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Post by rogersstevens on Nov 4, 2009 21:09:57 GMT -5
This is all about technology... Digital mastering has improved so much from 1992 to the present, that it's only natural newly mastered recordings sound better.... Hence the new Beatles re-masters, etc...People complain about constant re-releases, but in my view, if the technology has greatly improved, then why not? All of our records prior to the last one would see significant improvement if they were re-mastered. Having said that, NONE of my cd's are even close to my vinyl records. When you get into the process and learn about the technology, it's easy to see why.... rogers That surprises me. I would've expected you to say that about Blind Melon, or about some of the songs on Nico, but not (specifically) about Soup. Soup is the album with the most professional production of the three, as far as I can judge. In all honesty... I think "For My Friends" was the best mixed CD. It came out very "full". But, if we are talking about JUST the first three albums... I'd have to say that "Self Titled" has the best sound.... "Nico" has a thin sound... and Soup has a little of each. "The Palace" and "The Metro" sound much "fuller" than all of them (minus "For My Friends").
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Post by rogersstevens on Oct 31, 2009 21:20:28 GMT -5
happy birthday rogers!!! hope to get to hear some of your superamazing guitar playing soon!! #m808# Hi to all, Thanks so much for the birthday good cheer! I miss all of you. Things are cool with me. I've played on a few of Brad's new songs, and they are really great. I'm not sure where he is with his record, but I think he's written some of his best songs. Love it...! I owe some people here a thank you for a package I received recently, and I will contact you (you know who you are...thank You in advance!!! I will thank you properly very soon!!) I'm going to write something here very soon with info on what we are all doing.... rogers
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Post by rogersstevens on Apr 24, 2009 20:36:15 GMT -5
awesome Lillie!!! Congratulations..... you have a talent for filmmaking.... on a side note... personally, I'm fascinated by Serbia and its history/impact on the modern world. maybe you can make a milionbillion dollars telling the story........if so, can I have a loan? wajuz Hey how is everybody? Good I hope. I wanted to share this with you guys: Serbian (my country) TV station interviewed me about my melon movie God's Presents, so we were on TV! Guess you won't understand the interview I was basically talking melon and why I made the movie (to see BM play) but at least there's some footy from the movie for those who haven't seen it here ya go
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Post by rogersstevens on Mar 4, 2009 23:52:43 GMT -5
i havent been here very long, but it seems that theyve always had alot of respect for the fans on here and are very straight forward about stuff. i feel that they really care about people who care enough to come on here and talk about their music. i think they were doin the best they could to clean up a very ugly mess while givin us the respect of an explanation....which they didnt have to do at all and wed all be here scratchin our heads even more than we are now....i like it here...not the drama, but the homeyness.(??) anyway things happen things get posted...in the end were just a bunch of crazy melons who love our blind melon.... #smilieIloveblindmelon# Thank you lovejoy...you are my new best friend.
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Post by rogersstevens on Feb 16, 2009 21:46:58 GMT -5
Hey... Please...please...please.... If you have any respect for me or the band, I am asking you to not put this kind of stuff on the forum. Nobody, including you, benefits from this. Everybody, including me, is put off by it. This is beneath you...... it's beneath all of us. We tried to clarify stuff with our statement....to move things along and get past all negativity. If we find somebody good to work with...if WE can BELIEVE in it, then we will continue. If we can't find something that feels right, then we won't continue. Them's the facts folks. Have we let you down yet? I mean this in regards to the records or the shows that you have attended.... If we have let you down at a show or in your headphones, then why not check out now? Just ignore us as go about your life. You can always enjoy the records and memories that brought you here in the first place. We will NEVER do something just for a dollar. We will of course play music that we believe in for a dollar. There IS a difference. If it ceases to sound or feel like Blind Melon to us, then we will call it something else. We make all of our decisions based on how it feels, not on how we think it will go over. We figured out long ago that unless it feels right to us it will never work anyway. I'm hoping that perhaps the bickering can stop. Maybe we can start a joke thread or something.... here's an idea...I'm going to go back to my Q and A thread as a distraction. If you have any questions about me or me, go there....I love talking about me. Enough about you, let's get back to me. rogers because your opinion is the end all & be all. not meaning to offend you here, but you're a loser. let me get this straight....the chris shinn fan club president here comes to the Blind Melon forum and has his head so far up Chris Shinns ass you cant tell where you begain and he ends. And trys to say that UT would of been better then BM, LMFAO....you my friend are the loser...lol...sad...go start The Chris Shinn Forum...
