Oh My God: Is Guns N’ Roses Going To Tour India?
Like the Timex Social Club, I spend a lot of time lamenting the rumors that surround me every day. How do they get started? And where do they get crazy? In Truthmonger, I’ll try to suss out the kernels of truth in the rumors that are taking up airspace in gossip columns, blogs, and our tips inbox. THE RUMOR: A mysterious Indian company called “Rhapsody Inc.” is bringing Guns N’ Roses to India for a tour that will kick off in November, nearly a whole year after the release of Chinese Democracy. TRUTH THRESHOLD: Better late than never, right? Well, in this case, “never” might win out. HOW THIS RUMOR GOT STARTED: Earlier this week, Rhapsody set up a placeholder Web site that not only said that Axl Rose and whatever buddies he could rustle up visas for would be playing the Palace Grounds in Bangalore on Nov. 7, it revealed pretty fully that this Rhapsody and the American streaming-music service were in no way related. The Indian music site Indiecision asked Rhapsody reps what the deal was; at first they were told that all would be revealed on Tuesday, Sept. 15. Shortly after that, the placeholder site was taken down altogether; when it came back up, specifics about the date had been removed, as had the company’s phone number, which was no doubt besieged with calls from crazed GNR fans. After that bit of Internet hijinks, though, a couple of articles ran in some Indian papers. They quoted Rhapsody director Raj Sinha as follows:
“Yes, it is true that we are bringing Guns N’ Roses to India. As of now I can tell you that the Bengaluru concert has been confirmed. We’re still in talks with people in Mumbai and Delhi, so let’s hope that works out. However, there is a good chance we can take the band to Shillong as well. The band was supposed to have played there on September 19, but for some reason it didn’t work out.” … “I can confirm that Axl Rose and Dizzy Reed will be there. DJ Ashba, their latest entrant, will be there. There will also be a person called Troy and two other members,” said Mr Sinha.
KNOCK IT TO ITS KNEES, BABY: Apparently “Rhapsody Inc. is a venture of Chromosome Production Pvt. Ltd, a company that has organised concerts of musicians like A.R. Rahman and Jagjit Singh. This is the company’s first international venture,” although Googling “Raj Sinha” and “Rhapsody” only brings up articles on the Guns N’ Roses tour. And the Rhapsody placeholder site? It now says “We’ll soon be back.” Just like Chinese Democracy was “coming soon” all those times, no doubt. Guns N’ Roses India Tour: Confirmed* [Indiecision] Guns N’ Roses To Perform In India? [GNRDaily]
