Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Cleveland Part 1

We headed to Cleveland this past weekend to see Guns N Roses get inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.  I have tons of photos to post but first I'll put up the ones that most people want to see.

The Induction Ceremony.

The fans lined up in the rain to wait for the band to arrive on the red carpet.

The arena before the show started.

The GNR Induction started with a kick ass montage.

After a pretty cool introduction by Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong,  Duff took the stage and thanked the fans. Duff has become a great speaker for the group.

Steven Adler was up next. He got a huge ovation and it was cool to see him so happy. He quoted Freddy Mercury in his thank you speech saying "You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it, I thank you all"

Slash was laughing when Adler starting quoting the "Queen Lyrics", he thanked the fans and his wife and was honored to be a part of the Hall of Fame.

Matt Sorum wrapped things up, cracked a few jokes and told some cool stories about being in GNR.

They played 3 songs, starting off with "Mr Brownstone" (Matt drummed on that one), then Adler stepped in for "Sweet Child of Mine" and "Paradise City".  Gilby Clarke performed on rhythm guitar which was an awesome surprise. Myles Kennedy, who works with Slash on his solo projects did the vocals and he always delivers.

They sounded great! If you look at the bottom of the above picture you can see Steven down there drumming, having a blast with his furry hair.

The best part of the night was seeing how happy they all looked up there speaking and playing together. It closed another chapter in the GNR saga. Although everybody had their doubts about how this whole thing was going to go down, It turned out great.  I think Axl and Izzy really missed out. I think they really would have liked this. It was an awesome night for the fans, friends and family of Guns N Roses.

The NAMM conference in Anaheim.

Me and Jay Schachter went to the NAMM conference in Anaheim this past Saturday and had a blast. Its like "Comicon" for Rock N Roll.  "NAMM" stand for the National Association of Music Merchants.  Similiar to a yearly auto show, the conference showcases the latest and greatest in music technology. But the best part about it is that all of the rock n roll stars go there for meet & greats!  Members of GNR, Slayer, Judas Priest and others were in attendance.

Its an "Industry Only" event but we got the hook up from Taylor Guitars, who got us the passes. 
Here is Taylor's website.
http://www.taylorguitars.com/

Below are some pictures from the show.

Me and Tom Zutaut. Tom is the A&R man who discovered Motley Crue and signed Guns N Roses to Geffen Records.  This guy is a huge part of Rock N Roll History.

Me and Duff McKagan, the original bassist for Guns N Roses. I never know what to say when I meet any GNR band members. I try to play it cool, but I probably come off like a girl in the 60's screaming for "The Beatles." Duff is a great guy who will actually have real conversations with his fans. We did some small talk about the 49ers football game and I'm sure I mumbled something about how he "rules". He signed my Robert John GNR photo book and my "Use Your Illusion II" album.

Me and Warren DeMartini from the band "RATT".   You know the opening guitar riff from the song "Round and Round", this is the guy that does it!

Tom Delonge from "Blink 182" and "Angels & Airwaves."

                                                        Rob Halford from "Judas Priest."

  Matt Sorum, the drummer for Guns N Roses, Velvet Revolver and Camp Freddy. I'd never met him before so that was an awesome surprise.  Matt drummed on GNR songs like "November Rain", "Estranged" and "You Could be Mine".

Steve Stevens the guitarist for Billy Idol.  Steve does all the cool guitar riffs on songs like "White Wedding", "Eyes Without a Face", "Rebel Yell" and "Rock the Cradle of Love." He was also on the VH1 show "Married to Rock" with his wife Josie.