15. MAY-DECEMBER 1992: TOURING AND FEUDS

Axl and Slash describing playing with each other:



Duff would describing his bass playing and how he developed it with Steven:



And how he and Slash would work out music together:



And the band playing together:














With Steven and Izzy gone, Slash talked about how that had affected their playing:






Axl and Duff would also talk positively about the changes:




In 1992 Slash would again talk about how losing members affected them:




Axl and Duff would also rave about the positive effects of having Gilby in the band:




Talking about the nature of their shows:



And about the pressure and being nervous:



In 2018, Teddy Andreadis would discuss how it had been playing with Axl:

As the band grew so did their professional retinue. For the tour in support of the 'Use Your Illusion" albums the crew was substantial.

Slash, being asked to talk about their entourage and how many are travelling with them:



A lot of the crew was there to assist Axl with various tasks:



Gilby would throw praise on the professionality of the crew:



And it definitely had become a large crew. In the official tour program for 1992 [Use Your Illusion Tour program, 1992], the following crew was listed:

Doug Goldstein: Personal Manager; John Reese: Tour Manager  [MTV, June 1992]; Jerry Gendron: Tour Accountant; Earl Gabiddon: Security [Rolling Stone, April 2, 1992]; Jon Zucker: Security; Ron Stalnaker: Security; Bill Greer: Director of Security; Dale "Opie" Skjerseth: Production Mgr/Stage Mgr [Canal 33 Sputnik, June 1992]; Phil Ealy: Lighting & Set Designer; David Kehrer: Sound Engineer; Adam Day: Guitar Tech [Guitar Player, December 1991]; Tom Mayhue: Vocal Tech; Mike Mayhue: Bass Tech; Will Jennings: Keyboard Tech; Elwood Francis: Guitar Tech; Tim Doyle: Drum Tech; Art Freund: Carpenter and Joni Veage: Wardrobe; Robert John: Tour Photographer; Alex Kochan: Tour Consultant; Kirt Klingermann: Management Assistant; Craig Duswalt: Band Assistant; Amy Bailey: Press Coordinator; Steve Thaxton: Chiropractor; Sabrina Okamoto: Masseuse; Lori Perkins: Production Assistant; Michael Graphix: Monitor Engineer; Beth Turnbull: Wardrobe; Pat Ryan: Rigger; Mike Tierney: Ground Rigger & Camera Operator; Kurt Wagner: Carpenter; Chris Deters: Carpenter; Nick Passiglia: Carpenter; George Barnes: Sound Crew Chief; Jim Stanforth: Sound Crew; Doug Pope: Sound Crew; Brian Doyle: Sound Crew; Courtney Jones: Sound Crew; Paul Becher: Director; Terry Brennan: Camera; Jay Strasser: Camera; George Elizondo: Camera; Kenn Moynihan: Projectionist; Jim Perry: Show Power; Erik Dismuke: Varilite Op; Bob Jarvis: Varilite Tech; Doug Brent: Lighting Crew Chief; JR Edington: Lighting Crew; Mike Lamb: Lighting Crew; Rob Mackenzie: Lighting Crew; Dave Grayson: Lighting Crew; Charles Cochran: Lighting Crew; John Adam: Lead Truck Driver; Gary Passanis: Truck Driver; Dan Cole: Truck Driver; Tom Burrington: Truck Driver; John Bonta: Truck Driver; Kevin Collings: Truck Driver; Lindsay Davis: Truck Driver; Randy Dowell: Truck Driver; Robert Kruzscewski: Truck Driver; Max Shaeffer: Truck Driver; Dennis Mallatt: Bus Driver; Bennie Johnson: Bus Driver; Harold Russel: Bus Driver; Jerry Burnside: Bus Driver; Jeff Condon: Merchandiser and Steve Noonan: Merchandiser.

As can be seen from this list above, Axl's sister, Amy Bailey, was working as Press Coordinator for the band. Axl also mentions working with his sister in Rolling Stone in April 1992. In addition, also had a personal assistant called Blake [RIP, September 1992].

Tim Doyle is listed as drum tech. After the tour, Doyle moved to Austin and became a father, this resulted in the hiring of Mike "Sacks" Fasano as Matt's new drum tech [GN'R Newsletter Volume 1 Issue 3, May 9, 1996]. Sacks's employment was originally intended to just be a two-day thing in the studio, but turned into a week and then a permanent position [GN'R Newsletter Volume 1 Issue 3, May 9, 1996].

The wider crew was listed as:

Management: BIG FD Entertainment (Doug Goldstein, Chris Jones, Tom Maher); Tour Consultant: Alex Kochan; Publicity: Geffen Records (Bryn Bridenthal); Legal: Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (Lee Phillips); Financial Control: Siegel & Feldstein (Shelley Goldberg); Merchandising: BROCKUM: Toronto, New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo (Michael Rotondo, Gerry Barad, Jeff Condon, Carl Gibbs); Record Company: Geffen Records (Tom Zutaut); Travel Agency: Mark Allan Travel (Shelby Glick); Lighting: Light & Sound Design Inc (Tim Murch); Sound: Electrotec Inc (Rikki Farr); Moving Lights: Vari-lites (John Wiseman); Stage & Set: Showstaging/Showfab (Eric Eastland); Passes: Otto Printing (Mark Alger); Itineraries: Smart Art (Alan Mitchko, Sharon James); Freight: Rock-It Cargo (Duane Wood); Video: Nocturne Inc (Pat Morrow); Air Transportation: MGM Grand Air (Bob Lyons); Buses: Senator's Coach (John Aikin); Crew Travel Agency: Air Apparent (Kathleen Botting); Trucks: Roadshow Inc (Dave Kiley); Insurance: General Insurance Consultants (Bev Beilen, Ann Leiderman); Booking Agency: ICM/FAIRWARNING (John Jackson); Paintings front and back of program: Kostabi; Photography: Robert John, George Chin, Gene Kirkland; Illustration on pages 10 & 11: R K Sloane; Tour Program:  Satori  Art Coordinator (Michael Rotondo), and Additional Design: Ellen Meiselman.



