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Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about

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Speaker 1: Guns n' Roses are insane. They brawled with cops, delp drugs,

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Speaker 1: robbed unsuspecting friends, fans, and one night stands. Singer Axel

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Speaker 1: Rose once slept with drummer Stephen Adler's girlfriend and recorded

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Speaker 1: her orgasm for an overdub in one of their songs.

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Speaker 1: Their music and the attitude that propelled it was so

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Speaker 1: authentic and so compelling that it instigated riots on multiple occasions.

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Speaker 1: Guns n' Roses was the real deal, violent, aggressive of

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Speaker 1: the street and for the street, a product of nineteen

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Speaker 1: eighties Los Angeles, as bipolar, as gnar, as notoriously short

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Speaker 1: tempered and moody frontman, hard and hedonistic all at once.

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Speaker 1: And they made great music. That music you heard at

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Speaker 1: the top of the show that wasn't great music. That

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Speaker 1: was a preset loop for my mellotron called Castro McQueen's

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Speaker 1: Last Call MK one. I played you that loop because

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Speaker 1: I can't afford the rights to roll with It by

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Speaker 1: Steve Winwood. And why would I play you that specific

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Speaker 1: slice of divorce rock Cheese? Could I afford it? Because

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Speaker 1: that was the number one song in America on August twentieth,

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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight, and that was the day Guns N'

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Speaker 1: Roses took the stage at Castle Donnington, kicking off one

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Speaker 1: of the deadliest days in rock and roll. On This

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Speaker 1: the first of a special two part episode to commence

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Speaker 1: season five, Castro McQueen's Last Call Divorce, Rock Cheese, Too

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Speaker 1: Dead at Donnington and Guns N' Roses. I'm Jake Brennan

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Speaker 1: and this this Disgraceland. David Bowie simply did not care

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Speaker 1: who her boyfriend was. He had to have her. She

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Speaker 1: was too much, too much for the eyes, his mysteriously

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Speaker 1: colored eyes, too much for the camera, too much for

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Speaker 1: the crew on the video set, and clearly too much

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Speaker 1: for her infamous lover, who was off somewhere else at

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Speaker 1: the moment, most likely pissed off about something.

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Speaker 2: Except for the fish nets.

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Speaker 1: She was wearing all leather, leather bra thong, knee high boots, bondage,

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Speaker 1: ballgag handcuffs, total s and m total vamp chips, tips, chains, whips.

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Speaker 1: You know, you're basically if your middle origin type of thing,

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Speaker 1: and she was drawing all the attention on set, even

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Speaker 1: from her boyfriend's bandmates, who, despite the fact that they

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Speaker 1: were accompanied by their own smoke show girlfriends couldn't avoid

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Speaker 1: seeking peeps at the video vam whenever she walked by

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Speaker 1: or took to her blocking under the lights. It was

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Speaker 1: a hyper sex charged situation. Steven Adler, drummer in the band,

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Speaker 1: did his best damask his lust, but there was almost

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Speaker 1: no use in trying. However, this was the singers and

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Speaker 1: best friend's girl. But the holy shit, she was something else.

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Speaker 1: She was rock and roll Royalty, born to one half

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Speaker 1: of the greatest harmony singing duo of all time, Don

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Speaker 1: Everley of the Everly Brothers. Aaron Everley, dark hair, big eyes,

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Speaker 1: oozing sex Appeal was in nineteen eighty nine, half of

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Speaker 1: rock's current royal couple, having hooked up with Axel Rose,

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Speaker 1: singer of what was fast becoming the biggest band on

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Speaker 1: the planet, then notorious Guns N' Roses. But David Bowie,

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Speaker 1: mister well hung and snow white Tan, couldn't care less.

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Speaker 1: He had to have her give her the royal Wham,

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Speaker 1: thank you man treatment, and Bowie, at the time was

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Speaker 1: enjoying in another career reinvention, this time as part of

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Speaker 1: the fantastic and indefinable Rock group Tin Machine and making

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Speaker 1: waves on stage and on MTV, and he was a

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Speaker 1: course already by this point legend. He was also a

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Speaker 1: sort of uncle Slash cool stepdad to Guns n' Roses

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Speaker 1: lead guitarist, whose mom was a costume designer back in

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Speaker 1: the seventies, and that's how she linked up with Bowie

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Speaker 1: designing his clothes during his manic Coke Field Thin White

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Speaker 1: Duke days. Their working relationship eventually turned sexual, and Bowie

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Speaker 1: took a shine to his costume designer's young son, Saul Hudson,

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Speaker 1: who would go on to become the one and only Slash,

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Speaker 1: and as fate would have it, by the time of

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Speaker 1: the eighties was coming to a close. Slash was in

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Speaker 1: a bigger band than Bowie at the time, which was

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Speaker 1: how David Bowie found himself on set for the Guns n'

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Speaker 1: Roses video shoot, checking in on Slash and seeing what

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Speaker 1: he and his band were all above.

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Speaker 2: That was the motivation anyway, The.

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Speaker 1: Leather eye candy ruling the day with her dime spot

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Speaker 1: sexuality was the bonus sweet child. At whoever she was,

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Speaker 1: it didn't matter, and it all happened so fast. One

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Speaker 1: minute Bowie was oggling Aaron the next her short tempered

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Speaker 1: boyfriend Axel was chasing him off the set and down

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Speaker 1: Lascianaga Boulevard, screaming.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna kill you ten men.

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Speaker 1: Supposedly, a punch was thrown and landed, but nobody really

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Speaker 1: knows what happened, except for Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton.

