17 Years Ago Today Guns N‘ Roses Surprised the VMAs

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Technically tomorrow, but I just noticed and thought I’d post before I forgot.

Anyway, it was Axl’s band as it was just him left and Illusion era keyboardist Dizzy Reed. I had been waiting years for a new album and was sure after this there finally would be. And there was. 6 years later.

In retrospect I think this is one of those moments that really look like MTV was losing its grasp on pop culture. I mean I was excited as a GNR super fan, but I can’t imagine most young teens were. I remember the performance got crapped on a lot too since Axl’s ear plug malfunctioned so he couldn’t hear himself leading his vocals to be off.

Anyone else remember this? What did/do you think?

[Ishmeal Loves Kaseyhausen]

I marked the f*** out. I didn't care that it was just Axl and Dizzy, Buckethead kicks all sorts of ass. I love Jimmy Fallon's intro. You can tell how excited he is and he marks the f*** out too.

[chazraps]

Aug 28, 2019 10:21:03 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

Technically tomorrow, but I just noticed and thought I’d post before I forgot.

Anyway, it was Axl’s band as it was just him left and Illusion era keyboardist Dizzy Reed. I had been waiting years for a new album and was sure after this there finally would be. And there was. 6 years later.

In retrospect I think this is one of those moments that really look like MTV was losing its grasp on pop culture. I mean I was excited as a GNR super fan, but I can’t imagine most young teens were. I remember the performance got crapped on a lot too since Axl’s ear plug malfunctioned so he couldn’t hear himself leading his vocals to be off.

Anyone else remember this? What did/do you think?

Actually, they were. At this point in 2002, Guns N Roses were a group that had reached that mythical status for the generation who weren't around during their heyday. The ubiquity of their songs, their mentions on all the shows when MTV would look back on its history, but we're only two years removed from 'Appetite For Destruction' and its videos being featured in the "best of the millennium" lists and one year after MTV talked about them so heavily for their 20th anniversary.

This was also the first Guns and Roses comeback, so even if the "teens" weren't fans, this was the moment they were at least conditioned to know was historically significant. Axl Rose was calling into TRL and MTV News a few times over the previous three years to talk 'Chinese Democracy,' the 1999 live album and easter egg at the end of 'Big Daddy' were among the ways the feelers were successfully out there.

It got crapped on for how Axl looked, not necessarily the rest of the performance itself. I revisited the whole show recently, a friend of mine acquired me a copy of a DVD that MTV submitted for Emmy consideration, and it was a pretty cool moment.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Aug 28, 2019 11:55:00 GMT -5 chazraps said:

Aug 28, 2019 10:21:03 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

Technically tomorrow, but I just noticed and thought I’d post before I forgot.

Anyway, it was Axl’s band as it was just him left and Illusion era keyboardist Dizzy Reed. I had been waiting years for a new album and was sure after this there finally would be. And there was. 6 years later.

In retrospect I think this is one of those moments that really look like MTV was losing its grasp on pop culture. I mean I was excited as a GNR super fan, but I can’t imagine most young teens were. I remember the performance got crapped on a lot too since Axl’s ear plug malfunctioned so he couldn’t hear himself leading his vocals to be off.

Anyone else remember this? What did/do you think?

Actually, they were. At this point in 2002, Guns N Roses were a group that had reached that mythical status for the generation who weren't around during their heyday. The ubiquity of their songs, their mentions on all the shows when MTV would look back on its history, but we're only two years removed from 'Appetite For Destruction' and its videos being featured in the "best of the millennium" lists and one year after MTV talked about them so heavily for their 20th anniversary.

This was also the first Guns and Roses comeback, so even if the "teens" weren't fans, this was the moment they were at least conditioned to know was historically significant. Axl Rose was calling into TRL and MTV News a few times over the previous three years to talk 'Chinese Democracy,' the 1999 live album and easter egg at the end of 'Big Daddy' were among the ways the feelers were successfully out there.

It got crapped on for how Axl looked, not necessarily the rest of the performance itself. I revisited the whole show recently, a friend of mine acquired me a copy of a DVD that MTV submitted for Emmy consideration, and it was a pretty cool moment.