Craig Duswalt, who is listed as "band assistant" above would later become Axl's personal assistant [Sp1at, April 6, 2005] in November 1991 [Craig Duswalt, June 9, 2010]. Duswalt would explain how he became involved with the band:



Talking about his first day at the job in November 1991:



And what he did:





Despite travelling the world with Guns N' Roses, Duswalt would later lament not actually seeing much:



For his service, Duswalt would receive a double platinum record which is inscribed “presented to Craig Duswalt to commemorate more than 3 million copies each of Use Your Illusion 1 and Use Your Illusion 2” [The Signal, July 27, 2008].

Duswalt would end his position as assistant to Axl some time after the touring, likely in 1994.

The Appetite lineup had been a tight unit and the members had protected their rights through a recording agreement already signed on August 25, 1986 [Partnership agreement, October 1992].

But in 1990 the band's lineup started to change. When Dizzy Reed joined the band started to distinguish between "employers" and "full-time members":



With incoming musicians who didn't have the same back history with the rest of the band members, it was important to Slash to try to retain that particular cameraderie the band had enjoyed from the beginning:



When Steven was in the process of leaving the band, the band members signed a new agreement, March 28, 1990, in-which Steven was transformed from being a member of the previous partnership (a partner) to an "employee" [Partnership agreement, October 1992].

In July 1991 Slash would be asked if Dizzy and Matt were fully-fledged members:



Yet, when considering how well he had done at Rock In Rio in January 1992, Slash would admit he was a member:



In March 1992, Axl would be asked about the difference between "playing with guys you've hired, as opposed to guys you slept on floors with"?





On August 20, 1992, Gilby would be asked if he was a "permanent member" of the band:



And in the October 1992 issue of RIP Axl would be asked if Gilby was a "member" of the band:



And when asked if he thought Matt would be pissed after reading this, Axl responded:



In the tour program for 1992 [Use Your Illusion Tour program, 1992], the band was listed as being comprised of Axl, Slash, Duff, Matt, Gilby and Dizzy, while Andreadis, Maxwell, Worall, King, Amos and Freeman were listed separately. In early 1993, Gilby would also be said to have been "accepted as a full member of the band" "appearing in all the band's subsequent videos" [Hartford Courant, March 4, 1992]. And in March 1994 when asked if GN'R now was a six-piece band, Slash confirmed [Q Magazine, March 1994].



In 1994 Gilby would shed some light on the relationship between himself, Matt and Dizzy and Axl, Slash and Duff:



In 2011, Gilby would confirm he was on a salary:



This provide a clear hierarchy between the various band members where some where partners and others were hired guns. As for the three partners, Gilby was clear that they weren't entirely equal either:





In 1994, Axl would retell Gilby joking about his status in the band:





In 1995 Axl would do an interview together with Eddie Van Halen when they would be asked about whether a band needed to be a cohesive unit. Van Halen would respond with "not necessarily" to which Slash would exclaim, "Don’t say that — that’s the way Axl thinks too" [Musician Magazine, March 1995]. This was of course after Gilby's contract hadn't been extended and the band was considering new guitar players to fill his role.

Slash would shed more light on Axl's more fluid conception of what a band could be, when discussing Gilby being out with Alice Cooper:

At the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, on May 3, 1992, Slash jammed with Carole King [Melody Maker, May 30, 1992]:





The jam made Slash want to collaborate more with King:



And his wishes would come through because on March 16, 1993, King released 'Color of Your Dreams' which featured Slash.





Slash would talk about the collaboration:




Later, Slash would describe working with Carole King and contrasting it with working with Michael Jackson:



Looking back at their collaborations:

__________________________________

Duff's sobriety from 1991 did not last long. In May 1992, while Faith No More was opening for GN'R, a writer for NME would describe Duff in the backstage area as looking "punch-drunk, swollen and decaying", to which Mike Patton, the singer of FNM to say, would retort, "That's business, man. You have to hold your hat off to the guy who's done that to him" [NME, May 20, 1992]. And when doing an interview in May 1992, an Italian journalist would describe his as "may have had a little bit too much to drink" [L'Unita, May 16, 1992].

Around this time Duff  "was drinking two half-gallons of vodka a day and snorting an eighth of an ounce of cocaine" [Music West in 3-D, 1997].



In July 1992 Duff claimed to be sensible about things and even avoid Metallica's camp because of drug dealers:



In November 1992 Izzy would discuss Duff's drinking:



Ultimately, two years later, it would be Duff's pancreas that would collapse [see later chapter].

A fun anecdote perhaps from this time period that deserves to be included but is hard to find the right chapter:

______________________________________________

The band had been accused of sexism since the release of 'Appetite' with its original rape-scene artwork and lyrics, especially to 'It's So Easy'.

Comments from band members in the media did also not help:



With the release of Lies, the lyrics to Used To Love Her added fuel to the accusations.



