Guns N’ Roses Announce Massive Middle Eastern and European Tour
Guns N’ Roses announced a huge tour covering Europe and the Middle East, and the bands they’re bringing in tow are really interesting. Support on the tour, depending on the dates, include Rival Sons, Public Enemy, and the Sex Pistols. The Sex Pistols will be fronted by vocalist Frank Carter instead of their original vocalist Johnny “Rotten” Lydon. Usually it’s really disappointing when a band doesn’t have their original vocalist anymore, but in the case of the Sex Pistols, the bigger disappointment is who Lydon has turned out to be as a person. Hip-hop legends Public Enemy, of course, has a long history of playing alongside rock bands, and famously did a version of their song “Bring the Noise” with Anthrax in 1991.
The tour kicks off in Saudi Arabia which, as we’ve pointed out in the past, is a rather morally questionable place for bands to play given their long history of human rights abuses. That’s especially true when playing a big stadium tour like this, which forces them to play the Riyadh Kingdom Arena which is run by the country’s government. Some of the other countries on the tour are a bit questionable as well.
After a few dates in the Middle East, the tour shifts to Europe, starting out in Portugal and moving through Czech Republic and Germany, stopping off in the UK, and then making its way back through the continent to finish off at Wacken Festival in Germany. According to Metal Injection, the dates in Saudi Arabia, Georgia, Lithuania, and Luxembourg mark the first dates Guns N’ Roses have ever played in those countries.
Pre-sales start at 9 a.m. local time today, and general on-sale starts on Friday at 9 a.m. local. Check out the full list of dates below:
5/23 Riyadh Kingdom Arena, Saudi Arabia
5/27 Abu Dhabi Etihad Arena, UAE
5/30 Shekvetili Parka, Georgia (w/ Rival Sons)
6/2 Istanbul Tüpraş Stadyumu, Turkey (w/ Rival Sons)
6/6 Coimbra Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Portugal (w/ Rival Sons)
6/9 Barcelona Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Spain
6/12 Florence Firenze Rocks, Italy (w/ Rival Sons)
6/15 Hradec Kralove Rock For People, Czech Republic (w/ Rival Sons)
6/18 Dusseldorf Merkur Spiel-Arena, Germany (w/ Rival Sons)
6/20 Munich Allianz Arena, Germany (w/ Rival Sons)
6/23 Birmingham Villa Park, UK
6/26 London Wembley Stadium, UK
6/29 Aarhus Eskelunden, Denmark (w/ Public Enemy)
7/2 Trondheim Granåsen Ski Centre, Norway (w/ Public Enemy)
7/4 Stockholm Strawberry Aren, Sweden (w/ Public Enemy)
7/7 Tampere Ratina Stadium, Finland (w/ Public Enemy)
7/10 Kaunas Darius and Girėnas Stadium, Lithuania (w/ Public Enemy)
7/12 Warsaw PGE Nardowy, Poland (w/ Public Enemy)
7/15 Budapest Puskás Aréna, Hungary (w/ Public Enemy)
7/18 Belgrade Ušće Park, Serbia (w/ Public Enemy)
7/21 Sofia Vasil Levski Stadium, Bulgaria (w/ Public Enemy)
7/24 Vienna Ernst Happel Stadion, Austria (w/ Sex Pistols)
7/28 Luxembourg Open Air, Luxembourg (w/ Sex Pistols)
7/31 Wacken Festival, Germany
