2023.09.01 - Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY, USA

Press release about the ongoing tour, Aug. 31:

GUNS N’ ROSES CONTINUE BLOCKBUSTER WORLD TOUR IGNITING STADIUMS EVERYWHERE ACROSS NORTH AMERICA

NORTH AMERICAN OUTING KICKS OFF WITH FIRST-TIME DEBUTS & DUETS FROM CHRISSIE HYNDE TO CARRIE UNDERWOOD

GUNS N’ ROSES DELIVERS CLIMACTIC CONCLUSION TO DATES WITH CARRIE IN NASHVILLE LAST WEEKEND
Tickets and VIP Packages Available Now on GunsNRoses.com

NEW SINGLE “PERHAPS” OUT NOW- LISTEN HERE

Guns N’ Roses continue rolling across the country on their first full-fledged North American headline run since 2021 and are igniting stadiums across North America.

Packing stadiums coast-to-coast, the group have delivered one powerhouse performance after another this month, performing a thrilling three-hour set highlighted by staples such as “November Rain,” “Welcome To The Jungle,” and “Patience” as well as high-powered deep cuts, including “Double Talkin’ Jive,” “Pretty Tied Up,” and “Reckless Life.”

At the same time, this jaunt has marked a series of firsts and surprises. Last night at GEODIS Park in Nashville, superstar Carrie Underwood joined the band for rousing and raucous renditions of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City” following her final show-stopping support set on the tour. In Boston at Fenway Park, Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders rocked the harmonica during “Bad Obsession.” Meanwhile, the gig at PNC Park in Pittsburgh marked the live debut of the new single “Perhaps,” inciting the first-ever singalong for the track as well.

Listen to “Perhaps” HERE
and watch the accompanying official music video HERE

With a string of unforgettable shows under their collective belt already, Guns N’ Roses maintain this momentum with shows in Saratoga Springs and Toronto this weekend. The tour concludes in Vancouver, BC at BC Place on Monday, October 16.

This leg comes following the band’s largest run to date consisting of legendary performances in Europe across stadiums, festivals, and arenas this year, including acclaimed festival performances at Glastonbury and London’s Hyde Park.

Check out the full confirmed itinerary below.

Stay tuned for more from Guns N’ Roses soon!

[...]

ABOUT GUNS N’ ROSES

Embedded in popular culture, Guns N’ Roses’ landmark diamond-selling 1987 opus, Appetite For Destruction, stands out as “the best-selling U.S. debut album ever” and “the 11th best-selling U.S. album of all time.” Following its release, Guns N’ Roses shook the world with the one-two punch of the over 7x-platinum Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, clinching the top two spots on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart upon arrival. With total sales of 100 million units thus far, their catalog also consists of G N’ R Lies (5x-platinum), The Spaghetti Incident? (platinum), Greatest Hits (5x-platinum), and Chinese Democracy (over 6 million worldwide). Not to mention, they are one of the most-streamed rock bands in the world with an average of 27 million monthly listeners on Spotify. The band’s Not In This Lifetime… Tour ranked as the “fourth-highest grossing concert tour of all time,” selling 5 million-plus tickets and included a headline performance at Coachella. Guns N’ Roses never stop with more touring on the horizon and other surprises—the “Nightrain” keeps rolling at full speed.

Guns N’ Roses are Axl Rose (vocals, keyboards), Duff McKagan (bass), Slash (lead guitar), Dizzy Reed (keyboard), Richard Fortus (rhythm guitar), Frank Ferrer (drums), and Melissa Reese (keyboard).

(Source: Vanessa Santos Instagram)

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CwoHYlVJ4bq/ and Dizzy's Instagram

Pictures by Del James

Duff on Instagram: Thank you Saratoga Performing Arts Center! And...im not actually stepping on Gio's head. Photo @stras79



https://www.instagram.com/p/CwrGeSOtwwJ/

With this show, Bad Obsessions has been played more times than Wichita Lineman (146 vs 145 times), TV Eye has been played more times than Objectify (27 vs 26 times), and Perhaps has been played more times than Rhiad and The Bedouins (6 vs 5 times).

Axl talks about his voice

Best live version of Perhaps so far

Pretty Tied Up and Absurd

It's So Easy and Anything Goes

Nightrain and People Get Ready/Patience

Blackstar wrote:Best live version of Perhaps so far

I liked that.

