Guns N’ Roses Fire Up 2025 Tour With Electrifying Incheon Opener and New Drummer Isaac Carpenter
Guns N’ Roses stormed the stage at Songdo Moonlight Festival Park in Incheon, South Korea on May 1 to kick off their 2025 world tour, and they did it with a few surprises in tow — including a newly shuffled set list and the debut of drummer Isaac Carpenter.
The tour, cheekily titled “Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things,” lived up to its name. Most notably, the band flipped tradition on its head by opening the show with “Welcome to the Jungle” — a first since 2012. Their usual opener, “It’s So Easy,” arrived mid-set.
Isaac Carpenter, formerly of Duff McKagan’s Loaded, replaced longtime drummer Frank Ferrer in March. Thursday’s show marked Carpenter’s official GN’R debut, and by all accounts, he didn’t miss a beat — powering through a 22-song set that pulled from nearly every corner of the band’s catalog.
The set featured seven tracks from Appetite for Destruction, including hits like “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” “Mr. Brownstone,” “Rocket Queen,” and their raucous closer “Paradise City.” Fan-favorite Use Your Illusion epics like “November Rain,” “Estranged,” and “Coma” also returned to the spotlight.
GN’R also dusted off lesser-performed songs like “Bad Obsession” and “Double Talkin’ Jive”, while the modern “Chinese Democracy” era was represented with “Better,” “Sorry,” and the title track. Of the newer material, only “Perhaps” made the cut from their post-reunion releases since 2021.
Cover songs were trimmed compared to past tours, but the band still included staples like “Live and Let Die” (Wings), “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (Bob Dylan), “Wichita Lineman” (Glen Campbell), and “Slither” (Velvet Revolver), showing a wide range of influence.
Though no North American dates have been announced yet, the tour will roll across Asia and Europe through July 31, where it wraps up at Wacken Open Air in Germany.
From the return of iconic openers to a fresh face behind the drums, Guns N’ Roses’ 2025 run is already shaping up to be a raucous reimagining of their live legacy — proving that what fans get might be even better than what they want.
