Showing posts with label GNR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GNR. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Saturday, May 11, 2019
Exclusive Interview: Steven Adler Mixes Music with His Newfound 'Appetite' for Art
Photo: Steven Adler's Official Facebook
In case you didn't already realize it by all of the other coverage, we really love rock festivals here at DailyBOOM because they give us a chance to grab a few minutes with legendary artists that have influenced and inspired us, one way or another. Legendary original Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler easily rests near the top of that list. He has years of sobriety under his belt and has tamed some inner demons by tapping into his own artistic creativity. In a quick chat with Steven this weekend we learned that love and gratitude are now giving him the biggest high of his life. Check it out below.
Steven on what he has been up to lately:
Steven on what he has been up to lately:
"I've been fabulous. I've just been playing and playing, plus I've been working on my art and it's all very fulfilling. I'll tell you, I've got such a great band. I've got Tanya O'Callaghan who plays bass, AJ (Alistair James) playing guitar, Michael Thomas on other guitar and then my rock brother who I just love, Ari Kamin from Argentina who sings like a demon angel. Since I'm doing GNR songs, he sings like Axl (Rose) did in his twenties. We're doing songs off of Adler's Appetite and then we're doing some GNR songs that they don't do live like "Say Goodbye to You" and we do "You Could Be Mine" the way that it was done back in 1989."
Steven on his love for music:
"I started playing drums when I was about thirteen. We used to hang out at night clubs even then (laughing). We would go for whenever the bands were soundchecking in the afternoon and they would take a stick and just hit the drums and it made a sound that was so beautiful to me. I could feel it in my heart and soul and I knew I had to be a part of this somehow. That love and need to be a part of it never ever goes away."
Steven on his sobriety:
"I've been sober since 2008 and I wish that I had gotten it (sober) a lot sooner because life is just so great. It was a complete change for me and I'm happy that I've got this second chance at life. The alcohol is a massive depressant and such a downer. I kept drinking because I was sad and it took me years to understand that I was sad because I kept drinking. When I drank the mood swings were like a roller coaster. My mood is pretty even now and I like it, I'm even Steven (laughing). Back in the day, I was just doing what my idols and the people that I looked up to were doing. Everyone partied and back then there wasn't the internet or Behind the Music stuff so you only heard the good things and they glorified it and made it seem fun. I didn't really understand that there was a bad side to it until it took over my life."
Photo: Steven Adler's Official Facebook
Steven on his artwork:
"I have my art collection, which is a series of prints of me playing each song off of Appetite for Destruction in the dark with a red light and a laser stick. I never really understood art until I got involved with this company and now I get it. There is so much passion and love, anger, and evil in everything and people get that. There is so much interest and I'm actually becoming an art connoisseur (laughing), who knew? I really love it. These prints are affordable and they come from the album Appetite, that I love so much.
It was so great playing with those guys (Guns N' Roses). I really love Slash and Axl (Rose) so it was a great experience. I miss Izzy (Stradlin) too. He has a talent for living and he knows how to live his life the right way that's for sure."
Steven on playing at M3 Rockfest:
"I can't believe I'm doing a show with Whitesnake! I'm going to find out this weekend if David Coverdale is my real father or not (laughing). I'm gonna grab a piece of his hair for a DNA test (still laughing and joking). He is just looking and sounding as great as ever and their bass player Michael Devin is one of my favorite people in the whole world. This whole weekend is just so amazing because I get to hang out with my friends that I've known for thirty or forty years. That's just so cool plus I love the fans so much and you already know how I love to rock so it's a great weekend."
Photo: Steven Adler's Official Facebook
Check out Steven Adler's site to view and purchase his creative art pieces. Also follow him on Facebook and Instagram for the latest tour info, band updates, and more!
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Guns N' Roses - 'Welcome To The Jungle'
"Welcome to the jungle
We've got fun 'n' games
We got everything you want
Honey, we know the names
We are the people that can find
Whatever you may need
If you got the money, honey,
We got your disease
In the jungle
Welcome to the jungle
Watch it bring you to your
Knees, knees
I wanna watch you bleed"
We've got fun 'n' games
We got everything you want
Honey, we know the names
We are the people that can find
Whatever you may need
If you got the money, honey,
We got your disease
In the jungle
Welcome to the jungle
Watch it bring you to your
Knees, knees
I wanna watch you bleed"
I'm not sure how anyone of a certain age could possibly not love at least one Guns N' Roses song. I mean, just one. I remember the first time I saw Axl Rose slither his way across the stage in the video for "Welcome to the Jungle" and I was just gone.
