08. 1987-1988: TOURING AND SUCCESS

The internal rivalry in the band would be fully apparent in the 90s, but already in the 80s the seeds for these conflicts were sown. In June 1987, the band members were asked how the band operated, and Axl would reply:



Despite the claims of democracy, Axl quickly took a leading position and would to an increasing extent describe the band as his or that he had a leading position, as in an interview with Steven Harris in December 1987:



A year later, Harris would interview Duff and Steven and took the opportunity to ask for their comments about Axl's comments in-which he claimed Axl said he had to take care of the rest of the guys in the band:




During interviews Axl was often the most vocal, both due to his strong personality but also due to his band mates invariably being under the influence. Here is Karen Burch's description of the band members from April 1986:

"Although I hate to focus solely on Axel Rose [sic], the vocalist's personality certainly demands attention. Axel appears to be the creative force that drives the band. Soft-spoken and intensely serious, he prefers to converse mainly about "the music." While the band refutes that there are any one leader, per se, Axel emerges as the dominant figure [...]" [Music Connection, April 1986].

In the Music Connection interview from 1986, Slash would also famously quip that Axl wants to be the Ayatollah, perhaps a comment on Axl trying to force his will on the band members or perhaps more about his musical visions.

Yet, in the very early days of the band, Izzy was more vocal, but as the band grew in popularity, he gradually slid into the shadows, allowing Axl and, to an increasing extent, Slash to front the band in the media. As Izzy would state himself in September 1988:




Duff would feel the same:



In late 1987, Axl would also indicate that any disagreement in regards to the musical direction of the band had been put to rest by late 1987, and that the band now was on the same page:



Again, Steve Harris would confront Duff and Steven a year later with these comments from Axl, resulting in the following response:




Interestingly, and this would be corroborated by Axl in later interviews, too, in 2009 Niven would state that there had been a bit of a powerplay happening between Slash and Axl already in the early days:



In 2006, and when the relationship between Slash and Axl was at the lowest as they were entangled in lawsuits after lawsuit against each other, Axl would claim in a counter-lawsuit against Slash and Duff, that Slash had sabotaged him at live shows:



As for whether Slash was trying to control the band, which Axl would claim much later, Niven had the following comment:

On January 31, 1988, the band played a show at The Limelight in New York City. The show was semi-acoustic and for some reason the band was more drunk than usual:








The band being drunk was not the only problem, at some stage Axl walked offstage, as a Limelight executive will tell Circus Magazine:

_______________________________________________

As mentioned earlier, Slash had cleaned up before the release of Appetite, and he also cleaned up before the start of the tour in 1987 [Detroit Free Press, May 6, 1988; Melody Maker, August 10, 1991].




But early in 1988 he was back at it again. Again, it was the period between activity that got to him. The band spent most of January 1988 in Los Angeles because a tour with Motley Crue fell through, and Slash did not handle the idleness very well:






At some point, probably beginning of 1988, Slash would move to a TraveLodge apartment in Hermosa Beach to get away from Hollywood [Spin, May 1988].




Being asked to specify what part of the business caused him to relocate:



It seems like the effort may have worked, because in mid-1988 Slash would claim to be sober:



Yet his drinking was getting out of control:





TO BE MOVED:

By October Slash had switched from Jack Daniels to Vodka:



When the interviewer joked about the moral being that if you want beautiful teeth drink vodka, Slash responded:



But by March 1989 he had switched back to Jack Daniels again, because he "got bored with vodka" [Mick Wall, GUNS N' ROSES: The Most Dangerous Band in the World, Sidgwick & Jackson, U.K. 1991, 1993; interview from March 1989].

Slash would talk about cutting down on his drug use occasionally:



Any sobriety reached by Slash as the result of the trip to Hawaii did not last long, if it happened at all, because about a month later, on July 18, 1988, he would be shooting heroin together with Todd Crew, with fatal results for Crew. So Slash claims that from that point onwards he reduced his drug use, is not entirely true. And if this is true, then it was only temporarily because Slash would be struggling with heroin addiction in 1988 and 1989, too.

In August 1992, Slash would say the last time he and Axl fought was in 1988 during his worst drug period, saying the drug abuse had cut him off from the band:



Apparently, he cut down on the use while touring in the second half of 1988, but started again when the tour came to Australia in December:



Slash was given a man, Ronnie Stalnaker, whose job it was to "follow Slash around when he was drunk" [Rolling Stone, November 1988].

