Art Tavana[UPDATE on Tue., Aug. 16, 2016: Due to scheduling issues, the Guns N' Roses photo exhibit at Canter's Deli has been postponed. In the interim, Canter's will have rare photos of Guns N' Roses displayed at the restaurant for fans to view and enjoy during regular business hours. Stay tuned for an update on a new date and location for the classic GN'R photo exhibit.]
The Guns N' Roses economy is in a boom period, spurred by the reunited band's extended 44-date Not in This Lifetime tour across the Americas, which helped concert promoter Live Nation beat its second-quarter earning projections with a 23 percent rise in revenue from last year. In other words, it's time to buy GNR stock if you're in the business of rock & roll.
The GNR economy also has trickled down into official fashion boutiques, such as the recent GNR pop-up shop for three days at John Varvatos in New York — where fans purchased handmade leather jackets, concert tees and trucker hats. Bassist Duff McKagan made an appearance. No word on whether L.A. will have the pleasure of hosting such an event. But with the band coming back home to L.A. on Aug. 18 and 19 — when they'll play Dodger Stadium for the first time in their history — there's a rush to turn GNR nostalgia into publicity. Or fan appreciation. Or just a big party to celebrate rock's greatest comeback story.
From Aug. 18 to Aug. 24, Canter's Deli will host an unofficial L.A. photo exhibit of GNR with the works of Jack Lue (GNR's “first photographer”), Marc Canter and rock photographer Gene Kirkland. This is timed not only with GNR's stop at Dodger Stadium, where the band is expected to play at around 9 p.m., but also mini music festival Echo Park Rising — which means that Echo Park, which leads to Elysian Park and Chavez Ravine, is going to require a traffic alert on Aug. 18 and 19.
Also as part of Echo Park Rising, Vicky Hamilton, GNR's original manager, is going to be hosting a reading of her memoir Appetite for Dysfunction at Stories Books in Echo Park on Aug. 18.
Canter, whose 2008 book Reckless Road is considered by most to be the best collection of photos of the band during their early years (1984 to 1987), along with Kirkland, organized the event without an official announcement in the hopes that it would remain word-of-mouth. We're also being told that no merchandise will be on sale at the exhibit, except for original photos; a portion of the profits from each image sold will go to the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund.
Sources close to GNR and the exhibit say there has been no official communication between the band and the organizers of the exhibit, which will include a special invite-only preview night on Aug. 17. The official event flier for the unofficial event is below and was discovered on MyGNRForum.com.
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