Gone.
The song was absolutely everything that a good 80's rock anthem needed to be and the band? Well, GNR always looked they had all just rolled out of a dumpster still drunk from the night before. And I kind of liked that. The whole Appetite for Destruction album literally changed my life and to this day I still affiliate certain songs with different places and people.I love the grittiness of "Welcome to the Jungle" and the video takes me back to a point in time when I was starting to embrace my love of hairbands.
Early GNR takes me back to my very first job . It was at a fast food place and after we closed at night someone would inevitably throw Axl & the boys into the boombox and crank it WAY up. Even though I was technically on the clock it was one of the best parts of my day. Music was such a hot bottom topic in my house with my parents constantly in a tug o war over lyrics, album covers and whatever else. It was great to spend time anywhere that not only allowed but encouraged me to crank up my radio.
Some songs just sound better loud and "Welcome to the Jungle" will always be one of them.
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Friday, October 20, 2017
Monday, July 24, 2017
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Monday, April 18, 2016
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Currently Booming: GUNS N' ROSES Live at Troubador (SETLIST)
Check out one of the first snippets online from Guns N' Roses epic reunion last night below but first, here's the setlist that they played!
Guns N’ Roses Setlist, Troubadour (Los Angeles), Apri1, 2016:
01. It’s So Easy
02. Mr. Brownstone
03. Chinese Democracy
04. Welcome To The Jungle
05. Double Talking Jive
06. Live And Let Die (Paul McCartney & Wings cover)
07. Rocket Queen
08. You Could be Mine
09. The Godfather Theme (Slash)
10. Sweet Child O’ Mine
11. New Rose (The Damned cover)
12. Better
13. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
14. My Michelle
15. Nightrain
16. The Seeker (The Who cover)
17. Paradise City
Friday, March 25, 2016
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Daily Boom Link Up
How did David Bowie keep his cancer a secret?
Bruce Springsteen offers a free download of Chicago gig
Guns N' Roses issue a statement on their reunion
Frank Zappa Doc gets raves at Sundance
Bobby Brown covers Stevie Wonder
Sting and Peter Gabriel touring together
David Schwimmer dishing on 'Friends' reunion
Monday, January 4, 2016
Boom Daily Throwback- Guns N' Roses 'Sweet Child O' Mine'
Today was a great mail day. A copy of Guns N' Roses Appetite For Destruction album (yes, I mean VINYL) was delivered to my doorstep and it occurred to me that I have actually bought this album so many times that at least one pair of Axl Rose's leather pants has been made possible by my spending money.
Late last year I moved to a new area and it has a bunch of antique shops right on the Main Street smack in the middle of town. I quickly realized that vinyl records were a pretty big deal here and I was thrilled. I've scoured my parents attic for my old record player and records with no luck (even though I'm sure they are there) so I decided to start collecting all over again. My mission has been to replace what I had as a kid and well, along the way I got a little obsessed. That obsession with old vinyl has rubbed off on my kids and they also can be found on the floor flipping through albums hoping to find a treasure. Once in awhile I'll order something online, but nothing beats actually finding what I'm looking for in an old stack of albums.
So Appetite was one of those that I had to order because in the last ten months I have only come across one copy and it was $50 bucks. The nostalgia part said to pull the trigger and buy it while the logical part of my brain reminded me that I could get it for $20 on Ebay, so the internet won. I was in 11th grade when GNR first burst on the scene with "Welcome To the Jungle" and like everyone else, I bought their album pretty quickly and then carried it everywhere with me in my Walkman. While it was obviously the cool thing to be listening to, my reason for carrying it around with me was actually two-fold.
My mother was extremely religious and by the time I was in high school she made a regular habit out of invading my room while I was at school or work and throwing out anything at all that she didn't approve of. Music was a huge bone of contention in our house, with her throwing out albums if she didn't like the looks of a cover. Needless to say, Appetite, with its skulls and cross was never, ever going to make the cut. I would buy it with my own money from working at a fast food restaurant and she would throw it out within hours. If I forgot it, it was gone when I got home. I would have thought it was a game except that mom seriously thought that demons would infiltrate our home via a "debasing" record. I know that I replaced appetite at least five times in about an 18-month period.
