After years of tour speculation and the long-awaited release of “Chinese Democracy,” an album 10 years in the making, Guns N’ Roses has outlined plans for a North American tour.
For now, the routing will just take Axl Rose and his compatriots across the Canadian provinces. Thirteen dates are on the books from a January 13 opening show at MTS Centre in Winnipeg, MB, through a final February 4 gig at Metro Centre in Halifax, NS.
Among the other stops scheduled on the three-week trek are gigs on January 17 at Rexall Place in Edmonton, AB; January 24 at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, ON; and February 1 at Colisee Pepsi in Quebec, QC.
The first presales for the tour begin October 22, and public onsales will follow on October 23. Rehearsals for the tour will begin soon in Los Angeles, according to a statement from Live Nation.
Despite the magnitude of this announcement, Rose has not made any statements about the upcoming tour. An announcement and information are also noticeably absent on the official GNR Web site, despite the tour’s confirmed status.
The current GNR lineup is composed of Rose, Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus, Frank Ferrer, Tommy Stinson, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, Chris Pitman and newcomer DJ Ashba. The crew will be supporting the November 2008 release “Chinese Democracy,” which entered production in the mid-’90s and became the subject of speculation and GNR lore due to its often delayed release.
The prospect of GNR’s tour plans has also been the focus of public speculation in recent years. Multiple times, talk of concert dates has arisen and disappeared just as quickly. Late last year, one such rumor cropped up when guitarist Fortus told St. Louis’ The Telegraph that a tour was in the works for March 2009.
Tour dates will begin this year, though much later than Fortus forecasted and not in North America. A round of performances in Southeast Asia is supposed to begin December 11.
Guns N’ Roses itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)
| January 13 | Winnipeg, MB | MTS Centre |
| January 16 | Calgary, AB | Pengrowth Saddledome |
| January 17 | Edmonton, AB | Rexall Place |
| January 19 | Saskatoon, SK | Credit Union Centre |
| January 20 | Regina, SK | Brandt Centre |
| January 24 | Hamilton, ON | Copps Coliseum |
| January 25 | London, ON | John Labatt Centre |
| January 27 | Montreal, QC | Bell Centre |
| January 28 | Toronto, ON | Air Canada Centre |
| January 31 | Ottawa, ON | Scotiabank Place |
| February 1 | Quebec City, QC | Colisee Pepsi |
| February 3 | Moncton, NB | Moncton Coliseum |
| February 4 | Halifax, NS | Metro Centre |