Retroactive

Steven Adler kicked his addiction several years ago, thanks to the help of a methadone program. But apparently the original Guns N' Roses skinsman is still a bad boy -- or at least bad enough to be part of the Bad Boys of Metal tour with fellow bad seeds Kevin DuBrow (Quiet Riot), Jani Lane (Warrant) and Bang Tango. Any tour of this ilk has to include Adler, who kept time in a band known as much for its attitude and excess as for its heavy rhythms and heftier riffs. When Adler comes to Denver this week, you can expect to hear all the crunchy classics from GN'R's 1987 debut, Appetite for Destruction -- only without the "extra effects" heard in past performances, when the drummer was playing in a heroin stupor. Adler's been keeping his kick drum active since kicking the habits that caused his live-broadcast firing on 1990's MTV Music Awards show. Although getting the boot nearly killed him -- Adler and his mother wrote a book about his suicidal efforts and increasing addiction during his post-Roses days, including details of 1995's cocaine-induced stroke and ensuing coma, followed by a heart attack and second stroke -- he's back on track, and let's just say he's regained his strength. Since 2000, he's toured the United States and Europe, both on his own and with his latest band, Adler's Appetite (formerly known as Suki Jones). In addition, fans of the early Guns N' Roses lineup who've been treated to a few impromptu performances uniting the drummer with former bandmates Izzy Stradlin and Slash in recent years can look forward to a forthcoming album from Stradlin, which will pair Adler with the guitarist on at least two tracks. But until that record is released and Adler's juicy tome finds a publisher, we'll have to settle for seeing the drug-free drummer perform with Bang Tango in a scaled-down version of the Bad Boys tour this Tuesday, August 3, at Whiskey Bill's. Talk about Paradise City...