DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott says that he would love to see a full reunion of GUNS N’ ROSES‘ classic lineup, with both Steven Adler and Matt Sorum sitting behind the drum kit during the band’s live shows.
GUNS N’ ROSES‘ headlining slots on April 16 and April 23 at the Coachella Music And Arts Festival in Indio, California were confirmed earlier this month after widespread speculation that the band would appear at the festival.
The band’s lineup will feature original members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan — performing together for the first time since 1993 — although the rest of the group roster has yet to be confirmed.
During an appearance on a recent edition of Eddie Trunk’s SiriusXM satellite radio show, “Eddie Trunk Live”, Elliott was asked for his take on the GUNS N’ ROSES reunion. He said: “I haven’t really spent much time thinking about it. Because if it’s a true reunion, I personally would like to see… I think the only way it would really work [is] they’d have to go with two drummers; they would have to take Steven and Matt. Obviously, Steven, having never played on the ‘[Use Your] Illusion’ stuff, they would trade drummers out. I mean, it may be a little cabaret.”
He continued: “It’s hard to know what the right answer is for this question, and I wasn’t expecting it, so I really… I don’t have a perfect answer to this. But I’m glad to see Axl and Slash seem to have put their differences aside, which is good.
“I don’t know Axl that well, but I know Duff quite well, having worked with him in ROCK ‘N’ ROLL ALLSTARS and KINGS OF CHAOS. And the same with Slash as well… he’s worked with KINGS OF CHAOS and Slash opened for DEF LEPPARD last year on a couple of shows. We’ve known these guys for years and I get on really well with them. I bought a Harley off [former GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist] Gilby Clarke twenty years ago, who’s probably not even gonna be involved.”
Elliott went on to say: “I know that your classic, kind of, Internet-savvy GN’R fan is gonna say it won’t be a GN’R reunion unless Izzy [Stradlin, original GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist] and Steven are involved. And I would kind of tend to agree with them, as a fan. But as a businessman that’s putting this together that’s probably trying to scoop three hundred million dollars out of people or whatever, they would be, like, going, ‘Look, as long as we get the three main guys together…’ And it would appear the three main guys in most people’s eyes are Axl, Slash and Duff. That might be right or wrong; I don’t know. It’s not really my thing to say.”
Joe added: “I’d love to see all seven of them involved, if you know what I mean — which would be Axl, Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin, Gilby Clarke, Matt Sorum and Steven Adler. I would like to see that lineup. None of this Bumble thing, Buckethead, none of that crowd. Even [Richard] Fortus, who’s a very good friend of mine; I love him to death. But if the original seven, if you like — the five plus their, kind of… the early replacements, which would be Matt Sorum and Gilby. If they were the guys that played on those records and they weren’t gonna be playing anything off ‘Chinese Democracy’, that would be the thing for me — to bring them in and out as needed. For me, I would buy that ticket; I would love to buy that ticket. But I’m gonna go anyway, ‘cause I’ll get a free one off Duff.”
GUNS N’ ROSES will play two shows before its appearance at Coachella, with the band now scheduled to perform at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on April 8 and April 9, just days after the venue opens for business on April 6.
GN’R is reportedly negotiating with promoters to play as many as 25 stadiums in North America this summer. The band is said to be asking as much as $3 million per show, with tickets topping out in the $250 to $275 range.
Source: Blabbermouth