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Speaker 1: A few days after the Dusktop, Mick and Eric cornered

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Speaker 1: Axel backstage at a show, demanding to hear about the

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Speaker 1: heavily rumored fight with their old mate David Bowie. Axel

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Speaker 1: quickly told them the story, and none of it seemed

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Speaker 1: far fetched to Jagger and Clapton. Bowie had been moving

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Speaker 1: in on their women for years, and the two went

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Speaker 1: on back and forth to each other. By the time

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Speaker 1: Bowie did this, the time Bowie did that, Axel wasn't

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Speaker 1: even sure he was in the conversation anymore. Stood there

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Speaker 1: listening to two of his childhood heroes go on in

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Speaker 1: a spirited and highly comical conversation about the dude who

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Speaker 1: was hitting on his girlfriend days earlier, a duty still

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Speaker 1: wanted to pummel into oblivion, a dude who also just

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Speaker 1: happened to be none other than David fucking Bowie. Axel

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Speaker 1: couldn't help but think what the hell had he done

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Speaker 1: to end up with this insane life. Lafayette, Indiana, his hometown,

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Speaker 1: was a long way off in the rear view mirror.

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Speaker 1: Axel had a squint to see it with his mind's eye,

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Speaker 1: but the trauma and the shame of those days were

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Speaker 1: always burbling just beneath the surface, Surveying his daily routine,

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Speaker 1: his habits, his interactions, any in all events that would

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Speaker 1: provide an opportunity to explode his emotions. Ran The show

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Speaker 1: Volatile Artists doesn't even begin to explain the complexity and

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Speaker 1: behavior of Axel Rose, and there were constant physical altercations

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Speaker 1: with fans, friends, cops, neighbors, thin white dukes, and, according

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Speaker 1: to Aaron Everley, with her as well. Axel Rose, from

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Speaker 1: a young age had been scraping, clawing, fighting his way

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Speaker 1: away from something, something welling up inside, something horrific and indescribable.

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Speaker 1: It was a feeling he couldn't shake, and a feeling

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Speaker 1: that would drive him to create one of the most explosive.

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Speaker 2: Albums of all time.

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Speaker 1: Axel Rose felt at home on Saint Mark's Place in

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Speaker 1: Manhattan's East Village, he could feel the inspiration that drove

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Speaker 1: his heroes, the Ramones and the New York Dolls, to

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Speaker 1: create some of the most dangerous music he'd ever heard,

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Speaker 1: music that to this day February two, nineteen eighty eight,

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Speaker 1: still spoke to the angry.

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Speaker 2: Young man in him.

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Speaker 1: Squalor, crime and crime, punk rockers, skinheads and hippies, hanging

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Speaker 1: on for dear life, homeless people, drag queens, junkies and tourists.

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Speaker 1: Saint Mark's was a low key bohemian bizarre of countercultures

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Speaker 1: clashing up against one another in the form of hard

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Speaker 1: to find books, harder to find records, and imported porn

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Speaker 1: studded belts, Doctor Martin's boots, Leather for Days, and other edgy,

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Speaker 1: irreverent fashion items unavailable to the rest of America, like

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Speaker 1: that Charlie Don't Surf t shirt hanging in the window

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Speaker 1: of Trash in Vaudeville, the one with Manson's nineteen sixty

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Speaker 1: nine mugshot Big and Intense emblazoned across the front. Axel

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Speaker 1: thought it was killer, so he popped into the store

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Speaker 1: and had the dude with the peroxide hair and Eggy

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Speaker 1: Pop tattoo behind the counter grab it for him.

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Speaker 2: Axel wouldn't wear.

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Speaker 1: It on stage that night, though now he had his

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Speaker 1: thin Lizzie shirt teed up for that.

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Speaker 2: The show.

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Speaker 1: Later that evening at the Ritz, a couple blocks north

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Speaker 1: of Saint Mark's, was being broadcast live on MTV, and

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Speaker 1: Axel's band Guns Roses was wired tight for maximum rock

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Speaker 1: and roll America took notice when it aired.

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Speaker 2: The show was watched by a relatively.

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Speaker 1: Small audience of American teenagers up way past their bedtimes,

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Speaker 1: but the show was recorded on dusty VHS tapes and

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Speaker 1: passed around high school corridors repeatedly over the coming months

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Speaker 1: until the ferocity of Guns n' Roses was recognized and

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Speaker 1: salivated over en mass by high school kids everywhere. Axel

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Speaker 1: Rose came to life on the screen as a real

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Speaker 1: life version of The Breakfast Club's Johnny Bender. He was

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Speaker 1: the high school burnout who we all knew growing up,

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Speaker 1: the one who doubled down on shop electives and wore

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Speaker 1: ripped jeans out of necessity, not out of a sense

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Speaker 1: of fashion. The guy who sported self imposed cigarette burns

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Speaker 1: on his muscular forearms and was rumored.

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Speaker 2: To have a Budman tattoo on his ass.

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Speaker 1: This was the same dude who sat in the back

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Speaker 1: of the classroom and simultaneously frightened and attracted the cheerleaders,

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Speaker 1: those same cheerleaders who wouldn't give you the time of day.

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Speaker 1: You saw this dude standing alone, quiet at the edge

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Speaker 1: of the keg party up off of the train tracks.

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Speaker 1: You left him alone because you heard the story about

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Speaker 1: the time he busted the bottle of michelob across the

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Speaker 1: jock with the big mouth's face.

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Speaker 2: But inside you burned to know more about it.

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Speaker 1: What made him tick, what made him so pissed, and

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Speaker 1: what made him so fucking cool? And just like that kid,

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Speaker 1: Axel was filled with contempt and untapped confidence. On stage

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Speaker 1: at the Ritz, he could feel his anger. It was

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Speaker 1: something that had been building up in size since birth.

