Last Saturday (June 4), Guns N’ Roses commenced their hectic 2022 touring schedule, and treated those in attendance to a number of surprising deep cuts and a cover of an AC/DC classic.
Taking to the stage at the Passeio Martimo De Alges in Lisbon, Portugal, Slash and co took a brief pause from their own repertoire halfway through the set to perform AC/DC’s Walk All Over You, taken from the Aussie rock icons’ 1979 Highway to Hell album.
Though Slash didn’t opt for a Gibson SG for the performance, he did use his Les Paul for a faithful exploration of Angus and Malcolm Young’s scorching chord progression, before giving Angus’ rip-roaring solo a suitable amount of Slash-style six-string seasoning.
Axl Rose has a history of performing AC/DC songs live, after he temporarily stepped in to deputize for Brian Johnson back in 2016 when the vocalist had to step down due to hearing issues.
Before the cover, Slash, Rose and the rest of the Guns crew lured listeners in with a host of hits – Welcome to the Jungle, Mr. Brownstone and Chinese Democracy among them – before serving up a rare rendition of Reckless Life.
The track, which is lifted from the band’s 1986 four-track EP Live ?!*@ Like A Suicide, had not been performed since 1993, and as such the unexpected rendition was the first time Reckless Life got a showing in nearly 30 years.
Notably, Slash switched out his tried-and-trusted Gibson Les Paul for a red B.C. Rich Mockingbird model, which he used to storm through the track’s classically Guns-style riffs and a none-more-Slash guitar solo at the 1:30 mark in the video below.
It wasn’t the only deep cut the band revisited during the gig. The penultimate track of the entire setlist – coming in just before the customary performance of Paradise City – was the Appetite For Destruction version of You’re Crazy.
You’re Crazy was originally released on Appetite for Destruction, though was later reimagined and re-recorded for 1988’s G N’ R Lies as a swashbuckling, clean guitar-driven romp that relied heavily on acoustic grooves.
The original – which hadn’t been performed live since 1991 – is jam-packed with up-tempo, riotous six-string riffs, with Slash reuniting with a black Les Paul on the night to revisit the raucous rendition.
Elsewhere on the setlist, Guns N’ Roses performed a bounty of their biggest hits – such as Sweet Child O’ Mine and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – and performed tracks from their recently released four-track EP, Hard Skool, including the title track and Absurd.
Guns N’ Roses will next be in action tonight (June 7) at the Estadio Benito Villamarín in Seville, Spain, and will continue their European tour with trips to Sweden, Norway and the Czech Republic next week.
The band will conclude their European tour on July 15, and will commence their South America tour soon after on September 1 in Brazil. Tours of Mexico and Australia will follow in October/November.
For a full list of tour dates, head over to Guns N’ Roses’ website.