Bad Obsession, Slither and Mr. Brownstone

Review in Albany Times Union:
--------------------------------------

Guns N’ Roses blasts through exciting set at soldout SPAC
Band makes triumphant return 35 years after debut at the venue

By Jim Shahen Jr.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Guns N’ Roses meant business Friday night at a soldout Saratoga Performing Arts Center, delivering an epic, nearly three-hour set full of the bombast, powerhouse riffs and attitude that helped make the band one of the most important acts of the past 40 years.

While the drug- and alcohol-fueled insanity and looming specter of violence that were hallmarks of the group’s calamitous early years is gone, the current incarnation of Guns N’ Roses proved itself to still be a vital, idiosyncratic rock ’n’ roll juggernaut, not a perfunctory cash grab by aging rockers.

It was surreal to see frontman Axl Rose, (in)famous for his lack of punctuality, lead the band on stage at 7:25 p.m. for the blistering opener “It’s So Easy.” Watching original Gunners the iconic Slash on lead guitarist and bassist Duff McKagan put their own stylistic imprint on the GN’R track “Chinese Democracy,” a song that came out in the middle of their 21-year hiatus from the band, was even odder. To follow it with Rose singing a thumping version “Slither,” the hit 2004 single from Slash and McKagan’s mid-aughts band Velvet Revolver? Stranger still, and the back-to-back selections provided an illuminating glimpse into just how easily all parties’ work during those acrimonious decades can fit together.

After playing a solid rendition of the piano-driven ballad “Estranged” about 10 songs into the set, Rose lamented having some vocal difficulties due to vomiting regularly in the days leading up to the show. Despite that malady, his voice was in fine form for the overwhelming majority of the evening, and he belted out the very next song, the aggressive punk rocker “Reckless Life,” with a stunning amount of force.  Overall, the 61-year-old Rose was a physical presence all night, constantly running, dancing and moving across the stage. Although he’s made nice with McKagan and Slash, and the entire seven-member unit seems to have strong positive chemistry, elements of Rose’s mercurial streak remain.

He had a mad gleam in his eye as the band tore through hot versions of the “Use Your Illusion”-era rockers “Bad Obsession” and “Pretty Tied Up.” And the rage that permeates those songs carried through into an awesome performance of “Absurd,” a 2022 single anchored by hilariously vitriolic lyrics that were sincerely delivered and largely unsuitable for print, and a crushing industrial-rock riff.

While the up-tempo tracks got the audience amped up, it was the ballads and Slash’s playing on them that were the big hits of the night. Folks went rightfully mad for his fantastic solos on “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” an impassioned “Civil War” and “November Rain,” and at seeing him and second guitarist Richard Fortus trade lead turns on “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”

Guns N’ Roses’ set ended with a two-song encore. First was a solid version of “Patience.” “Paradise City” closed out the show, leaving the audience with the image of Slash lying across the monitors, soloing away brilliantly, and a triumphant Rose standing behind him with one fist in the air, screeching, “Good (expletive) night!” Indeed it was.

GN’R was preceded by rising hard-rock band Dirty Honey. The outfit, fronted by Niskayuna native Marc LaBelle, delivered a tight, lively 45-minute set that sounded like the album Aerosmith should have made after “Draw the Line.” LaBelle was fired up to be in front of a hometown audience and sang his heart out, leading the group through fun rockers like “California Dreamin’” and “The Wire” and a strong cover of Aerosmith’s “Last Child.” Dirty Honey offered up a few tracks from its forthcoming album, and if the scorching take of “Won’t Take Me Alive” was any indicator, that release will be worth checking out.

Guns N’ Roses
with Dirty Honey

When: 6 p.m. Friday
Where: Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Route 50, Saratoga Springs
Length: Guns N’ Roses, two hours 48 minutes; Dirty Honey, 45 minutes
Highlights: Guns N’ Roses’ “Bad Obsession,” “Absurd,” “Reckless Life,” “Civil War”; Dirty Honey’s “The Wire” and “Won’t Take Me Alive”
The crowd: Sold out, at about 25,000, and boisterous all night

https://www.timesunion.com/music/article/guns-roses-spac-concert-soldout-18344298.php

Credit: Claude Sawyer
Source: https://q1057.com/guns-n-roses-concert-recap-26-songs-3-hour-set-in-saratoga/

Another review (critical about Axl's voice):

https://nippertown.com/2023/09/02/concert-review-guns-n-roses-dirty-honey-spac-09-01-2023/

Richard on Instagram and facebook: It was great to play a smaller venue in Saratoga Springs at SPAC. My friend @mike.rnx took this video. I’d played this venue a few years back with @thedeaddaisies with @aliceinchains and @janesaddiction

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cw0Z3VMuyyO/

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1262582511095372

(I can't embed the video)

Official pictures:

More official pictures: