08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS

_____________________________________

To direct a music video for Welcome to the Jungle, Alan Niven contacted Nigel Dick, as Dick would later remember:




The funeral mentioned by Dick above was for Todd Crew who had died on July 18, 1987 [see earlier chapter].

When asked about the idea for the music video, Slash would refer to Axl:




It seems that Axl already a year before had a plan for the music video's thematic content:



But their budget didn't allow for any lofty plans, as Alan Niven would point out:



Niven then came up with a story for the video:







Tom Zutaut would later talk about how the video was supposed to represent the band:



Axl talking about his experience while visiting New York which inspired both the lyrics and the music video for Welcome to the Jungle:



Talking about the video:





On August 2, 1987, the band did a video shoot for the video at the Park Plaza Hotel Ballroom in Los Angeles [Intense Guitar, August 1, 2019].

Nigel Dick:



Steven would talk about making out with his roommate Julie in the video:



Slash was not into making a video and would later refer to it as an unnecessary evil:



During the movie shoot, Niven would recall having to deal with a drunk Slash who wandered into the streets and "terrified rush hour motorists":



Dick would also remember Slash stealing the motor home used in the video:




Slash and Zutaut would also discuss the episode:





Dick would go on to direct all the five first music videos (Welcome To The Jungle, Sweet Child O' Mine, Paradise City, Patience and the unreleased It's So Easy), and would later discuss the problems of directing a music video with the members of Guns N' Roses:





According to Vicky Hamilton, the 'Welcome to the Jungle' video was partly inspired by the 'Faces Of Death' series of snuff video clips which Axl had studied in detail while living in her apartment [Vicky Hamilton, "Appetite For Dysfunction", 2014, p. 134]. The band had paid for news footage that didn't make it into the final edit:



Axl would refer to this video shoot as the "most fun [he] ever had" [Metal Edge, June 1988].

Deanna Adler would mention that she and Steven's brother Jamie, had been there, too:



The music video would be released on September 28 in the UK and in October in the US.




Steven would look back at the filming with fond memories:



Talking about the girl he was sitting in bed with in the video:



In 2009, the girl in the video, Juliana Sedbrook would also discuss her involvement:



Zutaut would claim he had fought hard to get the video made:



On the importance of the music video:



Looking back at the video and discussing the term "dangerous band":

____________________________________

Despite the problems getting tours, the band started their first proper tour in August 1987, opening for the Cult across Canada and USA.



In addition to having seen the band live in London in June 1987, Astbury also had gotten hold of an advance copy of the soon-to-be-released debut album Appetite for Destruction [Guitarist Magazine, November 1993], which likely helped him in his decision to invite the band to open for the Cult.




Billy Duffy, of the Cult, would later talk about how they had tried to see the band in London in 1987:



People around the band were unsure of whether they would manage to complete a whole tour due to addictions:



The band invited their friend West Arkeen to join the on the tour but the label insisted he had to perform some sort of job, so he was paid $300 a week to place water bottles onstage for the band [Classic Rock, July 19, 2017].



For the tour the band also got a crew of two people, including Mike "McBob" Mayhue, who would remain as Duff's technician for the next 30 years [see previous chapter].



The first show was in Halifax, Canada, August 14, 1987.





On crossing the border to Canada, Axl was arrested for trying to bring in a stun gun, allegedly the only time in 1987 he was arrested [Spin, January 1988].



Appetite for Destruction was banned in parts of Canada, and Duff would later claim this had been the case in Nova Scotia:



This indicates that the audience in Halifax did not know their music or that few showed up for the opener.

Duff would also mention that their tour bus driver got robbed by prostitutes in Halifax:



In 2008 Axl would look back at this show and say this was his relationship with Slash was starting to unravel:

After the opening show in Halifax on August 14 followed shows in Moncton, Canada (August 15) and Verdun Auditorium, Montreal, Canada (August 17).

When looking back at the tour in August 25, Izzy would say the best show had been the one in Montreal:



The next show was at Super Skate 7, Kicthener, Canada (August 18), CNE Grandstand, Toronto, Canada (August 19), State Theatre, Detroit, USA (August 21), Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, USA (August 22), Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Canada (August 24), and Edmonton Convention Centre, Edmonton, Canada (August 26).

Fake wrestling star and podcaster Chris Jericho would later mention that he attended the August 24 show in Winnipeg and that Duff was selling pins of his jacket after the show [Talk Is Jericho, September 6, 2017]:




The review for the show in Edmonton would say that the band displayed "a wide scope for non-linear arrangements and cathartic and often quite personal hard rock" and "their signals are a bit mixed but they hint at a vulnerability made all the more poignant by their swagger and volume" [Edmonton Journal, August 27, 1987].





The next show took place in Max Bell Arena, Calgary, Canada (August 27) and the review would say that "this was a show that recaptured the emotional centre that has always represented the best and most powerful rock 'n' roll, both with The Cult and the raw, sexually aggressive opening set of Guns N’ Roses" [Calgary Herald, August 28, 1987].

For their August 29 show at the Coliseum Theatre Stage in Vancouver, the press would claim the band would be "the first band to play Vancouver whose contract calls for the promoter to supply condoms (multi-colored)" [Province, September 18, 1987].

Duff looking back at playing in Vancouver:



Richard Duguay, a punk friend of Duff, would meet the rest of the band (sans Axl) in Vancouver:



The review from the next show, on August 30 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle would conclude "Guns N' Roses may have a rosy future" [Seattle Times, August 31, 1987].





The band then continued to Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, USA (September 2).

Malcolm Dome, writing for Kerrang!, would review the San Francisco show:



The followed Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, USA (September 3) and Open Air Theatre, San Diego, USA (September 4).

The next show was at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, USA on September 5, a city in southeastern Los Angeles.









Izzy being asked about them being "dressed down" for this show, "in contract to their earlier glam image":



This show would be abruptly ended when the PA closed down. In the notorious rumor column "L.A. Dee Da" in LA. Weekly, it would be claimed that The Cult had turned it off out of jealousy [L.A. Weekly, September 11, 1987]:





Axl would comment on the show just a few weeks later:



Slash would also comment on the LA. Weekly claim:



Later, Raz Cue would suggest an alternative explanation to why the PA had stopped working:




Deanna Adler, Steven's mother, would reminisce about taking Steven's little brother, Jamie, to the show:

The next shows was in Tucson Garden, Tucson, USA (September 6) and The Jar, Phoenix, USA (September 7) before the band came to Sunken Gardens Theatre in San Antonio, Texas, on September 11.

While in Tucson Steven thrashed his hotel room:



During the show at the Sunken Gardens, Slash cursed from the stage resulting in the police looking for him after the show:



Then followed shows in Palmer Auditorium, Austin, USA (September 12), and Bronco Bowl Auditorium, Dallas, USA (September 13).

Duff and Slash would later talk about an incident at the show in Dallas:






The label would deduct pay from Slash's salary to cover the costs:



Slash would also share his wisdom on thrashing hotel room versus misbehaving in bars:



In Dallas, the band fired its tour driver and Slash decided to hitchhike to their next show in Houston [The Galveston Daily News, April 30, 1995]. He got a ride with "these two chicks":



The tour followed ar Houston Music Hall, Houston, USA (September 16) and ended at Sanegar Theatre, New Orleans, USA (September 17).

While in Texas, likely during this tour, the band tricked a DJ into playing It's So Easy rather than any other song:



For the last gig The Cult had a surprise for the band:

During the touring as an opener band for The Cult very few knew who they were. Although Appetite for Destruction had just come out in the US the Canadian release date was 6 weeks after the US release date. Because of this, for most shows they played for a small audience who were there just waiting for the main act.

Despite this, the band thoroughly enjoyed playing with the Cult and would praise how well they were treated by the headlining act. According to Kerrang!, Ian Astbury even "dashed out to get Duff a ripped black T-shirt to use as a headband" at one point [Kerrang! October 1987]. And later Matt would claim it was Astbury that suggested to Axl to change his hair style:



In 2012, Astbury would confirm this:



But this is not entirely right, because there are pictures of Axl with straight hair and wearing a bandana from before the tour with Cult, like the one below.





More comments from the band about the Cult and the tour:












In an interview in October 1987, the interviewer would allude to the band having "redecorated" many hotel rooms [MTV Headbanger's Ball, October 24, 1987]. Slash would later admit to this:



Duff would also add details:



Despite being treated very nicely by the headlining band and enjoying the tour in general, Axl would be struggling with adjusting to a regular touring schedule:



When looking back at the tour in 1993, Duff would comment that Astbury was so impressed with the band he prophesized the Cult would one time open for Guns N' Roses:



Astbury would in 2012 talk about the tour:



And in 2017, Duff would reminisce about the tour:

-------------------------------

Until this point, the band's road manager had been Colin Gardner [Unknown UK Source, June 1987]. But allegedly, Gardner used more coke than the band:



The new tour manager who would take over for Gardner was Doug Goldstein, and as can be seen from the quote above, he started right after the Cult tour finished and right before the European "Destruction '87" tour:



In November 1987, when the band was interviewed after their first Lakeland Civic Center show (November 21), Goldstein is referred to as the tour manager, and Slash again refers to Goldstein as their tour manager in December that year [Late Night Bull, December 1987].

Before becoming tour manager for Guns N' Roses, Goldstein had worked as head of security for the band Air Supply [The Signal, July 27, 2008]. While working for Air Supply, Goldstein would get to know Craig Duswalt who was also working for Air Supply, and who would later become Axl's personal assistant for the touring in the 90s [The Signal, July 27, 2008].

In 2015 and 2018, Goldstein would discuss how he ended up working security, and also mention how he had a brother who was a manic depressive and how this made him connect to Axl:





Explaining how he got involved with Guns N' Roses:



Goldstein would also say he was brought in because Niven was struggling to work with Axl and because the band was unruly and needed discipline:



Explaining how he ended Slash's habit of wrecking hotel property:



Goldstein would also suggest the band thrashed hotel rooms because that was what was expected of a band like Guns N' Roses [One On One with Mitch Lafon, April 5, 2015].