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Post by rogersstevens on Feb 1, 2009 9:38:21 GMT -5
Hi all,
We've been quiet on things because we learned the hard way that it is best not to talk about what we are doing until we are sure everything's set. In regards to the situation with Chris Shin, this would be example #1 of how people get their feelings hurt when incomplete or inaccurate information is relayed. We all phoned or wrote to Chris Shin last month and apologized for the problems...this is what I would have wanted had I been in his shoes and seemed to be the best way to handle it. But different strokes for different folks and all, so here's a public apology to Chris:
We are very sorry that we did not handle things better than we did with Chris. He's a great guy, a lot of fun to be around, and a tremendous talent. We gave it the best we could, and spent many days in the rehearsal studio going over stuff to try to get a feel for it. We have spent countless thousands of hours playing music together...so much so that it is now a part of our DNA. We, and nobody else, KNOW what feels and sounds right. I know that it is difficult for people to understand...especially when you've heard Chris sing with THAT VOICE....but it just didn't work. If it doesn't work for us, we can't make it work for you.
Chris has no need to be embarrassed by the situation as he handled himself very professionally the entire time. As I told Chris, WE are the only ones who should be embarrassed. I would very much like to be able to rewind the clock on this one and fix things, but that can't happen. I hope that Chris will one day accept the band's apology and we can do something...record some new songs...anything. I'm bummed this all got screwy, because I really enjoyed hanging with Chris (I'd not before spent time with him and didn't really know him well). I'm hopeful that with some water under the bridge we can be friends in the future.
I'm also hopeful that everybody here on the forum will soon stop arguing with each other over all this. I'm sure that many of you don't like it as much as we don't like it...it's very discouraging. We've done some stupid shit over the last few months...admitted...but that's no reason for all of you to start teeing off on each other.
You all will be the first to know when we are solid.
luv ya
rogers
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Post by rogersstevens on Jan 22, 2009 21:02:22 GMT -5
Hey Clarebear, I was just wondering the same thing about Dumptruck and I found this: Well,damn. I was gonna post the quote, but I'm new at this and haven't figured out how to get a quote from one thread to another. Anyway, check out the Shannon thread, topic "Nicesite". It was posted a year ago yesterday by Brick. Here is the post... I am from Lafayette, I went to High School with Shannon...He was one of those bigger than life dudes who died too young. A lot of people around here miss him. In our generation we had Axle Rose "Bill Baily", Izzy Stradlin "Jeff Isabelle", and Shannon come out of this little hick town. Man we had some great Party's here in the late 80's/early 90's. I remember when Shannon and Mike Kelsey "local guitar genius" were jammin' in a band called Stiff Kitten in a basement by Battleground. I recommend trying to get a hold of some of Mikes solo stuff, he has a unique sound. He's a cool dude too. He could have made a huge career if he woulda made it out of this town. I was in a garage band jammin about a mile from Shannons grave when all the memorial's for Shannon were going on, I remember all the VW's commin' through town every year. My grandpa's grave is about 20 feet from his. One of my favorite songs from Shannon was Dump Truck. It was about a friend of mine named Bub. I remember when he got hired on with the county driving a Dumptruck. Bub developed cancer and was getting treatment in New York.. he died shortly after. Mrs. Onasis was a reference to Bub's girlfriend. Jackie loved the hell out of Bub..I loved the hell out of her. We were friends for many years and life kinda faded us apart. I remember skippin school and quite a bit of partyin' with Bub. "Bub I know that you could fly a mile high" Shannon Hoon I hav'nt looked in a few years but last time I checked I think that Caddilac was still sittin' in the back. I was in the local bricklayers union with Dick Hoon, Shannons Dad, I never