I finally learned to get rid of the tape cases and would just carry cassettes with me at the bottom of my bag. During this time I was working open til close at a fast food restaurant just about every night and loved it because of the people that I was working with. My friend Nick was the fry cook that I usually closed with and I loved him. No really, I loved him. We were thick as thieves and had just about everything in common. He would eventually move on to attend art school in Philly and then head for the west coast where he is very successful to this day.
Anyway, Nick and I had the same sense of humor and I found out the first night closing that once the doors were locked the boom box was cranked all the way up. Nick sang for a local band and did a damn good impersonation of Axl Rose. He would grab the mic that we used to call back orders (no head sets back then) and would sing entire songs into it. Yeah, loved him probably that very first night.
Way back in 1988 if there was nothing to do then you would spend your Friday and Saturday nights walking in circles at the mall. Well actually we would congregate until the rent-a-cop would come and tell us to "move along" and then this huge group of kids would move in slow motion to the opposite end of the mall. I had friends from several different schools and the mall was where everyone met up. The bathrooms were just a big cloud of hairspray that hung permanently in the air because everyone in front of the mirrors was spraying something to make sure that the wall on top of their head wouldn't budge even an inch.
There was also a club that had shows one night a week for an all ages crowd. If we were really lucky and could find a ride we would leave the mall, go to the club and then be back at the Burger King where parents would pick everyone up at between 11 and 12, without them ever knowing. Nick was singing with a band and he really was pretty great so you better believe I went every time I had a chance. Probably with my cassettes safely at the bottom of my purse. He was also in high school, one across the city from me and spent quite awhile debating whether or not to sign up for his school's talent show. I mean he seemed to flip flop for months to the point that it became annoying.
Finally one night Nick came in to work and told us that he had signed up. His concern was that he had to put together a band of classmates and he had worried about pulling that off. Eventually he and three guys started playing together and realized that they could actually pull it off. The song? Guns N Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine". Well, in my mind that was just a done deal. I knew that he could vocally kill it and I also knew he wouldn't set foot onstage with people that couldn't play so not only would they perform, but winning was a no-brainer.
Nick and the guys were so excited because as they saw it, this was their chance, this was their thing. The jocks had football and the diehard academics had a chance every single school day to prove that they were good at something. This one was for the creative kids. The art nerds and musicians in training that really did have something to prove. It was their chance to show up and make sure everyone in attendance knew that they could actually be the best at something. It was huge, really huge.
Every kid that classified themselves as a "headbanger" pretty much citywide was looking forward to this show because once word spread, well Nick was kind of representing us all. The night of the show finally rolled around and I remember having to walk there with my friend. We walked from the other side of the city and got there pretty early. Honestly, I can't tell you any details from the early part of the night or any performance before Nick's. That is all a blur because I was so excited. I remember the feeling in the auditorium was electric. It was that excitement you feel when you know that someone was about to show up and totally kill it. That excitement mixed in with a calm knowledge that they've absolutely got this.
Nick and his friends did indeed kill it. The whole place was on their feet and for about four-and-a-half minutes no one could deny just how talented this crew was. The teachers looked thrilled because I think everyone got what a big victory for the underdog this was. There was one act left, a group of jocks that were going to sing something and no one thought much of it. They played football, basketball, whatever and weren't known for being the least bit musical so it felt like their performance was more obligatory than anything else. They called themselves Mosquito Coast (I probably remember it because it still makes no sense to me) and when they took the stage Nick was already sitting on the floor in front of our row of seats, waiting for them to bomb.
But fail they didn't. Instead these guys pulled out a 6 minute rendition of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" that was absolutely gorgeous. Like, it was so good that I couldn't even try to say that they sucked to Nick in attempt to make him feel better, because they were amazing and everyone knew it. By the end of the chorus our whole section was crying because we knew that it was all over. The jocks won this round of high school life too and it was fair and square. It came down to a matter of preference and if the harmony didn't do it then the solo guitar riff sure as hell sealed it.
I don't think any of us entertained the idea of Nick losing until he actually did. I think I was actually heartbroken for him for days. He actually skipped a few nights of work and didn't return phone calls at all. I was contemplating going to his house to check on him but being 16 and light years away from being the ballsy chick that eventually grew up to become, I squashed that idea completely. Nick eventually did come back to work and you better believed he grabbed the mic at the register once the doors were locked. This time, instead of singing a popular hairband song he belted out a stunning, sedate verse from "Comfortably Numb". Eventually that song (guitar riff and all) was worked into his bands regular setlist. What felt like defeat ended up motivating Nick toward some ,major musical growth.
