Guns N’ Roses launched their 2025 world tour with a powerful opening night at Songdo Moonlight Festival Park in Incheon, South Korea, on Thursday. This tour, aptly named Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things, signifies a fresh era for the group, highlighted by the live debut of their new drummer, Isaac Carpenter.
Carpenter‘s arrival in March filled the drum seat previously held by Frank Ferrer. While a new member of the Guns N’ Roses lineup, Carpenter has prior connections to the band’s extended family, having played with bassist Duff McKagan‘s side project, Loaded, from 2009 to 2011 and contributing to their 2011 album, The Taking.
Beyond the introduction of Carpenter, the Incheon concert delivered a notable surprise with a revamped setlist. For the first time in thirteen years, the band ignited their performance with the legendary anthem “Welcome to the Jungle.” This marked a change from their more recent tradition of opening with “It’s So Easy,” which, according to setlist.fm, appeared later in the evening.
Unsurprisingly, their seminal debut album, Appetite for Destruction, provided the backbone of the set, featuring seven of its twelve tracks. Among these were timeless hits such as “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” “Nightrain,” and their traditional show closer, “Paradise City.” Devoted fans also reveled in the inclusion of Use Your Illusion masterpieces like “November Rain,” “Coma,” and “Estranged,” alongside the less common gem “Bad Obsession.” The band’s Chinese Democracy era was represented by the tracks “Better,” “Sorry,” and the album’s title song.
Band’s entire setlist was as follows (according to setlist.fm):
1. “Welcome to the Jungle” (first time as opener since Feb. 10, 2012)
2. “Bad Obsession”
3. “Mr. Brownstone”
4. “Chinese Democracy”
5. “Live and Let Die” (Wings cover)
6. “Slither” (Velvet Revolver cover)
7. “Perhaps”
8. “Estranged”
9. “Double Talkin’ Jive”
10. “Coma”
11. “Sorry”
12. “Better”
13. “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (Bob Dylan cover)
14. “It’s So Easy”
15. “Rocket Queen”
16. Slash guitar solo (“Pride & Joy” by Steve Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble)
17. “Sweet Child O’ Mine”
18. “November Rain”
19. “Wichita Lineman” (Jimmy Webb cover)
20. “Patience”
21. “Nightrain”
22. “Paradise City”
Writer and extreme metal devotee, Ialdagorth has spent over a decade covering the darkest corners of heavy music. A black metal lifer, he spends his free time wandering the Carpathian Mountains, likely humming blast beats to the trees.