On February 2, 1988, the band would play a show on The Ritz that was videotaped by MTV. The Ritz show was extensively aired on MTV and got the band much publicity. John Cannelli, former MTV senior vice president of talent and artist relations and friend of Axl (Cannelli had also been featured in the music video for Sweet Child O' Mine), had a key role in making the show:



Talking about the show:














This was the first and possibly only show where Axl introduced Steven as "Popcorn":





Slash would later talk about dealing with unruly crowds:



And Duff would talk about having issues with his bass during the opening song:




Dizzy would later look back at this show:



And Alan Niven would mention that Great White, who opened for Guns N' Roses, were originally planned to end the show with GN'R as the opener:

Getting their debut album out was in itself a great success for the band, and Axl would sound optimistic of its fate when interviewed on October 8, 1987, about two and-a-half months after its release:



This was after the release the single, Welcome To The Jungle (released on September 28, 1988), and the band was expecting the single to drive sales of the record. In the December the same year, Axl would again lament over the observation that radio wouldn't play their music:




When in Seattle, in early February 1988, the band was informed that Appetite had sold to gold:



Despite this initial success of the record, the band still didn't have money:

Duff soon realized that his panic attacks were triggered by flying, and he dulled his senses by drinking in excess before flights [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 130]. He would not talk publicly about his anxiety before his own biography, but his fear of flying might be gleamed from an interview he did at the day of Monster of Rock festival at Donington in August 1988:



Despite trying heroin together with Steven and Slash and experimenting with pills like quaaludes [Rock City News, January 1988], Duff mostly kept to alcohol. Alcohol would later also become the end of his pancreas and almost the end of him [more about this in later chapters].



Duff writes that a turning point in his addiction came at the very last show of the Aerosmith tour in Costa Mesa at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Orange County, CA (September 15, 1988). Actually, this show was not their latest of this tour, they would do one more show in USA before heading to Japan for 9 more shows. During the Costa Mesa show, their friends from Los Angeles came out to party. Duff, who had been careful about being sober during the tour with Aerosmith, was handed an eight of an ounce of cocaine and took it in combination with Valium and vodka.

In late January 1988, it would be reported that Guns N' Roses would tour with the band T.S.O.L. [L.A. Weekly, January 29, 1988].

Duff knew T.S.O.L. from before:



The tour would take place in the beginning of February, and the band would do eight shows in California with T.S.O.L. as the opener (February 4-12). Originally, they should have done nine shows, but crises happened.

The first three shows were at Crest Theatre, Sacramento, USA (February 4); Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, USA (February 5); and at the Old Town Saloon, Fresno, USA (February 6).

The next show took place on February 8 at Montezuma Hall in San Diego. Apparently, Axl caused some problems when he changed the setlist around too much for Slash's liking:

The band then came to Phoenix for two shows on February 12 and 13 that were to end the tour with TSOL. The band had been intended to play in Phoenix while opening for The Cult, but that show had been cancelled [Blast! November 1988].



The first show in Phoenix, and the sixth of the tour with TSOL, took place on February 12, at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix. Axl ended the show early, right after 'Nightrain' preventing the band from going through their encore [Yahoo Music, April 2016]. According to Circus Magazine, Axl had actually "collapsed" during Nightrain [Circus Magazine, May 1988].




Axl would blame it on an accident leading to a split lip:





The next day the band had another show scheduled at the Celebrity Theatre, but Axl was not in the best of shapes:




The show promoter for the Celebrity Theatre shows, Danny Zelisko, recalled in 2016 that he had been across town when he got the call from the manager at the venue on that fateful night: "Man, you better get down here right away. This place is going to explode" because, as Zelisko would describe it, "The opening act had been on for 90 minutes and Axl wouldn’t come out of his hotel room" [Vulture, 2016]. T.S.O.L. was only intended to play a 40 minute set, but Niven had told them to continue playing.

Dean Mitch from TSOL would recount the experience:




Niven would try to get into Axl's room:



Niven told Zelisko that Axl wouldn't come causing Zelisko to wonder, "How are we going to get out of this building alive?” then turning to Niven, "You have a nice British accent. You make the announcement. I’m not getting torched.” Niven complied, saying to the audience that Rose had "throat problems" [Vulture, 2016].



Goldstein would claim he made the announcement:



And refer to it as his worst thing that happend to him at a GN'R show:



According to Blast Magazine a "full-scale riot broke out" with damages "into the thousands" [Blast! May, 1988]. But Axl was on the way to the venue, and would describe the scene as he arrived:



Zelisko's story of the riot differs, saying that "the crowd dispersed peacefully".

Rolling Stone Magazine would later describe the cancellation of the show:





This incident was the final straw for the band and Axl was fired:






According to Goldstein, Niven had not only said he would support the band's decision to fire Axl, but had been the one who made that decision:




While the band was, in Slash's words, in upheaval over Axl's behavior, Niven cancelled the planned 3-month tour with David Lee Roth [see later chapter].

Goldstein would then claim he had argued to not fire Axl:




Axl would comment on what happened:



The band would comment on it this way:









Slash would defend his colleague and friend:



Axl not showing up for the gig prompted Los Angeles Times to ask "what's wrong with W. Axl Rose? speculating that he was either "seriously ill" or "had suffered a breakdown" [Los Angeles Times, February 1988]. Other newspapers would claim Axl had suffered an OD and that the band had broken up, as mentioned by RIP Magazine although they checked this story out and reported that Axl had indeed been hospitalized but that it wasn't drug-related and that the band was still together [RIP Magazine, June 1988]. A spokeswoman for Geffen Records said Rose had been sick, but "it was not drugs or a deadly disease. We don’t know exactly what—his management company says they’re still waiting for test results" [Los Angeles Times, February 1988].



