GUNS N\' ROSES have officially cancelled their appearance at Rock In Rio – Lisbon, citing guitarist Buckethead\'s recent departure from the group as the cause of the cancellation. Frontman Axl Rose\'s official statement on the matter is as follows:
"The band has been put in an untenable position by guitarist Buckethead and his untimely departure.
"During his tenure with the band, Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behavior and commitment — despite being under contract — creating uncertainty and confusion and making it virtually impossible to move forward with recording, rehearsals and live plans with confidence. His transient lifestyle has made it impossible for even his closest friends to have nearly any form of communication with him whatsoever.
"Last time I talked to Bucket, he called to tell me he had bought a bootleg DVD off EBay and how proud he was to be in GUNS and how impressed he was with everyone\'s performance. Then, in February we got word from Brain that Bucket had called him and said he was back in GUNS!? Apparently, according to Bucket he had been \'gone\' but had turned himself around and was really excited to do Rio-Lisbon and a European tour. Somewhere in the following month things changed once again. According to those who have actually spoken with Buckethead, it appears his plans were to secure a recording contract with Sanctuary Records which I encouraged my management to make available to him, quit GN\'R and to use his involvement in the upcoming GUNS release to immediately promote his individual efforts...Nice guy!
"There is not a member of this camp that is not hurt, upset and ultimately disappointed by this event, and more to the point — if not this individual, certainly this individual\'s choices. Regardless of anyone\'s opinions of me and what I may or may not deserve, clearly the fans, individuals in this band, management, crew and our support group do not deserve this type of treatment. We as a whole, definitely feel that we afforded Bucket every accommodation perhaps so much so that it may be that we or more precisely, I may have done GUNS a disservice and unintentionally allowed GUNS to be put in this position.
"On behalf of GUNS N\' ROSES and myself I apologize to the fans who planned to see us at Rock In Rio - Lisbon. The festival and its tradition mean a lot to me personally and I sincerely do not enjoy being robbed by one of our own of the opportunity to be the first artist to play it for the third time. I would also like to express my gratitude to those who chose to embrace Buckethead\'s role in GUNS and support our new line up. We greatly appreciate Bucket\'s contributions and remain open to \'discussions\' as there are obviously several issues to resolve. In the meantime rather than dwelling on the negative, GUNS will be moving forward and surprisingly (without giving away any details) this unfortunate set of circumstances may have given us the opportunity to take our recording that one extra step further. Regardless we hope to announce a release date within the next few months."
for me, this is really hard to read, because i like the idea of BH being in GNR and after this statement i see no future for my hope. i don\'t believe Axl. i want to hear BH\'s side of the story. and not just his manager. it is hard to believe that BH would act like an asshole, use GNR for his popularity.
travis, you know BH. BH is not that type of a person. am i right?
Well, to me it\'s the word of a singer with a rep of being an arse against a person about whom I only have heard people saying how schweet a guy he is.
If Big B is the type to commit to a band is a different story, I have always doubted if he was cut out for that type of commitment.
To blame the cancellation of these tourdates on Bucket stinks big time, because this isn\'t the first time a GnR concert is cancelled.
that\'s why i don\'t believe Axl. it\'s never his fault.
but if it is true that BH used GNR, acted like an $$$hole, then i don\'t know what to think about him. he never seemed to be that kind of a person...
This guy doesn\'t make any statements for months and then this is the first thing out of his mouth...something fishy going on here....wonder how official that statement is,exactly.....
it seems to be really a statement from Axl Rose. it is also posted on the Rock in Rio site. it would be great to be a fake statement but...you know....GNR without BH is like Sex without a chick....