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Speaker 1: It was coming out one way or another, likely through

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Speaker 1: violent rage or petty crime or both, but rock and

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Speaker 1: roll saves. Otherwise Axel Rose would likely have been in

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Speaker 1: jail on that night instead of blowing the minds of

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Speaker 1: all in attendance, as well as everyone watching at home

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Speaker 1: on television and later on memorys. On stage, Axel looked

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Speaker 1: a little older than the millions of high school burnouts

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Speaker 1: who had soon come to worship him. In his band,

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Speaker 1: he was essentially the same angry young man he was

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Speaker 1: growing up back in Lafayette, Indiana. But at the Ritz

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Speaker 1: it was clear that his time had come and he'd

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Speaker 1: arrived for the murderous row of bandmates. Slash, the Bronzed

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Speaker 1: Mad Hatter, Adonnis, Izzy Straddlin with his Ronnie wood Via

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Speaker 1: Johnny Thunders, Cool Duff mckag and eleven feet Tall and

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Speaker 1: oozing punk rock, sex and excitement, and last the wide

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Speaker 1: eyed ball of heavy metal puppy Dog Charisma Stephen Adler,

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Speaker 1: a band that you could immediately tell never had a

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Speaker 1: fuck to give, and their live show was flawless. Even

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Speaker 1: with the flaws, it was flawless songs like the Didley

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Speaker 1: asque Mister Brownstone, the Jet Fueled Night Train and the

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Speaker 1: Showstopper Rocket Queen Veer from brilliant to train wreck and

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Speaker 1: back again, and the time it takes to Suck a

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Speaker 1: Marlborough Red from first flame down to toxic filter. Genarro

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Speaker 1: was from the Street in four the Street and their

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Speaker 1: lyrics represented a band living a hand and mouth life

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Speaker 1: of rock and roll debauchery and all two willing to

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Speaker 1: let themselves die.

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Speaker 2: In the pursuit of it.

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Speaker 1: You couldn't tell if they were creatively brave, risking it

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Speaker 1: all in the service of making totally authentic rock and roll,

200
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Speaker 1: or if they were just too stupid to know any better.

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Speaker 1: And through it all, the band was impossibly cool. Every shot,

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Speaker 1: every pose, every note, even the out of tune ones

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Speaker 1: from Slash, every vocal, even the ones from Axel Told

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Speaker 1: run out of Breath, all.

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Speaker 2: Combined to somehow make them seem even cooler.

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Speaker 1: And if you tried, you couldn't have created a more

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Speaker 1: representative version of a rock and roll band then the

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Speaker 1: one that Axel Rose took to the stage on February second,

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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight. You wouldn't know it from watching them,

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Speaker 1: but that band and the fuck all attitude that propelled it,

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Speaker 1: and more specifically, its singer, had been a long time

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Speaker 1: in the making. The crack from the back of the

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Speaker 1: hand to his mouth came quick, it was unexpected, and

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Speaker 1: it stung like a motherfucker. Young Axel could taste his

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Speaker 1: blood bubbling up from his lip. The damage could have

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Speaker 1: been worse, but luckily Axel's dad didn't wear rings. Jewelry

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Speaker 1: was too ostentatious for Pentecostal, So was Barry Manilow and

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Speaker 1: his number one hit Mandy, which was what put Axel

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Speaker 1: on the receiving end of another blow to the grill.

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Speaker 1: Axel made the mistake of absent mindedly singing along to

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Speaker 1: the song's chorus, with its lyrics that his dad somehow

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Speaker 1: considered sexually suggestive. What Axel seriously did not understand how

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Speaker 1: he was related to this dude, his old man, this

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Speaker 1: abusive religious nutback. But that was because Axel wasn't actually

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Speaker 1: related to him, He just didn't know it yet. And

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Speaker 1: then again, young Axel Rose didn't know much beyond led Zeppelin,

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Speaker 1: ri of Selton John melodies and pent up rage for

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Speaker 1: the man he thought was his father. Soon, young Axel

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Speaker 1: would learn that his father was really his stepfather and

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Speaker 1: that his real father was never to be brought up.

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Speaker 1: It was a discovery that did little to endear Axel

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Speaker 1: to his stepdad, and thus the violence continued. It wasn't

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Speaker 1: reserved for just Axel either, his stepdad, through his fist.

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Speaker 2: Around to keep Axel's mom in line as well.

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Speaker 1: Axel saw it all as a little boy and a teenager,

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Speaker 1: the beatings and.

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Speaker 2: The mental anguish, and.

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Speaker 1: By the time he was sixteen, Rock and roll was

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Speaker 1: his only salvation. That and his new friend Izzy, and

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Speaker 1: they vibed on the stones ACDC Arrowsmith and the new

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Speaker 1: Onslaught of British punk bands invading America, the sex Pistols,

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Speaker 1: Generation X and the Clash, and they also bonded over beer,

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Speaker 1: grass and pills, and of course the two of them,

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Speaker 1: especially Axel, took every opportunity possible to fuck with the

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Speaker 1: local authorities. Axel had a real hatred for the small

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Speaker 1: town conservative, square job local cops. To him, there were

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Speaker 1: just an extension of the repression and bullshit rules imposed

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Speaker 1: by his stepdad. Except out on the street he could

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Speaker 1: talk back and let Lucy in a rage. He carried

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Speaker 1: an arrest for disturbing the peace was worth it. He

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Speaker 1: could never let loose on his stepdad like he could

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Speaker 1: on the cops. Plus the cops would have to catch

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Speaker 1: him first, So Axel mouthed off to Lafayette's finest every

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Speaker 1: chance he got, and the cops, in turn, found a

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Speaker 1: special kind of satisfaction whenever they could bust his ass

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Speaker 1: and throw him in jail. And the result was a

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Speaker 1: long string of juvenile arrests for petty crimes, public drunkenness, loitering, etc.

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Speaker 1: Fucking with the cops was always fun, but music was

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Speaker 1: becoming the main focus for Axel and Crazy, and they

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Speaker 1: put a little band together and played when they could,

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Speaker 1: but mostly they studied and listened to the masters whenever

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Speaker 1: they got the chance. And their latest obsession was the

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Speaker 1: soundtrack album for the film Over the Edge, an adolescent

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Speaker 1: crime drama set in the fictional suburb of Granada, where

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Speaker 1: the town's kids, bored and tired of being neglected by

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Speaker 1: their parents and other authority figures, finally rebel, setting about

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Speaker 1: to destroy and terrorize their town through a fiery crime spree.

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Speaker 1: He could relate to the teenage wasteland anti authority vibe

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Speaker 1: at portrayed just like the kids in Granada, Axel felt neglected, ignored,

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Speaker 1: and oppressed, and was compelled to vent his unhappiness through violence.