In 2015, Goldstein would talk about how they divided the work between them:



Goldstein would also talk about how the relationship between Alan Niven and Axl Rose resembled the relationship between his own father and his brother, a "tyrant" and a "manic depressive", and that he had refused offers to work elsewhere because he felt he could "fix the relationship":



Raz met Goldstein before the August 1988 show at Giants Stadium in New Jersey:



In February 1989, Goldstein and Niven were referred to as co-managers [RIP Magazine, February 1989].

Looking back at becoming a co-manager with Niven and how they were a great management team because of their different skillsets:

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The second single from Appetite for Destruction was Welcome To The Jungle and it was released on September 28, 1987, in the UK and on October 3, 1987, in USA. The reason for the earlier release date in the UK was likely that the band would embark on an European tour in late September and wanted more radio air play as promotion.





Despite cutting a lot of the violent video footage out [see previous chapter], the music video was controversial and received little attention on MTV.

Steven Thompson, one of the engineers at the recording of Appetite had big hopes for the single:



In July 1988 Geffen President Eddie Rosenblatt would refer to the low initial sales of the Welcome To The Jungle single as a "flop".

In 2012, Alan Niven would describe the mood at Geffen around the end of 1987:





In connection with the release of the live album, Geffen decided to release updated music videos for It's So Easy and Welcome To The Jungle [Rolling Stone, November 9, 1999].

Doug Goldstein would comment on the new video for Welcome To The Jungle:

The newly released album was not selling well, partly because radio stations wouldn't play the singles, so the label opted to let the band keep touring:



After touring with the Cult, the band had planned to open for Aerosmith in Europe, but they pulled out in the "11th hour" [Kerrang! March 1989] allegedly because Aerosmith hadn't got their new record out [Endless Party Magazine, August 1987] or due to "finances" [Kerrang! October 1987]. See later chapter for more information on the aborted tour with Aerosmith.




So instead of scrapping the plans altogether, they decided to headline with Faster Pussycat as their opener. The band thus went to Germany, Holland and UK as headlining acts from September 29 to October 8, 1987 on the Destruction Tour.










At the start of this tour Axl's voice was in a bad shape and the band was starting to feel exhausted:



The first show took place at the Markthalle in Hamburg on September 29:



Faster Pussycat would look back at playing in Hamburg:







Steven, Goldstein and Niven would also talk about this incident:





In May 1988, Creem Close-Up Metal would allude to an incident at the Reperbahn in Hamburg, but it is not clear if this is the same incident as the one described above, something else, or just exaggerations from Creem's side:



After Hamburg the band travelled to Düsseldorf, Germany (September 30) and to Amsterdam, Netherlands (October 2).



Izzy was mesmerized by Amsterdam:




Then followed five shows in England. Axl looked forward to re-visiting England after having been there for the three concerts at the Marquee in June earlier that year:



The UK shows were Newcastle, England (October 4); Nottingham, England (October 5); Manchester, England (October 6); Bristol, England (October 7); and London, England (October 8).

At one of the hotels they stayed at, Axl got angry after the hotel missed "four or five strikes" in hospitality and service:



During their October 5 show at the Rock City in Nottingham, England, Axl was refused entry to the show when he came alone dressed in nothing but a bathrobe. Apparently, he had locked himself out of the tour bus and had to return with his security pass to be allowed into the venue [BBC, December 2015].

While in Nottingham, Slash would also smash a hotel TV and Niven would convince him it cost much more as punishment:



In particular, their October 7 show at the Bristol Colston Hall went well:




Mick Wall, writing for Kerrang!, would say that the Hammersmith Odeon in London was a fantastic show [Kerrang! March 1989], and he would also applaud the show at Manchester Apollo show [Kerrang! October 24, 1987].

The band's publicist, Arlett Vereecke would talk about an incident in London which likely happened at this time:



Before the show at the Hammersmith, Steven would talk about having prepared a drum solo:



Photographer George Chin was present on the UK tour in the fall of 1987 (George Chin would then work with the band on the UYI tour, along with Robert John and Gene Kirkland, and also on the CD tours in 2002 and 2006), and would photograph Axl before this show:



The band would also be happy about the London show:







Despite this Slash would not be too positive about the five UK shows they did:



He also didn't visit his English family while travelling through the country:



Axl would echo the statement of wanting to do more shows in England:

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One of the main competitors on the rock scene in Hollywood when Guns N' Roses was starting out was the band Poison who was well established in the flourishing L.A. glam rock scene.. As Jeanna Barsamian, booker at the club Troubadour would say about them in early 1986, "They're the top drawing (club) band in L.A. When they play people pour in to see them" [Los Angeles Times, February 9, 1986].

Poison was about escaping reality. As Bob Dalli, bassist in Poison, would say, "We dress up to give you your money's worth" and "Poison does not have a political message to give to anyone. […] Everything we do is about day-to-day life. We’re entertainment, pure escapism. We’re here to make you forget about your problems, forget about Monday through Friday [Chicago Tribune, September 7, 1986].

