THE FIRST 50 GIGS: Guns N‘ Roses and the Making of Appetite for Destruction

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Episode #10: Featuring Steven Adler Jul 20, 2022

For our final interview of Season One, we catch up with Steven Adler in his home in Los Angeles to talk about his early days with Slash, Marc Canter’s dedication to the band, the first rehearsal of the Appetite lineup, and the infamous Hell Tour. Steven grew up in the San Fernando Valley and became friends with Slash in junior high school. They cycled in and out of various bands between 1984 and 1985 such as Roadcrew and The New Hollywood Rose. In June 1985, Steven was called by Slash to replace Rob Gardner as the drummer for the newly formed Guns N' Roses and completed the Appetite lineup with Axl, Izzy, Duff and Slash. Steven can be heard on Appetite for Destruction and their second studio album GN'R Lies, and he toured the world with the band before leaving in 1990.

In this episode you’ll:

Hear about Steven Adler meeting Marc Canter and Slash in junior high school and introducing Slash to the guitar.
Learn about the bands and musicians that inspired Steven to become a drummer and what was behind his drive to become the best drummer he could possibly be.
Listen to the story about Steven almost joining the Navy instead of joining Guns N' Roses.
Find out about Steven’s experiences in GNR and the important role the band played in his life.

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Episode #9: Hell Tour Featuring Danny Biral Jul 06, 2022

We pick things up only 48 hours after the newly formed Appetite lineup finishes their first gig together at The Troubadour on June 6, 1985. The band quickly packs up their gear and heads north on the I-5 corridor toward Seattle for a Northwest tour that Duff originally coined, “The Shakeout Tour,” but quickly becomes known as “The Hell Tour” instead.

Danny Biral is our guest on this episode; a friend and roadie for the band and the captain of their ship who commandeered a green Pontiac Catalina station wagon and a stolen gas card for this excursion to the Northwest.

In this episode you’ll:

Hear from GNR friend, roadie, and Hell Tour driver, Danny Biral, about his relationship with the band and how he became the driver for Hell Tour.
Learn about how quickly mishap turns to madness on the I-5 corridor.
Listen to Hell Tour stories directly from Slash and Duff such as hitching a ride with a speed freak truck driver.
Find out how Hell Tour strengthened and solidified the Appetite lineup but didn’t insulate them from interpersonal problems once they returned to the Strip.

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Episode #8: The Appetite for Destruction Lineup is Born Jun 15, 2022

We pick things up after Tracii and Rob leave Guns N’ Roses and the revolving door of band members spins for the final time. Slash and Steven agree to join Guns N' Roses and hit the road for the Northwest Tour that Duff planned but need to quickly get up to speed on the set list for an upcoming show at the Troubadour -- the Appetite lineup's first gig as a band that featured Axl, Izzy, Duff, Slash and Steven.

In this episode you’ll:

Hear Marc Canter's first-hand account of this crucial lineup change and how it all came together.
Hear about Slash and Steven joining Guns N’ Roses and quickly preparing for the Troubadour gig and the Northwest tour (aka the Shakeout Tour/Hell Tour).
Listen to Duff and Slash describe the Appetite lineup coming together and rehearsing for the first time.
Listen to Marc’s experience photographing and recording the band at their first gig as the Appetite lineup.

Links:

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Episode #7: Rob Gardner Original Drummer for L.A. Guns and Guns N' Roses Jun 01, 2022

During the Fall of 1984, The New Hollywood Rose had called it quits, Izzy had joined London, and at that time, Rob Gardner was playing drums in a band with Tracii Guns called L.A. Guns. Eventually Raz Cue would get involved with L.A. Guns and encourage not only a member lineup but also a name change which would result in the creation of Guns N’ Roses. As the original drummer for Guns N’ Roses, Rob helped create and influence the band’s sound and although his involvement with the band ended early, the blood, sweat, tears and grooves that Rob poured into Pyrrhus, L.A. Guns and Guns N’ Roses can still be heard today as it is forever pressed into the vinyl of Appetite for Destruction. Rob shares with us his first-hand account of everything that led to the creation of the original lineup of Guns N’ Roses.

In this episode you’ll:

Hear about Rob moving to L.A. in high school and meeting Izzy, Tracii and Mike Jagosz.
Hear about Rob’s former bands Pyrrhus and L.A. Guns and how L.A. Guns eventually became Guns N’ Roses.
Listen to an excerpt from the recording of the first Guns N’ Roses radio appearance.
Hear about the various lineup changes of the bands Rob played in, including Guns N’ Roses.
Learn from Rob why he and Tracii left Guns N’ Roses.
Hear how he felt when he left the band then and how he feels about it all now looking back on everything that happened.

Links:

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Episode #6: First 50 Gigs Mid-Season Recap Dec 18, 2021

We got The First 50 Gigs team together to recap the first five episodes of the First 50 Gigs and the Appetite lineup origin story. In this episode, Marc Canter, Jason Porath, and host Mina McNair fill in the gaps as we spin our way through the incestuous revolving doors of bands and musicians that ultimately led to Guns N' Roses. From Slash's garage bands Tidus Sloan and Roadcrew to Rose and the New Hollywood Rose, we talk about what we learned from our guests, take you behind the scenes of our production, share new stories and preview what's to come for the rest of Season One.

In this episode, you'll:

Learn about Slash's audition for KISS.
Understand why the New Hollywood Rose was only one step away from the Appetite lineup of Guns N' Roses.
Hear about what's coming up for the rest of Season One.