worked on the same job but knew of him. Met his mom a few times before he died. I went to a garage sale at her house and she showed us the No Rain video before it came out on MTV. She was proud as hell of him. My last memory of Shannon was driving by his Mom's house. He was home visiting. I saw him sittin in her driveway jammin' on his accoustic. I didnt want to bug him so I did'nt stop. I wish I would have. Well enough ramblin' my wifes yelling for me. I stumbled on this site and thought I would share my story. I would like to thank the people who keep it up. I need to show it to her she will love it. She hung out with him a lot before he left town. Cya, Brick This person speaks the truth....I had a long talk with Shannon about "Dumptruck" one night. i couldn't figure out what the hell it was about and he told me the story about Bud. Incidentally, this was the same night we were in NYC at my friend Marlon's house. We were up all night having a big party, and at one point Shannon told me to sit by the answering machine and not let anybody pick up the phone (this was back in the days when answering machines had tapes). I sat there spinning out on whatever trip we were on when all of the sudden the answering machine picks up and Shannon starts talking. He was down at the phone booth (corner of 4th avenue and 11th street) reading "God's Presents" on the machine. We took the tape up to the studio the next day and dropped it into "Carseat". The whole outro to "Dumptruck" came from a different song. I had the little geetar bit and Shannon sang melodies over it. We just stuck it onto the end of the song, which was a Brad piece of music. That song still sounds a little crazy to me. I don't love the arrangement and the music, but there's no denying that Shannon delivered the knockout punch at the end with the lyrics about Bub. I want to cry every time I hear it. The rest of the song is too obscure for my tastes.... This is where we were at the time.... I loved it when Shannon cut through all the freaked out shit that nobody could relate to and delivered a heartfelt lyric like the end of "Dumptruck". He was fucking brilliant at it and would have grown into doing it all the time had he lived longer. This was his talent. This was the part of him that wrote "Change", which is a song that every single human being on the entire planet can relate to. I wish we could have recorded a better version of "Change" for our first record.... The whole issue with "Soup" was a trying time for us. CT wrote the music that started the song...the whole first half with the acoustic guitar. Shannon sang the first half over that and then I had the end part for another song (where the drums and electric guitars come in). We ended up sticking them together and nobody was entirely happy...I wanted the last bit for another song I had arranged, CT had a different idea about where the song should go, and it turned into a big fight. Nobody could agree and the song got put on the backburner, which is totally unfortunate. This is a good example of why we were not a more successful band...we were too far around the bend to make things palatable for easy-listening. All of our decisions were always painful and overwrought...still the same way. We all know now that "Soup" is one of our best songs, but we were too busy tripping over our own asses to figure it out. The part in "Soup" where the song changes where the two bits come together....the part where Shannon resolves the lyric with the word "away"....THAT is the single most emotional moment of any of our songs to me. rogers
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Post by rogersstevens on Jan 20, 2009 23:28:37 GMT -5
I agree with Owen, they don't jam like they use to. People get older so I'll drum it up to that. Who knows. But Rogers being the dictator of the band? C'mon, thats gotta be a joke right? I've followed Melon since 1992 and never have thought that. Although I respect everyones opinion, I think Kristian is just making noise for the sake of it. "Yea verily I proclaim that there shalt be no more "jamming', lest the great unwashed masses rise up and enjoy themselves."......Benito Bonaparte Stevens (2009)
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Post by rogersstevens on Dec 15, 2008 9:50:45 GMT -5
