Posted on: December 18, 2020 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

2020 ought to have been a big year for the world’s most legendary heavy metal band. They had an enormous world tour scheduled and were also rumored to be releasing their long-awaited new album – the first in more than twenty years to be produced by their (almost) original, iconic line-up. We all know what happened to those big plans. 2020 got in the way, everything had to be scrapped, and the band ended up playing almost no concerts at all. To make matters worse, the fact that they couldn’t get together for most of the year appears to have hindered their plans to put the finishing touches on those new recordings.

It would have been understandable if the band had taken this as their cue to quietly retire. They are, after all, not getting any younger, and none of them need the money that comes with performing anymore. Even with no concerts happening, they’ve found ways to make money. They have their own official whiskey, beer, and cheese. They’ve made their way to UK slots site, where a slots game bearing their likenesses and playing their music has been a big hit with players. They’re not the first big-name band to make money from online slots, and nor will they be the last, but they are the most successful. Thankfully for their fans, they’ve decided that now is not the time to sit back and retire on their online slots money. 2020 might have been a write-off, but they have big plans for 2021 – especially if you’re a Guns n Roses fan who lives “Down Under.”

As was revealed little earlier this week, Guns n Roses have decided that the green light will be given for large-scale concerts and tours to start up again next year – and if they’ve spoken, who are we to argue with them? With a headline that proudly and confidently reads “Stadium Rock is Back,” Axl Rose and his crew have announced that they’ll arrive in Australia and New Zealand in November next year for what ought to be a string of sold-out shows. We’re yet to get confirmation of what to expect on the tour, but it’s probably fair to expect that it will be a continuation of their interrupted “Not in this Lifetime” tour rather than a new stage show. Reading between the lines, that might not be all we’re getting either.

After making coy statements about the possibility of a new Guns n Roses album earlier in the year, Slash and Duff McKagan have recently gone quiet on the idea of new recordings turning up at any time in the near future and Axl Rose – perhaps still scarred by the long delay of “Chinese Democracy” several years ago – refuses to be drawn on the matter. McKagan’s wife Susan Holmes McKagan, though, let slip that the band has been working on some new material which she describes as “killer.” She was quick to add that she “couldn’t say much,” but added that what she’d heard was “pretty epic.” That definitely counts as a teaser, and it suggests that the band might have been reasonably close to finishing their work before the pandemic rudely interrupted them.

At the time of writing, the band doesn’t have any plans to perform anywhere other than Australia and New Zealand, which might be down to the fact that there’s a lower infection rate in that part of the world than there is anywhere else at the moment. That might change now that vaccinations are becoming available, so we still might see further dates being added in other locations earlier on in the year if everything goes to plan. For now, their brief tour will start on November 6th at the Metricon Stadium on Australia’s Gold Coast and then proceed on for a further seven dates around the region before finishing at the Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia, on November 24th. Tickets are already on sale, and so if you live in the area or you’re such a dedicated Guns n Roses fan that you’d happily travel halfway around the world for the chance to see them play live, you should act quickly to ensure that you don’t miss out.

If you can’t wait until late next year for your next fix of Guns n Roses and you’re not into the idea of playing online slots, there’s one other avenue you might be interested in exploring in the meantime. A few months ago, guitarist Slash teamed up with Jersey Jack Pinball to create a unique Guns n Roses pinball game that’s available for home delivery. It’s based on the aforementioned “Not In This Lifetime” tour and featured a soundtrack that’s been curated by Slash himself along with some original music that he’s composed specifically for the game. While there have been Guns n Roses pinball tables before, this is the first since 1994 and by far and away the most technologically advanced and impressive. They might not be within budget for the average fan, though. Even the lowest-priced of the three limited-edition tables has a retail price of over one thousand dollars, with the top-of-the-range ‘deluxe’ model retailing for closer to ten thousand.

In a year that’s been largely bereft of any good news at all coming out of the music industry, it’s great to see one of the most famous bands in world history leading the charge to take us back to normality. Guns n Roses have always been pioneers. Now that they’ve laid their cards on the table and opened themselves up to the idea of touring again, we live in the hope that other big bands and star performers will follow suit. We all miss that feeling of standing in a crowd with thousands of other people and hearing our favorite songs played live. With a little luck, it won’t be long now before we get to enjoy that feeling again. Guns n Roses have opened the doors, and so now we wait to see who will be next to step through them.

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