Links:

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Episode #5: Bassist Steve Darrow talks about his time in the New Hollywood Rose Oct 12, 2021

We continue the origin story of the Appetite lineup by following what Slash called “the incestuous revolving door of band and musicians.” Our guest Steve Darrow was the bass player for the New Hollywood Rose after Chris Weber and the Hollywood Rose broke up. Izzy and Axl started the New Hollywood Rose by recruiting Steve Darrow in 1984, as well as another guitar player and a drummer (can you guess who?). Izzy preferred only one guitar player in the band and left the New Hollywood Rose, joining London with Nadir D’ Priest.

In this episode, you’ll:

• Hear how Steve Darrow met Axl and Izzy and how their love of Hanoi Rocks, Aerosmith and mash up of metal bands shaped their sound.

• Watch the first time Axl, Slash and Steven Adler and Steve Darrow play together and how Steven Adler managed to get through his first live performance.

• Understand how the New Hollywood Rose look and sound evolved from metal to glam.

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Episode #4: Chris Weber Discusses A.X.L, Rose and Hollywood Rose Sep 28, 2021

In Episode 4 we pick up the narrative thread of the origin of the Appetite lineup of Guns N’ Roses. In 1983, bass player Chris Weber, singer Bill Bailey and guitarist Izzy Stradlin formed the trio known as A.X.L. They later changed the name to Rose and then Hollywood Rose. Today we talk to Chris about forming the band and his legacy as it relates to Appetite for Destruction.

In this episode, you’ll:

• Hear the origin story of Rose and Hollywood Rose and how it set the revolving door in motion that ultimately led to the formation of Guns N’ Roses.

• Listen to the demos that Hollywood Rose cut in order to book clubs and was later packaged and released as The Roots of Guns N’ Roses by Cleopatra Records

• Discover how Chris felt about the end of Hollywood Rose and what it means to him to have been a part of this history.

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The Roots of Guns N’ Roses: https://www.amazon.com/Roots-Guns-N-Roses/dp/B004HZL8HS

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Episode #3: Welcome to the Jungle (Part 2) Ft. Domenic Priore Sep 14, 2021

Domenic Priore, author of Riot on the Sunset Strip, picks up where we left off in 1966 on the Sunset Strip during the counterculture riots and takes us on a rock n’ roll historical journey in L.A. from the 60s to the 90s that includes bands like The Byrds, The Doors, Van Halen and Guns N’ Roses.

This was the era that shifted the center of gravity of rock n’ roll from New York to Los Angeles.

In this episode, you’ll:

• Hear how the City of Los Angeles, in an attempt to shut down the clubs on the strip, instituted a curfew and sparked a counterculture revolution.

• See how the former Hollywood showcase clubs reinvented themselves with the electrification of rock n’ roll and spawned a new generation of legendary clubs like the Troubadour, The Whisky a Go-Go and The Roxy.

• Learn how bands like Van Halen and Guns N’ Roses capitalized on the increasing separation of music into genres on radio stations.

To see the incredible historical archive of photographs we draw upon to illustrate this story, become a subscriber on our Patreon site where you’ll get all the visual content, bonus episodes, galleries and more.

Links:

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Riot on the Sunset Strip: https://www.amazon.com/Riot-Sunset-Strip-Hollywood-Revised/dp/1908279907

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Episode #2: Welcome to the Jungle (Part 1), Ft. Laurie Jacobson Aug 31, 2021

“Do you know where you are? You’re in the Jungle baby!” In Episode 2 of the First 50 Gigs, we’re taking you back…all the way back to the origin of the Sunset Strip and answer Axl’s eternal question with Hollywood historian Laurie Jacobson, author of Dishing Hollywood: The Real Scope on Tinseltown’s Most Notorious Scandals

In this episode you’ll:

• Relive the scandalous history that gave rise to the Sunset Strip and how it became a throughway for Hollywood elite to commute from Beverly Hills to Hollywood.

• See the rise of legendary nightclubs on the Strip that showcased the biggest stars of the 20s, 30s, 40’s and 50’s.

• Witness the eventual decline of the Sunset Strip when a new “strip” took its place, Las Vegas, and learn how a new generation of clubs rose from the ashes of Hollywood to birth a new movement in music with the electrification of rock n’ roll.

Links:

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Dishing Hollywood: The Real Scope on Tinseltown’s Most Notorious Scandals: https://www.amazon.com/Dishing-Hollywood-Tinseltowns-Notorious-Scandals/dp/1581823703

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Episode #1: Slash‘s Garage Bands Ft:Adam Greenberg Aug 15, 2021

In this first episode, we’re going back to the beginning when Marc and Slash become friends in elementary school and bond over their love of Aerosmith and dirt bikes. Slash invited Marc to a rehearsal of his new band Tidus Sloan in 1981 and with Marc’s camera in hand, the journey of the First 50 Gigs began. Also on the episode, we have Adam Greenberg, one of the founding members of Tidus Sloan and Roadcrew.

In this episode you’ll:

• Hear the first-ever live recordings of Slash playing guitar

• Find out what drove Marc Canter to document his friend

• Hear how Adam Greenberg formed Tidus Sloan and Roadcrew, but then was replaced by a future member of the Appetite lineup of GNR.

Links:

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Episode 0: Series Introduction Jul 31, 2021

Welcome to the series introduction of The First 50 Gigs: Guns N' Roses and the Making of Appetite for Destruction where you'll get a front-row seat to experience the play-by-play living history of one of the most iconic bands to launch out of Los Angeles in the mid-1980s.

In this episode, you'll:

Meet Slash's best friend, Marc Canter who photographed every single gig Slash played in since high school, including the two years he played with Guns N' Roses on the Sunset Strip.
Find out what this show is all about and why we're making this for the fans now.
Preview content we're releasing in Season 1 and talk about what we have in store for all five seasons.

Links:

Watch this full episode on YouTube

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Reckless Road: https://www.amazon.com/Reckless-Road-Making-Appetite-Destruction/dp/0979341876

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