GUNS N' ROSES Bassist Comments On Rumored Tour Cancelation

In a brand new interview with Cleveland, Ohio's classic rock radio station 98.5 WNCX, GUNS N' ROSES bassist Tommy Stinson spoke about the rumor that spread via the Inernet that the band's shows, including high-profile slots at England's Reading and Leeds festivals, were canceled after a message on Twitter from frontman Axl Rose (see below) suggested that the band was pulling out of its previously announced gigs.

"It's startling to me how stuff happens," Stinson said. "You know, it's stressful. It's like ya kinda think, 'OK, well, I've gotta get my life in order here 'cause I'm leaving in five days,' and then you hear something like that coming down the pike. And it's like Sunday night and you're like, 'How am I supposed to deal with that?' Everyone's just trying to figure out what's happening with it and how it happened and then I get the call that everything's fine, whatever — it's just some crazy shit going on."

Tommy Stinson talking to 98.5 WNCX about rumored GUNS N' ROSES tour cancelation (click on player below to launch audio):

According to NME.com, festival organizers received confirmation from the band's management that Rose's Twitter account had been hacked and that the message was a fake, with this week's shows set to go forward as planned.

Meanwhile, GN'R's late start at the Rock 'N Rev Festival in Sturgis, South Dakota on August 13 — where the band came on at around 1:00 a.m., nearly two hours after previous act ALICE IN CHAINS — was apparently due to a technical issue and not Axl Rose's well-known tendency to start shows hours behind schedule.

According to the Rapid City Journal, festival official Dan Catullo said that a switchover from festival sound equipment to GUNS' own gear took longer than anticipated and also caused complications with the festival's video crew, who were filming the event.

Catullo said that Rose, who is notorious for showing up late or not at all for concerts, was "the most insanely professional gentleman that I ever met. He came and did his job exactly as contracted."

The long delay led to a large portion of the crowd leaving before GUNS came on, while others hurled beer cans and other objects at the stage.

The Rock 'N Rev Festival, part of the 70th annual Sturgis Bike Rally, was the first U.S. concert appearance by GUNS N' ROSES in four years and only official U.S. show of 2010.