Guns N' Roses also started out with one foot in the glam scene [Chicago Tribune, September 7, 1986] and would wear make-up and typical glam clothes for their first shows. Chris Weber, who played with Izzy and Axl in Hollywood Rose before Guns N' Roses would claim they revived the glam scene in Hollywood:



Slash would talk about how important the image was to the early Guns N' Roses:



But in contrast to Poison, Guns N' Roses was dead serious in their music and used the music as a vehicle to describe the nitty gritty reality of the streets on which they lived. The band would also soon drop the glam outfits and instead go for a more punk and hard rock style. In subsequent interviews they would emphasize the differences between them and bands like Poison who they considered to be posers first and musicians second.




The animosity between GN'R and Poison would go back to when the bands used to open up for each other in the bands early days. Slash would recount being pissed at poison guitarist CC DeVille (the man who competed with Slash for the Poison lead guitar spot before Slash joined Guns N' Roses) because he allegedly had started to copy Slash's gimmick of wearing a top hat:




Duff would confirm that Poison "fucked [them] over on the LA scene" in the band's early days [Hit Parader, October 1988].

This would contribute to GN'R repeatedly taking potshots at Poison in interviews and articles.





Axl would be dismayed by the influence Poison had on the LA music scene:



In particular the animosity between Slash and DeVille would be strong:



In July 1988, Slash would talk about how the feud started:





The sniping back and forth between the bands would eventually escalate to two members of Poison pouring alcohol (champagne, according to BAM Magazine), on Geffen publicist Bryn Bridenthal [BAM Magazine, November 1987; Rolling Stone, November 11, 1988], allegedly because they felt she was showing favoritism to GN'R [Juke Magazine, July 15, 1989].

In a following lawsuit, Bridenthal would describe what had happened, as recounted by Los Angeles Times:



Bridenthal would much later recount how it had gone down:



According to Bridenthal, she would then have to plea with Slash and Axl to not fight the Poison members [Juke Magazine, July 15, 1989]. Guns N' Roses, who was touring USA at the moment, sent a postcard in support to Bryn:





Arlett Vereecke, the band's other publicist, would later suggest the postcard has been Niven's idea:



But Bridenthal would mention that the band was truly upset with her mistreatment and that she tried talking Axl and Slash away from violence:



This incident led to a civil lawsuit between either Geffen, Bridenthal or GN'R and Poison [BAM Magazine, November 1987; Rolling Stone, November 11, 1988] which would be settled out of court [RAW, March 7, 1989].



Speaking of the lawsuit:





In the liner notes to Appetite, the band would refer to Bridenthal as "Bryn 'I Love Danger' Bridenthal":





By early 1988 it seems the squabbling between the two bands were over:




What Slash is referring to in the first quote here, and earlier in this chapter, is a comment towards DeVille that was published in Hit Parader [Metal Edge, January 1989]. This interview is now lost.

According to Axl, the feud between GN'R and Poison would finally be settled some time in May or June 1988 when Axl had a talk with Brett Michaels:




Although in October 1988, Slash would still throw insults towards Poison:




When asked if this squabbling wasn't getting a bit petty:



And then recounted a story about meeting Bret Michaels at the Rainbow in Hollywood:



Then finding Bobby Dall in his apartment:



Then, likely not longer thereafter, Slash would have a talk to CC DeVille and would square up like Axl had done:




Axl's quote about being locked up with Poison but only he coming out of the room [see above], would be attributed to Slash and when asked to comment on it, Slash would say:



In March 1989, Poison's Rikki Rocket would be asked about the feud with GN'R and answer:



And Bret Michaels would discuss it later:



In 2011, Michaels would say it was mostly a media-generated feud and indicate it helped sell records:

_________________________________________

Getting airplay on MTV was vital for the success of Appetite, but getting MTV to play their second single, for Welcome To The Jungle, would prove very difficult. This was not because they didn't have internal champions at MTV.

Tom Zutaut would later claim that John Malone, owner of the networks MTV was on, would specifically state that they were not going to play any Guns N' Roses music videos:



John Cannelli, though, who was MTV senior vice president of talent and artist relations, would describe hearing the song for the first time:



And Cannelli would bring the song to his boss' attention, Sam Kaiser, MTV vice president of programming, 1986-1988:



Still, the song would not be put in heavy rotation:

After returning to US, they toured the East Coast (October 16, November 1, 1987), supported by EZO who were also on Geffen Records which, according to Axl, "made it really easy just to do quickly" [Rock City News, January 1988].

The first show was at The Sundance, Bay Shore, New York, USA (October 16) followed by a show at the Airport Music Hall, Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA (October 17).

In two 1988 interviews, Duff would talk about playing at a club in Long Island where the club owner was really timid and afraid of them because of their reputation:




This was likely at The Sundance show which was in Long Island.