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Speaker 1: Plus the movie soundtrack was the Shit Cheap Trick Van Halen,

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Speaker 1: the Cars, Jimi Hendricks, and even that ballot at the end,

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Speaker 1: the one by Valerie Carter that played while the kids

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Speaker 1: were busted off to juvenile Hall.

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Speaker 2: It was all right up Axel's alley. But Axel wouldn't

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Speaker 2: be shipped off to Juvie. He'd soon be on a

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Speaker 2: bus headed for a different kind of jungle altogether, Los Angeles, California.

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Speaker 2: We'll be right back after this word word word. Joe

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Speaker 2: Perry needed to score.

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Speaker 1: His band Aerosmith was indeed one of the biggest in

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Speaker 1: the world at the time.

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Speaker 2: That didn't change anything.

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Speaker 1: He was supposedly sober, clean, off the junk, and that

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00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:52,880
Speaker 1: was true, sure some of the time, But then there

285
00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,120
Speaker 1: were the days where he just needed the familiarity of

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00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:58,320
Speaker 1: a comforting buzz. The heroin would take it all away,

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Speaker 1: the pressure, the pain, and the reality of dealing with

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00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:04,200
Speaker 1: his frenetic high wire act of a frontman, Stephen Tyler,

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00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:08,200
Speaker 1: who had his own addiction, dragons to slay and procuring

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00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,800
Speaker 1: the dope discretion was of utmost importance. He couldn't go

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00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:14,240
Speaker 1: to any of the known dealers. Word might get out

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00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:16,399
Speaker 1: that he was off the wagon, back on the horrors,

293
00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:18,640
Speaker 1: back in the saddle, but not in a good way.

294
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Speaker 1: So he decided to try out a new dealer. He'd

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Speaker 1: heard a guitarist in one of the newer Aerosmith's clone

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00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:28,840
Speaker 1: bands playing down on the strip in the mid nineteen

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00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:31,280
Speaker 1: eighties on the side of Los Angeles were a mile

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00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,399
Speaker 1: and a half stretch of Sunset Boulevard curls through West

299
00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:38,439
Speaker 1: Hollywood and is known as the Strip or Sunset Strip.

300
00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,040
Speaker 1: A new kind of heavy metal was doing everything it

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00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:44,200
Speaker 1: could to put La on the musical map, glam metal.

302
00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,880
Speaker 1: Glam metal took its musical cues from British glam rock.

303
00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,000
Speaker 1: The sounds of bands like Sweet Slave, t Rex and

304
00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:55,359
Speaker 1: mot the Hoople traded on big, crunchy guitar riffs, deep

305
00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:59,960
Speaker 1: pocket grooves, sex laden vocals, and hedonistic lyrics. British glam

306
00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,159
Speaker 1: was a sophisticated kind of cool that owed much to

307
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Speaker 1: David Bowie and Queen, but its American offshoot, glam metal,

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00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,080
Speaker 1: kept one foot planet in the concrete jungles of Iggy

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00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,479
Speaker 1: Pop and Alice Cooper while peacocking through the glit streets

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Speaker 1: of Los Angeles. Fashion threaded the two styles together, but

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00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:20,920
Speaker 1: the US version was more masculine, tougher, and a touch

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00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:24,600
Speaker 1: of violent. La Glam bands like Motley Crue would meld

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Speaker 1: the androgyny of Mark Bowen with the apocalyptic look of

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Speaker 1: Mad Max, and the result was something wildly unique and

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Speaker 1: somehow representative of the violence tearing through the streets of

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles at the time. In nineteen eighty five, violent

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Speaker 1: crime in LA exploded to unprecedented levels due to the

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Speaker 1: city's heavy trafficking of crack cocaine. You couldn't avoid the

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00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:49,719
Speaker 1: headlines if you tried, but glam metal heads did their

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00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:53,000
Speaker 1: best to ignore the harsh reality enveloping their city by

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00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:56,360
Speaker 1: setting up their own bacchanalia on Sunset where every night

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00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,080
Speaker 1: they drank, drugged, and fucked away their worries to the

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Speaker 1: sounds of the strips hottest bands at the time, Wasp Rat, Poison,

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00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:07,160
Speaker 1: and the aforementioned Motley Crue, and there was no mistaking

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00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:09,200
Speaker 1: what LA's new music scene was all about.

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00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:12,280
Speaker 2: Debauchery, and their fans loved it.

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Speaker 1: They showed up every night on mass packing clubs like

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00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,439
Speaker 1: the Starwood and the Whiskey, a go go to get

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00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:19,960
Speaker 1: a glimpse of the hedonism up close and personal.

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00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:23,879
Speaker 2: Glam music was an escape from reality, unlike the.

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Speaker 1: Music being made on the other end of town, down

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00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:30,000
Speaker 1: in south central Los Angeles, where the effects of the

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00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:33,919
Speaker 1: crack epidemic were being felt most severely. Rap music, up

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00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,520
Speaker 1: until that point, mostly an East Coast export, was taking

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00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,000
Speaker 1: on a new identity, one that mirrored the harsh circumstances

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00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:42,760
Speaker 1: of Los Angeles street life.

337
00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:44,800
Speaker 2: It would come to be known as.

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00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:48,440
Speaker 1: Gangster rap, and where LA's glam rock ran from reality,

339
00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:52,199
Speaker 1: LA's gangster rap ran straight toward it and smacked it

340
00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:55,000
Speaker 1: in its mouth with the butt of a clock. The

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00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,800
Speaker 1: beats these LA rappers made were bigger than anything from

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Speaker 1: the East Coast, and the lyrics they spat out were

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00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,200
Speaker 1: more direct, honest, and profane than anything anyone had heard

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00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:05,440
Speaker 1: in music before.

345
00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:09,159
Speaker 2: Anywhere, and Axel Rose loved it, all of it.

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00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,480
Speaker 1: Mid eighties LA music was as fraught with tension and

347
00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:16,560
Speaker 1: manic energy as he was. It was bipolar on one end,

348
00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:20,119
Speaker 1: a low down slap of unforgiving reality, a gut punch

349
00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:23,280
Speaker 1: to authority, and on the other end, a high flying,

350
00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:27,720
Speaker 1: endless party distraction via debauchery. He could appreciate the scene

351
00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,440
Speaker 1: upon sunset, but in his heart he knew that there

352
00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:32,720
Speaker 1: wasn't one band among them who could fuck with what

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00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:33,320
Speaker 1: he and his.

