UAE audiences have a terrible habit of leaving concerts early. Just last month, I saw folks heading out of OneRepublic’s Dubai Jazz Festival show just as the band were about to come back for a cracking four-song encore. Were they leaving because it was a bad show? Nope — one departing concertgoer told me it was one of the best shows she’d seen. And it’s hardly like the taxi queues were insufferably long. I can’t explain the reason why people don’t stick around for the encore — sometimes, a highlight of a concert, where a band really cut loose — but I know that on Thursday at du Arena, Guns N’ Roses are not going to be happy if you don’t stay for the whole show.
“We always do an encore,” the band’s keyboardist Dizzy tells tabloid!. “If you leave, you must’ve had a very good reason, but I guarantee it will not have been a good enough one.” Dare you incur his wrath? We thought not.
How long since you were last on the road? How is this tour similar or different to other GNR tours?
Well I’m always on the road, even when I’m not out with GNR. Similarities would be that people still love the music no matter where we are, Rock ‘n Roll is a universal language.
What’s a typical day on tour like in GNR? Does the band hang out together, and is family with you on the road?
A typical day for me is, I sleep as long as I can. When I wake up, or sometimes before I go to bed, there’s a little piece of paper that tells me where to be, if I don’t read the piece of paper I get a phone call from someone telling me where I should’ve been…. Some of us hang out together, some of us don’t, sometimes we all do, that’s when it’s called a concert… and family? Sometimes… My wife’s typing these answers for me right now.
Any pre-show rituals?
Yes for myself, I go to the catering, see what they have, and I eliminate the mystery foods and try the ones that seem familiar. Then I go to the hospitality room and eat nuts and cheese, just because they are there, then I change my clothes and begin what I like to call, “NO, I just did a shot, so you do one.” nd this continues on until each of us believes that we think we’ve all had one more shot than the other.
Tell me about the setlist.
I’ve said these before and it is still true, the words ‘set list’ and ‘Guns N’ Roses’ don’t go together.
Will there be any differences between this show and your last visit to Abu Dhabi in 2010?
Definitely, we have added more cooler songs and the band is tighter and better than ever.
You’ve played on tracks by ex-GNR bandmates in the past. Any more of that coming up, and what else are you up to outside of the band?
I’ve been trying to finish my latest solo record. Hoping to bring it out by the end of this year.