Band members would vehemently defend themselves, but not always very efficiently:




And later Slash would indicate that the Use Your Illusion albums are a bit anti-feministic:



Another things that drew criticism for the band was the practice of filming girls before shows and encouraging them to show their tits. The band would stop this after complaints from fans, and publicist Bryn Bridenthal would explain the decision:



Yet, during the US leg of the tour in December 1991 and January 1992, the crew would again film girls in the audience as reported in many shows reviews. Although Gilby would provide a different explanation as to why they filmed the audience and imply it was entirely innocent:





After the release of Use Your Illusion, Axl was asked if he was a misogynist:



Axl would also argue that his attitude towards women was shaped by experiences he had in his childhood when his father had been abusive towards his mother:



In May 1992, Slash would agree to have been a womaniser but that it was all in the past [Melody Maker, May 30, 1992]. He would also look back at the 'Illusions':



In early 1993 Gilby would be asked if the band was sexist:



And Slash would again argue that their lyrics were just describing bad relationships and that they are descriptive of what their world is (or has been), and not normative:



In July 1996, Slash would participate on Bill Maher's "Politically Incorrect", a talkshow that focused on various topics and, as inferred from its name, would debate things that were controversial and outside of the mainstream. Slash was visibly intoxicated. Early on, Slash would talk in general about equality between the sexes:



Maher would respond that that was a crowd-pleasing thing to say but imply that the band's videos and lyrics told another tale, to which Slash basically blamed Axl:



When Maher pointed out that every band members must take responsibility for the band's lyrics, Slash responded:



Later on in the debate, when discussing whether it would be too tough for women to serve in the military and be subjected to emotional distress, Slash would point out that was a decision for women to make, and not men to take for them.

In 2023, Axl would make a comment while introducing Pretty Tied Up likely targeting media report at the time describing Guns N' Roses as a misogynistic band:

About a month after the Freddie Mercury tribute concert, in May 1992, the band embarked upon a new leg of the tour, this time visiting Europe again. Duff would talk about the upcoming shows:



Slash, talking about the unpredictability of their sets:



For this leg of the tour they added Faith No More as an opener:






While touring, Slash would give his thoughts on playing large stadiums:

Slash talking about playing in various European countries:



The first show took place at Slane Castle in Slane, Ireland on May 16, 1992, a place Slash would refer to as "gorgeous" [MTV Headbanger's Ball, May 1992]. According to press at the time, 800 police officers, one tenth of Ireland's force, would be patrolling the Slane Castle site and the little village of Slane (population 1,200) was completely sealed off to traffic as thousands of fans blocked the main and only street [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date]. U2 sent a crate of 40-year-old-shiky and a barrel of Guinness to the band [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date]

Lord Henry Mountcharles, 8th Marquess Conyngham, the promoter of the show would later blog about having Guns N' Roses play at his castle:



And Mountcharles would also reminisce in 2017:



Looking back at the show:









According to a later review, the band took the stage two hours after the appointed time after Axl was helicoptered in from Dublin [Irish Times, May 27, 2017], having allegedly refused to leave his hotel [The Irish Independent, May 18, 1992].



Slash would comment on Axl's lateness and claim he was only 20 minutes late:



In 2004, Duff would talk about this show:



Classic Rock magazine would also later write about the show:



After the show at Slane Castle the band travelled to Prague, Czechoslovakia, on May 20 and was introduced with the words "Okay, you ex-commie bastards, get ready to rock!" [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date].



Although Duff would later struggle to remember having even been in Czechoslovakia due to his heavy partying in this period:




Classic Rock reminiscing about the show in Prague:



Then they played a show in Budapest in Hungary on May 22. The plane from Prague had been delayed after a bomb threat [Classic Rock, May 2006] and the band landed in Budapest just 20 minutes before scheduled show time, and had to be rushed from the airport to the venue [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date].



Midway through the set Axl announces: "This is a song that Freddie Mercury asked us to sing for you. He couldn't be here tonight, he had other plans, so we tried to learn it in the dressing room tonight." Axl and Slash then played the same Hungarian folk song 'Tavasziszel' that Queen performed in Budapest at their show in 1985. After two verses Axl lets the crowd take over for the third [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date].

Next followed Vienna in Austria on May 23 and Berlin in Germany on May 26. A bottle is thrown on stage during the set and a woman in the audience enters Labour [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date]. Before Live and Let Die, Axl muses: "This is kinda tongue in cheek. I wonder if Hitler ever sang this song to himself when he was a kid" [Classic Rock, May 2006].

Next up was Stuttgart in Germany on May 28. This show started a little bit late when the band requested an NWA song to be played before they entered and a disc with the song had to be fetched to the mixing desk [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date]. The concert is introduced with, "OK you beer swilling, Merc driving mugs" [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date].

Then a show in Cologne in Germany on May 30 where it was raining and Axl described the audience as "the biggest wet T-shirt contest in the world" and Gilby as "a sea of tits" [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date]. The band played for 2 hours and 42 minutes [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date].

The last show took place in Hannover in Germany on June 3.

In 2006, Classic Rock magazine would write about the Hannover show:



After the Hannover show the band travelled to Paris for their first pay-per-view show.

Axl had become a huge fan of U2 and in an interview with Musician that was done in March 1992 (but published in June), he said the following:




Not long after the two band's would cross path in Vienna, Austra, while being on their respective tours, and on May 24, 1992, Axl would join U2 on stage for a cover of 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door'. Back in Hollywood, when U2 was visiting on their 'Achtung Baby tour' on April 12 and 13, 1992, Axl would attend parties with the band [Details Magazine, September 1, 1992].





Edge, the guitarist of U2, would be asked about Axl and his relationship with U2 and their music:

As part of their European leg in 1992, the band would do their first pay-per-view show. Axl and Izzy had been part of a pay-per-view back in December 1989 when they joined the Rolling Stones for a song a song during the Stone's own cable special [MTV, June 1992].

The televised concert took place at the Hippodrome de Vincennes in Paris, France, on June 6, 1992, before an audience of 40,000 and an estimated 200,000 watching on home TV [MTV, June 1992].












For the show the band had invited some of their friends to participate, Jeff Beck to play on 'Locomotive', Lenny Kravitz to play his song 'Always on the Run' which features Slash, and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith for the songs 'Train Kept A-Rollin' and 'Mama Kin'.