In 2017, Duff would mention how little audience they still had at this time in the US, and refer to their "three people", despite selling out venues in the UK earlier in the year:



The third show on this tour took place at a place called Hammerjacks in Baltimore, Maryland, USA on October 18. Apparently, Izzy got so wasted the band had to turn his amp down:



Slash would confirm Izzy had peed in the manager's office [The Baltimore Sun, April 9, 1995] and that he could barely play:



Years later, Bud Becker, Hammerjacks' national talent consultant in the 1980s, would comment on the Izzy incident:

During this touring Axl was still "fighting a see-saw battle with a tenacious case of laryngitis" [BAM, November 1987]. Slash also fell out of the tour bus in October when travelling in upstate New York:



The next shows was at the Trocadero, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (October 20). After the show Fred Coury would introduce Steven to what would become Steven's future wife, Cheryl Lynn Swiderski [The News Journal, June 1989].

Then the band travelled to Palace Theatre, Albany, New York, USA (October 21), a show that would be remembered fondly:



And then a show at Obsessions, Randolph, Massachusetts, USA (October 22) before travelling to the Ritz in New York City, New York (October 23). At this show a drunk Dave Mustaine was thrown off the stage when he wandered on with a guitar in his hands ("We didn't know who he was. We just thought it was some weirdo out of the crowd" [Kerrang! March 1989]).

At the Ritz, Axl would talk about Todd Crew:



Axl would also take the opportunity to talk about pidgeon-holing the band into a specific genre:



After Ritz the band travelled to The Chance, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA (October 25); Providence, Rhode Island, USA (October 26); The Paradise, Boston, Massachusetts, USA (October 27), after which they would get the following review:



In an interview with WAAF radio in Boston in 2019, Duff would look back at how this station had played Welcome to the Jungle back in 1987 and helped break the band:



The next show would be at L'Amour, Brooklyn, New York, USA (October 29).



The band would do a second show in New York City, this one at legendary CBGB (October 30, 1987). This was an acoustic show and the band would debut songs for their upcoming new EP, Lies,




After the CGBG show Axl would talk about an incident that happened at the Gramercy Hotel in New York:







Much later, in 2015, Duff would talk about what a club like CGBG's meant to him:



After this the band travelled on for the two final shows, at The Horizon, Syracuse, New York, USA on October 31 and in Washington D.C., USA on November 1. The band would then immediately proceed with opening for Motley Crue.

______________________

After having played individual shows headlining around the US, the band opened for Mötley Crue on parts of their "Girls, Girls, Girls" tour in the US (November 3-29, 1987), something Izzy had been looking forward to [Concert Shots, May 1986]. The members of the two Los Angeles-based bands knew it other from before, and particularly Slash and Nikki Sixx would bond over a shared substance abuse. Slash would recollect that they probably met at the Cathouse:




Slash would also remember having seen Sixx all the way back in 1982 when Sixx came to Slash's school to promote an EP:



Talking about almost meeting Axl:



Originally, Guns N' Roses was supposed to open from the start of the tour (The "Girls, Girls, Girls" tour started on June 19), but since Appetite For Destruction wasn't out yet Whitesnake got the job:



Steven would comment on how they had been invited to join the tour:



In November Whitesnake dropped out to headline their own tour and Guns N' Roses stepped in [Kerrang! March 1989].

Axl was excited about opening for Motley Crue and grateful for the how accommodating the headliner was:



Slash would also look forward to the tour, and particularly about Tom Zutaut joining them for the first few weeks:



The Crue tour was a much bigger show then what the band was used to by then, and, according to Axl, the band "learned a lot about professionalism from that. Fuckin’ a lot" [Rock City News, January 1988]. The band also learnt a lot about partying and wild living:





The first two shows of the tour were at Mobile Municipal Auditorium, Mobile, USA (November 3, 1987) and at the Albany Civic Center, Albany, USA (November 4).

The next show took place on November 6 at the Cajun Dome in Lafayette, Louisiana. Not sure on whether the concert should be allowed to take place, a six-man delegation of local officials attended the earlier show in Mobile, Alabama on November 4, to find out if it "warranted any concern". This little mission was described in the Daily Advertiser on November 5. Some excerpts follow:



The same newspaper also published a review of the November 6 show at Cajun Dome in Lafayette, Indiana:



The next shows were at Lake Front Arena, New Orleans, USA (November 7); Lake Front Arena, New Orleans, USA (November 8); Von Braun Civic Center, Huntsville, USA (November 10); Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, USA (November 11); Coliseum, Columbia, USA (November 14); Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, USA (November 15); Jefferson Civic Center, Birmingham, USA (November 18); and UTC Arena, Chattanoga, USA (November 21). The band also played Coliseum, Columbia, USA and Savannah Civic Center, Savannah, USA but it is not known when these shows took place.

While in Savannah, someone stole Duff and Slash's clothes:



In 2016, Axl would be asked how audiences had changed over the years and mention how violent it used to be back in the day when they were opening for other bands.

In Atlanta on November 22, at The Omni, when touring with Motley Crue, Axl jumped into the crowd to fight a security man he claimed pushed one of his friends [The Atlanta Constitution, November 24, 1987; Rolling Stone, November 1988]. According to Doc McGhee, the manager of Mötley Crüe, the security man was an off-duty cop [Nikky Sixx biography, 2008].

