In a recent interview with Hyperlocrian.com , guitarist Gilby Clarke talked a bit about his experience joining Guns N' Roses (via Blabbermouth ).
The year was 1991, and Guns N' Roses was at the beginning of the Use Your Illusion , which would later become the band's longest tour and one of the longest in rock history, lasting two and a half years. With the departure of Izzy Stradlin , the band welcomed Gilby Clarke, who literally "jumped on the bandwagon" and took the stage for the first time just two weeks after his arrival.
“I had a week to learn 50 songs. I needed to learn the entire catalog because they don’t have a setlist,” the guitarist revealed. “I wasn’t thinking about being a rockstar or ‘Oh my God, I need to get on stage. Oh my God, this is Guns N’ Roses’ and what would come with that. All I was thinking about was remembering the 50 songs. I didn’t want to go on stage and be the guy who was hitting all the wrong notes.”
Gilby, who stayed with the band for three years, only had good things to say about his time as a member of Guns N' Roses. “They gave me a lot of freedom. They never told me what to play, what to wear, what to say. They accepted you for who you were.”