Every time I crack out Appetite I think of Nick, without fail. He was my own personal Axl for a few years and I have nothing but great memories connected to him because even the tough moments eventually turned into something positive and precious. As for my new, old album- this might be the 7th or 8th time I have actually bought it, it's likely to be the last. That too seems like a bit of a victory for an underdog.
Late last year I moved to a new area and it has a bunch of antique shops right on the Main Street smack in the middle of town. I quickly realized that vinyl records were a pretty big deal here and I was thrilled. I've scoured my parents attic for my old record player and records with no luck (even though I'm sure they are there) so I decided to start collecting all over again. My mission has been to replace what I had as a kid and well, along the way I got a little obsessed. That obsession with old vinyl has rubbed off on my kids and they also can be found on the floor flipping through albums hoping to find a treasure. Once in awhile I'll order something online, but nothing beats actually finding what I'm looking for in an old stack of albums.
So Appetite was one of those that I had to order because in the last ten months I have only come across one copy and it was $50 bucks. The nostalgia part said to pull the trigger and buy it while the logical part of my brain reminded me that I could get it for $20 on Ebay, so the internet won. I was in 11th grade when GNR first burst on the scene with "Welcome To the Jungle" and like everyone else, I bought their album pretty quickly and then carried it everywhere with me in my Walkman. While it was obviously the cool thing to be listening to, my reason for carrying it around with me was actually two-fold.
My mother was extremely religious and by the time I was in high school she made a regular habit out of invading my room while I was at school or work and throwing out anything at all that she didn't approve of. Music was a huge bone of contention in our house, with her throwing out albums if she didn't like the looks of a cover. Needless to say, Appetite, with its skulls and cross was never, ever going to make the cut. I would buy it with my own money from working at a fast food restaurant and she would throw it out within hours. If I forgot it, it was gone when I got home. I would have thought it was a game except that mom seriously thought that demons would infiltrate our home via a "debasing" record. I know that I replaced appetite at least five times in about an 18-month period.
I finally learned to get rid of the tape cases and would just carry cassettes with me at the bottom of my bag. During this time I was working open til close at a fast food restaurant just about every night and loved it because of the people that I was working with. My friend Nick was the fry cook that I usually closed with and I loved him. No really, I loved him. We were thick as thieves and had just about everything in common. He would eventually move on to attend art school in Philly and then head for the west coast where he is very successful to this day.
Anyway, Nick and I had the same sense of humor and I found out the first night closing that once the doors were locked the boom box was cranked all the way up. Nick sang for a local band and did a damn good impersonation of Axl Rose. He would grab the mic that we used to call back orders (no head sets back then) and would sing entire songs into it. Yeah, loved him probably that very first night.
Way back in 1988 if there was nothing to do then you would spend your Friday and Saturday nights walking in circles at the mall. Well actually we would congregate until the rent-a-cop would come and tell us to "move along" and then this huge group of kids would move in slow motion to the opposite end of the mall. I had friends from several different schools and the mall was where everyone met up. The bathrooms were just a big cloud of hairspray that hung permanently in the air because everyone in front of the mirrors was spraying something to make sure that the wall on top of their head wouldn't budge even an inch.
There was also a club that had shows one night a week for an all ages crowd. If we were really lucky and could find a ride we would leave the mall, go to the club and then be back at the Burger King where parents would pick everyone up at between 11 and 12, without them ever knowing. Nick was singing with a band and he really was pretty great so you better believe I went every time I had a chance. Probably with my cassettes safely at the bottom of my purse. He was also in high school, one across the city from me and spent quite awhile debating whether or not to sign up for his school's talent show. I mean he seemed to flip flop for months to the point that it became annoying.
Finally one night Nick came in to work and told us that he had signed up. His concern was that he had to put together a band of classmates and he had worried about pulling that off. Eventually he and three guys started playing together and realized that they could actually pull it off. The song? Guns N Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine". Well, in my mind that was just a done deal. I knew that he could vocally kill it and I also knew he wouldn't set foot onstage with people that couldn't play so not only would they perform, but winning was a no-brainer.
Nick and the guys were so excited because as they saw it, this was their chance, this was their thing. The jocks had football and the diehard academics had a chance every single school day to prove that they were good at something. This one was for the creative kids. The art nerds and musicians in training that really did have something to prove. It was their chance to show up and make sure everyone in attendance knew that they could actually be the best at something. It was huge, really huge.
