steam when he’s off duty? What’s the fuss? He’s havin’ a good time. God bless him,” said Nur Khan, a Rose Bar bigwig, who set up Rose’s show and after-party there.

As for the late hours Rose plays and performs, says author Ray LeMoine who’s partied with the rocker in the past three weeks, “He’s Axl Rose playing in a small club. When do you want him to go on? I want him playing at 3 a.m. when I’m completely f – - – - d up.”

Another person who’s partied with Rose says he’s working on a new album after last year’s disappointing “Chinese Democracy” — the first Guns N’ Roses studio album in 15 years — and has something to prove.

LeMoine thinks Rose lets the negative press get to him more that he should. “The interesting thing about the guy is that he’ll tell stories and you’ll say, ‘Dude, you’re Axl Rose, you’ve got to not worry about that s – - t,’ “ LeMoine says. “You’ve put out so many great records and you’re the man, but he won’t hear it . . . there’s a nuanced psychological thing about the guy where he’s not trying to be Axl Rose.”

So far, no one knows when the party — or his existential crisis — will end. As Rose prepared to leave one club, The Post cornered him and asked how late he generally stays out. Rose just smirked. “As long as it takes,” he said.

Axl’s party playlist

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12:

* The John Varvatos store, 315 Bowery: Brought the house down with a rockin’ set. You go, Axl!

* Greenhouse, 150 Varick St.: Downed a few of his signature “Axl Rose” drinks from – gulp – 5 a.m. to 8 a.m.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14:

* 1Oak, 453 W. 17th St.: Partied with Skid Row lead singer Sebastian Bach and a small

entourage.

* Essex House, 160 Central Park South: After-party in Axl’s room!

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15:

* Gramercy Park Hotel’s Rose Bar, 2 Lexington Ave.: Played a gig, then headed upstairs to party with Sebastian Bach and Mickey Rourke.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19:

* The Box, 189 Chrystie St.: Finally made it to the Simon Hammerstein hot spot. (He tried to show up a few nights before but it was closed.)

* Mike’s apartment, a private after-hours top-secret spot at Great Jones and Lafayette streets: Whooped it up in the NoHo party loft.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21:

* Standard Hotel, 848 Washington St.: Got his meatpacking district on. Woo!

* Greenhouse, 150 Varick St.: Kept the club going into the wee, wee hours of the morning.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22:

* We don’t know where he was but his 5 a.m. calls to Mike’s apartment, Juliet and Greenhouse yielded nothing.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24:

*SPiN New York at 48 E. 23rd St; Hung with ScarJo, played ping-pong.

* Avenue, 116 10th Ave.

* Mike’s apartment, NoHo

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26:

* The Box, 189 Chrystie St.: Box, redux.

* GoldBar at 389 Broome St.

* SL at 409 West 14th St.

* Mike’s apartment, NoHo.

Source: NYPOST.com

From Axl’s Twitter:

IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!

There are NO new Guns N’ Roses shows added to our current onsale itinerary dated as of February 25th. This means NO SHOWS in Panama, Costa Rica or Guatemala regardless of ANYONE’s claims or ticket sales. These dates or ANY additional dates anywhere other than those already previously announced and on sale before February 25th will NOT BE HONORED. There will be NO EXCEPTIONS until further notice here on this my personal twitter account. If you have purchased tickets to ANY suggested new dates being offered after February 25th please contact your place of purchase for refunds. We apologize for any inconvenience.