Guns N Roses frontman tours in support of long-gestating album

Axl Rose is that rarest of rock and roll luminaries. Where others sprint to the finish line, pumping out disc after disc (lest they disappoint their fans), the legendary frontman of Guns n’ Roses prefers to saunter. But, 15 years after starting work on Chinese Democracy – the band’s sixth studio album, formally released in 2008 – Rose is touring the world to both acclaim and clamour. He brings his signature sound to the Moncton Coliseum February 3.

As for what took him so long, the normally media-wary Rose told Billboard Magazine, “There aren’t too many issues of the hundreds [we ran into] that happened as quickly as anyone would have preferred, from building my studio [to] finding the right players. All that aside, it’s the right record and I couldn’t ask for more in that regard. The art comes first. It dictates if not the course [then] the destination.”

Fair warning: this is not exactly the Guns n’ Roses of old. In fact, Rose is the only original member to survive the turbulent shake-ups that saw such prominent figures as Slash and Izzy Stradlin take their embittered leave. The band’s current incarnation features Dizzy Reed on piano, Tommy Stinson on bass, Chris Pitman on keyboards, and Richard Fortus on rhythm guitar. Add to that Frank Ferrer on drums, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and DJ Ashba on lead guitar.
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