Axl would later talk about the incident:



And say the band had overcome their problems:



In 1989 Slash would be confronted with the rumors that the band had been on the verge of breaking up the previous year:



This incident and Axl being fired is also discussed in the chapter about Axl's mental health. This incident also resulted in the planned tour with David Lee Roth being cancelled and also likely the planned tour with AC/DC [see later chapters].

___________________________

As 1988 came around, Izzy was struggling with severe addiction to heroin and cocaine and was starting to develop paranoia. To escape the temptations of Hollywood, at some point Izzy moved to an apartment in Sherman Oaks [LA Weekly, October 22, 2016].

Jimmy Ashhurst, a friend of Izzy and soon-to-be bandmate in the Juju Hounds, would later describe Izzy in this period:



Rolling stuff up in his socks would be a common way for Izzy to hide valuable things.

Slash and Steven would comment on Izzy's new apartment and domestic life:




Talking about how he felt he was just behaving normally for his occupation:



Izzy would get increasingly paranoid by the attention from weird fans:



In August 1989, Izzy, while in France, would complain about the police being after him:



Although, due to his drug issues, it is not unlikely the police did look at him askance.

In August 1989, Izzy would sound paranoid when talking about drug wars and crazy fans and the police being out to get him [The Face, October 1989], and how big the band was starting to become:










This resulted in Izzy starting to carry a gun with him everywhere:







In the summer of 1989, Izzy's paranoia was getting worse:



Around the same time, Izzy discovered a million dollars in an escrow account:




Axl would later comment on hos this episode had inspired lyrics to Pretty Tied Up:





In the summer of 1989 the band was also supposed to convene in Chicago to write for the follow-up to Appetite, but neither Axl or Izzy turned up on time [see later chapter]. Niven tried convincing Izzy to travel to New York and write with Axl there, presumably after the rest of the band had travelled back to Los Angeles:



But as Izzy travelled to New York Niven was told that Izzy had withdrawn all his money from his account, about $750,000, in a cashier's check [Mick Wall, Last of the Giants: The True Story of Guns N’ Roses, July 2017].



Izzy called Niven a few days later and Niven suggested they should meet in New Orleans where Great White was doing a concert [Mick Wall, Last of the Giants: The True Story of Guns N’ Roses, July 2017].



The Great White show Niven that refers to took place on July 28. We know Izzy was hanging out with Axl in New York on July 22 (when they jammed with The Cult) [see later chapter].



When Niven said he hoped Izzy had at least hidden the cheque well in his room, Izzy responded:



Later in New Orleans, Izzy and Niven got in an argument at the bar The Dungeon, resulting in Niven coming back to the bar later with muscles to settle the score [Mick Wall, Last of the Giants: The True Story of Guns N’ Roses, July 2017]:

In late January 1988, it would be reported that after the February tour with T.S.O.L., Guns N' Roses would tour with David Lee Roth [L.A. Weekly, January 29, 1988]. But after the infamous Celebrity Theater gig in Phoenix, Arizona, on February 12 and 13 [see earlier chapter], and Axl being fired only to be allowed back into the band, Alan Niven either cancelled the Lee Roth tour or Lee Roth walked away:



In 2018, Niven would explain it like Lee Roth made the decision to not tour with GN'R:



According to RIP Magazine, the planned tour with Lee Roth was cancelled the day after Axl missed the gig in Phoenix [RIP Magazine, June 1988], which corroborates with Slash's story above. Also Metal Hammer (Germany) would specifically state that it was due to Axl's no-show at the Phoenix, Arizona, show on February 13, 1988 [Metal Hammer (Germany), April 1988].

The band then took a 6 week hiatus from touring [Circus Magazine, May 1988; Blast Magazine, May 1988] in February/March 1988. For the Lee Roth tour, GN'R would be replaced by Faster Pussycat [Blast! May 1988].  That the band had to cancel the tour with Lee Roth due to Axl's behavior would be reported by numerous magazines [Hit Parader, October 1988; The Calgary Herald, July 1988; Blast! May 1988].

The cancellation would also be explained as Roth hearing that "one or more of the band were about to enter a rehab clinic for drug problems".

Blast Magazine would directly connect the cancellation to Axl not showing up on time for the second Celebrity Theater show (February 13) resulting in a riot [Blast! May 1988].

Slash would defend Axl:



Axl himself would feel bad about the situation:



And a bit later he would complain about struggling to land tours:



With free time on their hand, the band members found other things to do. Duff played in a side band with his girlfriend, Mandy Brix, called Dr. Love and the Love Connection [L.A. Weekly, February 19, 1988]. Mandy, who would marry Duff later in the year, also played in the band the Lame Flames where Howard Teman, a friend of the band, was a background musician:



Dr. Love and the Love Connection would play a show at the Coconut Teaszer on February 22, 1988 [L.A. Weekly, February 19, 1988]. Duff would be "Dr. Love" [MTV Headbanger's Ball, April 1988].

