Coups And Security Checks For DUFF MCKAGAN

June 2, 2009

VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N' ROSES bassist Duff McKagan, who currently fronts his own band DUFF MCKAGAN'S LOADED, has penned a blog for The New York Times about his travel exeriences. An excerpt follows below.

"I've been flying to work for the last quarter-century.

"And I've had my share of foreign-soil adventures, like escaping a coup attempt by Hugo Chávez in 1992, when GUNS N' ROSES was playing in Venezuela.

"I didn't know what a coup was. I didn't even know how to spell it. All I knew was that it didn't bode well for us.

"Fortunately for me, Mr. Chávez liked our band and waited for our chartered plane to leave before he strafed the airport.

"That particular trip to South America also involved a bribe of $30,000 to another country's immigration service so we could play our show. Yes, this stuff does happen. We actually employed a guy who spoke both Spanish and Portuguese to go to some of these countries beforehand to find out which officials we had to pay off.

"I rarely fly a charter anymore. Now it's all commercial when I play with VELVET REVOLVER or my band, LOADED. All I want to do is to get from Point A to Point B with as little hassle as possible."

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