“Well that’s a f**kin’ waste of good smack”: Guns N’ Roses manager claims Slash and Izzy Stradlin once avoided getting busted by airport security… by taking their entire stash in one go
Former Guns N’ Roses manager Alan Niven has written about a series of stories from his time with the band, during which he says he took them from “the gutters of Sunset Boulevard to Wembley Stadium”. The stories will be printed in his upcoming book, Sound N’ Fury.
In an excerpt of the book shared exclusively with Classic Rock, Niven reminisces over being at Los Angeles International airport, where “you used to be able to stand on a glass VIP mezzanine and watch all the international passengers below”.
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While waiting for Axl Rose, he remembers the group preparing to leave for the first Guns N’ Roses tour of Japan. Rose was late, remembers Niven, theorising that “maybe he was repacking”, when Izzy Stradlin, the band’s co-founder who left in 1991, appeared asking where he was.
When Niven responded, Stradlin said, “I don’t care. I’m set. I’ve got my stash,” holding up a small boom box. Niven, hoping that Stradlin means a stash of “preferred tunes” was swiftly disappointed when he confirmed it was his “gear”.
Stradlin believed wrapping his drugs in foil and hiding them below the battery compartment of his boom box would get him through security unscathed, but Niven had other ideas.
“They’ve got dogs and all kinds of electronic sniffing devices,” he explained, “You can’t take that with you. You’ll get nailed for sure. Go flush it now. You’ll be able to score there.” After reassuring Stradlin slightly, the now paranoid guitarist said, “That’s a fuckin’ waste of good smack,” but still sidled off.
Shortly afterwards, Slash appeared and was subject to the same line of questioning. “Tell me you’re not carrying,” demanded Niven, to which Slash became instantly defensive, asking why. After explaining the situation around Stradlin’s boom box, Slash shortly wandered off towards the bathrooms, too.
When Stradlin returned, Niven says he “stood for a moment, wavering slightly, and then his knees buckled.” It appeared he had swallowed the stash rather than flushed it. “Slash managed to make it to his seat on the 747 on his own feet, but only just. He too employed the ethic of waste not, want not,” Niven continues.
As it turned out, while Slash and Stradlin apparently made it to Japan in one piece somehow, Niven himself was stuck at home waiting for Rose until the next day. “I had to reschedule for a flight alone with Axl the next day. On a different airline,” he explains.
Guns N’ Roses were recently added to the final ever Black Sabbath show, alongside the likes of Mastodon, Tool, and Metallica.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
