Duff McKagan Admits Guns N' Roses' Long Set Times Physically Hurt Him

Guns N' Roses are known for their extremely long sets (we're talking three-and-a-half hours), and even though Duff McKagan admits it physically hurts him, the bassist explained why they can't shorten them in a new interview.

“Man, Axl [Rose] loves – you know, I think it’s – g****mit, it’s like, what songs do you take out, you know, if you wanted to play shorter?” he said. “Don’t get me wrong – my body would love it if we only played two-and-a-half-hours. Most bands, like, play two hours. Two hours and 10 minutes or something, and we’re playing three [hours and] thirty [minutes]."

"I’d love to play shorter because, just, I’d be in less pain the next day. But, there’s just too many songs, and people stay for the whole thing," McKagan explained. "Nobody leaves, so it’s like, “Okay, they must be enjoying this.” We’ll whip out ‘Coma’ or ‘Locomotive’. We’re whipping out other songs. I really love playing ‘Bad Obsession’, you know? ‘Pretty Tied Up’. It’s so great. . . . We’ll play it all. ‘Reckless [Life]’ and ‘Shadow [of Your Love]’. I’m looking at Axl, and I’m, like, 'Yeah, you sure, man? ‘Cause we’ve gotta play again in a couple nights.”

Last week, GN'R shared a previously unreleased song called "The General" that was recorded during their Chinese Democracy sessions. It's the b-side to their single "Perhaps," which was released in August and was also written while they were making that album 16 years ago.