354
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,399
Speaker 2: New bandmates were about to bring to the party.

355
00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:40,000
Speaker 1: Once Axel Rose arrived in Hollywood from Lafayette, Indiana, the

356
00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:44,439
Speaker 1: transformation from small town delinquent the street walking cheetah was quick.

357
00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:47,960
Speaker 1: After a few false starts, and along with his hometown

358
00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:53,359
Speaker 1: bud Izzy Axel formed Guns N' Roses out on the

359
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,320
Speaker 1: streets and in the clubs. The band quickly developed a

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00:20:56,359 --> 00:20:59,240
Speaker 1: reputation as the nastiest hard rock and roll band on

361
00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:02,960
Speaker 1: the Sunsets Strip. Let those other LA bands call themselves

362
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:06,480
Speaker 1: Glam Guns or GNR was going to stand out in

363
00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,520
Speaker 1: the scene by separating themselves from the scene. They weren't glam,

364
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,879
Speaker 1: they were hard, and they weren't metal. They were rock

365
00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:17,800
Speaker 1: hard rock, a simple but novel distinction to bring to

366
00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:21,879
Speaker 1: the stage on the Strip an off stage, Axel Izzy

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00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:25,760
Speaker 1: and their new bandmates slash Stuff and Steven lived the

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00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:29,840
Speaker 1: life authentically. They drank and drugged harder than Motley Cruz.

369
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,119
Speaker 1: They fucked more strippers than poison. They got into it

370
00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,280
Speaker 1: with the La County Sheriff's Department whenever they could, and

371
00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,959
Speaker 1: were quick to brawl with posers, yuppie squares, or whoever

372
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,800
Speaker 1: else got in their faces. They were the real deal

373
00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,760
Speaker 1: and their songs were great, totally authentic, and as such

374
00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:51,280
Speaker 1: the band's appeal was undeniable. They packed them in at

375
00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,240
Speaker 1: the Troubadour, the star Ward, and the Whiskey in nineteen

376
00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,840
Speaker 1: eighty six, GNR signed to Geffen Records despite fears from

377
00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:00,320
Speaker 1: executives that the band would be dead before before their

378
00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:04,119
Speaker 1: record was even released. The thinking among Geffen employees was

379
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:06,560
Speaker 1: that if the drink and drugs didn't get them, then

380
00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:11,600
Speaker 1: they'd self destruct. Via Axel's wild temper. The band was

381
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:15,840
Speaker 1: generally a mess. They were basically homeless. Guns and Roses

382
00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,400
Speaker 1: squatted in the rehearsal space, a one car sized storage

383
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:23,359
Speaker 1: unit off of Sunset Boulevard behind the Sunset Grill, and

384
00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:26,160
Speaker 1: they slept among their gear and there was no kitchen

385
00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:29,920
Speaker 1: and no bathroom. But there was a constant party. When

386
00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:32,760
Speaker 1: not rehearsing, which they did all the time, they'd get

387
00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,080
Speaker 1: high and get drunk on night train with the Horrors

388
00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:39,160
Speaker 1: from down on Hollywood Boulevard and party with members of Faster, Pussycat,

389
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,679
Speaker 1: Red Cross, and the looniest monster bands who liked to

390
00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,679
Speaker 1: mix it up together but likely never shared space on

391
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:50,160
Speaker 1: anyone's mix dat Soon young kids from the valley.

392
00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,040
Speaker 2: Started showing up to listen to the band rehearse.

393
00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:54,919
Speaker 1: Stephen and Slash would play nice for a bit and

394
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:56,680
Speaker 1: scam them out of their money into the guys of

395
00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,639
Speaker 1: procuring drugs for them. Axel didn't have time for such

396
00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,640
Speaker 1: pret tenses. He would just roll them for whatever cash

397
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:06,280
Speaker 1: he could get. Young women, valley girls and prostitutes alike

398
00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:10,080
Speaker 1: were subjected to a get naked or leave policy, and

399
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:12,640
Speaker 1: the fucking would spill out into the alley, and while

400
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,960
Speaker 1: little suburban valley boys realized their fantasies and gout with

401
00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:18,920
Speaker 1: the professionals from Hollywood and Vine, the guys in the

402
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,040
Speaker 1: band would empty their pants pockets for their cash and

403
00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:26,399
Speaker 1: clean out the purses of the less suspecting prostitutes. Word

404
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,960
Speaker 1: on the strip spread there was a party going on,

405
00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:33,919
Speaker 1: and it was wild, and Joe Perry couldn't believe his

406
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:38,639
Speaker 1: eyes broad daylight fucking in the streets, he saw his man,

407
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:42,480
Speaker 1: short dude, greasy black hair aviators sitting on the hood

408
00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:44,840
Speaker 1: of a car in the alley, restringing his less pall

409
00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:49,760
Speaker 1: to Joe. The kid reminded him of someone himself wired

410
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,399
Speaker 1: to the actions surrounding him, but despite it all, in

411
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 1: constant touch with his true love his guitar. Joe approached

412
00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:00,920
Speaker 1: the kid, looked up immediately recognized his tar god hero.

413
00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:03,920
Speaker 1: He also took note of the desperation in his eyes.

414
00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:08,440
Speaker 1: The Jones Joe Perry started talking. If there was any

415
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:11,320
Speaker 1: doubt before of who he was, it was immediately erased

416
00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:15,000
Speaker 1: by his thick Boston accent. Joe asked the kid, I'm

417
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,040
Speaker 1: looking for something, are you my man? The kid looked

418
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:22,359
Speaker 1: up from his guitar and deadpant, Hey, man, I'm just Izzy,

419
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:41,359
Speaker 1: But what can I get for you? On July twenty first,

420
00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:46,119
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven, Guns N' Roses' debut album, Appetite for Destruction.

