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THE ROCK IN RIO REHEARSAL (2001)
by Bryan Mantia

The stories I have with Guns... Everybody, who, I think, has been in Guns, can write a book. Eight years, or whatever I was in, I figure I could write one, too. The most ridiculous stories ever. The tours, and I don't know if you even want to get into those, or whatever, but...

The thing that wore me out was... At first, I thought it was funny, it was cool, to be at a gig that was supposed to start at 10PM, or maybe even earlier, 8.39, and now it's 12.30PM, and the crowd's going crazy and Axl's still getting his masseuse, and the tension.

But you do that for three years, and you start go, 'I'm kind of ready to play at 8PM. I just wanna do that and eat my ****in' pizza and go to sleep.'


[Host: You're on his clock.
Brain: Yeah, and after a while, that just kinda got me. To me, the whole 'Chaos Never Dies' with Bill Laswell, and Buckethead and the puppet, and then with Axl - you know, he's the ultimate puppet master, because nothing happens unless he says yes, or whatever. And some of the freedom we had, it was all also like, what killed it for me, because it was just too much.]

I can describe it in one story. We were getting ready for Rock in Rio. I think we rented out the Sony [lot], where they did the Wizard of Oz. It was this huge lot. And he wanted the whole stage set up that we were gonna have at Rock in Rio, so we had to go there, because they had to mark it out.

So, we're there rehearsing. Rehearsals started at midnight. First of all, you need to switch your whole schedule around. We rehearsed the set for a month. He didn't show up. We'd always get that call at 4 in the morning, saying, 'Uh oh. He might come.' So, we'd all have to be ready to play, but I think it was the day before the gear was supposed to leave.

I think the crew had been there since 8 in the morning, setting up. They have to break it down and the gear has to leave, literally the next morning. Well, we're there and on this particular day, we rehearsed the set, two and half hours. Did the whole set.

It's probably 3 in the morning, now. Axl calls from Malibu. He's coming. And he wants to see the whole set again. He wants to watch the show. Everybody's like, OK. We'd rehearsed only the music. He would never sing with us. He wants to come and watch it, so they put a couch out, we're on this big soundstage and there's a little couch next to the soundboard, right in front of the sound guy.


We'd already played for two and a half hours. He's coming to check it out. Well, an hour goes by. 'Is he REALLY coming?' The road crew, everybody's asleep by now, next to their gear. 'Yeah, he wants to come, but the problem is, he wants to see the WHOLE show, pyro and everything.

So, we're like, 'Wait. I think, each time the pyro guy hits the ****in' thing, it's like $300,000 for each bomb that's gonna go up. But, we're going to do it on this soundstage, and in order to make that happen, they got to get the fire department down here.'

Now the fire department comes down, but I think they're digging it. They're thinking, 'I get to watch Guns N' Roses rehearse, so whatever.' They show up, we play the set and now, it's probably 5AM.

All I can remember is, I'm playing November Rain. They have the curtain of sparks bouncing off my cymbals, burning my face, getting on my shorts and **** like that. The door opens - it's DAYLIGHT! You see people coming to work.

We're playing now, we've been up since 12 o'clock, the road crew has been up since 8AM, for 24 hours. He's in the chair with his arms crossed, just watching. Bombs, fireworks, everything's ****in' going off.

We end with Paradise City, doing the ****in' shuffle thing [in the last part of the song], they blew the confetti ****, the **** that they do at the Superbowl that goes all over, and has six inches off the ground of a football field, so you can imagine how much it filled this place up.

And dude, I'm not joking, it's like 7.30/8 in the morning. It's the most surreal moment. In my mind, I'm just going, 'Who's gotta ****in' clean the confetti? What are we doing? Some poor guy has to sweep ****in' six inches of confetti.'

We hit the last note. He gets up, walks out. Never said a word, didn't see him. We just get up, everybody goes home and the next time we saw him was in Rock in Rio. That's sort of Guns in a nutshell. The chaos and what happens.


[Host: There's no such thing as hanging as a band with Axl.
Brain: Well, I mean, there is. We hang, but I just meant that's the kind of chaos that would be around it.
Host: Just stupid ****.
Brain: Well, you would just think like, 'What are we doing? Someone's gotta blow confetti at 7.30 in the morning at the Sony lot. It has to happen, it REALLY has to happen.
Host: Really?
Brain: Yeah.
Host: We're doing this now?
Brain: Yeah, dude. I don't wanna talk ****, because it was the greatest time ever - it really was awesome! I have to tell these stories, but it's nothing against Axl. He was always very good, it's just this is how he rolled. This was the gig.
Host: This is what he gets away with.
Brain: Yeah. This is the gig. We're gonna blow confetti at 7.30 in the morning. Playing in a shuffle. A ****in' shuffle! Buckethead's doing ****in' breakdancing on the side while the shuffle's happening. He's moonwalking. Really? This is as good as it gets.]

Just the boogie woogie shuffle is what really took me out. The stupidity in me going like, 'I wonder if I can really do at 7.30 in the morning what Adler was doing on the album, which is three notes in a row?' He's doing it with ****in' one foot! I couldn't do it. 7.30 in the morning with the confetti? Not good enough.

[Host: That's one of the toughest grooves.
Brain: Yeah! That's hard to play.
Host: Yes, it is!
Brain: With one foot, it's really hard to play.
Host: It gave you a new respect for Steven Adler.
Brain: Yeah. But he might've not had to do it at 7.30 with the confetti. And I had to do the set three hours before or whatever.
Host: Did you ever talk to Matt Sorum or any of the guys at that point?
Brain: He never came around. Steven Adler came to a couple of shows, he came to the Vegas show. But, I've never met Matt Sorum.
Host: I was just curious if you ever talk shop with any of the other guys?
Brain: No, there were stories that were going around about the previous band and the chaos in that.
Host: The Josh thing.
Brain: Yeah. That's why I was like, everybody can talk about this. Everybody can write their own book. It just keeps going.