GnR in Prosebox Desert Island Discs

I love Guns N Roses - all thru my teenage years they were the soundtrack to my life. I had a life size poster of Axl on my bedroom wall. My fish were called Axl and Duff. I had every album, every video, every book.

It is still excellent music and Patience and Used To Love Her still feature on my ipod.

So the news that they are coming back on tour is awesome. AgentX for some sort of nostalgic reason is seeing them in Manchester and I’m going to the Scottish shows. Yay for having a music promoter boyfriend - he can actually get tickets!

It’s especially awesome because my mother for spurious and pointless reasons grounded me when I got tickets to their Milton Keynes Superbowl show on the Use Your Illusions tour. Seriously… This was the only time I’ve ever asked her permission to go to a show - and she said yes initially then ummed about it then made up an excuse why i couldn’t go. I had the bloody tickets - I’d sorted a lift. I was going with a big group of friends. I honestly do not know what her problem was.... actually I do - she was probably reading the Daily Mail again and thought my brain would be infected by the death metal bug or worshipping Satan or something. She had a similar reaction to dance music being played in our house - apparently it makes you take drugs. Sigh.

It’s the first and last time i ever asked her and ever since then I’ve just gone without bothering to ask. Actually my dad is very cool about my teenage music obsession… i seem to recall him coming to a gig I was managing at King Tuts and buying everyone in the bar a drink. I still get asked when my dad is coming back in 20 odd years later.

Due to the very unfair grounding he also let me skive off school to see Bon Jovi and even sorted me some press passes a while after that… mum didn’t speak to him for about 3 weeks after that.

Weirdly I have met Slash before - I went into the wrong studio for a band rehearsal and he was auditioning a guitarist for Slash’s Snakepit. He was kinda confused and thought I was there for the audition so god knows who he thought I was. He was really nice though.

My pal is also one of the original LA crew who helped them get their careers in gear so she regales me with debauched tales of drunken antics if I ask her nicely. It’s very funny. As a band of essentially teenagers, i guess you just do whatever you can get away with. I wonder if being on the road as 50 year olds is much different?

AgentX quite often does older bands and they change the safety briefing before shows to take account of heart attacks and strokes instead of drug overdoses… and put teleprompters up so they remember the lyrics!