421
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:46,680
Speaker 2: Was released.

422
00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:51,080
Speaker 1: Their stars started to slowly rise, but growing fame didn't

423
00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:56,159
Speaker 1: curtail the band's behavior, It only intensified it. Newfound celebrity

424
00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:59,080
Speaker 1: and notoriety started to create a sense of isolation for

425
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:03,160
Speaker 1: Axel Rose. Wherever he went, he believed most people were

426
00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:06,280
Speaker 1: trying to keep him down, just like the authority figures

427
00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:10,160
Speaker 1: back home. Nowadays, the cops, the record labeled, the promoters,

428
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,000
Speaker 1: and increasingly the press were all trying to bleed out

429
00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:15,000
Speaker 1: of him what it was that made him special in

430
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,400
Speaker 1: the first place, To get him to tone it down,

431
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,320
Speaker 1: to conform to their bullshit, to watch him bleed it

432
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:24,359
Speaker 1: made no sense. His sense of self was what was

433
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,480
Speaker 1: propelling his artistry and thus his band's popularity, and of

434
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:30,800
Speaker 1: course his behavior but now he was supposed to what

435
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,879
Speaker 1: becomes someone else, just because he now had a little fame,

436
00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:38,120
Speaker 1: It was making him paranoid and causing very dramatic mood swings.

437
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,640
Speaker 1: The mood swings were always there, but when the band

438
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:44,479
Speaker 1: was starting out, they'd derail a rehearsal or a party,

439
00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:47,760
Speaker 1: maybe a show. But as the band grew, so did

440
00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 1: the stakes. The mood swings at this stage of Axel's

441
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:55,119
Speaker 1: career were much harder for everyone to deal with. In

442
00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,560
Speaker 1: February nineteen eighty eight, just after their triumphant show at

443
00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,400
Speaker 1: the Ritz in New York City, Guns n' Roses embarked

444
00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,280
Speaker 1: on their first headlining tour. It was a big deal,

445
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:07,959
Speaker 1: and Axel was a big mess. He was jankier than

446
00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:13,960
Speaker 1: usual and emotionally volatile. On February twelfth, for unspecified reasons,

447
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:16,959
Speaker 1: Axel blew off one of the band's first headlining shows

448
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,280
Speaker 1: in Phoenix, Arizona. He went missing and no one knew

449
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,360
Speaker 1: where he was. The second show in Phoenix the next

450
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:28,200
Speaker 1: night was also canceled. Axel's bandmates were incensed. You don't

451
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:30,880
Speaker 1: pull a no show, not in the music business. It's

452
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,960
Speaker 1: a death sentence, a career killer, and they contemplated kicking

453
00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:36,480
Speaker 1: Axel out of the band for the offense, and he

454
00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:38,920
Speaker 1: had little contrition in less than the way of an excuse.

455
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 1: He simply didn't show and he simply didn't care. If

456
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,320
Speaker 1: they wanted to kick him out of the band, go ahead,

457
00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:45,639
Speaker 1: He told him who are you going to get to

458
00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:48,280
Speaker 1: replace me? And he knew his place in the band

459
00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,240
Speaker 1: was secure, but not without one major concession.

460
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:53,160
Speaker 2: Axel had to agree with.

461
00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:57,200
Speaker 1: His band management and label to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

462
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:02,880
Speaker 1: Straight jacket, metal head brace, strapped down on a steel chair,

463
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,640
Speaker 1: some sort of post World War two torture chamber type technique.

464
00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:10,560
Speaker 1: When people think of Axel Rose being psychologically evaluated by

465
00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,800
Speaker 1: a team of UCLA doctors, this is what they think of,

466
00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:16,639
Speaker 1: because this is the imagery and the famous Guns n'

467
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,919
Speaker 1: Roses music video for Welcome to the Jungle. When the

468
00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,040
Speaker 1: song breaks down toward the end, we see the serpentine

469
00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:26,959
Speaker 1: singer strapped in clockwork oranged opposite a wall of violent

470
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:30,560
Speaker 1: TV imagery. He looks insane, or at the very least

471
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:35,040
Speaker 1: is being treated as such. Its art imitating life in way,

472
00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 1: for Axel Rose, the real life evaluation was much scarier.

473
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:43,480
Speaker 1: What he saw the brief glimpse into his past while

474
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:48,080
Speaker 1: being mentally poked and prodded by doctors. It was truly traumatic,

475
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,159
Speaker 1: and despite Axel's pension to follow gg Allen's lead and

476
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,920
Speaker 1: the fuck authority, Axel knew the authority figures were finally

477
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,959
Speaker 1: onto something. With the diagnosis bipolar. Whatever that even was,

478
00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:03,600
Speaker 1: it sure explained a lot the mood swings, the violence,

479
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,920
Speaker 1: the intense irritability. At least now there was some sort

480
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,560
Speaker 1: of reason in something to treat or at the very

481
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,840
Speaker 1: least unpacked to rationalize things. And it was agreed by

482
00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:17,000
Speaker 1: everyone Axel would seek treatment and he'd be allowed back

483
00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:20,359
Speaker 1: in the band. But the mood swings didn't just all

484
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,040
Speaker 1: of a sudden stop. Axel in the rest of the

485
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,720
Speaker 1: Guns n' Roses camp might have had a loose explanation

486
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,080
Speaker 1: for what their volatile singer felt inside, but it didn't

487
00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:32,360
Speaker 1: just make the rage go away. And on August twentieth,

488
00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:35,439
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight, Axel Rose was thinking of none of

489
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:35,920
Speaker 1: this as.

490
00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 2: He took the stage.

491
00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:44,360
Speaker 1: Castle Donnington, England Monsters of Rock Festival on the bill

492
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:49,680
Speaker 1: Headliner's Iron Maiden direct support Kiss Below Them solo David

493
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,440
Speaker 1: Lee Roth and Megadeth on the Undercart, Guns N' Roses,

494
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:58,000
Speaker 1: and Openers Halloween. Aside from Halloween, the other acts were

495
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,480
Speaker 1: well established favorites, BUTS and Roses were fresh meat.

