DUFF MCKAGAN Defends GUNS N' ROSES' Three-And-A-Half-Hour Live Performances: 'What Songs Do You Take Out?'

[Spongie]

HAHAHAHA. Delusion… party of one.

https://blabbermouth.net/news/duff-mck ... u-take-out

In a new interview with Heavy Music, Duff McKagan was asked about GUNS N' ROSES' insistence on playing marathon sets that usually last at least a full hour longer than those of most other bands. The GN'R bassist said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Axl [Rose, GUNS N' ROSES singer], man, Axl loves… I think it's… Goddamn it's, like, what songs do you take out, if you wanted to play shorter? HOW ABOUT EVERYTHING POST 1987?

We've had to cancel only one show because of vocals, because you get a swelling — no wonder — swelling on one of his sides. And he'll still wanna play the show, and the doctor will be, like, 'You could ruin your voice forever.' TOO LATE

Tell your story in 90 - 105 minutes TOPS.

[BDG135]

How many fans really want to hear the 12-minute Knockin' on Heaven's Door?

[Zabooka]

Take out all the cover songs.

[SterileEyes1]

Love Duff and love me some 3.5 hour GN’R shows but that’s one of the most classic willfully obtuse responses ever.

“What would the point of a Guns N’ Roses concert even be without Absurd and that Glen Campbell cover?”

[ijwthstd]

Most of the cover songs, some of the Chinese Democracy songs and about half of KOHD

[Bono Nettencourt]

The CD songs need to stay, the fans need beer/pee breaks.

[El Vampiro Blanco]

Just play Appetite and be done with it.
People can be in bed on time that way.

[pieceofme]

How many fans really want to hear the 12-minute Knockin' on Heaven's Door?

I enjoyed it. And I don't really care for the song on the record.

The CD songs need to stay, the fans need beer/pee breaks.

They only played one off that album when I saw them (title track) Would have preferred more from this album rather than the following songs:

Hard Skool
Absurd
Down on the Farm
T.V. Eye
Wichita Lineman

Take those those five songs out.

Love Duff and love me some 3.5 hour GN’R shows but that’s one of the most classic willfully obtuse responses ever.

“What would the point of a Guns N’ Roses concert even be without Absurd and that Glen Campbell cover?”

yeah agreed.

I still had a really good time at the show. I wasn't complaining it was over 3 hours long.

[BernieTaupson]

Fuck that. Play AFD and then You Could Be Mine as an encore and fuck off.

[Bono Nettencourt]

Just play Appetite and be done with it.
People can be in bed on time that way.

Nah, the good stuff from the Illusions is worth hearing. It's like we're living the Sludge fantasy of editing them down to a single album in real time.

[Psychobolia.com]

Remove the covers except for Live & Let Die and Attitude.

Get rid of November Rain

[LAglamrocker]

His song

[MattleyCrue]

This past tour had the best setlist of all time

[Fat_Elvis]

How about losing the multiple insufferable solos?

[BernieTaupson]

How about losing the multiple insufferable scabs?

[aznsquirt]

When I saw them at Aftershock (with laglamrocker like 100 feet behind me and i didnt see him FFS) I remember I was the only dude who was fucking stoked af when they busted into Reckless Life.

[alexleehooker]

Love Duff and love me some 3.5 hour GN’R shows but that’s one of the most classic willfully obtuse responses ever.

“What would the point of a Guns N’ Roses concert even be without Absurd and that Glen Campbell cover?”

I actually really like both of those. I think Absurd is the best thing they’ve put out since getting the three back together.

[Bono Nettencourt]

How about losing the multiple insufferable scabs?

[mullet_head]

Fuck that. Play AFD and then You Could Be Mine as an encore and fuck off.

Believe it or not, too many people owned or know the UYI albums but only know the singles off of Appetite. Patience too, I guess.

[Bono Nettencourt]

Fuck that. Play AFD and then You Could Be Mine as an encore and fuck off.

Believe it or not, too many people owned or know the UYI albums but only know the singles off of Appetite. Patience too, I guess.

[maninblack]

Do less coke. That will half it.

[SterileEyes1]

Love Duff and love me some 3.5 hour GN’R shows but that’s one of the most classic willfully obtuse responses ever.

“What would the point of a Guns N’ Roses concert even be without Absurd and that Glen Campbell cover?”

I actually really like both of those. I think Absurd is the best thing they’ve put out since getting the three back together.

Absurd I can’t hang with, didn’t like it as Silkworms either. I like Witchita Lineman, mostly just saying if they gotta shave 5 minutes off a 210 minute concert, they could start there and likely not upset 99.9% of their audience too much.

[Ziggy Sawdust]

Axl’s voice is almost gone. Why does he want to make it even worse? If it goes then he can’t carry on charging the overpriced ticket prices every year.

[Michael Hotts Ghost]

70-90 minutes is all that is necessary... please.

[Hair I Go Again]

On one hand, it’s fucking awesome that, in an age where it can easily cost $100 to see a show, there’s a band who plays all night and gives fans their money’s worth, at least in terms of songs per dollar.

On the other, there’s a spectacular lack of self-awareness regarding the pacing of the show and borderline contempt to make those paying fans sit through more than an hour of filler to hear the songs they paid to see in the first place.

There’s an incredible 2-hour show here. Unfortunately, it takes four hours to experience.

My “manager hat” advice would be to do one of two things:

1) Do the old Hank III model and appease the casual fans first, then scare the hell out of them and play whatever the hell you want in the second half of the show. Casuals get the hits and an early exit; diehards still get the filler

2) Do the Prince model and play a 2-hour arena show, then head to a nearby club and play a second set. They wouldn’t need to lower ticket prices and could even gross a fair amount more by selling more tix for the nightcap shows, and they could also charge a higher ticket price for the intimacy factor.

They’ve spent eight years in a bubble / echo chamber, though, so neither of these things will happen — and that’s fine, since they’ve made an absolute fortune in that time and will comtinue to do so as long as the train stays on the tracks. That’s probably why they keep playing so long - it’s working, so why risk fucking with it?

[FreddyFender]

2) Do the Prince model and play a 2-hour arena show, then head to a nearby club and play a second set. They wouldn’t need to lower ticket prices and could even gross a fair amount more by selling more tix for the nightcap shows, and they could also charge a higher ticket price for the intimacy factor.

Prince actually liked playing music, right up until the day he died.

These guys do not - the set is three hours to accommodate everyone's massive ego, especially Axl's.

[Mister Freeze]

Here's the most recent Guns n' Roses setlist:
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/guns-n-r ... 1bab7.html

28 songs. At least three are in the 10-minute range. They're actually down to one song from ChiDem and a few of the more questionable covers are gone. All four new songs got played

You guys wanted new material. You're getting new material.

[TheCULTofMANSON]

I love the 3+ hour shows, love the setlists, love the 12 min KOHD, Axl’s voice still sounds fantastic.

Yall just wanna cry and complain about everything like some old geezers with AARP

[kingbrian74]

Take out the cover songs no one cares about, the new songs that do not go over well live, and all the extended jam sessions and solos.

It's not that hard to figure out.

[WCiezak]

Axl sounds like a struggling Mickey Mouse on so many songs these days. They should just take out the stuff he can't sing. If they stuck to what he does best, you'd probably only be able to cobble together a 90 min set.