In 1991, Slash would claim it was all about Roth not wanting to be up-staged by Guns N' Roses:

Axl had his share of issues in 1987 and 1988. The problem with Axl was not drug and alcohol use, though; he had stopped with excesses after he got tonsilitis during the Motley Crue tour in 1987 and experienced that he sung better when not drinking:








Josh Richman, friend of Axl, would confirm that Axl stayed away from hard drugs:



In 1987 and 1988, Axl also started to distance himself from the band, allegedly to not be tempted to drink and use drugs:






Rolling Stone would report that by November 1988, Axl was traveling on his own tour bus, both because he slept during the day and stayed awake at night, but also to avoid friction with his band mates [Rolling Stone, November 1988], furthering the distance between himself and the rest of the band. In an interview with RIP in April 1989, Axl would comment on this:



Axl's tendency to sleep in is also implied in this quote from an unknown Geffen representative: "We now know not to call him too early in the morning – that way he doesn’t become disoriented and start freaking out" [L.A. Weekly, June 1988].

In 1989 Axl was still keeping sober:



A few months later, Axl felt a need to comment on his statements to RIP:




In early 1995, Slash would comment on one of the "huge misconceptions about Guns", that Axl had been hooked on heroin, and say, "he never was strung out. Ever" [The Howard Stern Show, February 1, 1995]. Slash had also denied this earlier:



As the band embarked on touring in 1991, Axl still refrained from much drug use although he smoked opium in June 1991:




This seems to be an outlier, though, and Axl would mostly stay away from drugs for the remainder of the touring:




Stephen Thaxton, the chiropractor that worked with the band during the Use Your Illusion touring, would also confirm Axl being clean:



Gilby would talk about how health-conscious Axl is:



In 1996, Slash would again have to deny rumours that Axl was addicted to heroin:

In January 1988, Alice Cooper decided to re-record his song 'Under the Wheels' with Axl singing duet with Cooper [L.A. Weekly, January 29, 1988], and Slash and Izzy adding guitars. The song was originally released on Cooper's 1971 Killer album. The new version would be released in June 1988 as part of the documentary film "The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years".

Axl and Slash were thrilled getting to participate on the song:






Then when Alice Cooper visited Long Beach on February 26, Axl, Izzy and Slash joined him onstage for 'Under the Wheels'.

_____________________________________________________


During their touring of Appetite, Guns N' Roses started to obtain a larger crew of professionals who helped them out. Slash's guitar tech was Adam Day, who had been working with George Lynch of Dokken.



Day would stay with the band for years and actually live with Slash at times [Kerrang! April 1989].



Talking about his various guitar tech and Day specifically:





Mike "McBob" Mayhue was Duff's bass and Izzy's guitar techie.



In an interview in 1995, McBob would talk about having worked as stage manager for the band, too (like his brother Tom, see below):



McBob would introduce the band at concerts:



In August 2017, Duff would mention that McBob had worked for him for 30 years in a Facebook update:









McBob's brother, Tom Mayhue, came onboard as the drum tech and also remained for years [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p 135].

Talking about getting into the industry:



In December 1988, Tom Mayhue had become the band's stage manager and Steven would joke about Tom sitting behind him during shows to make sure he didn't make any drumming mistakes [Interview with Steve Harris, December 1988]. Steven developed a particular fondness for Tom:





In 1991, one of the band's bodyguards was Earl Gabbidon:




Earl would eventually become Axl's personal bodyguard and stay with the band until into the 2000s.





___

Their press manager which they got before the London tour in 1987, was Arlett Vereecke [Unknown UK Source, June 1987]. She had been hired by Alan Niven [Kerrang! March 1989] and was described as "flamboyant and free-wheeling" and owned an apartment in West Hollywood [Kerrang, April 1989]. In 1989, when the band refused to do interviews with US magazine, she would interview Axl for the British magazine Kerrang! [Kerrang! June 1989].

In this period they also worked with Bryn Bridenthal at Geffen [Unknown UK Source, June 1987].

Peter Paterno, the lawyer who Vicky Hamilton had asked to have a look at the band's contracts, was still employed by the band [Rock Scene, September 1987].

Steven's drum tech for this period was his friend, Ronnie Schneider [Steven's biography, "My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, page 125].

Slash had a guitar tech called Rudy Leiren [Metal Edge, January 1989].

In late 1987, Axl had a bodyguard named Ronnie [Spin, January 1988]. Later the band would have two security guards because, according to Slash, Axl and Slash had received death threats, but would later go back to only Ronnie [Circus Magazine, May 1988].

Axl would also have his younger brother, Stuart Bailey, who was studying in Los Angels to become a lawyer [Metal Edge, June 1988], acting as his personal assistant [Rolling Stone, November 1988].



In early 1990, Stuart was the lead singer in the band Dr. Whiskey [L.A. Weekly, January 19, 1990].

Axl would also have Colleen Combs as his personal assistant from May/June 1990 [Excerpts from "A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other" by Greg Prato, September 2008]. Colleen would later discuss her connection to Axl:



At some point, Izzy had a guitar tech called Scott [Steven's biography, "My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, page 125].

