GUNS N’ ROSES kicked off its summer 2021 tour last night (Saturday, July 31) at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Dubbed “We’re F’N Back!”, this trek comes on the heels of the “Not In This Lifetime” run that began in April 2016 and became the No. 3 highest-grossing tour in the history of Billboard Boxscore.
As was the case with “Not In This Lifetime”, the current GUNS N’ ROSES tour features classic-lineup members Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Axl Rose (vocals) backed by guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer, keyboardist Dizzy Reed and second keyboardist Melissa Reese.
The massive touring production will make stops in Detroit, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, and more before wrapping up with two shows in Hollywood, Florida, at the Hard Rock Live Arena on October 2 and 3, 2021.
The setlist for the Hersheypark concert was as follows:
01. It’s So Easy
02. Mr. Brownstone
03. Chinese Democracy
04. Welcome To The Jungle
05. Double Talkin’ Jive
06. Slither (VELVET REVOLVER cover)
07. Better
08. Estranged
09. Live And Let Die (WINGS cover)
10. You’re Crazy
11. Rocket Queen
12. You Could Be Mine
13. I Wanna Be Your Dog (THE STOOGES cover)
14. Civil War
15. Dead Horse
16. Slash Guitar Solo
17. Sweet Child O’ Mine
18. November Rain
19. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (BOB DYLAN cover)
20. Nightrain
Encore:
21. Paradise City
GUNS launched its long-rumored and long-awaited reunion tour with an April 2016 club show in Hollywood and appearances in Las Vegas and at California’s Coachella festival.
In a recent interview with Guitar Player‘s “No Guitar Is Safe” podcast, Slash spoke about what it felt like for him to step back out on stage with GUNS N’ ROSES for the first time in over two decades at the band’s concert at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, California.
“That was our first gig back,” the guitarist said. “I think probably the last time that we ever played there was in 1985. I don’t think we even played there in 1986. Probably ’85 was the last time we played there. “[The April 2016 concert was] our first show together after 20 years. We obviously had more gear and more crew than we did back in the day, I’ll tell you that much. And it was loud. But it was a lot of fun. It was an almost poignant moment to fucking stand there and look at that crowd in that sort of room and have that kind of nostalgic feeling.”
In 2019, Slash told Guitar.com that his first concert back with GUNS N’ ROSES was an “overwhelming” experience. “It was so cool,” he said. “Because it was a long time — we’re talking more than 20 years from the last show in 1994… it was 22 years since the last time we’d played together. And obviously I’d played with [bassist] Duff [McKagan] [since then] but there’s a certain dynamic in the three of us together. It was awesome, and it’s a really great experience.”
The band is now reportedly working on a new studio album — the first under the GUNS banner since 2008’s “Chinese Democracy” and the first to feature Rose, Slash and McKagan since 1993.
