“It’s what we’ve been looking forward to for 21 hours of the day”: Slash on why Guns N’ Roses still love touring and have no plans to stop
For a band that has spent decades on the road, Guns N’ Roses still sound pretty enthusiastic about the prospect of getting onstage. And according to Slash, that enthusiasm comes down to keeping things fresh and, above all, making sure the band still enjoys what it does.
Speaking to New York rock station Q104.3, the guitarist was asked how Guns N’ Roses keep fans engaged after all these years. His answer was refreshingly simple: “We just sort of do what we do.”
“We throw different things in,” Slash continues. “[But] I think we’re more about keeping ourselves, you know, sort of inspired and having a good time and keeping it fresh for us and then we just come out there and do our thing.”
READ MORE: Slash says his decades-long feud with Axl Rose wasn’t personal: “It really had to do with other people”
That enthusiasm becomes particularly apparent once the band reaches the venue. Slash explains that while the travelling and waiting that comes with touring isn’t exactly exciting, once they’re there and ready to play, it’s a different story.
“We’re one of those bands that has been around for a long time, but really loves what we do,” he says. “We spend most of our time humming and hawing about traveling until we get to the venue and then we finally get to get unleashed, and, you know, it’s what we’ve been looking forward to for 21 hours out of the day.”
The band also leaves plenty of room for spontaneity in its setlists. Instead of locking themselves into the exact same sequence every night, Guns N’ Roses keep a large pool of songs ready to go and decide what to play as they go.
“We don’t really have what you call a setlist either,” Slash says. “We have an opening song, we have an ending song, and we have a lot of tentpole songs that we’re going to play. And then we mix a lot of stuff up.”
He adds that the band has around 50 songs to choose from, pulling from across their catalogue each night.
In other news, Slash recently revealed that Guns N’ Roses are have been working towards the long-awaited follow-up to 2008’s Chinese Democracy.
“There’s a lot of writing going on with Guns,” the guitarist told Rolling Stone Australia. “So after I get back from [touring with The Conspirators], we’ll see if [Guns N’ Roses] can start putting some stuff together and getting in the studio.”
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