GUNS N’ ROSES DO ORLANDO!

Guns N’ Roses last played the Citrus Bowl in Orlando on September 2, 1992 with Metallica on the “Use Your Illusion Tour”.  A few things have changed in the last 24 years!  The Citrus Bowl is now called Camping World Stadium.  Metallica is not on the bill.  The Cult will be opening for GNR on Friday night.  This tour is the “Not In Your Lifetime Tour”, named for a response in which Axl Rose was asked if GNR would tour ever again and his answer was “Not in Your Lifetime”.

The media was invited on Thursday to view the stage being set up and to a Q & A with tour production manager Dale “Opie” Skjerset, who has worked production for AC/DC, The Stones, Ozzy and others.  It takes a rock & roll village to set up a show of this magnitude.  125 on the road crew, 20 trucks, tour buses, tons of steel, lights, confetti and pytotechnics.  It was over 100 degrees and everyone was working hard to get the stage setup.  Respect for the Roadies!

Gone are the days of Axl Rose being late says Opie.  “Everyone is older and have matured, this is business” He said, ‘The fans are here to hear the hits and that is what they are going to get”.  There will be a few covers and surprises.  It will be a long show, with Guns playing over 2 hours so expect to have a late night this Friday!  

This is not a full GNR reunion but Axl and Slash playing together after all these years along with Duff McKagan is something the most diehard GNR fans never thought would happen.  From all reports, the man to thank for it is Duff who helped to mediate a truce and get the ball rolling.

There are still a few tickets on ticketmaster.com if you want to rock out tonight in Orlando.  There will be shuttles around the stadium, small cameras are allowed, no coolers, no IPads, no selfie sticks and no Go-Pros. Be sure to stay hydrated. Welcome to the Jungle!

photos by Vicky Sullivan / Rock the Lens Photography for The Saraosta Post