2011.11.30 - The Cleveland Plain Dealer - Guns N' Roses Headed To Youngstown (Tommy)

Guns N' Roses headed to Youngstown Dec. 7 for rare Ohio concert date

By John Soeder, The Plain Dealer

Guns N' Roses has been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year, and we'll know any day now if the band made the cut. In the meantime, singer Axl Rose (the only holdover from the group's hard-rocking heyday) and friends are in the midst of their first North American tour in five years. Bass player Tommy Stinson, 45, gave us a call recently before a gig in East Rutherford, N.J.

How goes it on tour?

I got no complaints, man. We're on the East Coast now. We started in the secondary markets. It's kind of ramping up, now that we're getting close to the big cities.

Is your new guitarist, DJ Ashba, working out?

He's a good fit. Seems to be a good-natured kid. He doesn't take it too seriously. On the old stuff, he's playing the parts that are there pretty much. Everyone is, you know.

It must be a relief not to have to answer the dreaded "When is 'Chinese Democracy' coming out?" question anymore.

Yeah! It came out [in 2008]. And it [expletive] got thrown against the wall like an old plate of spaghetti. [laughs]

You don't think "Chinese Democracy" got a fair shake?

Hell no. No record ever gets a real fair shake anyway. It's just one of those things that you live with.

Now everyone is probably asking when the next album is coming out.

Everyone is asking me that question. I don't know. There's talk of doing some recording in the new year, getting some songs together. But that's just talk. Let's get through the tour and see where things end up.

GN'R has a reputation for tardiness. Why do you tend to go on late?

I don't know if we're necessarily going on late. We're coming off late, because it's a long show. That's more the issue, as far as I can tell. As far as I'm concerned, we're on time. I'm not being cheeky about that. We've been going on pretty close to right on time... for most of this run, anyway.

Does the band have any pre-concert rituals?

It's pretty much every man for himself. But we all get dressed together and hang out together and have a couple of drinks together before we go on. Goof off, get the light vibe going. It's a long show, so you've got to stay light. Can't go up there dark -- it's gonna beat you up.

What do you make of GN'R's Rock Hall nod?

Axl probably appreciates it. I don't really give a [expletive]. Honestly, the Grammys or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, all that stuff has never been on my radar, as far as anything that matters.

You've been in GN'R longer than you were in the Replacements.

Exactly. I've been a replacement longer than I was a Replacement.

What's stopping the Replacements from getting back together?

There's just too much baggage, really. We didn't really break up. We just walked away from what that was. It's just too daunting -- more so for Paul [Westerberg, the Replacements' frontman]. I've done so many other things since we broke up. I don't really carry the baggage around with me anymore, and I've got a good feeling about where we left it... and good memories about what we did. I have no regrets about it. For Paul, I think he's having a hard time getting around the fact that his solo career didn't get past that. The baggage is more on his shoulders: "Why would I go up there and try and do that? I can't really compete with myself from 20 years ago. That's not gonna work." I think he carries that a bit more, the heaviness of it. It doesn't really matter to me. I've got enough crap to do.

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