496
00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:02,680
Speaker 2: The new sensation.

497
00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:06,280
Speaker 1: Their single Sweet Child of Mine, released a month earlier,

498
00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:10,400
Speaker 1: was everywhere a monster hit, and as such G and

499
00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,440
Speaker 1: R were outperforming their positioning on the bottom of the bill.

500
00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:17,040
Speaker 1: Given their explosion of popularity at the time and the

501
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:21,040
Speaker 1: excitement surrounding their unique brand of American hard rock, Guns

502
00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:23,760
Speaker 1: and Roses could very well have headlined Monsters to Rock,

503
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,840
Speaker 1: and nobody would have gone home. Upset, Axel looked out

504
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,320
Speaker 1: into the crowd, an ocean of leather, long hair, and denim,

505
00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:34,800
Speaker 1: one hundred and ten thousand strong. It had been raining

506
00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,959
Speaker 1: for a week, and the festival grounds were muddy, messy,

507
00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 1: kind of like his band. The sky was dark, moody,

508
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,360
Speaker 1: just like him. The crowd was pitched with excitement, ready

509
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:48,120
Speaker 1: to embrace him, but also ready to buy back, a

510
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,960
Speaker 1: lot like those Axel loved and feared. At the same time,

511
00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:54,600
Speaker 1: those closest to him don't get too close. Don't get

512
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,000
Speaker 1: too close. Axel could feel that the whole band could.

513
00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,280
Speaker 1: This was a different type of crowd a different a

514
00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:04,040
Speaker 1: vibed than anything they'd encountered before, and there were homemade

515
00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:07,160
Speaker 1: guns and roses banners rising up from the crowd. A

516
00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:11,400
Speaker 1: chance started burbling up from the back, thunder in the distance.

517
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,720
Speaker 1: Random projectiles were being hurled around from impatient fans. A

518
00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:18,160
Speaker 1: squawk of feedback from Slash his less pall as he

519
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:20,880
Speaker 1: checked his hand. Two quick hits on the snare from

520
00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:25,280
Speaker 1: Stephen as he took his seat. The champ grew louder. Axel,

521
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:28,880
Speaker 1: from behind the drum kit nearly backstage, looked over Izzy

522
00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:31,680
Speaker 1: already on the stage, standing in front of his amp,

523
00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:36,520
Speaker 1: facing Axel, avoiding eye contact, dealing with detention, the anticipation

524
00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:39,960
Speaker 1: in his own way. His guitars slung over him, ltting

525
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:43,480
Speaker 1: a cigarette, and to his right bassis stuff McKagan all

526
00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,680
Speaker 1: twenty two feet of him, standing straight facing the crowd,

527
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,200
Speaker 1: his bass slung low nearly it seemed to his ankles,

528
00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:52,040
Speaker 1: ready to take the storm head on.

529
00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:55,360
Speaker 2: Axel looked Stephen in the eye. It was time.

530
00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:58,120
Speaker 1: Stephen knew what to do. He went at his toms

531
00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:00,680
Speaker 1: with a fury. It was a hiccup, a signal to

532
00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 1: the crowd.

533
00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,320
Speaker 2: Shit was about to go. Off, not quite yet.

534
00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:07,160
Speaker 1: The crowd nearly lost it at the first hint through

535
00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,040
Speaker 1: real music from the stage, and they could see the band,

536
00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:12,960
Speaker 1: everyone but Axel, who was mostly hidden behind the kit,

537
00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:16,960
Speaker 1: and they screamed and they chanted as he rolled the

538
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:19,600
Speaker 1: volume knob on his less pall to ten, gave his

539
00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:22,360
Speaker 1: strings a quick swap test his weapon, and turned and

540
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 1: nodded to Duff, who began beating his bass with the

541
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:28,640
Speaker 1: opening downstroke line for it so easy. With this, the

542
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:35,200
Speaker 1: crowd began screaming even louder, the drums and both guitars

543
00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:38,560
Speaker 1: claying down on the dusk's bassline. Stephen picked up with

544
00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:42,840
Speaker 1: the rolling snare, building the tension and the intro swelled.

545
00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:46,000
Speaker 1: The band hammered down into the song's opening riff, and

546
00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:50,040
Speaker 1: Axel sprinted out from backstage with mike in hand, and

547
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:54,440
Speaker 1: the crowd lost at the collective shit. The crowd saw nothing.

548
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:58,000
Speaker 1: They were blind with excitement. From the stage. The audience

549
00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:00,960
Speaker 1: looked so big and so energized that it seemed like

550
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:04,640
Speaker 1: it was all one giant mass of humanity. It surged

551
00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:09,200
Speaker 1: as one a big, scary lurch. All of the band

552
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,400
Speaker 1: members took notice, and this wasn't normal. There was no

553
00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:16,720
Speaker 1: crowd organization, no seating, barely any effect of security holding

554
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:20,360
Speaker 1: the crowd in place. The band hit the chorus, another

555
00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:24,160
Speaker 1: giant surge. Bottles were now raining down onto the crowd

556
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,040
Speaker 1: and the stage, big thirty two ounce beer bottles that

557
00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:30,320
Speaker 1: were purchased empty and then pissed into by the crowd

558
00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:34,120
Speaker 1: to avoid the bathroom lines. The little piss bombs exploded

559
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:38,240
Speaker 1: onto the stage. Slash exploded into the solo. The song

560
00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,160
Speaker 1: soon rapped. The band looked at each other with trepidation.

561
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:47,400
Speaker 1: Something clearly was right. They eased into their neck song, hesited, instinctively,

562
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:52,120
Speaker 1: afraid of what might happen, of what this crowd, this giant, unhinged,

563
00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:55,720
Speaker 1: unsecured men of crowd that was unlike anything any of

564
00:32:55,720 --> 00:33:00,200
Speaker 1: them had ever seen before, might do, and their hesitancy didn't.

565
00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:03,040
Speaker 1: Seconds into the next song, the crowd went ape shit.

566
00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:06,360
Speaker 1: It lurched forward again in one giant wave, and then

567
00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:08,280
Speaker 1: a hole in the middle of the crowd opened up.

