GUNS N' ROSES guitarist D.J. Ashba has slammed the organizers of the U.K.'s Reading festival for forcing the band to cut its performance short last night (Friday, August 27) at the event, allegedly due to curfew issues. In a Twitter posting, Ashba writes, "Apparently the promoter has had a personal grudge with GUNS N' ROSES stemming from eight years ago [when the band last played the Leeds festival]. If this was the case, why book the band? He knows our show. Let me guess... To take our fans' money and then not allow us to give them a show that they paid for. This was clearly not a curfew thing because after cutting our power like a selfish, money-grubbing prick, he allowed music blasting through out the venue 'till the early morning. For us this was all about the fans, the show and the music. For the promoter it was all about the money and not about the fans or the music. The promoter was already being a cocky f$#k in the press before we arrived. So yes, we went on a little late, and for this we apologies. However, our fans paid to see a show, and that's why we showed up, to give them just that. Sad that this promoter's music festival has little to do with the fans or the love for music." He added, "Last night was insane! They pulled the power, but failed to kill the connection as 90,000 people sang 'Paradise City'."
GUNS N' ROSES reportedly started its Reading festival performance at 10:30 p.m. — more than an hour later than scheduled — and was given an extra half hour to play, until roughly midnight.
In a statement to BBC News, the Reading festival organizers said, "GUNS N' ROSES wanted to 'extend' the new agreed curfew but were prevented from doing so in order to comply with the entertainment licence issued by Reading Council."
GUNS N' ROSES played the final song of its set, "Paradise City", with no guitars and the crowd shouting along despite the lack of sound with Axl Rose singing through a megaphone, according to BBC News.
Legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES) is filming a video today (Friday, August 27) for the song "Beautiful Dangerous" with guest singer Fergie (a.k.a. Stacy Ann Ferguson). Slash says, "[The] concept is twisted; Fergie's idea."
"Beautiful Dangerous" comes off Slash's all-star collaborations album, simply titled "Slash", which scored the highest new entry on The Billboard 200 chart in early April, with first-week U.S. sales of around 60,000 copies. TheCD, which was released in North America on April 6 via EMI Label Services, features an all-star roster of guest musicians, including Ian Astbury, Chris Cornell, Rocco DeLuca, Fergie, Dave Grohl, Myles Kennedy, Kid Rock, Lemmy Kilmister, Adam Levine, Duff McKagan, M. Shadows of AVENGED SEVENFOLD, Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop, and Andrew Stockdale of WOLFMOTHER.
Slash will perform with Fergie and Myles Kennedy — two of the vocalists on "Slash" — at the third annual Sunset Strip Music Festival (SSMF), which is being held August 26-28.
Elliot Levin of the New York Hard Rock Examiner conducted an interview with BLACK LABEL SOCIETY bassist John "J.D." DeServio prior to the band's August 21, 2010 performance at the Hartford, Connecticut stop of this year's Ozzfest. Watch the chat below. A review of the show can be found at this location.
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's new album, "Order Of The Black", sold around 33,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 4.
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's previous album, "Shot to Hell", opened with 32,000 units to land at No. 21. This was less than the 45,000 copies shifted by BLS's "Mafia" (Artemis) back in March 2005 to debut at No. 15.
"Order Of The Black" was released in North America via E1 Music. The CD features four unique covers designed by Zakk Wylde himself — one for each territory: North America, Europe, Asia and Australia/New Zealand.
An e-card for "Order Of The Black" is available at this location.
As previously reported, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY will headline the "Black Label Berzerkus" tour this fall. The two-month North American trek will feature CLUTCH, CHILDREN OF BODOM and 2CENTS, with the first two bands sharing the main support slot.
Mike Sulivan of ExploreMusic recently conducted an interview with SLIPKNOT/STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor. You can now watch the chat in two parts above and at the end of the article.
STONE SOUR will celebrate the release of its new album, "Audio Secrecy", with an intimate album release party featuring a full band performance at The Studio at Webster Hall in New York City on Monday, August 30 and they are inviting their fans to join them for free!
Space is limited, so make sure to get there early! Fans will be allowed into the show on a first-come-first-served basis. Doors open at 7 p.m.
The Studio at Webster Hall:
125 East 11th Street
New York, NY 10003
You must be 18 years or older to enter the club, 21 or older to drink.
STONE SOUR will guest on the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline" with host Bob Coburn on Monday, September 20 at 8:30 p.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to speak with STONE SOUR by calling 1-800-344-ROCK (7625).
According to NME.com, GUNS N' ROSES' appearance at the Reading festival earlier tonight (Friday, August 27) was cut short after the organizers pulled the plug on the band's performance due to curfew issues.
GUNS N' ROSES kicked off the show at 10:30 p.m. — over an hour later than scheduled — and managed to play the majority of its set until roughly midnight despite earlier warnings from festival organizer Melvin Benn that he would not tolerate the band playing past 11:30 p.m.
GUNS N' ROSES walked offstage after playing "Nighttrain" and tried to return for an encore, at which point the band's sound was cut. According to NME.com, the group "still tried to launch into 'Paradise City', though only the drums could be heard as all other instruments had been switched off. As the crowd started to sing the track, [singer Axl] Rose tried to greet members of the audience while singing through a megaphone." This went on for roughly five minutes, before the GN'R bandmembers came together on the stage for a final bow and walked off.