Not really. Just going by my own experience, but the next day at school no one was talking about it like it was a big event or anything. I was part of GNR mailing lists and everything back then and of course they were going pretty nuts. But that was about it. There were some news reports and speculation immediately following the event, but that died down.

I'm sure a minority of teens with a varied taste in music were excited. But this is goddamn MTV we're talking about. That was about as mainstream as it got. Without that mainstream audience MTV had to shrink sooner or later which it has. Maybe the GNR surprise excited thousands of teens. Maybe even millions. Absolutely not most. There is no way most teens, some of whom's music taste was largely limited to 'N Sync, Britney Spears, and Usher were losing there shit over a band that peaked 15 years earlier. If they were Chinese Democracy would've come out a hell of a lot sooner and sold a hell of a lot better.

[BRV]

I've got a two-part response.

1. Regardless of how they performed, that incarnation of Guns N' Roses was absolutely f***ed in the pop culture zeitgeist the moment their lead guitarist was a man with a fried chicken bucket on his head. Forget his abilities as a guitarist, GNR would have struggled to replace Slash as a musical icon, but if it was just a regular-looking guy, maybe they would have stood a chance. But the moment Buckethead was revealed to the public, they were done. They never even stood a chance. Axl's singing being off and him being totally out of breath after running across the stage a handful of times was just dirt on the grave.

2. This is more of a big-picture issue, but do you remember how much of an impact the Video Music Awards used to have on pop culture? That show was annually the biggest single-day pop culture event on the calendar. Whatever happened there would really move the needle for teenagers and young adults into their 20s and 30s. It was a bigger deal for mainstream pop culture than the Oscars or Emmys, both of which were deemed to be stodgy, stuffy, and uptight, while the VMAs were cool and anti-establishment.

But when's the last time something happened on the VMAs that really had people talking? And I'm not saying "Beyonce performed, so the Bey Hive went nuts on social media for a day." I'm talking about something happening that got the freaking President to talk about it (Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift in 2009). I think the last time something happened on the VMAs that led to legitimate water cooler talk over the next several days was Miley Cyrus' fiasco of a performance with Robin Thicke in 2013. But every show since then has been nothing more than 24 hours of echo chamber chat on Twitter and then it fades away.

[King Boo]

Aug 28, 2019 10:21:03 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

Technically tomorrow, but I just noticed and thought I’d post before I forgot.

Anyway, it was Axl’s band as it was just him left and Illusion era keyboardist Dizzy Reed. I had been waiting years for a new album and was sure after this there finally would be. And there was. 6 years later.

In retrospect I think this is one of those moments that really look like MTV was losing its grasp on pop culture. I mean I was excited as a GNR super fan, but I can’t imagine most young teens were. I remember the performance got crapped on a lot too since Axl’s ear plug malfunctioned so he couldn’t hear himself leading his vocals to be off.

Anyone else remember this? What did/do you think?

How on earth have we not conversed more?

[Glitch]

It still annoys me that jimmy fallon referred to new York as The Jungle. It's about Los Angeles you hack!

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Aug 28, 2019 22:11:10 GMT -5 King Boo said:

Aug 28, 2019 10:21:03 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

Technically tomorrow, but I just noticed and thought I’d post before I forgot.

Anyway, it was Axl’s band as it was just him left and Illusion era keyboardist Dizzy Reed. I had been waiting years for a new album and was sure after this there finally would be. And there was. 6 years later.

In retrospect I think this is one of those moments that really look like MTV was losing its grasp on pop culture. I mean I was excited as a GNR super fan, but I can’t imagine most young teens were. I remember the performance got crapped on a lot too since Axl’s ear plug malfunctioned so he couldn’t hear himself leading his vocals to be off.

Anyone else remember this? What did/do you think?

How on earth have we not conversed more?

You never talk to me either.....

[King Boo]

Aug 28, 2019 22:26:12 GMT -5 Cranjis McBasketball said:

Aug 28, 2019 22:11:10 GMT -5 King Boo said:

How on earth have we not conversed more?

