Timeframe: Guns N’ Roses and their 15-year connection with the UAE

Rockers return to the country for their fifth concert on May 27

The classic line-up of frontman Axl Rose, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan. Photo: 117Live

Guns N’ Roses’ Abu Dhabi concert this month is a continuation of their 15-year love affair with the UAE.

They are one of the few major rock acts to have performed consistently in the country and across the Gulf during that period.

Fans in the UAE have seen the band at various stages of their career: from the time it was essentially a solo vehicle for Axl Rose, backed by hired hands, to the reunion of the classic line-up, including guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan. The band continues to sell out arenas around the world.

Their visits to the UAE have mirrored Abu Dhabi’s own evolution as a live events destination, from their shows at Etihad Park, the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix and their sold-out concerts at Etihad Arena. Each of these packed shows not only reaffirmed the UAE’s place on the band’s touring map, but also laid the groundwork for other hard rock acts. These have included everyone from Metallica to upcoming gigs by Limp Bizkit and Smashing Pumpkins, who are making their first visit to the city.

Their impact would have been hard to predict when Guns N’ Roses first came to Abu Dhabi in 2010. With Rose the only remaining member from the classic line-up, it was difficult to muster much enthusiasm beyond the novelty of the group’s first UAE performance. Yet the show turned out to be a triumph of will for Rose, who delivered a two-hour-plus set featuring 23 songs – including hits and defiant cuts from their 2008 album Chinese Democracy.

Axle Rose performing in Abu Dhabi in December 2010. Sammy Dallal / The National

Former keyboardist Dizzy Reed remembered the band’s first Abu Dhabi visit as memorable for what happened offstage. “It was trippy,” he told The National in 2013. “We saw Emirates Palace and the world’s most expensive Christmas tree. We also caught a soccer game and went to this yacht club – it was pretty amazing.”

With the novelty of a first appearance gone, Guns N’ Roses’ return to Etihad Park three years later – with the same line-up – was a no-frills affair in the best way, featuring a set list that stretched to nearly 30 songs. According to The National’s review, Rose was on scintillating form.

“No lip-synching from this guy – a physical performer, he ran himself breathless at times – yet Rose hit the right notes all the time, every time, proving he can still snarl, scream and roar,” wrote The National's Ellen Fortini. “The band was gelled, tight, and put on a memorable show. Every bit of it came across as genuine, even Rose himself, who laughed, smiled, danced, strutted and spun his way through the set with a few well-timed and good-natured microphone stand tosses.”

Perhaps as a reward for staying the course, Rose returned to the UAE in 2017 with the reformed classic line-up, delivering a sold-out performance in front of nearly 30,000 people at Dubai’s Autism Rocks Arena. The return of Slash and McKagan brought a renewed energy and added potency to what was a thrilling show.

“Do the three reassembled key players like each other? Does it even matter? Bands have been built on money and ego for as long as recorded music has existed. Do they have the same cultural zeitgeist – the same whiff of danger and ability to shock – that they did 25 years ago? Of course not,” read The National's review of the show.

“But Slash and Duff’s return has comfortably upgraded the group’s legacy from a touring tribute circus outfit to long-reigning rock ’n’ roll heroes. And on the basis of this euphoric, knockout juggernaut of a show, there’s no rock band of the past three decades who can rival the might of Guns N’ Roses.”

Axl Rose and Slash reunited for the Not In this Lifetime... Tour at the Autism Rocks Arena in Dubai in 2017. Photo: 117Live

After cementing the reformation’s staying power with a follow-up show at the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix a year later, the band went one better by choosing the UAE capital as the opening stop of their 2023 world tour. This time, they dug deep into their catalogue, performing Bad Obsession and Pretty Tied Up for the first time in 30 years, and featuring McKagan on lead vocals for the first time for their cover of T.V. Eye by The Stooges.

With no new music reportedly on the horizon, Guns N’ Roses’ return to the UAE may seem minor, but their enduring relationship with the region reflects a band comfortable to dig deep into their catalogue, and a fan base embracing them in whatever form they take.