Credit: Far Out / Edvill

Slash is “real trepidatious” about Guns N’ Roses playing The Sphere

Fri 24 October 2025 15:39, UK

Slash has explained why he’s against the idea of Guns N’ Roses playing The Sphere in Las Vegas.

Since the world-leading venue, which cost $2.3 billion to build, opened in 2022 with a residency from U2, it has welcomed artists such as the Eagles, Dead and Company, Backstreet Boys and more to Sin City for lucrative stints.

However, Slash doesn’t believe it is a perfect fit for Guns N’ Roses. Speaking to Eddie Trunk on Sirius XM, Slash said: “I haven’t been yet, but just everything that I’ve seen, or most everything that I’ve seen of it, looks amazing. I’m real trepidatious about playing there.”

He then detailed his reasoning, adding, “It’s a great visual show. I think that in almost every case for a band, it becomes a visual show as opposed to seeing a rock and roll show. So there’s that.”

The guitarist also shared that he’d discussed the venue with Joe Walsh, noting “obviously the Eagles have been doing a residency there since forever”, who has made Slash believe “that it’s not really sort of rock ‘n’ roll friendly the way that it is set up”.

Slash added, “So it’s just one of those things where it seems like a really cool thing, and conceptually there’s probably a lot of cool things that you could do, but I don’t think it would be the right environment for a proper rock ‘n’ roll show.”

While he did admit that he’d be “interested” in seeing Metallica at the venue amid persistent rumours they are readying a residency, Slash remained to be convinced whether it would be the best idea for his band.

He concluded by saying that visuals would have to be at the centre of any show at The Sphere, adding, “You have to sort of get to that mindset, and I think that’s hard for us to go that far into it. But we’ll see. Maybe down the road.”

Guns N’ Roses are currently on the road in South America. Their next concert is set to take place at the Allianz Parque in São Paulo on October 25th, with more shows planned in Brazil and Peru before it concludes in Mexico City on November 8th.

Earlier this week, they were forced to issue a statement after Axl Rose appeared to lash out at a drum kit during a recent performance in Buenos Aires. “During the opening song at our recent Buenos Aires concert, Axl’s in-ear monitor pack had only the percussion in his ears versus the entire mix,” they told fans.

The statement added, “The issue was fixed by our tech by the third song, and we had a great night.”