Guns N’ Roses early days
With all the media hype about the Guns N’ Roses semi reunion tour and recently Steve Adler joining in for a couple of songs for a couple of shows seems like GNR has hit their financial jackpot. 
It is a shame that Izzy Stradlin elected not to join in because that would have made it the original formation of the Appetite for Destruction line up. But it wasn’t all roses for GNR. We heard stories from friends and fans from the earlier days and stories the band members themselves admitted to about going through hard times for a few years.
Before the GNR name there were several lineup changes from earlier bands that carried similar names the guys were in. This short story can’t possibly go over the details and time line of their earlier days but there is no shortage of information regarding those years. In the early mid 80’s GNR played the L.A. circuit but never played every weekend. It appeared they at least had some planning of when and where they would play. They had several devoted followers and supporters that worked with the band without pay. There was very little money to go around. Band members often lived and ate when they could.
One of their first managers Vicki Hamilton now has her own book “Appetite for Dysfunction” talking about the struggles of the early days. Rock promoter Paul Sanders from The Whisky a GoGo also believed in the band and booked them into The Whisky a Gogo.
The early shows were very good as the club shows were small and in your face and you could tell there was magic about them. The times were both difficult and exciting. But now many people are asking “Where is Izzy”? No one seems to give a straight answer. Izzy himself remains quiet. We hope someday there can be a true reunion show with just the 5 members. Now that will be magic but for now we are glad to see the key members back together again along with some pretty good reviews. We know a lot of bands have similar stories of their struggles. For GNR their hard work and living through hard times paid off. We hope GNR continues and maybe makes another record with the original line-up.