As much as I loved Appetite for Destruction, I was never a huge Guns N’ Roses fan like my brother. As a bass player, he was into Duff McKagan and still is to this day. Sure, there were a lot of cool songs on the Use your Illusions albums, but I likely never would have gone to see them live as headliners. Then came the the mega stadium tour that they played with Metallica. It was the heavy metal event of the century at the Olympic stadium and of course I was there. Needless to say, the Montréal riot that ensued left an extremely bad taste in my mouth.
Long story short, James Hetfied, frontman of Metallica, stepped too close to a piece of pyro going off and was injured and needed to be rushed to the hospital. Band members and a translator came on stage to make the announcement and promise that they'd return to Montréal later on. Which they did, headlining two nights at the Forum a few months later. Of course I was there and they rocked the place and had us begging for more. But I digress. With the Metallica gig cut short, 55,000 people now needed to wait for Guns N’ Roses to come on. Moody Axl Rose had already become infamous for is lateness and August 8th, 1992, was going to be a case in point. Not only did Guns N’ Roses appear nearly 3 hours following Hetfield's injury, but something was obviously annoying Axl Rose to no small degree. A few songs into the set, he threw his mic down and left the stage, leaving his bandmates a bit bewildered. They also left a few moments later and never returned. It was quite evident that things were about to get ugly, so my friends and I left in a hurry. What followed was a massive riot that is still talked about to this day. It was so bad that for years afterward non-alcoholic beer was served at venues hosting rock bands to make sure that things wouldn't spiral out of control they way they did that day at the Olympic stadium.
Interestingly enough, the Montréal riot made it into this book. What was shocking was the fact that it wasn't even close to being the worse rampage engendered by Axl Rose's antics!
I absolutely loved this book. Duff McKagan's fall from grace, his pleading the doctors at the Seattle hospital to kill him, and his long and arduous tale of redemption made for an unforgettable read. Little did we know that Guns N’ Roses was already in self-destruct mode months before the Use your Illusions albums were even completed. But as interesting as the band's demise turned out to be, it is McKagan's personal tale of what came after that was the most compelling. His candid recollections take us on a wild ride of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. And yet, it's not what stays with you once you reach the last page. Yes, McKagan was a dumbass musician who sort of got blinded by fame and fortune. But it's the story of how he pulled himself out of that hole, got clean by starting to ride an old mountain bike and then by practicing martial arts and meditation, and then got married and became a father that really made an impression on me. He was lucky to have a caring family and people who truly wanted to help him live a better life. It wasn't easy and there were some rough patches along the way, but he made it. Funny how a guy who was part of one of the most notorious rock and roll bands in history became a dorky dad who embarrasses his two daughters like any other regular father out there.
A must read for any rock and roll fan!
Here's the blurb:
In his New York Times bestseller, Duff McKagan, founding member of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver, shares the story of his rise to fame and fortune, his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction, his personal crash and burn, and his life-saving transformation via a unique path to sobriety.
In 1984, at the age of twenty, Duff McKagan left his native Seattle—partly to pursue music but mainly to get away from a host of heroin overdoses then decimating his closest group of friends in the local punk scene. In LA only a few weeks and still living in his car, he answered a want ad for a bass player placed by someone who identified himself only as “Slash.” Soon after, the most dangerous band in the world was born. Guns N’ Roses went on to sell more than 100 million albums worldwide.
In It’s So Easy, Duff recounts Guns’ unlikely trajectory to a string of multiplatinum albums, sold-out stadium concerts, and global acclaim. But that kind of glory can take its toll, and it did—ultimately—on Duff, as well as on the band itself. As Guns began to splinter, Duff felt that he himself was done, too. But his near death as a direct result of alcoholism proved to be his watershed, the turning point that sent him on a unique path to sobriety and the unexpected choices he has made for himself since.
In a voice that is as honest as it is indelibly his own, Duff—one of rock’s smartest and most articulate personalities—takes readers on a harrowing journey through the dark heart of one of the most notorious bands in rock-and-roll history and out the other side.
For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.
Long story short, James Hetfied, frontman of Metallica, stepped too close to a piece of pyro going off and was injured and needed to be rushed to the hospital. Band members and a translator came on stage to make the announcement and promise that they'd return to Montréal later on. Which they did, headlining two nights at the Forum a few months later. Of course I was there and they rocked the place and had us begging for more. But I digress. With the Metallica gig cut short, 55,000 people now needed to wait for Guns N’ Roses to come on. Moody Axl Rose had already become infamous for is lateness and August 8th, 1992, was going to be a case in point. Not only did Guns N’ Roses appear nearly 3 hours following Hetfield's injury, but something was obviously annoying Axl Rose to no small degree. A few songs into the set, he threw his mic down and left the stage, leaving his bandmates a bit bewildered. They also left a few moments later and never returned. It was quite evident that things were about to get ugly, so my friends and I left in a hurry. What followed was a massive riot that is still talked about to this day. It was so bad that for years afterward non-alcoholic beer was served at venues hosting rock bands to make sure that things wouldn't spiral out of control they way they did that day at the Olympic stadium.
Interestingly enough, the Montréal riot made it into this book. What was shocking was the fact that it wasn't even close to being the worse rampage engendered by Axl Rose's antics!
I absolutely loved this book. Duff McKagan's fall from grace, his pleading the doctors at the Seattle hospital to kill him, and his long and arduous tale of redemption made for an unforgettable read. Little did we know that Guns N’ Roses was already in self-destruct mode months before the Use your Illusions albums were even completed. But as interesting as the band's demise turned out to be, it is McKagan's personal tale of what came after that was the most compelling. His candid recollections take us on a wild ride of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. And yet, it's not what stays with you once you reach the last page. Yes, McKagan was a dumbass musician who sort of got blinded by fame and fortune. But it's the story of how he pulled himself out of that hole, got clean by starting to ride an old mountain bike and then by practicing martial arts and meditation, and then got married and became a father that really made an impression on me. He was lucky to have a caring family and people who truly wanted to help him live a better life. It wasn't easy and there were some rough patches along the way, but he made it. Funny how a guy who was part of one of the most notorious rock and roll bands in history became a dorky dad who embarrasses his two daughters like any other regular father out there.
A must read for any rock and roll fan!
Here's the blurb:
In his New York Times bestseller, Duff McKagan, founding member of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver, shares the story of his rise to fame and fortune, his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction, his personal crash and burn, and his life-saving transformation via a unique path to sobriety.
In 1984, at the age of twenty, Duff McKagan left his native Seattle—partly to pursue music but mainly to get away from a host of heroin overdoses then decimating his closest group of friends in the local punk scene. In LA only a few weeks and still living in his car, he answered a want ad for a bass player placed by someone who identified himself only as “Slash.” Soon after, the most dangerous band in the world was born. Guns N’ Roses went on to sell more than 100 million albums worldwide.
In It’s So Easy, Duff recounts Guns’ unlikely trajectory to a string of multiplatinum albums, sold-out stadium concerts, and global acclaim. But that kind of glory can take its toll, and it did—ultimately—on Duff, as well as on the band itself. As Guns began to splinter, Duff felt that he himself was done, too. But his near death as a direct result of alcoholism proved to be his watershed, the turning point that sent him on a unique path to sobriety and the unexpected choices he has made for himself since.
In a voice that is as honest as it is indelibly his own, Duff—one of rock’s smartest and most articulate personalities—takes readers on a harrowing journey through the dark heart of one of the most notorious bands in rock-and-roll history and out the other side.
For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.
0 commentaires:
Post a Comment