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&newsId=20040330005283&newsLang=en&beanID=202776713&viewID=news_view
Than I prefer the chick without the sex I guess.. ;)
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, i need both!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :\'(
Dizzy Reed\'s wife posted this on their board:
"hey spider that is not bs!! he was only in it to get a larger and more lucrative contract with sanctuary. he even said that he didn\'t care about guns any more because he had the new deal. Like i said before when I could not elaborate. he is an ass..."
wow, man, wow. some crazy shit happening here
wow. That press release smells like libel to me. It has all the trappings: language clearly about bh communicated publically based on specific facts that tend to adversely affect bh\'s reputation. Now just stating an opinion is not libel. But here there are all kinds of factual scenarios being used. And Dizzy Reed\'s wife is just making it worse by publically repeating something she probably heard someone else say they heard bh say. So if any of those factual scenarios are stretched or outright lies, then GnR is vulnerable. It sure looks to me like GnR is trying to shift the blame around that cancellation of that concert to Buckethead. Maybe there are big penalties involved, maybe the risk of a libel suit is small potatoes in comparison. yikes
Megan esq.
Where are you Travis? You know BH .... what are your thoughts? Or is this such a BS news release that it should just be ignored? As in "consider the source"
help us travis!
Quotewow. That press release smells like libel to me. It has all the trappings: language clearly about bh communicated publically based on specific facts that tend to adversely affect bh\'s reputation. Now just stating an opinion is not libel. But here there are all kinds of factual scenarios being used. And Dizzy Reed\'s wife is just making it worse by publically repeating something she probably heard someone else say they heard bh say. So if any of those factual scenarios are stretched or outright lies, then GnR is vulnerable. It sure looks to me like GnR is trying to shift the blame around that cancellation of that concert to Buckethead. Maybe there are big penalties involved, maybe the risk of a libel suit is small potatoes in comparison. yikes
Megan esq.
i had the same thoughts. it really kills me
I\'m here, you folks don\'t really need me to chime in here do you? You all seem to have a pretty good grasp of the situation, if it\'s real and I have no way to know that it is. I don\'t want to say anything more at the moment cause I don\'t speak for Buckethead and he doesn\'t need me to, this isn\'t very hard to figure out. I\'ll say more if the need arises.
thx for the answer, Travis. i think i understand what you mean
and although i am intelligent enough not to believe Axl these are hard accusations(the Sanctuary deal kills me) and i will wait untill i hear BH\'s side. i am not in the right mood to order Population Override or any new release now until this shit is resolved. what makes me sad is that i don\'t expect BH to speak out. well, i must be a minority.
Can you really believe this ?
There are many mistakes there. Axl and Dizzy\'s wife made Buckethead talk... How possible ?
Also, if Buckethead were actually planning this Sanctuary thing... Do you think he would have told that to anyone ? The fact that Axl mentionned it this way makes it sound totally fake.
We don\'t need to wonder if that\'s true or not. We know it\'s not.
We need to show Buckethead that we trust him, and that we do support him. He didn\'t deserve anything like this stupid story.
Take care you all.
but it\'s not like Axl really needs to blame BH for the delay or for not playing RiR. he is a guy who doesn\'t give a $%&/ what everybody else thinks why Chinese Democracy is not out. axl was silent the whole year 2003. there is no need to blame BH, only if it\'s true(but like you said there are some things in the statement which are really hard to believe).
Hahahahahaha!!!!!!
Buckethead could land a contract from any label on Earth. The guy\'s a genius, nice or not. History has clearly shown what an egotistical, arrogant, drug-abusing fool Axl Rose is. Does the word "Disfunctional" mean anything to any one of you?
Look, Buckethead is simply incredible. Pure musical genius, can transcend any style, extremely well versed and highly creative. The dude\'s talent can take him anywhere and I\'m convinced by the facts.
He\'s a performer, a musician. So who gives a rat\'s ass what his personality\'s like. Sure, I hope he\'s a nice personable guy, but utimately, it has no affect on my eardrums. I love the bastard and I\'m committed to supporting his musical ventures in any way possible.
G n R on the other hand has been, and always will be, a half-ass act. They sound like crap and they all have the worst reputations, professionally and/or personally. They have a long-ass track record of acting like fools. I think they have no substance and are a complete waste of everybody\'s time. They had a handful of decent, catchy tunes on their first disk. It\'s been downhill since. They are all has-been\'s. Buckethead is just beginning!!!!