Every kid that classified themselves as a "headbanger" pretty much citywide was looking forward to this show because once word spread, well Nick was kind of representing us all. The night of the show finally rolled around and I remember having to walk there with my friend. We walked from the other side of the city and got there pretty early. Honestly, I can't tell you any details from the early part of the night or any performance before Nick's. That is all a blur because I was so excited. I remember the feeling in the auditorium was electric. It was that excitement you feel when you know that someone was about to show up and totally kill it. That excitement mixed in with a calm knowledge that they've absolutely got this.
Nick and his friends did indeed kill it. The whole place was on their feet and for about four-and-a-half minutes no one could deny just how talented this crew was. The teachers looked thrilled because I think everyone got what a big victory for the underdog this was. There was one act left, a group of jocks that were going to sing something and no one thought much of it. They played football, basketball, whatever and weren't known for being the least bit musical so it felt like their performance was more obligatory than anything else. They called themselves Mosquito Coast (I probably remember it because it still makes no sense to me) and when they took the stage Nick was already sitting on the floor in front of our row of seats, waiting for them to bomb.
But fail they didn't. Instead these guys pulled out a 6 minute rendition of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" that was absolutely gorgeous. Like, it was so good that I couldn't even try to say that they sucked to Nick in attempt to make him feel better, because they were amazing and everyone knew it. By the end of the chorus our whole section was crying because we knew that it was all over. The jocks won this round of high school life too and it was fair and square. It came down to a matter of preference and if the harmony didn't do it then the solo guitar riff sure as hell sealed it.
I don't think any of us entertained the idea of Nick losing until he actually did. I think I was actually heartbroken for him for days. He actually skipped a few nights of work and didn't return phone calls at all. I was contemplating going to his house to check on him but being 16 and light years away from being the ballsy chick that eventually grew up to become, I squashed that idea completely. Nick eventually did come back to work and you better believed he grabbed the mic at the register once the doors were locked. This time, instead of singing a popular hairband song he belted out a stunning, sedate verse from "Comfortably Numb". Eventually that song (guitar riff and all) was worked into his bands regular setlist. What felt like defeat ended up motivating Nick toward some ,major musical growth.
Every time I crack out Appetite I think of Nick, without fail. He was my own personal Axl for a few years and I have nothing but great memories connected to him because even the tough moments eventually turned into something positive and precious. As for my new, old album- this might be the 7th or 8th time I have actually bought it, it's likely to be the last. That too seems like a bit of a victory for an underdog.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Currently Booming: Guns N' Roses Reuniting in 2016 for 'Coachella' and a Tour!
(Photo: Twitter)
On Monday I told you about the rumor mill being ripe with speculation about a Guns N' Roses reunion. The band's website and official Facebook page had both been updated, leading many fans to start hoping outside for a reconciliation and now it looks like it really is happening.
According to a new report by Billboard GNR fans will indeed have an opportunity to see Axl and Slash share a stage again for the first time since 1993.
"Guns N’ Roses, with founding members Axl Rose and Slash, will headline the Coachella Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., set for April 15-17 and April 22-24, according to multiple sources. The reunited band is also negotiating with promoters to play as many as 25 football stadiums in North America in the summer of 2016, and is scheduled to be one of the first acts to play the new Las Vegas Arena, set to open April 6. Guns N' Roses is said to be asking as much as $3 million per show, with tickets topping out in the $250-$275 range."
Do you think that the guys will be able to put their personal issues aside once and for all to pull off a great reunion tour? Will you be fighting for tickets to see them play again?
Monday, December 28, 2015
Currently Booming: Guns N' Roses Reunion in the Works?
(Photo: Facebook)
Could it be that Guns N' Roses are about to reunite for 2016? The 80's rock icons recently updated their websites to feature a throwback logo that made fans freak out at the thought that the original band could be getting back together in the near future. Right around Christmas, the band began teasing fans by changing the homepage of its website to the original logo and they also updated their Facebook page. The photos featured on Facebook are supposedly from Guns N’ Roses’ show in Argentina on July 17, 1993, which was the last time the original group played together.
Generally, these kinds of updates don't happen unless something is going on behind the scenes. Oh and then there is also that interesting trailer that popped up just yesterday. What do you guys think, is a GNR reunion announcement imminent?
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
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