Slash was looking forward to playing with Beck, a guitar player he had previously stated he liked [Guitar for the Practising Musician, April 1992] and wanted to jam with [WNEW 102.7, September 1991].

Beck would explain how it came about:



The band would talk about being with Beck:








Unfortunately on the day of the show Beck had to cancel due to tinnitus.






Lenny Kravitz, who had collaborated with Slash in 1991 [see earlier section] had been waiting for the opportunity to play with GN'R:









As for Aerosmith, the guys knew each other well after having toured together in 1988.







During the show Axl would rant against Warren Beatty who had been dating Stephanie Seymour previously [People Magazine, June 22, 1992].

Izzy paid $25 to see this show on TV, the first GN'R show he had seen since quitting the band in November 1991.



In 2018, Roberta Freeman would be asked to reminisce on some fond memories from while touring with the band and mention this show, and the after show specifically:

After the televised show in Paris on June 6, the band was supposed to play in Manchester, UK, on June 9 but this show was rescheduled to June 14 due to Axl being exhausted, according to band spokesman Bernard Doherty [The Springfield News Leader, June 10, 1992]. The band pulled out of the show just hours before the band was due on stage [The Liverpool Echo, June 9, 1992].

Teddy Andreadis would later recall that Axl had at first cancelled the show after a fight with Stephanie but decided to do it but then the show was cancelled anyway for a different reason:



For this leg of the tour the band would again use Soundgarden and Faith No More. When asked about why these bands were picked, Slash and Duff answered:






The first show took place at Wembley, England, on June 13. The band would be joined on stage by Brian May from Queen for covers of 'Tie Your Mother Down' and 'We Will Rock You' [The Guardian, June 15, 1992].

After Wembley the band travelled to Manchester, England, for a show on June 14. This was the show that originally was planned for June 9 but had been postponed. The show started two hours late [The Liverpool Echo, June 15, 1992], but the band blamed it on technical difficulties and avoided a fine of "tens of thousands of pounds" [The Evening Chronicle, June 16, 1992].

The next show was at Gateshead in England on June 16. During the show Duff was heckled by a fan resulting in Axl stepping in and exclaiming "I wouldn’t mess with Duff he hasn’t had a drink in two weeks!" [RAW, September 1993]:







With a few days to spare, Duff and Linda flew to St. Tropez in France while the rest of the band hung out in London [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date].

The band then travelled to Germany for a show in Würzburg on June 20. At Heathrow airport Axl was singled out by security leading to him sending out a press report stating:



In Würzburg they experienced a colossal thunderstorm, and it is likely it is this show Gilby talks about here although the anecdote about Dizzy pouring a beer over his head is also connected to their previous show in Budapest on May 22:



The rain was so bad the steam evaporating from the audience meant people at the back at one point couldn't see the stage [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date].

On June 19 the band flew to Basel, Switzerland, for a show on June 21. But while going through security, Axl is detained by customs agents resulting in him threatening to never play in Europe again [The Akron Beacon Journal, August 23, 1992].



After the show in Basel Duff was feeling ill and went to bed early with symptoms of influenza, and stayed there for most of next day hoping to get back in shape before the next show in Rotterdam [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date].

The next show was in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on June 23.







Duff was feeling even worse after this show and he was ordered to rest for 48 hours resulting in a planned show at the Flanders Expo in Ghent, Belgium, on June 24, having to be cancelled [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 25, 1992; member "Lio" on mygnrforum, personal communication, June 17, 2020].

The band also played overtime at the show in Rotterdam. Axl expected being fined because of this and when that didn't happen he donated $30,000 to the city of Rotterdam [European Stars and Stripes, July 10, 1992]. When asked why they didn't fine the band for the overtime, Rotterdam spokesperson, Anja de Jong said:



They then travelled to Turin, Italy for June 27. Before the show, on June 25, Slash, Gilby and Teddy fly to Vienna for filming of Michael Jackson's 'Give In To Me' [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date]. After this show the band spend a couple of days on a yacht in the Mediterranean [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date].

The the band played in Seville, Spain, for June 30, and to the last show of this leg in Lisbon, Portugal, on July 2. Originally they were supposed to end this tour in Madrid, Spain, but according to Much Music, the facilities in Madrid were "poor" preventing the show from happening [Much Music, August 9, 1992]. An contemporary article in a Spanish newspaper would shed more light on the situation and say that the stadium was "closed for critical security reasons, as there is danger of collapse due to aluminosis" [ABC, July 2, 1992].



For the last show in Lisbon "things just got a little stupid, with a little help from the crew" [Much Music, August 9, 1992], and it is likely this alludes to some prank performed by Guns N' Roses on Soundgarden, like they had done before [insert reference to earlier show where they pranked Soundgarden].

During the show Axl was worried about unruly elements in the crowd:



Slash would later talk about touring with Soundgarden:





The cancellation of the Madrid show on July 4 resulted in a legal aftermath. In April 1995, Spain-based concert promoter Gamerco SA sued band’s Los Angeles-based company, Missouri Storm Inc., through which the booking was made, for return of advance payments totaling more than $412,000 [Billboard, April 8, 1995].

______________________________________________________


Axl's perfectionism/insecurity may also be related to his stage nerves and anxieties regarding their live shows:




Arlett Vereecke:




Alan Niven was also sure Axl suffered from stage fright:



Vicky Hamilton would be asked about Niven's comments and suggestion that Axl was late to shows because he had stage fright:



In September 1991, Spin reported that Axl was suffering from stage fright and that this caused the two hour late start at the Deer Creek Music Center show in Noblesville, Indiana [Spin, September 1991]. According to "sources back stage" Axl was "extremely nervous" to play for friends and family from his hometown of Lafayette, Indiana [Spin, September 1991].

