2019.10.10 - Loudwire - Guns N’ Roses Ban Fan From Their Shows After Alleged Song Leaks (& related articles)

Guns N’ Roses Ban Fan From Their Shows After Alleged Song Leaks

By Lauryn Schaffner

If there's one band everyone should know not to mess with, it's Guns N' Roses. A fan named Rick Dunsford has been banned by the group from attending their shows after he allegedly leaked some songs online.

Dunsford is what we like to call a stan. He's seen Guns N' Roses 32 times, has their autographs tattooed on his body and named his son Axl. He really, really loves this band. But any GN'R fan should know about their reputation, they weren't called "the world's most dangerous band" for nothing.

Axl Rose's 1991 stage dive in St. Louis, where you can see him physically hitting someone in the crowd, is literally all over YouTube. He punched David Bowie in the face in the late '80s. He publicly challenged Vince Neil to a fight on MTV. He even got into it with Tommy Hilfiger in 2006. The frontman may have kept a very low-key profile over the last 20 years, but he's still Axl Rose. Anyone should know not to push his buttons.

The superfan was waiting in line to see his favorite band in Wichita, Kan. the other night [Oct. 7] when he was approached by security and told to leave the property. Sources report he posted of the incident on his Facebook, which is private, along with a video of the event.

"I've got a lot of friends that go to various shows. When they were playing in Charlotte for the tour kickoff [Sept. 25], I got word that they were looking for me. They were asking everybody in the crowd, 'Where's Rick?' And they had pictures of me too," Dunsford explained in a new interview with Dwyer & Michaels, which can be heard here.

"I reached out to them the day after that show and told them I'm coming to some shows — I've got tickets to multiple shows — and I wanna make sure that I'm not gonna be thrown out, because it's a pretty far travel for me to go to this," he continued. "They didn't tell me not to come or anything, so I just went out there [to Wichita]."

Dunsford said while he was waiting in line for the Wichita show, he received an email from GN'R's legal representative telling him he's not welcome at the band's performances. The reason? They blame him for a massive leak of unreleased GN'R material.

"About two and a half months ago, I drove to Virginia, and there was a storage locker that belonged to Tom Zutaut [former GN'R A&R Rep]," Dunsford recalled. "He didn't pay his bills or something and it was auctioned off. The individual that bought the locker, there was about 20 CDs in this locker of unreleased Guns N' Roses music from around '99 to 2000 or 2001." He and a few other fans scraped up $15,000 to purchase the music from the guy who now owned the locker.

The band's camp reached out to Dunsford asking for the material back, an agreement was made and they gave him his money back, however they later voided the agreement. "I know the seller that I bought them from was continuing to sell to other individuals, and there was a massive leak. So pretty much, I've been blamed for this," he said.

"[The ban] is pretty much for the rest of my life, is what the head of security in that video was telling me," he concluded. "They made it clear that if I am spotted at all, I will be arrested on the spot...I was supposed to go see them this Sunday."

https://loudwire.com/guns-n-roses-ban-fan-rick-dunsford-song-leaks/

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The audio of the Dwyer & Michaels interview:

https://post.futurimedia.com/wxlp/playlist/listen-560.html

Tone Deaf, October 9, 2019:

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Guns N’ Roses fan receives lifetime ban from future shows before gig

By Tyler Jenke

Guns N’ Roses have just brought the hammer down, banning a longtime fan from their shows for life ahead of a recent gig in Kansas.

If you’re a fan of Guns N’ Roses, you would likely know that the band are rather strict when it comes to doing things their way. In fact, if your behaviour does not align with proper conduct, you could meet their wrath, as seen in that infamous St. Louis riot from 1991.

However, one hardcore fan recently found himself facing some harsh realities, being banned for life at the behest of the group.
If you’re a fan of Guns N’ Roses, then the name Rick Dunsford might ring a bit of a bell. He’s a hardcore fan who is a frequent poster over at the band’s online forums, and has a penchant for tracking down as much hard-to-find stuff as possible.

A while back, a number of demos from the Chinese Democracy era of the band began to leak online. As it turned out, Dunsford had reportedly purchased a 19-disc collection of these demos, leading to folks believing it was he who had actually leaked them.
As Guns N’ Roses geared up to perform in Wichita, Kansas on Monday, so too did Dunsford gear up to go and see them. However, upon his arrival, he was plucked from the line and informed he had been banned for life.

As Alternative Nation points out, in addition to footage of the confrontation being shared online, Rick Dunsford reportedly took to Facebook to give his version of events.

“So today I flew out to Wichita, KS to see my favorite band Guns N’ Roses!” he began. “Today would be my 33rd time seeing them!

“Well I was just pulled from the line and told if I ever come to a Guns N’ Roses show again that I’ll be arrested! I was gonna escorted off the property and told I’m done.”

While Guns N’ Roses have not issued any official statement in regards to Dunsford’s removal, some fans have reacted poorly to the news, noting that the band have just barred their biggest fan from all of their future shows.

How did the band know that Rick Dunsford would actually be at the show though? Well, GNR Central says that Rick reportedly posted about how he would be at the concert, only for folks to put two and two together and ban him from the gig.

Although there’s no word as to whether this decision may be reversed in the near future, the Monday night show did actually include a rather special moment, with the band serving up a performance of ‘Locomotive’ for the first time in 27 years.

First released on Use Your Illusion I back in 1991, fans haven’t heard the track played live since February of 1992, meaning that this recent performance was definitely a very long time coming.

https://tonedeaf.thebrag.com/guns-n-roses-fan-lifetime-ban/

Kerrang!, October 11, 2019:

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Man Who Named His Son Axl Has Been Banned From Guns N’ Roses Shows

Guns N' Roses superfan Rick Dunsford has been handed a lifetime ban from seeing Guns N' Roses after being accused of leaking rare material.

A man who named his son Axl in tribute to Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose has been banned from ever attending a Guns N’ Roses concert for the rest of his life.

Rick Dunsford – who, in addition to naming his son after the frontman, has seen the band 32 times and has their autographs tattooed on his body – has been accused by the band accused of leaking Chinese Democracy-era songs recorded by the band in the early 2000s.

And on October 7, the superfan – who is well-known within the GN’R community – was allegedly waiting in line at their Wichita show when he was flagged by security and told to leave the property.

He also apparently received an email from the band’s legal representative telling him not to attend while he was standing in line.

The incident stems back to when Rick came across a storage shed belonging to former Guns N’ Roses A&R rep Tom Zutaut.

“About two and a half months ago, I drove to Virginia, and there was a storage locker that belonged to Tom Zutaut,” Rick explained to U.S. radio personalities Greg Dwyer and Bill Michaels. “He didn’t pay his bills or something and it was auctioned off. The individual that bought the locker, there was about 20 CDs in this locker of unreleased Guns N’ Roses music from around ’99 to 2000 or 2001.”

Rick and few other fans banded together and came up with the $15,000 asking price. Representatives for the band later reached out asking for the material back. Initially there was an agreement for Rick to get his money back, though that was apparently later voided.

And while Rick has been singled out for the leaks, he insists that it wasn’t him. “I know the seller that I bought them from was continuing to sell to other individuals," he said "and there was a massive leak. So pretty much, I’ve been blamed for this.”

While the ban might seem impractical – if not impossible – to enforce, it’s clear that Guns N’ Roses are nevertheless taking it very seriously indeed.

“[The ban] is pretty much for the rest of my life, is what the head of security in that video was telling me,” said Rick. “They made it clear that if I am spotted at all, I will be arrested on the spot.”

https://www.kerrang.com/a-man-who-named-his-son-axl-has-been-banned-from-guns-n-roses-shows