2018.07.25 - Iceland Magazine - Interview with Axl

Interview with Axl Rose: Guns N' Roses' Reykjavík concert largest in Icelandic history

The US rock band Guns N'Roses held a concert in Reykjavík yesterday night, drawing a crowd of 25,000 fans (7% of the Icelandic nation), making it the largest rock concert ever held in Reykjavík. The band played for 3.5 hours, playing all of their most popular hits.

Axl Rose sat down for an interview with Þórarinn Þórarinsson, saying the band has been planning to play in Iceland for a long time.

Many of your Icelandic fans have been waiting and hoping to see you perform in Iceland. Have you ever considered playing in Iceland before? Did you even know that Iceland existed back in 1990?

"Yes we’ve wanted to play Iceland for a long time and of course we knew it existed!"

You´ve toured the world a few times over but how does it feel going on stage in a new place after being in the industry so long?

"We just want to do a good job for the fans, that after the show they leave feeling they had a good time and maybe make some new fans that just came to see what the fuss was about."

How do you keep on giving such showstopping performances every time and what’s been the highlight of the tour so far?

"Everyone just wants to do their best for the fans, each other and our crew. Everyone pushes each other with their performance and commitment. And with highlights, every show, every crowd is different with something to remember about each one."

It’s not so easy to perform for 3 ½ hours, consistently at every show. How to you guys pull this off concert after concert?

"Everyone’s different. Each of us have our own fitness preferences. Ultimately you gotta do what you gotta do to do what we do."

You´ve been on the Not in This Lifetime tour since April 2016 and you the response has been great, both from your fans and the industry. Have you considered following this through by bringing out some new stuff in the near future?

"Right now our focus is on touring and the shows but everyone seems to be getting along so you never know."

Since Iceland is a small nation and very self aware I must ask you to bear with me now, when I bring up a few classic “Icelandic questions” because people here somehow love to read about what our famous guests think of Iceland.Is there any chance you’ll hang around and relax on our little island for a while since this will be your last concert on the tour?

"That’d be nice! But honestly I haven’t thought that far ahead."

Are there any Icelandic musicians that you have come across that stand out for you?

"I’d imagine Bjork’s the most well known and I’m a big fan."

Do you have a favorite song on your setlist that always gets you fired up playing while performing on stage?

"I don’t know if fired up’s the right phrase for this but for me right now I really enjoy singing Wichita Lineman. It has such a haunting vibe especially with Glen’s passing and our version feels a lot like old Guns acoustically to me."

https://icelandmag.is/article/interview-axl-rose-guns-nroses-reykjavik-concert-largest-icelandic-history

Not very committal or informative. But good to see him do an interview. I like how he often picks small magazines and forums for his media appearances. He surely has standing offers from the large magazines, but he prefers to go to small newspapers (or even fan forums) when he has something to say. Axl: always doing it his way.

Soulmonster wrote:Not very committal or informative. But good to see him do an interview. I like how he often picks small magazines and forums for his media appearances. He surely has standing offers from the large magazines, but he prefers to go to small newspapers (or even fan forums) when he has something to say. Axl: always doing it his way.

I like it too. We have a chance to get an interview here one day... don't we Axl  ?

denitza wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:Not very committal or informative. But good to see him do an interview. I like how he often picks small magazines and forums for his media appearances. He surely has standing offers from the large magazines, but he prefers to go to small newspapers (or even fan forums) when he has something to say. Axl: always doing it his way.

I like it too. We have a chance to get an interview here one day... don't we Axl  ?

I am going to Los Angeles in October. Let's cross our fingers