RICHARD FORTUS On Setlist For GUNS N' ROSES' 2023 Tour: 'Hopefully We'll Shake Things Up A Bit'

In a new interview with Guy "Favazz" Favazza of the St. Louis, Missouri radio station KSHE 95, GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Richard Fortus said that fans may get to hear some different songs on the band's upcoming tour, which is scheduled to kick off on June 1 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. "Hopefully we'll shake things up a bit and switch around songs and stuff like that," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "But a lot of times every night is different, 'cause we don't have setlists, so…"

Pressed by Favazz about how Fortus and his bandmates know what is coming up next when they don't have a setlist, Richard said: "Our singer. Axl [Rose], he's got a button he can push that cuts off the mic from the [front]… which usually is used to tell jokes. But he'll just say, 'What do you guys wanna do?' And somebody else will say something or he'll say, 'Let's do this.'

"There's blocks of songs that we'll do together," Fortus explained. "And sometimes it's a real surprise… And we're well rehearsed. We soundcheck for at least an hour every day. Slash [GUNS N' ROSES guitarist, man, he loves to play — he loves to play… I get to play with that guy every night. It's pretty cool."

GUNS N' ROSES' North American tour will start on Saturday, August 5 in Moncton, NB at Medavie Blue Cross Stadium, and will visit historic venues across the country such as Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts on August 21 and Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois on August 24. The tour concludes in Vancouver, British Columbia at BC Place on Monday, October 16.

Fortus got his big break when his band PALE DIVINE opened for THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS. This led to Fortus forming the band LOVE SPIT LOVE with PSYCHEDELIC FURS frontman Richard Butler and drummer Frank Ferrer. In 2000, Fortus and Ferrer became touring members of the reformed PSYCHEDELIC FURS before Fortus hooked up with GUNS N' ROSES. Ferrer himself joined GN'R in 2006.

GUNS N' ROSES launched its long-rumored and long-awaited reunion tour with an April 2016 club show in Hollywood and appearances in Las Vegas and at California's Coachella festival.

GUNS N' ROSES' reunion tour features classic-lineup members McKagan, Rose and Slash, backed by Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer, keyboardist Dizzy Reed and second keyboardist Melissa Reese.

GUNS N' ROSES released a new four-song EP, "Hard Skool", in February 2022. The effort, which is exclusive to the GUNS N' ROSES' official store, contained the two new songs the band released in 2021 — the title track and "Absurd" (stylized as "ABSUЯD") — as well as live versions of "Don't Cry" and "You're Crazy".

The band is now reportedly working on a new studio album — the first under the GUNS banner since 2008's "Chinese Democracy" and the first to feature Rose, Slash and McKagan since 1993.

Photo credit: Katarina Benzova