When interviewed by Kim Neely for Rolling Stone in early 1992, Neely would mentioned that Axl had previously told him he "hate performing". When confronted with this statement Axl would focus on the physical aspects of it and not talk about the psychological aspects:



In 2009, Lonn M. Friend would talk about Axl's stage fright:



Stage fright was not only an issue to Axl, though, later Slash would claim to be a victim of it although his was probably more connected to his shyness whereas Axl's was more connected to his mental issues:



In 2015, Goldstein would argue that the reason why the band got bigger in 1992 was due to Axl's stage fright:





In 2015, Goldstein would mention that Axl didn't as much have a fear of performing but a fear of failing:





Axl's alleged stage fright could be understood by the experiences he went through when performing and trying to work with the audiences. During the touring of 'Illusions' he would repeatedly talk about struggling to control the shows and the crowds:



As the tour went on, Axl would often stop the show to confront concert goers who angered him or caused problems for the show. In April 1992 he would discuss this:



When asked why he takes it upon himself to interfere:



When asked how he deals with negative energy from the crowd, Axl would reply:




And when asked if the band members respond similarly to negative energy:



In August 1991, Slash was asked why the band was so volatile and would talk about Axl and what he was going through:





Slash would also discuss how the band in general responded to "dead crowds" like during the Metallica tour when fans were often exhausted by the time GN'R started their set:



Duff would also shed some light on how hard it could be some times:



In September 1992 Slash would say that Axl had become better at dealing with technical difficulties during shows:



Despite this, when looking back at the tour, Gilby would say the following:



Later Slash would also talk about how attuned Axl was to the audiences mood:



Axl himself would describe how he tried to connect to the emotions of the songs he was singing:

_________________________

The touring in 1991-1993 meant easy access to groupies, but that had also been the case in the first years of touring when Slash would estimate he slept with a new girl every second day and in total had "probably around 500" sexual encounters in this period [Kerrang! March 20, 2004].








At some point, Slash would seek therapy for sex obsession:




Later, Duff would indicate that he, at least during parts of the tour, hadn't taken part in the groupie scene:




And later while talking to Howard Stern, Duff would emphasize that he had always been faithful to wives and girlfriends when asked if he had had a new girl every day:



Still, later when promoting Velvet Revolver, Duff would say differently:



In 2007, Matt would be challenged to tell the "nastiest and dirtiest" thing he did:



Puzzlingly, in 2018, Doug Goldstein would indicate that the band did not exploit the easy access to groupies, which is contrary to quotes from Slash and Matt in this chapter:





When asked about the threat of AIDS:



And on whether he had ever tested himself for AIDS:



Slash would later mention an AIDS rumor:



And talk about the AIDS period in hindsight:



And when asked if he'd stopped shagging around if he had tested positive:





In August 1991, Melody Maker who was interviewing the band backstage, would describe 21 girls, "hand-picked by the Guns crew from the Tacoma crowd" "panting, preening and eager to fuck a Gunner" [Melody Maker, August 10, 1991].



In September 1991, Slash would express boredom with the groupie scene:



And in 1992 Slash would argue that they had cooled down due to the threat of AIDS:




Gilby would later talk about the groupies scene:



In 2007, Slash would talk about having sex with women together with other men, including Izzy and Axl, and mention a sex party he attended:





After getting engaged, Slash still had problems changing his lifestyle:



But after marriage Slash allegedly cooled down:



Duff, too, stayed faithful after marriage:



In 1995, Slash would talk about groupies:







And when asked if he had ever had any venereal diseases due to his rock n' roll lifestyle:



Being asked if he fucked Steven:



Steven would later explain how it happened:



The other thing Slash got was genital warts:

Duff would tell that when he got his first advance payment from Geffen in 1987, he went to Guitar Center in Los Angeles and bought what he thought was a stock Jazz Bass Special.





Once Guns N’ Roses began to tour, he needed another instrument as a back up:






When Duff released his solo album in September 1993, he would again discuss his gear:






In 1997 it would be described that Duff plays "Fender Precision and Jazz basses through four Gallien-Krueger 800RB amplifiers" and that he "toggles between them with two splitters- a Whirlwind and a custom Bradshaw -and adds a dash of chorus with a Yamaha SPX90" [Bass Player Magazine, January 1997.






[/i]

Duff, who had divorced Mandy Brix in 1989 was single in August 1991 [Finnish TV, August 1991] and looking for "Mrs. Right":



During the 'Use Your Illusion' touring of 1991, Duff talked about the loneliness being the hardest part:



But in June 1992 Duff would say he had found a girlfriend [Musicvideo, June 27, 1992] and in July Slash would confirm in an interview that Duff was about to get married [Rockline, July 13, 1992].

Talking about how he and Linda got together:



According to Matt's unreleased biography, the trip to Hawaii took place some time after the 1992 touring in japan, which means it happened at the end of February 1992 or later.

The lucky lady was Linda Johnson and they got married in mid-July 1992 [The Atlanta Constitution, July 31, 1992]. Linda insisted on a pre-nuptial agreement [The Howard Stern Show, September 1993].





Duff would miss Linda while on tour:



In October 1991, it would be reported that Duff's favorite hobby was waterskiing but also that his form of escape was to get "away to the mountains" [Conspiracy Incorporated Newsletter, October 1991]. The waterskiing had been born out of his love for winter skiing [see earlier chapter]:



In early 1993, Linda was doing a nude photoshoot for the magazine Platinum as Duff was interviewed by MTV talking about how Linda has helped him get more in order [MTV, March 1993]. Duff would later say that Platinum had "kinda screwed [them] over" [Rockline, September 27, 1993], but it is not known what he meant by that.

In July 1993, Duff would refer to Johnson as being in "charge of [his] public relations" [Popular 1, September 1993; translated from Spanish] and he would talk more about the happiness of finally being in a stable relationship:

Band members in Guns N' Roses were big fans of Metallica.

