Steven Adler wants to re-join Guns N’ Roses for Appetite For Destruction 30th anniversary gigs
He's spoken to Slash about his idea
Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler says he’s spoken to Slash about re-joining the band alongside Izzy Stradlin.
In an in-depth interview with the One on One With Mitch Lafon podcast, Adler, who has only made two cameo appearances on the ‘Not In This Lifetime… Tour’, says he’s hoping to play some more gigs to mark the 30th anniversary of ‘Appetite For Destruction’.
“I asked Slash if he would talk to Axl about that,” the drummer says. “Like in July it’s 30 years since Appetite came out. I was thinking why don’t we just do like 4 or 5 shows at the Hollywood Bowl, play Appetite from beginning to end, throw in ‘Civil War’ and something like ‘Patience.’
“Record it, videotape it, that’s it, if that’s all you want to do. If Axl is happy after that, we could do more. But I thought that would be really cool, but that’s my idea. If it was up to me, it would be a different story.”
Reflecting on the Guns N’ Roses’ current tour, Steven continued: “What I want it to be is the five of us, and what Axl wants it to be is what he wants it to be, and I respect him for it.
“I’m just glad I got to be part of the good part, when it was fun and exciting. It was magical when we were together, even back then our worst show was great.”
He added: “I have closure to where if they want to do it the right way, the five of us, and like I said, I’ll share the stage with Frank (Ferrer, current drummer), I don’t care, as long as I’m there doing my songs, I don’t care.
“But If they want to do it the five of us, I’m there, I love those guys. I’m proud of what the five of us did, and since the five of us are still alive, I think the five of us should play for our fin’ fans. Give them what they want. I live a beautiful comfortable life because all five of us love our fin’ music.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Steven spoke candidly about the gut-wrenching moment Duff McKagan told him he wouldn’t be part of the reunion tour.
He explained: “The understanding was I was going to do all the Appetite, the live, and three or four of the Use Your Illusions songs, and then Frank, who is a wonderful awesome guy, he was going to do like the Chinese Democracy stuff and a couple of the other songs.
“I had been playing like 25 songs twice a day for almost two years, every day, so I was ready to go. Then the second rehearsal, I came into the rehearsal in March, and f***in’ second day, I just stretched, all I did was stretch. I pulled my arm and went ow. I went, I just did something. Then we played another 7 songs, and then my back was really sore, and I came home at about 8 at night, then by midnight I couldn’t even stand up. It was just terrible.
“I was out for two weeks, and then I got the epidural after about a week, and then I had the surgery. I was ready when they did the Troubadour show, and Duff called me and said, ‘Dude, you’re not going to play with us anymore, you’re not going to do these shows.’ I went, ‘You’re the worst f***ing person in the world,’ and I hung up on him. I called him back and left a message saying, ‘I’m so sorry I said that.’ When I said he was the worst person in the world, I didn’t mean he was, I was thinking I was the worst person in the world.
“I couldn’t even get back with my f***in’ guys after they gave me this opportunity, but I said it to him. When you have resentment, you say things that you’re feeling, and I was feeling it about me, and I said it about him. I couldn’t apologise to him enough, because he knows I love him more than anything. Obviously, I got to apologise, because we did shows together, and he understood.”