I get it. But at the same time I don't. Perhaps there's no point in sitting here typing "WTF??" but it seemed like a Chris Shinn was going to save your show. There's no point in debating the situation and I can see your reasoning behind it. But I sure hope you discussed this with Chris and plan to do right by him in the future. I also don't doubt you are aware of his incredible talent. It's fair to do what's best for your band...but you do have fans sitting here watching the mess publicly unfold. And you made an official announcement saying Chris was playing your New Year's show. But now we hear from myspace blogs and the message board that plans have changed. I think Travis is extremely talented. And I love you guys. So I would like to hope that you are all good with Chris Shinn and he was appropriately thanked for stepping up at a moment's notice. Because it feels like everyone's just going on like nothing happened, like we were never told he was stepping in. There's been no mention of him. I'd also like to hope that he will be thanked in the future, perhaps with an opening spot on your make up dates and following tour?? Even if he was just going to play the one show, it feels like he's getting shafted. Blind Melon is an amazing band. I want to see you happy and successful and making great music. I really hope it all works out for everyone involved. Everything you are saying is true....The whole situation has not played out favorably. We would much rather have worked this out on our own without subjecting ya'll to it. Chris is a great dude and a rare talent, but comes from a very different place musically than Blind Melon. However, when I'm standing in the room with him and he sings it stops me in my tracks. Incredible voice....the band has talked quite a bit about begging him to do a Unified Theory record at some point, because when he sings it is the sound of Unified Theory, not Blind Melon. Us doing this New Year's show is all about putting negative feelings to rest and not canceling again on our fans, who have supported us and many of whom had already laid out cash to attend. We always want to play a great show, and this seemed to be the only way we were going to get there. I'm sorry if some are disappointed, but we made the best decision we could. peace wajuz
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Post by rogersstevens on Dec 13, 2008 20:26:52 GMT -5
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
And here's a hand, my trusty friend
And gie's a hand o' thine
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne...
_____________________
We are crazy, but you knew that. We're doing the New Year's show with Travis. Anger has subsided and we want to go out on a positive note with Travis...we did a lot of good things together and it's not cool to end badly. We could not bear to cancel another show. I know some of you have bought plane tickets and we're sick of letting people down. Beyond New Year's our plans are to make more plans.
Nurse Ratched?!? My medication please.....?
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Post by rogersstevens on Nov 10, 2008 16:32:19 GMT -5
Hey there,
We've read a bunch of the posts on here and everybody appreciates the support. It has been very helpful to us over the last few days. It means more than you know.....
It's time for us to move forward now. Any more time spent with anger and insult is wasted time. One of the things that the last two years has taught us all over again is that we love playing music together. The eleven previous years were spent healing and dealing, and we came back with an even stronger bond. Our dream, what this is really all about for us, is to have the chance to make something great. A great album. A great show. As we said before, we will endure just about anything for that.
So we're going to try to press forward immediately, and we want to find a singer to go with us. In our minds, Travis set the bar pretty high. And Shannon?....well that goes without saying. We're looking for somebody from outer space that has their feet on the ground. We're looking for somebody who has a voice that inspires new songs and sheds new light on our old songs. We're not looking for clones, drones, jokers, clowns, or drama queens. If you are interested or know somebody else who is, send an mp3 or video/audio link to blindmelonsinger@gmail.com. We'll check it out and get back to you if we think you might be a good fit for the band. Thank ya!
