In 2016, after many years of hiatus, Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, and Slash reunited to reform most of the original Guns N’ Roses lineup from the band’s highly successful early days in the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s. The American rockers subsequently embarked on the Not In This Lifetime… Tour, which spanned three years and grossed $584.2 million, making it the third most successful live concert tour of all time.
With plans for a new tour in the near future, will the well-established music legends give newer bands a leg up by offering them slots as support acts?
Last Tour Had a Lot of Local Support
Guns N’ Roses’ latest tour was the first time the original members of the band had played on stage together in 23 years, and it was a momentous event. The band played in a vast number of countries across all the major continents, with widely diverse audiences at each. For the support, there were some huge acts including Alice in Chains and The Cult. But some of the time, GNR opted to use local talent from the rock genre. This helped lesser-known bands gain recognition, and up-and-coming acts will be hoping that this happens again on the next tour.
When the band went to Canada, they opted to use a local act, Billy Talent, to open proceedings. In Japan, GNR were supported by metal idol band BabyMetal. For the dates in Latin America, a lot of bands from the region were used. These included Airbag and Massacre.
GNR Don’t Need Big Names for Support
Despite using local support in some countries, there were many places in which GNR didn’t opt to use the country’s talent and used big names instead. When the band played in New Zealand, they went with Australian rockers Wolfmother for support. This may have been down to the fact that there just weren’t enough well-known options from the genre in the country. However, it could be argued that GNR should go for more local, lesser known bands in such countries in order to give them a chance to gain wider attention.
This is because GNR don’t need to have a well-known act on the lineup in order to sell tickets. They are already musical icons, and essentially a symbol of pop culture. This is seen with all the mainstream merchandise surrounding the band, such as their inclusion in games like Guitar Hero 3 and the officially licensed Guns N’ Roses slot game from NetEnt. Both are good options during boredom, and the latter is available at online PartyCasino, where there is a 200% deposit bonus.
Already an established global band, GNR can and should use their fame to propel some other acts to success. No matter who is on before them, fans are going to buy those tickets regardless. Hopefully on future tours, rather than have household names open for them, they will give more newcomers a chance.