Axl would talk about Metallica already back in October 1987:



And when asked if Metallica and Guns N' Roses shared the same fans:



Axl would even talk about wanting to write music with Metallica:



In 1988 there had been plans of touring with Metallica, either as part of the Monster of Tour or separately [Metal Hammer [Germany], April 1988; also see earlier chapter about failed touring in 1988].

When GN'R won the MTV Music Award for Best Heavy Metal act in 1989, Axl said he thought Metallica should have won [Dixon Telegraph, September 7, 1989].









Lars Ulrich would also describe hearing Guns N' Roses for the first time:



And meeting Slash for the first time and becoming friends with the band:





The band had attempted to do some shows with Metallica in Europe in March 1988 [Popular 1, April 1988]. This might have been the Monster of Rock tour with Metallica, which they hoped to join, but ultimately were rejected [Spin, May 1988]. They later had a European tour in the autumn of 1988 planned together with Metallica, but this was shelved when they needed a break after the Aerosmith tour [Sounds Magazine, August 1988; Kerrang! July 1988].

According to Blast Magazine, the interest in doing something together was mutual: "Metallica's new album is tentatively called And Justice For All. The band is planning a world tour and hopes to take Guns N' Roses with them for at least some European dates" [Blast! May 1988].





Just before Christmas 1991, Guns N' Roses made a call to Metallica's management, asking if the band would co-bill a US stadium tour in 1992 [Detroit Free Press, July 19, 1992]. Metallica's management relayed the request to Metallica who, according to Lars Ulrich, responded with a resounding, "Hell yeah!" [Detroit Free Press, July 19, 1992]. Soon rumors were spreading again that Metallica and Guns N' Roses would tour together [Dayton Daily News, January 10, 1992], and at the Grammys in February 1992 Metallica mentioned it backstage [Star Tribune, August 4, 1992]. The tour was confirmed in May and dates would be set with the first show on July 19, 1992 [Star Tribune, August 4, 1992].

An important meeting between the bands took place in February at Le Dome restaurant in West Hollywood [Los Angeles Times, August 9, 1992]. Attending this meeting were Axl, Slash and Doug Goldstein on one side with Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield and the management team of Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch on the other side [Los Angeles Times, August 9, 1992].

Burnstein would recall the meeting:



And Ulrich would talk about the feeling afterwards:



Slash and Ulrich did an interview on Rockline together and during this interview Lars would say the friendship between Guns N' Roses and Metallica went back to before the release of 'Appetite' and that they were set up by their common lawyer, Peter Paterno, who suggested that Metallica should hang out with GN'R because of a "shared attitude" [Rockline, July 13, 1992].

Slash and Ulrich would again discuss how it came about:





Jason Newstead, the bassist of Metallica, had a slightly less romantic argument for why they wanted to do the tour:





But there was a great deal of skepticism to the tour stemming from obvious differences between the bands and their organizations and how they operated, as described in Detroit Free Press:



And planning such a massive tour was complicated. Lars would say that when the managers and lawyers got into problems negotiating the details they would call up Slash and him and they would sort things out [MTV, July 14, 1992]. Slash would confirm their good relationship was important in getting the tour organized:





When asked why it took so long from the Metallica first said the tour was going to happen before tour dates were announced, Hetfield would say:



Slash would say that the band came together as often as possible to discuss and plan, including a dinner meeting on April 19, 1992, the day before the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in London where both bands participated [Detroit Free Press, July 19, 1992]:



Some compromises had to be made. According to Detroit Free Press, both bands agreed to play 2-3 shows per week which meant that GN'R had to play more frequently than they were used to and Metallica had to play fewer shows than what they were used to [Detroit Free Press, July 19, 1992]. It was also decided that GN'R would close every show:





Booking stadiums became a problem, too, as described by Detroit Free Press:



Gilby would later state that many cities couldn't take a show including both Guns N' Roses and Metallica, and mentioned Cleveland, Atlanta and Chicago as examples [M.E.A.T., September 1992].

Ulrich would talk more about picking cities:



During the tour, Duff and Slash would talk about how it came to be:






In June 1992 tour dates were being set up and it was reported that a planned show in Minneapolis on August 5, 1992, was cancelled. The media would speculate that Axl's psychic had told him to avoid playing gigs in places that started with the letter "M", which, according to Star Tribune, would explain why the band did no shows in Milwaukee, Memphis, Miami or Minneapolis [Star Tribune, June 26, 1992]. This rumor would be mentioned on a Rockline interview with Slash and Lars Ulrich in July 1992, just prior to the start of the tour, and Lars would emphasize they would be playing other cities starting with "M" and that if they didn't get to play in a specific large city that was because the cities weren't interested:



In a later interview Hetfield would also be asked about this rumor and would go far in saying it could have been true:



Duff, on the other hand, would vehemently deny the rumor:





In early 1992 it was rumored that Skid Row would be the opener of the tour, Slash would deny this and suggest it might be Nirvana:



In the end it would be Faith No More that would get to open the show with a 45 minute set [Rockline, July 13, 1992; MTV, July 14, 1992].



