As the clock ticks down towards the next round of inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – which this year welcomes Guns N’ Roses, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Beastie Boys and others – the burning question of whether the long-fractured GN’R will perform together heats up.
While it seems likely original members Slash, Ax Rose, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin and Steven Adler (along with later members Dizzy Reed and Matt Sorum) will be in Cleveland on April 14, recent remarks by both Slash and McKagan seem to dial up the ambiguity... or dial down the possibility, depending on your POV.
Speaking with the Associated Press (see the clip below), Slash said: "I have no idea what's going to happen on that day. It's hard for me to even… I'm not really necessarily anticipating anything in particular.
"It's on the 14th and I'll go down there and see what happens. With all this, sort of, lack of unity on the subject, it's hard to really look forward to it, 'cause I don't know what to anticipate. So it's more like going into it with blinders on and just see what happens."
Well gee, thanks for that, Slash. When this rock guitarist thing gets old, you should consider a job as a politician… someone who speaks a lot but never really communicates anything with gravitas.
Maddeningly, bassist McKagan – who can usually be counted on to be a straight-shooter (see his 2011 memoir It's So Easy (And Other Lies) and ongoing column in Seattle Weekly) is also talking circles about a possible reunion performance at the HOF ceremony.
"I know I'm going to go. I can't, at all, speak for anybody else,” he tells RollingStone.com. “I'll be there with bells on. There's been no communication about anyone playing. There was probably a day in the mid-1990s where I would have tried to gather the troops, but I'm just not that guy anymore. It's too frustrating to change anyone else... I'm not even sure I'd want to change how anyone else sees a situation."
So maybe yes, maybe no… guess we’ll all have to subscribe to HBO to catch the rebroadcast scheduled for May. Axl, dude… the world is watching.