Blind Melon
11/10/08
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Post by rogersstevens on Nov 9, 2008 17:55:21 GMT -5
Reporting to you from california! um hehe well last night i got to find out through a friend that the band is well yeah obviously looking for a new singer, My friend she goes to MI-Musicians Institute here in LA and showed me this email that was sent out to some of the students and it read: Blind Melon is auditioning new singers, male,must be 25 yrs of age(or older i think-can't remember exactly that part) and must have 10 yrs of experience, and can tour and i forget what else. The auditions will be held at MI this coming tuesday nov.11th from 11am-2pm but it is only open for MI students, so unless your a student i guess you can audition. She will try and get me a pass to get in the school that day, because they are very strict as to visitors coming in, and only students are allowed in, so i will see/know if she can, if so then i can perhaps see who auditions and a potential new singer. SO if i do i will report back to you guys what i see/hear. and that is all the news i know/have for now hehe so crossing my fingers i can get access to watch the auditions or something. This is totally phony. I saw this somewhere else and wondered what it was all about. I wish somebody would go down there and tell us what the hell they are doing. First of all, we wouldn't put a bunch of lame restrictions like age, gender, experience, etc. I was 19 or 20 when Blind melon started, had no experience, and was female. All of that changed. How does somebody make something like this up? Geez... Anyway, we're going to have some information on all this tomorrow. rogers
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Post by rogersstevens on Nov 8, 2008 11:08:35 GMT -5
Hey Melonheads,
We've made an effort to prepare for the tour with Chris Shinn, but there is not enough time. We are canceling the tour outright and will now start to shovel our way out of this enormous mess. Chris made a super effort to try to prepare for the tour, but it's just too much to ask of him to get up to speed on all these songs in 2 days. It is not fair of us to keep promoters hanging on while we cancel the tour show by show, and it is certainly not fair to ya'll to drag this out. We are not cool with doing something unless we know it is going to be up to snuff, and it is just doubtful that we would be there by Monday. We will have more news about what our plans are concerning the future this week, as well as information on how those of you who purchased tickets can be refunded. We're sorry for the confusion, the bad vibes, the drama and the letdowns. We understand the disappointment and anger that you feel towards us. We are angry and disappointed too. We aim to make it up to you soon.....
B. Melon 11/8/08
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Post by rogersstevens on Nov 7, 2008 0:12:55 GMT -5
Friends....
I bring you some difficult news.
The revelry call went out to start the tour, and all reported to duty except for one. We, along with our entire team, have been working long hours to prepare for this upcoming US tour, which we have all been excited about. All except one. There has long been consensus with the original 4 members of the group....we agree on purpose and vision, we believe deeply in what we are doing, and we have been forged together in the kiln of tragedy which has made us unbreakable. We all share that. All except one.
We believe that it is a great privilege to do what we do. It is an honor to stand onstage before you all and play these songs, and we will endure just about anything to do so. We have unity on this...all except one.
Travis does not share this with us. Two weeks ago when we cancelled the first half of the tour, Travis was having problems with his voice and the doctor recommended that he rest. Though it hurt us to cancel the shows, we were understanding towards him and supported him because nobody wanted him to injure himself or damage his obviously amazing voice. God dropped a Stradivarius down Travis's throat, but the reality is that he treats it like a broken pawnshop fiddle. It is very difficult to maintain a rigorous touring schedule while chain smoking.
Early this week Travis was due to again visit the doctor, a specialist that we found for him who is the very best available. The doctor wanted to make sure everything was OK before we embarked on the tour. We told Travis that we would cancel the rest of the tour if his voice was still hurting, regardless of what the doctor said. Travis will tell you that we fired him because his voice was fried, but this is not true. All singers go through vocal problems from time to time, and we understand that. We did not fire Travis, he abandoned us. The plan was set, it was solid, and we were confident. Everybody was on board...all except one. Not only did he bail on the doctor, but he did not return anybody's calls, texts, emails, telegrams, or carrier pigeon messages for the last two weeks. We're talking about a LOT of attempts to communicate. This has been a pattern from the beginning of our involvement with him. The reality is that Travis did not want to go on this tour, and his reasons for this changed many times. The touring life is not for everyone. Had he told us that it was just too much for him, then that would have sucked for us but we could have dealt with it. But the dilemma was that HE WOULD NOT COMMUNICATE WITH US.
We finally started calling family members to try to locate him. Members of his family were very helpful and the good news is that they had spoken to him and he was alive. We were all relieved but curious as to what was going on. One of Travis's cousins finally got him to agree to call our manager yesterday evening and they spoke for about 20 minutes (we were all waiting to figure out if we should get on airplanes today or stay home). Travis stated that if we couldn't understand that he needed this time to himself, then he didn't want to be in a band with us anymore. He complained about being underpaid and overworked (we all make the same thing and we all work as hard as he does). He said that he didn't want to play the US anymore and that he was under-appreciated. He complained about playing the same songs in the same towns. We could not make him understand that the wheels were in motion for this tour for 6 months, and that to blow it out just because he didn't want to do it was a very bad move (we think his voice is probably fine now, by the way, though we could never say for sure since he neglected his doctor's appointment and did not call us to tell us that it was not well).
