Looks like someone was having a bad day at the office recently when Guns N' Roses played at Yokohama, Japan on Monday 5 May as part of their Live In Japan 2025 tour.
The jury’s still out as to who was right as to the band’s second song of the night but – thanks to a complete warts and all account of the gig hitting the Official Lives and Music Videos YouTube today – the entire world now knows that Axl Rose and new drummer Isaac Carpenter had a difference of opinion.
Isaac Carpenter was announced as the new drummer of Guns N’ Roses on 20 March this year, having previously earned his stripes playing in Duff McKagan's Loaded. And even from the first post on the band’s announcement on Facebook it was always going to be a tough seat to fill.
“Welcoming Isaac Carpenter as the new drummer of Guns N' Roses,” wrote the band enthusiastically. “Adler is the first and only drummer of guns!!!” is its slapped back first reply, immediately earning 1,500 thumbs ups… Ouch.
Don't Cry
Carpenter hasn’t long been in the saddle with the band commencing their Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things Tour of Asia, the Middle East and Europe, on 1 May at Incheon in South Korea. And with all eyes on the new band member it looks it didn’t take long for the pressure to take its toll.
With the Yokohama gig on the 5th being only the second gig of the tour, perhaps the setlist had been under debate? Or perhaps following a tweak had reverted back to plan ‘A’ without new boy Carpenter getting the message?
And with Axl Rose being a somewhat pivotal character in the band’s ongoing story and Carpenter very much the new guy, it’s clear where Rose feel’s the error lies with his irritation not only understandable but audible on his live mic too…
Patience…
With set opener Welcome to the Jungle in the bag it’s time for song two… And Carpenter leads the band into the distinctive shimmy of Mr Brownstone.
“No… Bad Obsession,” complains a weary Rose as hears the ‘wrong’ song strike up. Eager to give his ex-bandmate a break (or by this stage in the band’s journey, simply acting on autopilot) Duff McKagan begins to gamely play along. But someone isn’t ready to go with the flow…
“Bad Ob–Session!” Rose protests again and the song crumbles into confusion. “Can Isaac not hear me?” he moans. “Somebody answer me.” Rose begs, while Duff, Carpenter and Dizzy Reed vamp like pros to fill the gap. “Mic check for Duff!” demands Rose as Isaac somehow gets the message and begins the cowbell intro to Bad Obsession as planned. Phew.
Hard to tell quite what the root of the problem was - monitor fail? - and given that the band have since played three gigs without reported incident (and are at the Al-Dana Amphitheatre in Sakhir, Bahrain tonight) it’s safe to say that the new band with new boy Carpenter are back on track.
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