You know what Hexitt..... I like your thoughts. As far as I\'m concerned, it\'s end of discussion for me. BH is such an excellent musician. I don\'t care what anyone says about him, he\'ll always be a genuis, he\'ll continue to create, and we can continue to enjoy him.
GnR could be used to spell [glb] G[/glb] i a [glb]N[/glb] t [glb]R[/glb] o b o t.
Just a couple of quick points. I appreciate you all have kept the temperature of this discussion down, I recognize the potential for a full on flame up so thanks you for that. I understand the Gollum/Smeagol struggle that Caligula13 seams to be having, just remember, Buckethead is my dear friend and collaborator, his humility and altruistic character are unimpeachable. I hope that helps.
And what Travis just said about Big B is pretty much what everyone else that worked with the man says about him. Except this one guy that cancels show after show after show, causes riots, stands trial for abuse (or sth), has a rep of a hothead and takes a million years to finish an album... Rock \'n roll, babay!
To me, and most longtime Bucketfans I heard about it, it\'s very clear.
it\'s all crystal clear, and Travis did a wonderful job of hanging back to watch the stream flow... can\'t have been an easy thing to do. shit happens that we never hear the whole truth about (and ain\'t that a broad revelation?). you just have to see where your gut instinct takes you.
hey travis,
could you talk Buckethead into giving out an official statement? maybe at his site or so. i am starving for his side of the story. although i have learned to cope with silence, always been a GNR fan. well, i just wanted to ask.
Sounds to me like like Axl is shifting the blame. I\'m sure Big B put up with a lot of stuff during his time with Axl and finally decided to concentrate on more fruitful work. We\'ve all seen and read how incredibly polite and sweet he is so I know BS when I smell it.
I\'m sure Axl is just pissed that Buckethead got in first and caused them to cancel it before he could! ;)
Quote...Buckethead got in first and caused them to cancel it before he could! ;)
it\'s not Buckets fault this show was cancelled. if The Who can find someone to fill in for one bass player with four days notice, Axl could have found someone to fill in for one (of three) guitar players with two months notice. if he\'d have wanted to do that, instead of trying to make Buckethead look bad for getting better publicity than he is.
Why would anyone believe a fiend that attacks a mute chicken boy who can\'t even defend himself without his nunchucks?
Once again our traumatized free-range hero has escaped another evil coop. Yet another obstacle, another deadly trap has been overcome on his perilous journey to find and defeat the mysterious wizard that owns and operates the world\'s biggest, most diabolical deep fryer.
It\'s a damned shame that Big B\'s momma never told him to avoid the type of music industry ghouls that would only bring him down. A damned shame.
Good luck, Buckethead. Keep on cluckin\'!
Sir Slunk Slaw Makes A Brief Return
to Sir with love for bringing us back to earth-
the saga of the chicken may it never end
p.s. except the part about blaming momma
(http://img26.photobucket.com/albums/v79/xcaper/combot2.gif)
I understand that a lot of you want to forget that Buchethead has worked with Axl Rose but you don\'t really have to hate GNR to love BH. you can love them both, like I do.
http://rockjournal.com/interviewdr.html
in this interesting interview Dizzy Reed is asked if BH is officialy out. He answers: "For the time being, yeah."
call me Bush or Blair but this gives me hope.
check this out:
http://www.villagestudios.com/pages/photogallery/photogallery9/photogallery9.html
you can see Dan Monti smoking with Axl Rose and Buckethead with some girl.
Quote from: Caligula13 Buckethead with some girl./quote]
Wow looks like he could break her over his knee they make a fine pychotic couple wander if she likes Taxidermy...
personally I\'m glad Buckethead is out of Gun\'s N Roses I herd Axl\'s realising his enablity to work with Guitar players so He\'s taking up the Insterment that should really be his downfall by bye Axl hello slobbys...just thought I\'d throw my two cents into this argument
Chris
some people, many of them artists of one level/type or another, just don\'t play well with others.
many people who play well with others have no souls.
there are rare creatures who come along and can play well with others without losing their souls in the process. they have to fight hard to hang on to themselves and sometimes they have to walk away from things/people/situations that seemed like a good idea at the time.
they\'ll both remain loved by those who truly loved them, and be reviled by those who either never did, or worse yet, loved only the idea of them.
