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Just yesterday we were speculating about the rumors of a possible Guns N’ Roses reunion, at least partially. Most of the speculation going about was a result of former G’N’R bassist Duff McKagan‘s Tweets about the set list at some very near future dates in South America. Well, the rumors are true! McKagan is rejoining Guns for five shows in South America. The rumors were confirmed in a conversation between Billboard and current Guns bassist Tommy Stinson:
I had those Replacement shows come up the same time the [South American] tour came up, and it got to be a scheduling issue right out of the gate. I didn’t want to fuck anyone up in Guns by saying, ‘Hey, I can’t do this tour’ or anything like that. Luckily someone was able to reach out to Duff and he was amenable to the idea and was into doing it. It’s Duff being the kind of good sport he is, trying to help Axl [Rose] out. So I’m like, ‘Thanks dude, for covering my ass on this one.’ I think people are gonna be really stoked about it. It’s gonna be fun for everyone.
As for the where and when, McKagan will fill in for Stinson between April 6th and 17th in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Asuncion, Paraguay, La Paz, Boliva, Recife, Brazil, and Fortaleza, Brazil.
Stinson also revealed that McKagan began rehearsing with Guns last month, but expressed his disappointment about not seeing Duff play one of the fill-in dates:
He’s a fucking great bass player. It’s gonna be a breeze. The only bummer is I don’t get to see one of the shows he plays, especially after playing his fucking parts for 17 years. It would be interesting to see how he plays them. There’s a couple things I could use some pointers on.
McKagan also commented about the upcoming shows:
It’s pretty great to play these songs again, and looking forward to playing some gigs with my pal again. South America is always a radical place for rock n roll…and I’m honored to be doing this thing, in that place.
Yeah, we can imagine that it’s pretty exciting to play some of the best songs of all time.
As with any interview or discussion with a member of Guns, past or present, the “great divide” had to come up:
I don’t know that Duff and Axl ever even had bad blood. I don’t really know the whole story. But he came up and played with us a couple years back, and they got along great. Whatever their history is, they’re certainly fine now — I mean, as fine as you can be after knowing someone for 30-plus years.
Guns N’ Roses’ next U.S. date will be May 13th, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where Stinson will regain his spot in the lineup.
Rock Hard \m/
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