You never talk to me either.....

Are you another big GNR fan?

Have we all been dwelling under rocks??

[Kevin Hamilton]

My exact thought process when I saw it back then:

Ok this is pretty cool...

Oof, Axl sounds rough...

That ol boy is wearing a KFC bucket..

The f***?

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Aug 28, 2019 22:33:47 GMT -5 King Boo said:

Aug 28, 2019 22:26:12 GMT -5 Cranjis McBasketball said:

You never talk to me either.....

Are you another big GNR fan?

Have we all been dwelling under rocks??

I dunno. Maybe.

Yes I am a huge Guns fan.

[Vampiro138]

I loved the VMA performance it was just nice to see Axl back! The opening scream for Jungle was awesome then it fell off, Axl did do amazing on Madagascar and the ending with Bucket and Finck in the middle of the stage doing a guitar battle on Paradise City was awesome. Axl had such talent around him and sadly blew it. As much as I love GnR that was a missed opprotunity. Listening to the 99 mix of Chinese its a shame what happened with the final mixes in 08, that album was ready and would have been huge if released in 2000!!

[arrogantmodel]

Aug 28, 2019 12:38:11 GMT -5 BRV said:

I've got a two-part response.

1. Regardless of how they performed, that incarnation of Guns N' Roses was absolutely f***ed in the pop culture zeitgeist the moment their lead guitarist was a man with a fried chicken bucket on his head. Forget his abilities as a guitarist, GNR would have struggled to replace Slash as a musical icon, but if it was just a regular-looking guy, maybe they would have stood a chance. But the moment Buckethead was revealed to the public, they were done. They never even stood a chance. Axl's singing being off and him being totally out of breath after running across the stage a handful of times was just dirt on the grave.

2. This is more of a big-picture issue, but do you remember how much of an impact the Video Music Awards used to have on pop culture? That show was annually the biggest single-day pop culture event on the calendar. Whatever happened there would really move the needle for teenagers and young adults into their 20s and 30s. It was a bigger deal for mainstream pop culture than the Oscars or Emmys, both of which were deemed to be stodgy, stuffy, and uptight, while the VMAs were cool and anti-establishment.

But when's the last time something happened on the VMAs that really had people talking? And I'm not saying "Beyonce performed, so the Bey Hive went nuts on social media for a day." I'm talking about something happening that got the freaking President to talk about it (Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift in 2009). I think the last time something happened on the VMAs that led to legitimate water cooler talk over the next several days was Miley Cyrus' fiasco of a performance with Robin Thicke in 2013. But every show since then has been nothing more than 24 hours of echo chamber chat on Twitter and then it fades away.

And Miley and Kanye were just f***ing goofy and weird.

I say the last time something big went down was Madonna kissing Christina and Brittany.

And what is this shit, putting it on a Monday? I haven't watched in years, since MTV is a bad joke, but I remember being hyped in high school for it to air on Thursday night, and you discuss it all day Friday with your friends.

The hosts are awful. MTV has nothing to do with music or music videos anymore. There is no reason to even have this show anymore.

And the less said about the Movie awards, the better. They had to add tv shows to it? Get the f*** outta here.

[Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!!]

It was more like Hired Guns and Roses, amirite?

[Perd]

Axl and Buckethead bonded over always having an empty bucket of chicken around them.

[Deleted]

I wasn't excited about this at all. I've always hated the concept of Guns N Roses without Slash. I even liked Chinese Democracy, but was still offended that it was a "Guns N Roses" album instead of an "Axl Rose" album.

[The 1Watcher Experience]

Aug 29, 2019 13:59:31 GMT -5 Perd said:

Axl and Buckethead bonded over always having an empty bucket of chicken around them.

I believe Magic Johnson said he bonded with Michael Jackson over a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken at his memorial. I think he even called it the greatest moment of his life. I guess buckets of chicken are underrated. 

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Loved it. Probably should have followed up with the album. Especially when he yelled “Round 1!!!” At the conclusion.