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

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

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 gues

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,

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

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 t

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 dr

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 t

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

“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 scand

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 member