_______________________________________________________________


In the early days of the band, the press would refer to Axl as "unpredictable". In October 1988, Hit Parader wrote: "Over the last three months there’s been a constant stream of talk concerning the bands breaking up" [Hit Parader, October 1988]. The next month Hit Parader would also claim that around the time when Appetite for Destruction went platinum, "Axl Rose began acting too unpredictably for the other members of the group, and a vote was taken to kick Axl out of the band. Thankfully, cooler heads soon prevailed, and Axl was sent to a clinic where he was quickly able to regain control of his life and resume responsibilities as Guns' front man" [Hit Parader, November 1988]. This incident is likely when Axl didn't turn up for the second show in Phoenix on February 13, 1988 [see separate chapter for details]. Hit Parader in October 1988 would further state that "Axl's unpredictable behavior cost the band tours with David Lee Roth, AC/DC and Iron Maiden." This would also be mentioned by The Calgary Herald in July 1988. Vicky Hamilton would recall that when they were to start the tour with Aerosmith on July 17, 1988, no one knew where Axl was or even if he'd make the gig. People who knew the band were sitting in the Hard Rock Café taking bets on it. He did appear that evening, one hour before showtime [Musician, December 1988; Juke Magazine, July 1989]. And Doug Goldstein, the tour manager at the time, would recall that toward the end of the Aerosmith tour in September 1988, Axl approached him and was concerned that others felt he'd become a prima donna. "I haven't changed, have I, Doug?" Axl inquired. "Of course not," Goldstein replied affectionately. "You've always been a prick" [Musician, December 1988].

His band mates knew that what seemed like unpredictable behavior from the outside was a person fighting with severe mood swings, insecurity and stage fright [more on this in separate chapters]:







Axl would himself talk about how he would revert to his "18-year old self":



In 2005, Steven would be asked if the band members never tried doing something with the Axl situation:



In 2010, Steven would claim he had been able to argue with Axl and get him back on stage if he left early and that after Steven was fired, no one was able to di this:



In 2011, Steven would also argue that Axl was caring too much because he was a perfectionist:



Unfortunately, there are no corroborating quotes suggesting Steven had such a positive influence on Axl.

In December 1988, when the band was touring in Japan, Axl seemed to have a good period:



According to photographer George Shin, who travelled with the band in 1987, Izzy and Axl had a special connection:





According to the Rolling Stone interview in November 1988, a psychiatrist who evaluated Axl back in Indiana noted his high IQ and "decided that his behavior was evidence of psychosis." In an interview in October 1987, Axl would describe himself a "manic depressive" [NME, October 1987], but whether this was self-diagnosed or as a result of a psychiatric examination is not clear. The media started to question his mental stability: "Is Axl Rose crazy? Or is he just a sensitive, high-strung kid whose band wants to be successful without compromising what made them so good in the first place: attitude and street credibility" [L.A. Weekly, June 1988]. In later 1988, though, he had been diagnosed being manic-depressive and he had been put on lithium, although "[Axl] thinks it's ineffective and claims to be in control of his moods" [Rolling Stone, November 1988]. It would be claimed that he didn't always take his medicine [Musician, December 1988]. In the beginning of 1989, radio host Howard Stern would refuse to accept that Axl was manic-depressive and Axl would jokingly attribute it to him just always having been pissed off [Howard Stern, February 1989].











In 2000, Howard Stern would ask Slash if Axl "had a sort of disorder of some kind", to which Slash clearly didn't want to say anything out of turn:



In 2008, Axl would deny having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder:



Axl's sensitivity and honesty in lyrics also shone through in his live performances and made for intense experiences:





Axl was also struggling with insomnia:

The band then lost a planned tour with AC/DC [Hit Parader, March 1989; Juke Magazine, July 1989] in North America (this leg of the Blow Up Your Video World Tour lasted from May to November 1988), because AC/DC "wanted to hold their pay as security for three weeks, and then planned to kick them off the tour at the end of the grace period; they declined the offer" [Spin, May 1988]. Axl would confirm this story and express his disappointment:





Circus Magazine would describe it as due to "a disagreement between AC/DC's management and Guns N' Roses". Hit Parader, on the other hand, would again claim the real reason was Axl's behavior [Hit Parader, October 1988]. And Metal Hammer, German edition, would more specifically state that it was connected to Axl's no-show at the Phoenix, Arizona, show on February 13, 1988 [Metal Hammer (Germany), April 1988].

This would be supported by Niven in 2017 and 2018:




Regardless of the reason, the decision was likely also devastating to Slash who had said that opening for AC/DC would be "a total turning point in my life" [Concert Shots, May 1986]. Axl had also mentioned that he wanted to tour with AC/DC because he figured they "could learn so much" from such a seasoned band [Metal Edge, June 1988].

In May-July 1988 they would also be refused to join the Monster of Rock tour which featured Van Halen, Scorpions, Metallica, Dokken, and Kingdom Come, to which Slash would comment:



With little else to do, the band would hang out at Hollywood clubs, jam with other bands and party. Duff did another show with his girlfriend Mandy in their band, Dr. Love and the Love Connection on March 24 at the Cathouse and the same evening Slash would get up on stage with T.S.O.L [L.A. Weekly, March 25, 1988].

On March 31 the band would do a televised performance on The Late Show, a program on Fox TV. The band played two songs, You're Crazy and Used to Love Her, both to be featured on the upcoming EP.

_______________________________________________________________________

Before the release of 'Appetite for Destruction', Slash sobered up [Melody Maker, August 10, 1991], and around the time he would claim the band was through with heroin and that it was "an old thing now":



Despite the band's transparent drug abuse, band members would occasionally, and outrageously, deny any drug addictions:







Again, in early 1988, Slash would claim the band was through with drugs:




And Axl would state that other bands had more of a problem:



Eventually there was no way of escaping the drug rumors, but the band tried to downplay the seriousness:







Although when it came to drinking they would be much more forthcoming, and any denials would, of course, be difficult since they regularly drank, or were drunk, during interviews. Slash, for instance, would insist on being drunk before interviews due to being too "introverted" to talk sober, asking the interviewers to bring Jack Daniels [Rock Scene, September 1987].






At some point the band was banned from all Four Season hotels because of damage to the rooms, and this ban was not lifted until 1992 when the band was touring again [The Washington Post, July 18, 1992].

Axl would be more forthcoming and indicate that Izzy and Slash had a serious heroin problem in late 1986, and indicate it wasn't over in 1987:



Axl would echo this sentiment in mid-1988:





One story that was mentioned in Rolling Stone magazine in November 1988, was that the band was invited to Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen's house for a party [Rolling Stone, November 1988]. According to Rolling Stone, Nielsen challenged Slash to a tequila challenge which resulted in a brawl that ended with Izzy kicking Nielsen in the balls [Rolling Stone, November 1988]. Nielsen would deny this happened and claim he "decked Slash" [Rolling Stone, November 1988]. Izzy and Axl would later deny this version of the events from Rolling Stone:

Instead, the band did their first headlining tour of the US with Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction and UDO as the openers from April 26 to May 11, 1988, taking them to 11 smaller cities in the Midwest.

The first show took place at Memorial Auditorium in Burlington, VT on April 26. In preparation of the tour the band had spent a week rehearsing at the Memorial Auditorium [Burlington Hawk Eye, September 17, 1991].

The show itself got mixed review with the Burlington Hawk Eye reporter complaining about the feedback and the vocals dropping out [Burlington Hawk Eye, April 27, 1988].





The band then travelled to Oshkosh Center, Oshkosh, USA (April 27) and Coronado Theatre, Rockford, USA (April 29). Before their April 30 show at the Danville Civic Center in Danville, Slash commented on playing at smaller places:



And while in Rockford, the police were looking for Slash:



The band continued to Toledo Sports Arena, Toledo, USA (May 1); Devos Hall, Grand Rapids, USA (May 3); before coming to the Music Hall in Cleveland (May 5).

The day before this show, Izzy had met with Tom Garcia from the local radio station WSBC during a Ted Nugent concert and promised to play DJ for a few hours at the station the next day, possibly together with Axl [Rock Scene, December 1989].



Unfortunately, because of "red-tape", as Izzy phrased it, he was not allowed to come in to the radio station so instead he called in to the show and did an interview on-the-air that would be released in Rock Scene Magazine in December 1989 [Rock Scene, December 1989]. During the broadcast Izzy would be asked how the tour was progressing:



Being asked about how they hadn't been to Cleveland before, preferring to talk about the Ted Nugent show:



Steven's biological father, Michael Coletti, was living in Cleveland and Steven wanted to beat him up when they came to the city for having abandoned his family when he was just a baby:



The tour continued with shows at the Saginaw Civic Center, Saginaw, USA (May 6); State Theater, Detroit, USA (May 7); and Felt Forum, New York, USA (May 9).




Axl was late to the show at Felt Forum:




The last shows of the tour took place at the Tower Theatre, Upper Darby, USA (May 10) and Orpheum Theatre, Boston, USA (May 11). Axl would recall a little episode at this last show:



Mike Greenblatt, writing for East Coast Rocker, would paraphrase this story after having interviewed Axl:

In 1987 the band started thinking about making a documentary or home video [Metal Edge, June 1988] about the band supported by live footage:




The idea of a documentary goes all the way back to 1986, when Izzy says it was part of the contract with Geffen [L.A. Rocks, August 1986].

In early 1989, Slash would talk more about this home video in connection with them making a raunchy music video for 'Its So Easy':



In 1988 the band also started a fan club titled 'Conspiracy Incorporated'. The membership fee was $12 for domestic and Canadian members and $15 for overseas members, and members were promised membership card, band photograph, 'Appetite' sticker, tour dates, discounts on merchandise, press clippings and a quarterly newsletter [Membership form, 1988]. By March 1989 the fan club was comprised of 1500 members [Conspiracy Incorporated Fan Club Newsletter, March 1989].

In April 1989, Axl would mention that they might make a movie [Unknown Source, April 1989]. This might have been the same documentary movie, or something else entirely.

Having missed tours with AC/DC and Monster of Rock, Guns N' Roses then opened for Iron Maiden in Canada (May 13 -June 8, 1988) on their 'Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour'.

Guns N' Roses, on their side, had cut the Iron Maiden tour short, and rested for a month and a half, and were open for Aerosmith's national summer tour which was going to last from July 17 to September 15, 1988.

In 2017 and 2018, Niven would claim no other band was interested in touring with them because of the reputation they had garnered, especially after the trouble in Phoenix [see earlier chapter]:



But that the tour was important just to keep the guys alive:



Axl was grateful for the opportunity:





At the beginning of the tour Slash was not happy with how things were being done:



Niven would also recall how Izzy had called him after the very first show:



Mick Wall would later claim that there was significant animosity between the two bands [Mick Wall, GUNS N' ROSES: The Most Dangerous Band in the World, Sidgwick & Jackson, U.K. 1991, 1993].

The Iron Maiden fans were also not very receptive to Guns N' Roses, as mentioned by Duff in his biography:



Bruce Dickinson (the vocalist of Iron Maiden) was also not impressed with Axl. At the May 16 show at Quebec Coliseum, Dickinson claims Axl treated the audience poorly because they were talking to him in French:





The tour started at the Moncton Coliseum, Moncton, Canada (May 13); Metro Centre, Halifax, Canada (May 14); Quebec Coliseum, Quebec City, Canada (May 16); Montreal Forum, Montreal, Canada (May 17); Ottawa Civic Center, Ottawa, Canada (May 18); CNE Grandstand, Toronto, Canada (May 20); and Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Canada (May 23).

Richard Duguay, a punk friend of Duff, and who had met the band when they came to Canada in 1987 to support the Cult, would invite the band over for barbeque:



Steven would later recall almost getting into a fight with Iron Maiden's drummer, Nicko McBrain:



Despite having to win the audiences over, Guns N' Roses received great reviews, this one from the May 23 show at Winnipeg Arena:



The tour continued with a show at the Northlands Arena, Edmonton, Canada (May 25).

Duff broke off the ongoing tour opening for Iron Maiden to travel home for his wedding with Mandy Brix of LA's Lame Flames and hostess at Japanese restaurant in LA [L.A. Weekly, April 22, 1988; L.A. Weekly, June 3, 1988; Metal Edge, January 1989; Sounds Magazine, November 1989]; they'd been engaged since at least January 1988 [L.A. Weekly, January 22, 1988]). Reportedly, the church was decorated with white orchids and Duff wore a custom-made leather tuxedo [L.A. Weekly, June 3, 1988].





Duff arranged for Kid "Haggis" Chaos, from The Cult, to fill in for him for the May 27 show at Olympic Saddledome in Calgary, Canada, and was back for their next show [Circus Magazine, September 1989].

Haggis would explain how it came about:



According to Duff, Niven was at fault for Duff missing that gig. The wedding arrangements had been prepared before the Iron Maiden tour was settled [Metal Edge, January 1989]:

The tour opening for Iron maiden continued at the PNE Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada (May 30); Spokane Coliseum, Spokane, USA (May 31); Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, USA (June 1); Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, USA (June 3); and Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, USA (June 5).

Jerry Cantrell from Alice In Chains attended the June 1 show at Seattle Center:







In June, Metal Edge would publish an interview were Axl would talk about touring and show performances:

The Iron Maiden tour was cut short with their last show at the California Exhibition Center, Sacramento, USA, on June 6, when Axl needed to save his voice. It also meant they had to postpone a planned tour of Japan:






Axl would explain what had happened to his voice:




About a week after aborting the tour Slash would describe the damage to Axl's vocals:



And when asked how long they would have to wait for Axl's voice to heal:



Fortunately, after inspection by four different doctors no nodules were found and Axl didn't have to undergo surgery [Sounds Magazine, August 1988]. IT would later be said he had developed polyps in his throat [Metal Edge, January 1989]. Kerrang! would say he was "ordered by his doctors to take to his bed and rest his voice completely for three weeks" [Kerrang! March 1989].

During an interview with Rockling in July 1988, Slash, Duff and Izzy is asked how Axl is doing and they would reply that it is inevitable that his singing style after so much touring would lead to problems but that he is coping well [Rockline, July 1988].

Steven and Slash would indicate that it was important to restore Axl's voice before the (more) important tour with Aerosmith:






Another explanation for ending the Iron Maiden tour was that the band was kicked off because of Axl's unpredictable behavior [Hit Parader, October 1988].



Raz Cue would comment on such alternative explanations:




In 2018, Alan Niven would very much state that Axl's bad throat was a ruse to get them out of a tour that didn't work for them:





To replace Guns N' Roses, LA Guns was drafted in, and for their first night Duff and Slash would jam with the band. For the next night, after LA Guns' set, GN'R minus Axl would go on stage and play 'It's So Easy' with Duff on vocals [Mick Wall, GUNS N' ROSES: The Most Dangerous Band in the World, Sidgwick & Jackson, U.K. 1991, 1993]. Duff felt it an ordeal:







In August 1988, when Guns N' Roses and Iron Maiden met again at the Monsters of Rock festival at Donington, UK, Axl would also comment on the band's differences:



In 2011, Steven would regret not watching McBrain drum:



In 2017, Duff would admit the tour hadn't been perfect but express gratitude to Iron Maiden for inviting them:

Tom Zutaut had big hopes for the song and considered it a gem on the record:




The hope was that this ballad would boost record sales which was low for the first period after the release of 'Appetite'.