568
00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:12,120
Speaker 1: Within seconds, bodies were sucked into an undertow of humanity.

569
00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:18,080
Speaker 1: A massive moshpit began. Most in the audience were powerless

570
00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:20,800
Speaker 1: to the will of the collective crowd. It moved as

571
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,720
Speaker 1: one fan's feet were lifted up off the ground and

572
00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:25,880
Speaker 1: their bodies swept up on top of the crowd, where

573
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,920
Speaker 1: they were passed over and over again until they'd eventually

574
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,440
Speaker 1: land back on their feet in an entirely different part

575
00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:35,200
Speaker 1: of the festival grounds. The violent collective movement of the

576
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:39,160
Speaker 1: audience was so intense that Izzy stopped playing. The rest

577
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,720
Speaker 1: of the band quickly followed suit. Axel tried his best

578
00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:44,960
Speaker 1: from the front of the stage to chill the crowd.

579
00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:48,760
Speaker 1: Out bodies began being pulled out of the muddy melee, injured,

580
00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:52,560
Speaker 1: in need of medical attention, but alive, order, it seemed,

581
00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:55,720
Speaker 1: had been restored. The band kicked back into their set

582
00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:59,600
Speaker 1: with Paradise City, and then shit got real.

583
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,080
Speaker 2: The Masian Ultra Violet relentless.

584
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:16,600
Speaker 1: Tens of thousands of people worked into a fit, slamming

585
00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:18,759
Speaker 1: wildly into each other to the sounds of what was

586
00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:22,040
Speaker 1: now clearly the most dangerous band on the planet in

587
00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,160
Speaker 1: front of them. Off of the center of the stage,

588
00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:27,880
Speaker 1: the crowd collapsed into itself. Thirty to fifty people sank

589
00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:30,840
Speaker 1: down and into the muddy ground, and when they did,

590
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,480
Speaker 1: a wave of more fans washed over them. Most tripped,

591
00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:38,719
Speaker 1: some fell, Swarms of bodies passed overhead, trampling others under

592
00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:42,439
Speaker 1: their feet. The crowd continued to sway uncontrollably as one,

593
00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:44,799
Speaker 1: and with a single false move, it seemed to the

594
00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,359
Speaker 1: band that it could collapse in on itself again at

595
00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:50,600
Speaker 1: any moment, or perhaps even overtake the stage, and.

596
00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:51,719
Speaker 2: The band was frightened.

597
00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:55,520
Speaker 1: They tried cooling things down with a new acoustic number, Patients,

598
00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:58,160
Speaker 1: and then gave it one more shot with Sweet Child

599
00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:01,120
Speaker 1: of Mind, but it was no use. The crowd was

600
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:05,760
Speaker 1: too intense, too terrifying, and after the tune the band bailed.

601
00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:08,880
Speaker 1: Axel's temper once again got the better of him, and

602
00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:11,880
Speaker 1: he spat into the mic before leaving the stage, have

603
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:14,800
Speaker 1: a great fucking day, and try not to fucking kill yourselves.

604
00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:18,640
Speaker 1: Little did he know two of his fans in the

605
00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:22,200
Speaker 1: crowd were already dead, stomped to death during his band's

606
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:26,279
Speaker 1: short set. Both bodies were so mangled they needed to

607
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:30,640
Speaker 1: be identified by the tattoos on their arms. When the

608
00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:34,680
Speaker 1: band learned of the deaths, they were devastated, shocked, and saddened.

609
00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:37,600
Speaker 1: When they learned that the press was blaming the band

610
00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:40,759
Speaker 1: for the deaths, they were pissed. The newspapers and the

611
00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:44,480
Speaker 1: magazines neglected to report the Guns n' Roses had stopped

612
00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:47,120
Speaker 1: the show multiple times, or that they had cut their

613
00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:49,840
Speaker 1: short set due to the violence, and the press is

614
00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:52,560
Speaker 1: categorization of the event of the dead kids at the

615
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:55,040
Speaker 1: concert that it was all somehow the fault of the

616
00:35:55,120 --> 00:36:00,279
Speaker 1: dangerous rockers from hedonistic Los Angeles was total bullshit. Band

617
00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:02,440
Speaker 1: knew it, and the press, if they were being honest

618
00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:06,200
Speaker 1: with themselves, knew it too. But the truth doesn't necessarily sell,

619
00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:10,960
Speaker 1: and so began Axelrose's long term war with the media.

620
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:13,759
Speaker 2: It seemed to him that the press.

621
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:17,279
Speaker 1: Had no appetite for the truth, only an appetite for

622
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:18,600
Speaker 1: his personal destruction.

623
00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:23,960
Speaker 2: It was a complete disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan and this

624
00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:25,560
Speaker 2: is Disgraceland.

625
00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:46,680
Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in partnership.

626
00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:47,120
Speaker 2: With Double Elvis.

627
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:49,719
Speaker 1: Credits for this episode can be found on the show

628
00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:53,480
Speaker 1: notes page at disgracelandpod dot com. If you're listening as

629
00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:56,839
Speaker 1: a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you for supporting the show.

630
00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:59,600
Speaker 1: We really appreciate it, and if not, you can become

631
00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:03,080
Speaker 1: a member right now by going to disgracelampod dot com

632
00:37:03,080 --> 00:37:07,440
Speaker 1: Slash membership members can listen to every episode of disgracelanm

633
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:11,440
Speaker 1: Ad free, Plus you'll get one brand new exclusive episode

634
00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:15,719
Speaker 1: every month, weekly unscripted bonus episodes, special audio collections, and

635
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:20,640
Speaker 1: early access to merchandise and events. Visit disgracelampod dot com

636
00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:23,840
Speaker 1: slash membership for details, Rate and review the show, and

637
00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:27,920
Speaker 1: follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook at disgracelampod

638
00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:32,680
Speaker 1: and on YouTube at YouTube dot com slash at Disgracelampod

639
00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:33,560
Speaker 1: Rock a Roller

640
00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:37,520
Speaker 2: He then Man