Charlie Brusco, the Omni's head of security would later describe the incident like this: "First strike, he hit an Atlanta police officer. Second strike, he hit a female Atlanta police officer. Third strike, he hit a black female Atlanta police officer. He’s going to jail" [Vulture, 2016].

With Axl detained, roadie Big Ron got on stage to sing 'Honky Town Women' and 'Communication Breakdown' [Rolling Stone, November 1988]. According to McGhee, he sang 'Communication Breakdown' four times, "not terribly well" [Nikki Sixx biography, 2008]. McGhee would also say that Slash sang "a few songs", including a Rolling Stones song [Nikki Sixx biography, 2008].





According to Brusco, he begged for Rose to be allowed to finish the show and finally the head of security said, "If he apologizes to the police officer in writing, we’ll let him go." Axl signed his apology, and security brought in the female officer who had been hit. Axl looked up and said, “Fuck you, you fucking jag-off cop.” Axl was then hauled to jail, and the show was canceled.

"I don’t think,” Brusco would say, "I did another Guns show after that" [Vulture, 2016]. To avoid a trial, Axl pleaded guilty to assaulting the police and paid a fine [Rolling Stone, November 1988] and was released the day after [Nikki Sixx biography, 2008].

The band members would remember it this way:









Concert promoter Charlie Brusco looking back at the show in 2016:

After the November 22 show in Atlanta, the band played five more shows on the Motley Crue tour. The first took place at the Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, USA (November 24).



Then followed a second show at Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, USA (November 25); Jacksonville, USA (November 26); and Lee Civic Center, Fort Myers, USA (November 27) before the last show of the tour at the Sportarium in Hollywood, Florida, on November 29, 1987. As customary, the headliners decided to prank the opener band:







Presumably after the band's last show with Motley Crue, Slash and Nikki Sixx visited the Rainbow club in Los Angeles for some post-tour partying. Sixx overdosed and was wheeled out of the Rainbow on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital where for a period of six hours doctors feared for his life [Hit Parader, November 1988].

According to Izzy, they should also have continued touring with Motley in Europe after the US tour, but this was cancelled when the guys in Motley had to "go into detox" [The Face, October 1987]. This was likely due to Sixx' overdose. This planned European tour with Motley is mentioned in other contemporary sources, and was planned to extend into 1988 [Interview with Steven Harris, December 1987; Rock City News, January 1988].



Sixx would incidentally have another overdose on December 23:



This overdose is likely the one described in The Dirt movie (2019) and Slash would comment on it:





Obviously, this was a very raucous period for the band and the match between Guns and Motley was explosive:




One incident happened when Slash and Nikki Sixx were wrestling, resulting in neck injury for Slash:



Another incident was when the Motley guys fooled Steven into sniffing washing powder:





In 2005, Tommy Lee would talk about teabagging Slash during the tour:






But all in all, the band was happy about the tour and their increased popularity:











In June 1988, Axl would list some of his favorite musician to be Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee [Metal Edge, June 1988].

There were many similarities between Guns N' Roses and Mötley Crüe, something Sixx would acknowledge:





In 2018, Doug Goldstein would claim that Nikki Sixx had stolen the riff to Dr. Feelgood from Guns N' Roses:



Steven would deny this:

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The Mötley Crue tour ended after Nikki Sixx' overdose on November 29, 1987, and the band, who had planned to continue touring with Motley in Europe [The Face, October 1989] was without a job. Fortunately, the band got a call from Alice Cooper asking them to open for him for two weeks in December (December 3-19, 1987) [The Face, October 1989] on a tour that also included Megadeath [Talk Is Jericho, September 6, 2017].





Alice Cooper would reminisce about taking them on tour, but here he probably mixes up shows, because the Rolling Stones shows at the Coliseum took place in 1989, well before Guns N' Roses opened for Alice Cooper in 1987:



The first show took place at La Villa Real Special Events Center in McAllen, TX, USA, on December 3, 1987. While touring in South America in late 1992, Axl would mention how Mexico is one of his favorite states to tour in and that the McAllen show in 1987 was particularly good due to all the Mexicans attending:







The band then went to Fair Park Coliseum, Dallas, USA (December 4); Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, USA (December 5); Pan American University Field House, Edinburgh, Texas, USA (December 7); Chaparral Center, Midland, USA (December 8) (this show was likely cancelled due to too few tickets sold [Odessa American, Dec. 8, 1987]; Show Me Center, Cape Girardeau, Missouri (December 11); and Louisville Gardens, Louisville, Kentucky, USA (December 12).

In 2017, Duff would look back at the tour:

Some time after the band's December 12 show at Louisville Gardens in Louisville, Kentucky, Steven broke a finger in his hand, according to Izzy after having got in some trouble at a Holiday Inn.




Izzy would mention that it was connected to Alice Cooper's father passing away:



This suggests the band had travelled to the destination of their next show, Muskegon in Michigan, but that this show was cancelled after the sad passing of Alice Cooper's father which resulted in heavy drinking for the band at a local Holiday Inn. That the incident happened in Muskegon would be confirmed in a December 1987 article [Hard Rock (France), December 1987].

