TEN SECONDS TO LOVE
Steven Adler says he only talked to Axl Rose for ‘ten seconds’ on Gn’R tour
Blabbermouth — Earlier this week, former GUNS N’ ROSES drummer Steven Adler was interviewed on “Trunk Nation”, Eddie Trunk‘s show on SiriusXM channel Volume (106). A few excerpts from the chat follow below (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
On reuniting with classic GUNS N’ ROSES members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan for guest appearances at several shows during the 2016 “Not In This Lifetime” tour:
Adler: “Last year was just so fabulous, because I wanted this… Everybody knows that I’ve been praying for this for twenty-five years for us to have a reunion. It was something that was so magical, and I’m so proud of what we did, and I’m so proud of the guys. It was just too hard last year, ’cause they’d have me come down and do just one or two songs, and it’s, like, I’m standing on the side of the stage and I’m watching Frank [Ferrer, current GUNS N’ ROSES drummer], who’s a wonderful guy and a great drummer, play my songs when I’m standing right there. I’m going, ‘Dude, why don’t you fucking let me play? I’m right here! Let me play the songs.’ And it was just too hard to do that. And then the South American thing, flying fifteen thousand miles for just one song each night. It was just too much. But the great part about that trip was after the second show, I put on a private show at a club called Roxy in Argentina, and we played from two to five in the morning. We had all these guitar players and different great musicians come up. We played all of ‘Appetite [For Destruction]’, we did ‘You Could Be Mine’, ‘Don’t Cry’… a couple of the songs that I [was] a part of writing but didn’t get to play on it.”
On when he was first approached about being involved with the GUNS N’ ROSES reunion tour:
Adler: “Well, it was January 2, 2016, and Slash and Duff both texted me and said that they wanted to get together and talk to me. So I went down to Duff‘s house and we had a nice little talk. They had me sign some contract thing and whatnot just so they could talk to me, which is cool; I don’t care. Then in March I came down to rehearsal, and the second rehearsal, I got a pinched nerve in my L4 in my lower back. But I was only out for ten days. By the time they did The Troubadour show, I was ready to go. I called Duff up and I said, ‘Dude, I’m ready to rock. Can I do these shows?’ They had The Troubadour and they had, like, seven other shows. And he said, ‘No, you’re not gonna be part of this.’ I was, like, ‘Fuck you!’ and I hung up on him. And I called him back and I said, ‘I’m sorry. I was just angry at myself. I feel like I ruined it for myself, and I was just saying mean things to you because that’s how I felt about me.’ You know, I [was] trying to move forward. And so one day, I think, like, July 3rd or July 4th, they called me and said, ‘You wanna come down to Cincinnati and Nashville?’ And I said, ‘Yeah. When?’ And they said, ‘Tomorrow.’ So, of course, I got on a plane, I went, I got to jam with them, and it was great. It’s just not the same. I was thinking it was gonna be the same as it was twenty-five years ago, but not having Izzy [Stradlin, former GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist] there, and just playing one or two songs, it was very hurtful and heartbreaking for me. And Richard [Fortus, current GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist] is a phenomenal guitar player — he’s a great guitar player — and the crazy thing is, from ten feet away, he fucking looks like Izzy. And they asked me to go to… they said either Japan or Australia or Thailand, and I said I’m not gonna fly twenty thousand miles to play one or two songs. It’s just too much.”
On what it was like seeing Axl Rose for the first time after he came down to play with GUNS N’ ROSES in Cincinnati last July:
Adler: “I only talked to Axl for literally ten seconds. The first night I played with them in Cincinnati, I got a fistbump and a little smile, and that was good enough for me. And then at Dodger Stadium [in Los Angeles], I got to give him a little hug and shake his hand and say I love him and he fucking rules and ‘thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I had the greatest time.’ And he walked on his way. And I went on with my life. And I’ve been enjoying it ever since. He’s Axl. He does his show and he gets so passionate and such emotion that he really just needs to relax and come down for at least an hour, ’cause he is a monster on stage. And he puts out so much feeling that he becomes those songs. And he’s been fabulous at it. And Slash and Duff are so much fun. When we’re together at soundheck, the crew was all, ‘Jesus Christ! You’ve gotta come down more, ’cause the only time these guys ever smile or have fun is when you’re here.’ And I was saying, ‘I would love to.’ But it is what it is.”
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