And according to Duff, it did:






The third single out from 'Appetite' was to be 'Sweet Child O' Mine.' The single was released in late May 1987 in the UK and June 1987 in the US. In November 1987, Slash was asked what would be the next single and his answer would indicate he disagreed with the choice of Sweet Child O'Mine as the band's third single:



Being asked if there was some controversy around the choice:








Before recording the music video to Sweet Child O' Mine, it seems like the band discussed their approach to music videos:



Alan Niven would explain the complex plans Axl had for the video for Sweet Child O' Mine:



In 2006, Axl would talk about his original idea for the video:



Again, Nigel Dick was picked as the director, and although Dick was probably frustrated at times with the band he did enjoy the additional payment he got from the band's absence:



The song was about Erin Everly so she would be featured in the video:




Compared to the video for Welcome to the Jungle, the video for Sweet Child O' Mine was a less ambitious project and Dick would describe it as "dull":




Axl was also not happy about it:



Alan Niven would explain why the Sweet Child O' Mine video was a smaller production than the video for Welcome to the Jungle::



Dick would also talk about working with Axl:




Slash, on the other hand, would be happy with it:



MTV was also very happy with the rotation and put it in heavy rotation, together with Welcome to the Jungle which was released, resulting in the band having two videos being played regularly on MTV:



Later, Slash would talk about making videos:



'Sweet Child O' Mine' became a very popular single and won both an American Music Award (AMA) for “Favorite Single, Pop/Rock” and the MTV award for “Best Metal/Hard Rock Video” [Geffen Press Release, September 1991].


Nigel Dick would talk about the two versions of the video:

After the early ending of the Iron Maiden tour in June 1988, Slash put his drinking and heroin use in high gear again due to the idleness.





When asked if he ever considered sobering up:





Yet not long after this interview from June 1988, the band management sent Slash on an 8-day trip to Hawaii to get him away from the toxic environment of Los Angeles and to sober up:










Izzy would imply the forced trip was justified:



And Goldstein, who accompanied Slash on the trip, would say the trip had worked and that he had fallen in love with Hawaii:

The band had to make sacrifices when they released radio edits of songs and music videos:









The experience of having to edit Sweet Child O' Mine may be the reason why Slash would argue that they might never release another single:



Steve Thompson, of of the guys mixing Appetite, would discuss having to edit Sweet Child O' Mine and Slash's reaction:



In 2016, Axl would talk about Geffen wanting them to make songs shorter, probably referring to Sweet Child O' Mine, and not be entirely critical to it:

A sales pull came when 'Welcome to the Jungle' (and band members) were featured in the Clint Eastwood movie 'The Dead Pool', allegedly after a suggestion by business affairs executive Debbie Reinberg.




The band members would talk about their appearance in the movie:










The song played throughout the film's heavily-publicized 90-second trailer [Los Angeles Times, July 1988].

Afterwards, the band members and management was not impressed with the movie






With Izzy and Steven both being featured in the funeral scene from Dead Pool (not possible to see from the still photo above, but visible when looking at the video), and Izzy coming to San Francisco for the filming late and as Steven was having a drug overdose [as told by Arlett Vereecke; GN'R Central December 10, 2017], it would imply that the funeral scene was recorded after Steven had recovered from his OD, a scene which, ironically, was about a funeral for a rock star who had OD'ed.

In July 1987, Axl said they were supposed to tour with Aerosmith in England in the fall of 1987 [Melody Maker, July 18, 1987] but later this European tour fell apart 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]. This record was Permanent Vacation and it was released on August 21, 1987, so the argument that the record wasn't out yet doesn't make complete sense timing-wise.

In October 1987, Axl would again talk about how hard it had been to be able to tour with Aerosmith:




Commenting on how they hadn't managed to tour with Aerosmith earlier:




Axl would also discuss how reviewers often compared Guns N' Roses to Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith:



Alan Niven would later talk about the aborted tour with Aerosmith in England and how it had been part of this three-step plan:





In July 1988, Aerosmith was ready to tour their new album and wanted Guns N' Roses to be the opener.

As Steven Tyler had said previously:





The Aerosmith tour was a highly anticipated tour, Slash would refer to Aerosmith as their "teenage heroes" [Musician, December 1988].





As Slash would say at a later date:



Axl had also listed Aerosmith among the bands he most wanted to tour with:



And Izzy had expressed excitement about touring with them:



Apparently, Aerosmith was also impressed by Guns N' Roses, as Doug Goldstein would say in November 1987:



And Keith Garde from Aerosmith's management team concurred:



Alan Niven would later mentioned how he had pushed the tops at Geffen to get the tour with Aerosmith after they had ended the tour with Iron Maiden early [see previous chapter]:



According to Niven in 2009, Axl wanted to abort the tour before it began:




And in 2013, Niven would state that he had "forced the issue" regarding the tour:



Niven would also claim they had been coerced by Geffen to take the tour, and that they at the time couldn't get any other tours:

Before the tour with Aerosmith started GN'R did two warm-up gigs at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix on July 9 and 10. Phoenix was chosen to make up for the two cancelled gigs from February 1988, when Axl had had a breakdown and was fired from the band [see earlier section].

The band used the opportunity to raise money for a benefit cause, raising $16,000. The concert promoter, Danny Zelisko, who had been the promoter in February, was asked to choose the charity and chose the Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s Cancer Center. Zelisko's stepdaughter, Abigail, had died of leukemia two years ago [Arizona Republic, July 17, 1988].