The rumours in the newspapers had it that Steven was frustrated with having to be longer on the road due to logistic surrounding the death of Cooper's father [L.A. Weekly, December 25, 1987].

Apparently, Steven was so messed up Slash and Duff had to drag him away across the street, resulting in wounds to his back. Doug Goldstein then took him to the hospital [Late Night Bull, December 1987].

Because of Steven's mishap, or possible due to Cooper's father's death, the band missed the three next shows with Alice Cooper: LC Walker Arena, Muskegon, Michigan, USA (December 13); Lakeview Arena, Marquette, Michigan, USA (December 15; possibly cancelled); and Duluth Arena, Duluth, Minnesota, USA (December 16).



In August 2018, Fred Coury, the drummer for the band Cinderella, would describe how he became the stand-in for Steven:




The band would discuss how it happened:






Coury would claim to be paid $ 25,000 per show [Late Night Bull, December 1987].





Interestingly, Slash would admit to having broken his hand, too, some time before Steven's incident, in Seattle and having to wear a cast for eight weeks [Late Night Bull, December 1987].






Coury would also talk about how Steven had been supportive:





The first show with Coury on drums was at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, USA on December 17.

The next show was at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago on December 18, 1987. Before the show, the band got in a major brawl at their hotel. Rolling Stone Magazine would describe what happened:



This story is corroborated by Monica Gregory, an old friend of Axl whose ex-husband, Dana, was with Axl at the time:



Steven would later prefer to not say too much about this incident:



Axl would later talk about the incident:



But the fun wasn't over yet. Rolling Stone would describe what happened later at night:



The next show, and the final show of the tour with Alice Cooper, was at Dane County Coliseum, Madison, USA on December 19.

From the stage in Madison Axl would talk about the previous day's brawl and say he got in a fight because he had long hair and that one guy grabbed him and told him he looked like Bon Jovi, causing him to utter the now famous "Bon Jovi can suck my dick":





The band would remember the shows with Alice Cooper this way:






Alice Cooper would also look back at the shows and especially talk about Slash with fondness, although this is also likely a result of having built a good relationship with him in the years after the tour:

The importance of getting aired on MTV was very important to bands back in the 80s and 90s because of the global exposure it provided. But MTV was not interested in playing the video to Welcome to the Jungle:



Talking about the GN'R's reputation back then and claim Geffen people would be hiding in their offices when then band visited:



Mickey Finn, the singer of Jetboy would find this strange:





Because of MTV's unwillingness to play the song, heads at Geffen wanted to give up on the record. Both Zutaut and Niven would be told that the band needed to end the touring and instead focus on the next record:

As discussed earlier, MTV had been reluctant to play Welcome to the Jungle, and this was hurting both album sales and touring possibilities, to the point where Geffen wanted the band to stop touring and start working on the follow-up album [see previous chapter].

Tom Zutaut pleaded with David Geffen to try to get MTV to play the song:










In an article in Los Angeles Times in July 1988, the story is told somewhat differently. In this article it is said that Geffen president Eddie Rosenblatt made a personal effort to make MTV air the 'Welcome to the Jungle video: "Rosenblatt started sending its execs a weekly computer run of the band's record sales. Impressed, MTV put the "Welcome" video into its "Headbanger's Ball" program" [Los Angeles Times, July 1988]. This is different to Zutaut's story which suggests Rosenblatt had given up on promoting Appetite and wanted the band to focus on the next record, and instead suggested it was David Geffen who convinced MTV to play the song once.

Rosenblatt would confirm the Los Angeles Times story:



Also, Alan Niven would make it seem MTV turned around because of his efforts and not mention Zutaut at all:



Niven also sent a strongly worded letter to John Cannelli at MTV just before Christmas break:



Regardless of who were responsible for turning MTV around, David Geffen did call MTV as recalled by Tom Freston (CEO of MTV Networks, 1987-2006:)



In the words of Tom Hunter (vice president of music programming at MTV):




Hunter would continue:





It is not clear when exactly MTV aired the video for the first time, but Classic Rock sets the date to "some point between August and October 1987" [Classic Rock, July 19, 2017]. With a promise to air the video one time at night, the band arranged a viewing party on the Sunday when the video would be shown:















When MTV's Headbanger's Ball played Welcome To The Jungle, the record and single sales picked up quickly.



Geffen responded by promptly re-releasing the 'Welcome' single [Los Angeles Times, July 1988]. This increase in sales coincided with Guns N' Roses touring with Mötley Crue, and more and more of the audiences seemed to appreciate the opening band.

Steven and Slash would describe the breakthrough this way:




Nigel Dick, the director of the music video, would as the result of GN'R's success be highly sought after:



Bumblefoot would many years later mention having watched the video:



And in 2018, Alan Niven would talk about the longevity of the song and how it was being used on sports stadiums:

During the Appetite for Destruction touring in 1987 and 1988, the band lived out lives of sex, drugs and rock and roll. This was a period of constant touring, gigs every week, and learning from the headliners, especially Mötley Crüe, who had been on this circuit of debauchery for much longer.