In the first half of 1992, Slash and Duff would talk more about the upcoming tour with Metallica:






When asked if the bands would be co-headlining, Slash would confirm it [MTV Headbanger's Ball, May 1992]:



As for the layout of the stage:





And when discussing whether the tour would also continue into Europe:





As the bands were planning their tour together, Axl was still dealing with the fallout of the St. Louis riot. In May 1992, Slash would comment on the ongoing tribulations:



Just before the tour Axl, Stephanie and Dylan had a vacation in Paris, France. As they returned to USA in July, just a few days before the first show on July 17, Axl was arrested when they landed in New York and then travelled to St. Louis to stand before the court. A court date was set for October and Axl was free to do the tour with Metallica. See previous chapter for more information on the St. Louis riot and its aftermath. When asked if this lead-up to the tour with Metallica would be a problem, Axl responded:



During the Rockline interview Slash would be asked if Axl's legal problems would cause a problem for the tour:



Peter Mensch from Metallica's management team would also comment on Axl's issues:



Both Slash and Ulrich would admit that the legal problems meant that many fans were hesitant to believe the tour would actually happen. Slash would use Detroit as an example:



Despite the many issues some promoters were optimistic about the tour and its effect on the industry, like Gregg Perloff from Bill Graham Presents, a San Francisco-based concert production firm:

In March 1992 the charges against Axl were still pending and Axl was "still at large" [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 1992]. To avoid being arrested the band would cancel a show in Chicago on April 3, 1992 and two shows in Auburn Hills, MI, on April 6 and 7, 1992.

Robert McCulloch, the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney would respond that Axl "is easy to find. Wherever he goes, we’ll be waiting for him. If he wants to cancel his whole schedule, fine. If he leaves the country, we’ll notify Customs to get him when he comes back."

Bryn Bridenthal, spokeswoman for Geffen Records, said Chicago police had told Rose "they were coming to arrest him, so the band acted accordingly. Axl has always been where he had to, and this seemed extreme. Why arrest and extradite someone on a misdemeanor charge?" [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1992]. According to Bridenthal, canceling the concerts was "humongous-ly costly" and that Axl “felt he should retreat to a neutral corner” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1992].

Slash would comment on it all:




Finally, on July 12, 1992, Axl was arrested on John F. Kennedy airport on the request of prosecutors as he flew in from Paris together with Stephanie Seymour, her child and a nanny [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 1992; Associated Press, July 13, 1992].





That Axl was about to surrender had been reported in the media [St. Louis-Post Dispatch, July 10, 1992].





Axl spent 11 hours in arrest before being released on a $100,000 bail [Associated Press, July 13, 1992]. The time in arrest was spent leisurely:



Kurt Loder, who interviewed Axl as he was released from prison, would later talk about having staged picking Axl up in a limo after the release:



Axl then travelled to St. Louis with his lawyer, to avoid being extradited, and on July 14 he appeared before Associate Circuit Judge Ellis Gregory in St. Louis and denied his guilt. The trial was set for October 13, 1992 [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 15 1992].

Slash would comment on Axl and the case:



After having appeared before the court in St. Louis, Axl was in a fighting mood:

Finally in July 1992 the long-awaited summer tour with Metallica and Faith No More started. The band had been touring for over a year now and  Matt would say the band had gotten better:





Slash was awed by the band's new production:




The new element to the live shows was the inclusion of pyro:





Before the first show of the tour the band rehearsed for one day:



When being asked if Axl participated in rehearsals, Slash responded:

The first show took place at RKF Stadium in Washington DC on July 17, 1992.








At some point after their first show, Kirk Hammett, lead guitarist of Metallica, was asked about Guns N' Roses:



The second show was at Giants stadium in East Rutherford on July 18. Apparently this was a particularly good show:



Yet, the reviews weren't very good:





Matt would later recount a story that he says happened at one of the two shows they played at Giants Stadium:



The problem is that neither of the two Giants shows started with Welcome to the Jungle, so most likely Matt is mixing shows up.

Slash would claim they tried to reduce the late starts but that the stage change after the Metallica set made it hard:



After this they travelled to Pontiac for a show at the Pontiac Silverdome on July 21. This was close to Detroit and Axl apologized to the audience for having cancelled two previous shows in Detroit [The Detroit Free Press, July 22, 1992]. Backstage the band had a beach party with a "champagne fountain, pinball machines and a pool table" [The Detroit Free Press, July 22, 1992].

The next show was at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis on July 22. After the show, music critic Marc D. Allan, writing for the Indianapolis Star, criticized Axl for wasting the time on stage with rants that displayed an "arrogance and petulance that may be cute on the gossip pages but have no place in a concert setting" [The Indianapolis Star, July 22, 1992].





In response, Axl penned a letter to Allan which Allan would later make public:

Some shows into the tour the newspaper Star Tribune did interviews with Duff and James Hetfield where they separately were asked the same questions.

One of the questions was why the tour didn't have a proper name and it is obvious the bands couldn't come to an agreement:




Another question was how the tour was going:



Hetfield's answer was slightly more reserved:



They were also asked  to say something nice about the other band:

After Indianapolis the next show was at Rich Stadium in Orchard Park on July 25. Life Magazine would describe the band preparing to go on stage:







After the show, Duff and the film crew that accompanied the band during the Use Your Illusion touring would visit Niagara Falls:



While Axl and Del James recuperated differently:



Then followed Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh on July 26.

___________________________

The band then returned to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford on July 29.

Before the concert Slash would be asked whether there was a "battle of the bands" competition and if he felt the pressure of touring with Metallica:





The night before the show at Giants Stadium, Guns N' Roses and Faith No More, with their crews, totaling 160 people had dinner at Old Homestead in New York, Axl's favorite NY restaurant [New York Daily News, July 30, 1992]. One of their waiters revealed to Axl he would miss class next day due to the long party, to which Axl wrote a note to his teacher:





Close to the ending of the set at Giants Stadium, with about 2 songs or 10 minutes left to play, during 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door', Axl "stormed off" the stage [Los Angeles Times, August 1, 1992]. According to the tour diary, Axl had been feeling acute pain in his voice during the concert [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date]. The band continued playing for another five minutes before Duff announced that Axl had left after being hit in the groin by a lighter and that the show was over [Los Angeles Times, August 1, 1992; Hartford Courant, July 31, 1992].

Life Magazine would recount the episode:



Axl would recount what happened:





A band spokesperson would claim that in addition to being hit, Axl suffered from a sore throat -- "severe damage to his vocal chords" [GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary, unknown author and date] -- and because of this the next three shows would be cancelled [Los Angeles Times, August 1, 1992]. Axl's bad throat would be confirmed by Slash in his autobiography:



The three cancelled shows, to be rescheduled, were in Minneapolis, Foxboro near Boston and Columbia, S.C. [St. Cloud Times, July 31, 1992].

Gilby would later look back at having to cancel shows:

During the Use Your Illusion touring, Axl was at times struggling with his voice and in 2015 Goldstein would talk about him seeing Dr. Hans Von Leden during his off time:



The time Goldstein talks above in the quote above was after the show on July 29 at the Giants Stadium, which Axl ended early probably because of pain in his throat, and the show at August 8 in Montreal.

Goldstein would talk more about what Axl's problem was with his voice and how it combined with his fear of failing:

On August 8, in Montreal, Canada, at the Stade Du Parc Olympique, disaster struck again.

According to Goldstein, GN'R didn't want to do this show because Axl was struggling with his voice:



According to Goldstein, Axl was very "sick" [One On One with Mitch Lafon, April 5, 2015].



It started during Metallica's set when James Hetfield accidentally walked in front of pyrotechnics and suffered severe burns.






In 2015, Goldstein would claim that Lars Ulrich had just changed the pyro cues:





With Metallica having to cut their set short, Guns N' Roses was asked to step in early.









In his biography Slash would claim it took the band four hours to start their set after Metallica had to cut their set early:



This is unlikely not true. Contemporary reviews said it took about 2 hours [The Montreal Gazette, August 9, 1992: The Vancouver Sun, August 10, 1992]. Duff and Matt also disagrees with Slash:




Goldstein would discuss the request to go on early:

__________________________________________________________









John Freese, the tour manager, would confirm Axl was having problems with the sound:



As would Ted Andreadis:



And Goldstein:





Axl had obviously been agitated during the show and at one time said, "In case anybody here is interested this will be our last show for a long time" [The Montreal Gazette, August 9, 1992]. And not only that, Axl ended the show early after only 9 songs. Contemporary accounts said Axl left after 55 minutes [The Montreal Gazette, August 9, 1992: The Vancouver Sun, August 10, 1992].









In his biography, Slash would imply he was unaware of the sound issues and Axl's problems and basically put the blame on Axl:








Teddy Andreadis would remember Axl coming into the dressing room as the riot started, being visibly shaken and realizing he would be put to blame:



In the chaos, the backup singers and the horn section were abandoned and had to wait the riot out backstage:



The riot resulted in minor injuries to eight police officers and twelve arrests [Associated Press, August 1992].





After the riot a class action lawsuit was filed against Guns N' Roses, allegedly resulting in a $220,000 settlement out of court [MTV, April 18, 1997].

Shortly after the show band members would complain about being blamed for the riot:









Lars Ulrich would be gracious in describing what went down:



And Dizzy would trivialize the event and be protective of Axl:



Goldstein would claim the promoter had rejected the band's offer to come back:



In 2000, when Axl and Slash had had a fall-out, Slash would blame Axl for the riot:




In 2013, Jason Newstead would be asked why Metallica came back to Montreal and played for free to make up for the aborted show:



In 2014, Dizzy would talk about the show:

The separation of band members and fractionation of the band itself had resulted in the band of mid-1992 being quite different from the band two years ago when Matt and Dizzy entered the band, or even just one year before when Gilby replaced Izzy and the band added additional touring  musicians. In addition, there had been rumours of both Duff and Matt quitting in August/September 1991 [see previous chapter] and Axl was also reported to arrive to shows separately and seldom saw the rest of the band members [Melody Maker, August 10, 1991].

Slash would explain Axl's solitude on the press, saying, "it’s like everyone hates him and wants to dig the dirt on the poor guy" [The Liverpool Echo, June 8, 1992].

In July 1991 Duff and Slash would be asked about the relationship between the band members and would confirm that Axl were distant from the rest of the guys:



Gilby would notice the lack of communication in the band when he joined in late 1991:



And would say that the band was "never that brotherhood kind of thing":



Yet Slash would be quick to emphasize that it was like before, just that they aren't together as much:



In August 1991, before Izzy had left, Slash would describe the overall situation but again emphasize that the bond between the band members was still strong:



In 1992, the horn player Lisa Maxwell was asked about the band:





In 1992 it seems that Izzy's leaving had helped consolidate the friendship and union between the remaining Duff, Slash and Axl, between the partners.





Talking about how Izzy's departure affected the band:

From the stage in Montreal on August 8, 1992, a show that Axl would end early, Axl said, "In case anybody here is interested, this will be our last show for a long time" [The Montreal Gazette, August 8, 1992], implying things not being well in the band, but this could as much be Axl's own personal issues more than the band splitting apart. Still, later that same month it was reported about conflicts within the band. Axl was said to consider doing other things after the touring, including starring in movies and doing a solo record, after being "unhappy with his band mates" and being "disillusioned" [The Akron Beacon Journal, August 23, 1992].

Despite the band members being stoic about it to the media, according to Goldstein in 2016, the late starts had been causing significant friction in the band which was manifesting itself in early 1993:



This animosity between Axl and the rest of the band members, according to Goldstein, meant that they not only spent much time together outside of concerts, but that Axl traveled on a "separate helicopter to the rest, stayed in a different hotel and entered the stage from the opposite side" when the band played at Calder Park, Melbourne, on February 1, 1993.

In mid 1993 Dizzy would claim the band fought at times, but that it was nothing serious:



Duff would also talk about the internal fighting, including physical fights, but that they always squared up:



Izzy got a close-up view of how the band was operating in May/June 1993 when he returned to replace Gilby for 5 shows. He would later comment that nothing had changed and that Axl and Slash were living isolated lives: