I Ain't Got Time to Reminisce Old Novelties

Scott Hardie | December 12, 2002
One thought occured to me today when I read that Guns n Roses's current tour has been completely canceled: Duh. Didn't see that one coming! Axl Rose has never taken his job seriously: He was kicked off of Aerosmith's tour back in the eighties for a lack of professionalism, and he inspired riots in the nineties while touring with Metallica (again for not treating the job like a job). He's forty now, but he will probably never change. And it got me wondering: Why the hell is he touring anyway? If he hates it so much, and has to make up transparent excuses to cancel shows like 'my private plane was late' (what, are you supposed to land ten minutes before going on stage?), then he should just record albums but not tour. Madonna and Barbra Streisand come to mind as two singers who absolutely hate performing live, and they get away with it. Surely not having a tour at all is better than canceling a tour and pissing off drunken fans. Somewhere in today's announcement there's an Onion headline, "Drunken GNR Fans Riot Across Entire Country."

As a footnote, the article mentioned that Slash, Izzy, Duff, and Matt have reunited as a new band and intend to record with a different vocalist. Good for them! I didn't know about this, and I'm pleased to read it. Axl was a good songwriter but a terrible rock star, dragging those guys down with him, and they deserve better.

Jackie Mason | December 12, 2002
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Scott Hardie | December 13, 2002
Favorite songs, Jackie?

Jackie Mason | December 15, 2002
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