There was no indication that any of this was coming at the end of the Canadian tour. We had great success up there (thank you Canada) and we were encouraged by what was ahead of us. We were all set to record a live album on this tour, we just booked Japan, and we were in the process of putting together Europe and South America. People have been working very hard on this stuff...lots of great people who we are very much lucky to be working with. Travis is unable or unwilling to care about how his actions affect everybody else, and he's been this way since day one. We have passed up or blown many opportunities because of his actions, and this has made it very difficult for us to function effectively. For the 2 weeks worth of shows that we have cancelled in the last year, there have been countless others that were on the verge of not happening. Many nights we have sat in the dressing room or on the bus wondering if Travis was going to show up and what condition he would be in if he did show up. None of us want to be in one of those bands that is held hostage by a single person's whims and demands. Travis's talent is enormous and deep, but after two gut-wrenching years and countless setbacks and heartbreaks, we can no longer work with him.
We want to make this clear that this calamity is not just about the most recent events. For many different reasons, there has been a division that slowly developed from the beginning. Travis came into a very difficult situation, and in a lot of ways he handled it very well. But for whatever reason, we could never get him to come fully into the fold. We tried to achieve unity and balance in the band and we welcomed him with open arms as a full partner. But in a band you are dealing with a bunch of highly creative and impulsive people in suspended adolescence who are also oftentimes maladjusted. It must have been very difficult for Travis to figure out our relationships and to find his place. When things got tough, Travis would fire off an email and threaten to quit the band....this happened at least a dozen times. Eventually, confidence within the band as well as with the people who worked with us became undermined. Everybody around saw what was going on and were probably taking bets on how long we would last.
The real back-story to this is very deep. If you squint your eyes and read very closely between the lines, you might pick up a hint of it. There is no way that we could accurately tell you what has transpired over the past two years without breaking some ethical codes and spewing a bunch of angry stuff that will just sound irrelevant to you. We don't want to hurt Travis or say anything more than what is necessary to tell enough of the story. We believe that to publicly air out all of the prior details of what brought us to this place would be counterproductive. We will have our side of the story and Travis will have his, and the two shall not meet. And you as the reader will be left scratching your head and wondering who is crazier. You'll probably also wonder why we can't just kiss and make up and play the goddamned songs. We can only say that we have tried everything that we could to get to that place.
We sincerely hope that Travis finds a musical situation that makes him happy. As previously stated, his talent is prodigious, and that is why we thought he should play in the big leagues, but now it is clear that he was drafted by the wrong team. He belongs onstage, and that is where we got along with him best. He is a GREAT performer and we are hopeful that he will end up in the right situation for him.
So the next question is "what are we going to do"? First of all, we plan to begin the tour in Allentown, PA on Monday. Chris Shin, who formed Unified Theory with Brad and Christopher, is coming with us and is ready and willing. We are enormously grateful to Chris for accepting this somewhat daunting challenge. After the tour, we will begin the process of finding somebody who understands, as previously stated, that it is an honor to perform for ya'll, and that it is important to pull together and work together in order to create something truly great. We intend to play all the shows that are on the schedule, including the New Year's eve show, and we will make up the shows that were cancelled earlier this month. We're going on a journey and we'll bring you back something great......thank you for everything that you've given us.
Blind Melon November 6, 2008
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Post by rogersstevens on Oct 29, 2008 20:31:01 GMT -5
I just watch that vid and I don't know, but somebody should ask Nikki Sixx. Cuz that's who I think it is. Maybe I'm wrong, I can not tell It's him.... I watched this about 10 times in a row with Shannon and we laughed for a good while....he thought it was hilarious. Funny thing is that I went to a show on the same Motley Crue tour (1987 Jackson MS- Guns and Roses opened and blew them away!) and was in just about the same spot in front of the stage. That's one of the things I shared with Shannon...we both loved the first 2 Motley Crue albums. sixx stevens
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