Guns N' Roses confirm New Zealand tour dates
Following months of speculation from rock music fans across the country, today the dates have been officially announced for the New Zealand leg of Guns N’ Roses - Not In This Lifetime mammoth stadium tour.
Founder Axl Rose and former members, Slash and Duff McKagan have regrouped for one of the century’s most anticipated tours. Currently touring the US and South America before heading to Australasia in February 2017, Rolling Stone said: "This was the real thing, the thing we'd all been waiting for: the triumphant return of one of the most important bands to cross rock music history. And it happened in our lifetime.”
Kicking off in Wellington on Thursday 2 February at Westpac Stadium, the Not in this Lifetime tour will then travel to Auckland’s Western Springs Stadium on Saturday 4 February before heading to Australia for five stadium concerts across the country. New Zealand audiences will be able to celebrate these “I was there” shows taking place on the Thursday and Saturday of the Waitangi long summer weekend.
Tickets for Guns N’ Roses Not in this Lifetime tour will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday 31 August at 10am.
The tour will mark the first time that founder Axl Rose and former members, Slash and Duff McKagan have played together for New Zealand fans since their infamous 1993 Use Your Illusion tour.
Following the group’s 1985 formation, Guns N’ Roses injected unbridled, unrivalled, and unstoppable attitude into the burgeoning Los Angeles rock scene. Their spirit went on to captivate the entire world with the release of their 1987 debut Appetite for Destruction –the best-selling U.S. debut ever, moving 30 million copies globally. In 1991, the seven-time platinum Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II occupied the top two spots of the Billboard Top 200 upon release.
Over the course of the past decade, Guns N’ Roses have performed sold out shows and headlined festivals worldwide following the critically acclaimed release of 2008’s RIAA platinum-certified Chinese Democracy. Six studio albums later, Guns N’ Roses are one of the most important and influential acts in music history and continue to set the benchmark for live performances connecting with millions of fans across the globe.
In New Zealand Guns N’ Roses unwavered popularity is highlighted by their unparalleled chart success since 1987. The band boasts 17 RIANZ Top 50 singles, alongside every one of their studio releases enjoying platinum accreditation. The highlights include: Appetite For Destruction 3x Platinum, Use Your Illusion 1 -Platinum, Use Your Illusion 2 -Platinum. The dual release of Use Your Illusion 1&2 in 1991 saw the band hold the #1 and #2 place on the RIANZ chart. 1993's The Spaghetti Incident? and 2008s Chinese Democracy debuted at RIANZ #3 and #1 respectively with the latter achieving Platinum status. Guns N’ Roses Greatest Hits achieved 9x Platinum and spent 5 weeks at #1 in the RIANZ chart and remained on the chart for 50 weeks - making it one of the biggest selling albums of all time.
Guns N' Roses
Thursday February 2nd: Westpac Stadium, Wellington - Tickets via Ticketek
Saturday Februrary 4th: Western Stadium, Auckland - Tickets via Ticketmaster
Witness the stadium tour of the century this February 2017.
Tickets are on sale to the general public on Wednesday 31 August at 10am.