An open letter to our fans:

Guns N’ Roses regrets to announce that the following concert tour dates have been cancelled:

January 10th Sacramento
January 11th Bakersfield
January 13th Reno
January 16th San Diego

Due to the schedule of these particular shows valuable time needed by the band and record company for the proper setup and release of the album Chinese Democracy would be lost. Rather than delay the album yet again all involved have decided to remove these shows from GNR’s schedule. We sincerely hope our fans understand and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused anyone. Tickets may be refunded at local point of purchase.

To say the making of this album has been an unbearably long and incomprehensible journey would be an understatement. Overcoming the endless and seemingly insanity of the obstacles faced by all involved, not withstanding the emotional challenges endured by everyone: the fans, the band, our road crew and business team has at many times seemed for all like a bad dream where one wakes up only to find they are still in the nightmare and unfortunately this time it has been played out for over a decade in real life.

The true ongoing behind-the-scenes triumphs and casualties are much more complicated than any negative speculation that media or otherwise has managed to hit upon. For much of the time some form or another of legalities have been taking place that really the best way to deal with publicly was to keep our mouths shut in an attempt to ensure the best outcome and especially one that wouldn’t jeopardize the band or the album. One can easily point to how others have done things or how they themselves feel that they would were they in the same situations but without full knowledge of the various dynamics and circumstances involved, again these types of comments or commentary are uninformed, outside, generally useless and often hindering speculation.

When I agreed to do our recent North American tour I agreed with the understanding that I and my manager Merck Mercuriadis were in full agreement as to our strategy, touring plans and most importantly that any and all things needed to release the album at the latest by Dec. 26th were to be in place. Unfortunately this turned out not to be the case and not only do I regret to say that again the album will not be released by the end of the year but that though many things went extremely well and were very exciting there were in our opinion unnecessary and avoidable complications on our tour having to do with the tour routing, scheduling and album and video plans that played hell on all involved especially our crew. This was compounded by an overall sense of a lack of respect by management for the band and crew and each individual’s particular expertise that has resulted unfortunately in the end of both Guns and my relationship in having a management or sense of band involvement with Merck Mercuriadis.

In regard to a release date for the album itself certain minor and by that I do mean minor things and or additions as well as contract negotiations need to be completed and barring any unforeseen complications these things have now been adequately scheduled. Both the band and I along with our record company feel that this record deserves the proper setup and promotion not the “13 Tuesdays left” and “it may just appear in your record store” approach offered by management. We believe this strategy may have been used in order for management to sell this latest tour to the various promoters. We feel that if this was so, this was obviously unfair to them. The stress of dealing with this situation has been considerable for everyone as well as to the band themselves as a whole but that this was more importantly in our opinion something utterly insane to do to our fans. Our apologies and please know we have been laboring over this with management for the entire North American tour.

It takes approximately 8 weeks for an album to hit the shelves once it has been turned in to the record company. For whatever reasons it appears it may have been mistakenly inferred by management that this could be condensed to three. That being said this is not a promise, a lie or a guarantee but we do wish to announce a tentative release date of March 6th. This is the first time we have done this publicly for this album. Any and all other dates have been made up by others for their own reasons. We would like to assure the fans that though tentative everything in our power will be done to meet this date. Once it is finalized and official you will be notified. If we are delayed for unseen reasons you will also be notified as soon as possible in regard to a new date and the album will be released as shortly thereafter as is possible. We thank you for your patience.

In the end it’s just an album and one that I, the band, our record company and all involved believe and feel is a true Guns N’ Roses album. Ultimately the public will decide and regardless of the outcome our hearts, lives and our passion has been put into this project every step of the way. If for no other reason we feel those elements alone merit your consideration. We do hope you can hold on just a bit longer and if not we hope you would please feel free to take a break and we’ll be more than glad (if you so choose) to see you again later.

Once again, our sincere apologies and our deepest thanks, Guns N’ Roses would also like to thank all the fans who attended the 70 concerts in 21 different countries for their support in 2006. All the best to each and every one of you over this holiday season, thank-you and God bless.


Sincerely,
Axl Rose

The gossip boards at Metal Sludge are on fire after last night's Poison concert in Atlanta.

Here's are some samples:

"Don't know what started it, but right before the encore Bret (Michaels, vocalist) and Bobby (Dall, bassist) appeared to be in a heated discussion and next thing ya know, Bobby slings his bass at Bret. Rikki (Rockett, drummer) and the roadies had to come in and separate them. Bret then went on to apologize and say how we may have just witnessed the last Poison concert ever. Bobby later came out and finished the song... guess to give the fans what they paid for."

Another fan in attendance issued this commentary:

"Here is the way I saw it from 5th row center seats. The next to last song has always been "Nothing But A Good Time', at least for the last six years. Then they seem to always close with 'Talk Dirty To Me'. Well, 'NBAGT' was played, the confetti dropped as it has every year, the band comes out and waves and it goes dark.

A couple of minutes pass by and Bobby Dall (the bassist) comes running on stage, picks up the mic and starts screaming. 'Do you want some more? I can't hear you!' I mean screaming the shit. It was weird and unusual... just the whole atmosphere of it seemed strange, the way he was acting. Then the rest of the band comes walking out looking puzzled and Bret Michaels tried to get the microphone from Bobby. He shoved Bret and looked seriously pissed off, I mean he looked like he was ready to throw down. Bret took the boxer's stance (you know dukes up and bouncing) and I was just kinda trying to play it off with a smile but Bobby wasn't smiling at all. Then four or five roadies come on stage and pulled them off the stage.

A couple of minutes later, Bret comes out and apologizes to the fans. He said, 'that shit has been building up for 20 years.' He then explained, 'We are like brothers, and sometimes brothers want to knock the fuck out of each other.' He apologized for not finishing the show with 'Talk Dirty To Me' and then said, 'Atlanta, you may very well have seen the last concert by Poison in its current formation.'

Rikki Rockett and C.C. DeVille had 'WTF looks' on their faces. Then Bobby comes out and says, 'fuck it, let's play one more.' Rikki walked to his drum kit, C.C. got handed his guitar and they played 'Talk Dirty'. During the song, Bobby was running around all over the stage, a lot more than is normal for him. C.C. and Rikki kept exchanging looks with each other like they were disgusted. Bret just sang his ass off and didn't pay attention to Bobby. At the end of the show, Bobby took his bass off, handed it to the roadie and walked off the other side of the stage while Bret, Rikki, and C.C. all said goodnight to the fans and thanked them for coming out. It was awkward, and not staged at all in my opinion.

After the houselights were on, Bret apologized to some of the fans in the front row... without a mic, he just said, 'guys, I'm sorry that happened here.' Seemed very genuine to me. As we were leaving, we had to pass by the area where the people line up for meet and greet passes... given out by radio stations and fan clubs. Well, one of the guards walked up and told them there would be no meet and greet tonight."

There has been no official word from Poison about this incident. There are three dates remaining on their 20 Years Of Rock tour, they are:


8/26 - Memphis, TN - Mud Island Ampitheatre
8/27 - Little Rock, AR - Riverfest Amphitheatre
8/29 - St. Paul, MN - Minnesota State Fair