One famous incident in this period was when Nikki Sixx, bassist of Motley Crue, overdosed on December 23, 1987, while partying with Slash and Steven:





According to NME, this wouldn't be the last time Nikki Sixx was to OD while partying with a member of Guns N' Roses. As the story goes, and it might not be true at all, Slash found Sixx blue from an overdose but instead of calling for an ambulance, he called a friend who saved Sixx while Slash left to not get in any trouble himself [NME, December 25, 1999].



1987-1988 was a period with occasional down-time between recordings and between tours, which proved dangerous to drug users like Slash:






That downtime in-between activity would get the boys in trouble, and especially Slash, would become a recurring theme.



In July 1988, Alan Niven would describe the band this way:



Later, in 1997, he would look back at managing addicts:



Raz Cue hung out with the band in September 1988, and noticed a change in the intra-band dynamics although he wouldn't go in any specifics:

With Geffen wanting to force the band into the studio to work on the next record [see previous chapter], Niven concocted a plan to make them understand they still hadn't realized the inherent potential in Appetite for Destruction:




The four shows at The Perkins Place in Pasadena, California, took place on 26., 27., 28. and 30. December.

Great review by Andrea Dee Trent in Screamer Magazine after the second show (December 27):







The band though was happy with these shows:




After the final show at Perkin's Palace Axl invited everybody down to Riki Rachtman's invitation-only party at The Central, resulting in long queues before 8:45pm [L.A. Weekly, January 8, 1988]. Guns N' Roses would then play two songs there and Axl would lead everybody in an a capella rendition of 'Honky Tonk Women' at closing time, before invitation everybody to continue the party at his West Hollywood hotel room [L.A. Weekly, January 8, 1988].

During the tour with Alice Cooper in December 1987, Steven broke a bone in a finger when he in anger hit the door of a bar where he had just been thrown out. As a result of this, Fred Coury from Cinderella had to step in for Steven on drums on the following shows.



In 2015, Doug Goldstein would tell an anecdote from not long after Goldstein started working with the band in 1987, that suggested that Steven had a low status in the band:



Around this time, Steven was also becoming a heroin junkie. He tried shooting it for the first time in Amsterdam in October 1987 [Steven's biography, "My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, page 133]. He claims the second time happened during the Aerosmith tour in 1988:



Talking about how he got the heroin that fateful day:



Steven says it happened during their last show with Aerosmith, which was on September 15, 1988, at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. He also says it happened at Irvine Meadows, but he is probably here mixing it with the preceding tour with Iron Maiden and the show on June 9, 1988.

During the filming of Dead Pool [see later chapter], which was released on July 13, 1988, Steven OD'ed on heroin:



Since the OD happened some time before July 1988 (when Dead Pool was released), it means the OD either did not come from shooting heroin, or that he started shooting heroin earlier than Steven would claim in his book.

In the quote above Steven mentions that Axl had been there for him when he woke from the OD, Arlett Vereecke would claim that Slash had visited Steven, too, and that Izzy had also, in the end, managed to get to San Francisco where filming, assumingly, was taking place:

The band started 1988 with playing selected shows in the Los Angeles area. The first one was a 'Find the Children Benefit' show in Santa Monica (January 5). 'Find the Children' was involved in putting missing children's faces on milk cartons. The bands playing at this charity show included Armoured Saint, Great White and Party Ninjas [Los Angeles Times, January 7, 1988; L.A. Weekly, January 15, 1988].





Then the band played a show at The Whisky on January 10 to fight a lawsuit against Ruben at the Hollywood magazine Rock City News [source?]. For this show Steven was replaced by their friend Howard Teman. Teman would explain how he came to play and discuss the show:

Howard Teman, talking about how he came to play drums at this show:



After this at least some of the GN'R members did a Drunk Fux (now going by the name 'Drunks') show at the Coconut Teazer in Hollywood (January 14). For this show Steven had got rid of his cast [L.A. Weekly, January 29, 1987]. Axl would also join the Fux this evening and one of the songs played would be 'Honky Tonk Women' [L.A. Weekly, January 29, 1987] and another would be Yesterdays (later to be released on Use Your Illusions II).

A few days later, on January 18, a couple of members of GN'R and a couple of members of Drunk Fux would come together with some other guys and play a show under the moniker Pigs at Large on Coconut Teaszer [L.A. Weekly, January 15, 1987].

This was followed by a proper Guns N' Roses show at The Cathouse (January 21). This was an unannounced show in support of a well-known Hollywood DJ (likely Joseph Brooks) who had gotten into financial straits after an incident with his car and having no car insurance [L.A. Weekly, January 29, 1988]. For this last show Steven was finally back on drums again, and Vince Neil would join the band for the closing song, Whole Lotta Rosie [L.A. Weekly, January 29, 1988].

Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell from Soundgarden attended this show:



The band was likely happy to finally have Steven back on drums again, although Duff would later joke about Fred Coury being a good replacement: