Give it up, Axl

The continuing downward spiral of Guns N' Roses comes to a point in Dublin.


I don't think I ever really cared about Guns N' Roses, letalone the weird hybrid creature it's morphed into over the years, taking in the likes of Robin Finck, Buckethead and now DJ Ashba to replace iconic sellout king Slash.  But, after following the shitstorm surrounding the leak of Chinese Democracy by Antiquiet (if you haven't already got this bookmarked, get on it) contributor Skwerl, I eventually developed a guilty soft spot for the bloated, over produced GNR comeback album- more on the basis of the basic tunes themselves rather than its sound.  As a result, I couldn't help feeling somewhat sorry for Axl and his boys when the album was met with such a muted reception- largely on account of douchebag Slash fanboys unable to give an album validity that did not include the "original lineup" - which, if you want to get all technical, Slash wasn't even a part of anyway.

Great photo by Action Press/Rex Features, shamelessly
nicked from Guardian.co.uk.  Sorry guys.

Since then, GNR inevitably faded from view for me.  Until last Thursday, when they were bottled offstage in Dublin. Axl being late isn't exactly news, but looking at the band's recent history of lateness is interesting.  In Dublin, they were almost an hour late: similar story for the band's previous show in Belfast, and for their performances at both Reading and Leeds.  You can't help but cynically suspect it's a desperate grab by Axl to find some kind of rock n' roll relevance.  It's certainly generated some sizable controversy for him, but rather than coming across as the lovable renegade of old, he's just pissing off his own fans, and with those who view GNR 2010 as more than just an expensive covers band becoming fewer and further between, you'd think the guy could at least show up to some gigs on time.

And yet once again, I can't help but find myself feeling some degree of sympathy for the guy.  With the damning opinions of opinionated people stacked against him and his band, it seems like it's only downhill from here for an eccentric frontman of Axl's position.  Jackass or not, it's going to be quite a fall, and no musician wants to endure that kind of fall from grace, or whatever you call the GNR glory days.  I can't think of any real artistic direction Axl can go from here to make people give a damn about him again, and when you look at how fucking horrendous Slash's solo record was, it's a bit of a shame.  Either way,  I sincerely hope the man makes things easier on himself and us by just packing it in.  Maybe then, similar figures (Mr Corgan, we're looking at you) might do the same.  There's only so many burnouts we can put up with before we just get depressed.




And while we're on Reading+Leeds, this is slightly more interesting.