Yes Travis, please keep us informed! Info like this,It\'s better to here the real word,instead of mere gossip.From what I\'v heard BH wouldn\'t do that. :)
Sorry for the belated post, but I really feel for fans of GnR, I mean these fans are some of the loyalist people around, and Axl keeps bastardizing their blind faith. I was completely for Buckethead getting some notoriety from his stint with GnR, but Axl made it impossible.
I really think that Axl\'s demons are uncontrollable and they will eventually destroy someone who was(like him or not) great. It\'s only time before Axl has an irreversable emotional episode, and I suspect him to suffer from manic depression.
Buckethead has how many releases, and how many cancelled shows? Buckethead\'s lack of integrity has resulted in how many riots? Buckethead has had to fire how many musicians he has worked with? The obvious answer is(as far as I have heard) zero! I don\'t find it a stretch to believe that he left due to lack of production. Buckethead has put out more material since he joined Guns, than Guns have in their entirety. I can\'t believe anyone needs to hear Bucket\'s side, considering Axl\'s track record!
I really believe that Axl is Bi-polar(not to sound mean), and he has kept everyone waiting so long for this release that he realizes that it is impossible to live up to expectations. In a way I feel sorry for him, but after all it was his own demons doing it to him! I think Axl will subconciously find a way to get out of his obligation with the public, and It may mean his demise. Just my thoughts....I do, however, feel so sorry for the die-hard Guns fans, and feel blessed to be a Buckethead fan!
just because they may be your own demons does not mean that you have any control over them. the worst sabotage is that which we do to ourselves.
Axl being bi-polar is certainly a possibility - why would suggesting it be mean? it\'s a medical reality that many of us are.
Actually when I said "not to be mean", I was referring to the fact that saying mental illness makes one less of a person is completely a fallacy, but as I am learning on these boards, everything needs to be spelled out nicely!
Also, I didn\'t want to sound like I was vilifying or denigrating Axl\'s work, due to my assumption....so relax, I meant no harm. I had just gotten home from the taverns, and wasn\'t as contrived as I should have been!
Take Care,
You just received a MorbidParable!
I think we all have our demons. Some people show them,some don\'t. I think Axl might have some resentment here. I would think he could still get it together for that new release and get it done. I guess thats what I think anyway. :D
:D I got happy fun loven Demons yipey! doodlday! Grah GrahR!
I think Buckethead done good by getting out of GNR\'s and playing with CCBoBB\'s and Viggo for nice bright future.
were demons run an play all day. weeee.?!
Chris
it\'s GNR time again.
it\'s been posted on htgth.com (or whatever) that Brain will be touring with CCBBB till November, then with Tom Waits till January and then return to the GNR camp. so, BH is out of GNR and Brain not. crazy. they joined together. Axl accused BH of joining just for the money, trying to destroy his reputation and his good friend Brain returns to GNR?
can one ever know what actually goes on between individuals? especially those who have paid hype machines? i\'d say let it go. BH & Brain probably have talked about the sitch, and if Brain\'s playing with GNR hurts Buckethead, that\'s between them... i haven\'t heard of his saying anything against it. he\'s letting quiet karma do it\'s thing and i\'m sure it\'s the wise move. it usually is.
(http://iske.whitecocoa.com/buckethead/P1010007.JPG)
indeed - great shot, btw. 8)
Tower Records in San Francisco. yesterday.
I WONDERED! i was stuck in the freaking office yesterday and never got there!
>:( >:( >:( >:( :\'(
ah well, such is life.
I have read through all the posts here and I guess I am the only geek who actually tuned into the MTV Video Awards in 2003. Axl "performed" if you could call it that. I recall my husband and I sitting back on the sofa and musing on the fact that5 Axl has gotten so fat and lazy that he was SO totally out of breath runing around the stage, that he couldn\'t sing the lyrics!!!! :o
I say take a listen at Velvet Revolver\'s new cd! It is easy to see where the REAL talent in GnR was. ::)
Maybe Axl had a voice that got everyone\'s attention when they were new, but I never thought of it as much more that screaching (with a few exceptions).
Is anybody really crying over not seeing Axl perform?? Has ANYBODY been screaming for his "come back"? \'Cause if they have been I have not heard about it. My personal beleif is that Axl was not getting the response he thought he should get, or was just plain lazy, and used Bucket as an excuse to cancel. That was exactly what went through my head when I originally heard about this "announcement".
Besides, Bucket is WAY too talented to back up the hack that Axl has become.
Beatnik 8)
:-X
Beatnik I saw the MTV 2003 awards and went out bought tix and then went back and returned tix YOU\'RE NOT GEEKY what I did was TOTAL GEEK MAXIMUSE GUL- GEEK- E- US thinking at the time great Some dude with a bucket on his head and Guns N Roses ohmygod (bing) geddem seem good... But NO!
Chris
this MTV Video Award was an exception. Axl sounded very good on the tour after that small gig. And BH and the new band played the shit out of the old songs.
the new GNR with BH had really great potential....
fear of not living up to great potential can make people do all sorts of stupid things. most frequently, sabotage themselves to save themselves from actual failure... which of course short circuits what could have turned out to be the most wonderful thing in their lives. many people with depressive disorders do this... me included. it\'s really hard to accept when brought to your attention, that you did it to yourself, so you can spend much time searching for another thing/person to blame. after all, why on earth would someone sabotage themselves?
[size=24][glb][glb]FEAR[/glb][/glb][/size]
it\'s a killer part of depression - it makes love to [glb]PAIN [/glb]and they feed off each other in an endless cycle - until something calls a halt to it. intervention, medication, self awareness, healing, or death.
Some Bumblefoot fans here?
He wrote on his homepage that he was contacted by GNR to join the band. He sounded positive that it could happen.
funny how things go....
did anyone hear Stinson badmouth Bucket too? In an interview someone mentioned he was a great guitarist, and Stinson said something along the lines of "too bad he\'s not a great person."
:-\\
I agree Beatnik. V.Revolver is an amazing dynamic of talent.
I love the Tower Records pic. BTW. :)
Quote: [glb]" (sic)...Stinson said something along the lines of "too bad he\'s not a great person." [/glb] Ouch! (http://www.imgmag.com/images/lyoness/EMOTICONS/cluebat.gif)
What does it say about Stinson\'s character to say something like that in a public forum, where the fan\'s only know BH through the medium of media /publicity and his music!?
How would we ever know what he\'s like on the "person" (personal)? We can presume, but he\'s a public figure, and all that that means to us as fans.
As mentioned, publicity machines, marketing, etc... tell us who any celebrity/entertainer is relative to us as a consumer. And that\'s not personal, it\'s business.
that\'s the sort of thing that needs a good dose of salt. i don\'t know that Tommy Stinson actually knows BH at all well as a person. he\'s working for Axl now, so he may just be repeating the company line for all i know.
what i do know is that often you can tell something about a person\'s quality by the quality of the company they keep. Buckethead has worked for a long time with Travis, and from the interactions i have had with Travis, and have seen on the board et cetera, i would say that if BH were an ass, Travis wouldn\'t still be tight with him. the fact that he is not only still recording with him but that other friends of Travis\' are as well, would tend to mean that Buckethead has made an equally good impression on those folks as well. also, throughout whatever has come from the GNR press mill, Buckethead has been wise enough not to rise to the rancid bait, and that speaks volumes as well.
nb: i\'m sure i could have stuck another "as well" in there somewhere if i\'d tried harder!!
looks like maybe Bumblefoot got the wrong impression, or Axl is having "committment issues" of his own...
http://www.soundgenerator.com/news/index.cfm?articleid=4297