Classic Rock
Duff McKagan explains why bands need to take breaks from touring
Although it might sound great to travel around the world and play your music to thousands of fans who love you, tour dates are not always fun if they go on for a long time without a break. That’s what Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan thinks, and he said that if a band doesn’t know the right time to take a break from touring, it can even represent the end of the group.
Advertisement
When a tour is extended, everyone gets tired and becomes less patient with everything. The musician who was also part of the supergroup Velvet Revolver, said that in an interview with Eddie Trunk recently.
Duff McKagan explains why bands need to take breaks from touring
“I know I had to rest (from touring for a while). I had to rest my body. A lot of hours on stage. A lot of traveling. And I’ve gotta listen to my body these days. I’ve gotta listen. So I had to rest. I think we all need to rest. Slash, he’ll go out and tour, like, four weeks later and do it all over again. I’m, like, ‘Okay, dude. More power to you. I’m gonna go to Hawaii.'”
“You can go on a tour and you can have peaks and valleys on the tour. And we never do. Every gig is super special. Even when we extended our tour after touring for so much, extending it for another four weeks, that can destroy a band.”
“I’ve seen it happen. That’s too long. You went too long. And everybody’s starting to snap at each other and the crew and all that stuff. But it doesn’t happen with our band or our crew,” Duff McKagan said.
Guns N’ Roses didn’t tour in 2024, their most recent show happened back on November 5, 2023 at the Hell & Heaven Metal Fest in Toluca, Mexico.
Meanwhile, the guitarist Slash toured quite a lot this year promoting his latest record with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. McKagan also played live but on a few dates only, promoting his latest solo record. There is still no information about live Guns N’ Roses tour dates in 2025 but Slash and Duff said many times during this year that new music by the band might be released in the future.
