The reunion tour that was never supposed to happen keeps rolling on.
After reuniting in 2016 for the first time since the ‘90s, three of the original five members of Guns N’ Roses hit the road for the “Not In This Lifetime Tour.” The three-and-a-half-year trek—featuring Axl Rose on vocals, Slash on guitar and Duff McKagen on bass—included a 2017 stop in Milwaukee and grossed almost $600 million. So why not keep it going?
Easier said than done when it comes to Summerfest.
Originally booked to play the American Family Insurance Amphitheater on the Fourth of July last year (before coronavirus canceled 2020’s Big Gig), Guns N’ Roses rescheduled for July 10, 2021, before Summerfest altered its format to three weekends in September.
Getting Rose, who is notorious for unpredictable and irrational behavior, to recommit a third time to Summerfest was no guarantee, but organizers pulled it off. What’s more, Summerfest will be the only performance on Guns N’ Roses’ North American summer tour that won’t take place in a stadium or arena.
Recent setlists have leaned heavily toward material from 1987’s Appetite for Destruction: “Welcome to the Jungle.” “Paradise City” “Sweet Child o’ Mine.” “Nightrain.” And why not? That record is still the best-selling debut album of all time, moving more than 30 million copies globally. Guns N’ Roses reportedly is working on a new album, too.
The artist opening the show might very well represent the next generation of American rock. Wolfgang Van Halen—Eddie’s kid who took over for original bassist Michael Anthony in Dad’s band—released a self-titled debut album in June under the name Mammoth WVH (a nod to Eddie’s first band before Van Halen became Van Halen). On it, he plays all instruments, sings all vocals, delivers big choruses and manages to sound nothing like you-know-who.
