Guns N’ Roses in Iceland!

Prior to August 2015, the furthest distance I traveled to see a live musical event, or to meet a musical legend, was about 300 miles.  With a group of friends, we drove from the Long Island suburb of Huntington to the Carrier Dome in upstate Syracuse, to see the Rolling Stones in concert on November 27, 1981.  I was in high school and my friend’s older boyfriend drove.  As we drove north, it began to snow.  I remember this vividly because one of the people in our group was from Australia and he had never seen snow before.  It was quite the adventure and I must say we had pretty good seats! It was the 80’s and iconic bands sold out quickly, so we were only able to get tickets in Syracuse!

I should note that I did consider traveling to London’s Wembley Stadium a few years later to see Robert Plant and Jimmy Page perform.  My nana was going to give me the money for the trip, but none of my friends could come up with the money needed, so the trip was scrapped.

Fast forward to 2015. I decided to travel to Seattle, Washington for a free concert on the roof at The Pike Place Market, followed by a private fundraising party with some Rock&Roll legends including Guns N’ Roses Bass Player Duff McKagan.  Since then, I traveled three times from New York to Los Angeles in 2016 to attend a horror movie screening with Slash, the lead guitarist in Guns N’ Roses.  In 2016 and 2017, I saw GN’R ten times in concert venues across the Unites States, including major stadiums in New Jersey and Seattle, Washington, many arenas including the debut arena reunion performance at the T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, to the breathtakingly beautiful amphitheater The Gorge, just over the mountains from Seattle, considered one of the most scenic concert locations in the world!

In 2018, I took this to the next level and decided to travel to Laugardalsvollur football stadium in Reykjavik, Iceland at the end of July to see my beloved GN’R Rockers.  It was the final tour performance of the 2018 European leg and was the largest concert to date to ever be held in Iceland!  I had many friends in the U.S. and U.K. who were attending, and I actually kept it secret until I arrived at the departure gate at the airport.  The only person who knew was a good friend in the U.K., also attending.  Yes I will create adventure any way I can!  I took a photo of the screen with the flight information and posted it on Facebook, tagging all my friends who were already there, “Surprise see you all soon!”

Although it was a very short trip, I had a great time!  I arrived on a Monday morning and booked the full day Golden Circle Classic Tour, which first brought us to Pingvellir National Park, where the tectonic plates of North America and Europe meet!  Next, we stopped in Blaskogabyggo to feed some Iceland horses.  Did you know that Iceland horses are a rare breed?   They have a special gait, called the 4^thgait tolt, which is a very smooth gait.  You can ride this horse and carry buckets filled with water and you will never have to worry about spilling them.  When an Iceland horse leaves Iceland, it is not allowed to return.  No horses are permitted to enter Iceland as the people of Iceland wish to safeguard this breed.  As we traveled throughout the country side, we saw many fields of wild Iceland horses.  Next we went to the Gullfoss waterfalls, a simply breathtaking sight, where we were able to walk on the rocks, alongside the edge of the falls.  Our final visit was to the Geysir region where multiple hot springs erupt regularly.  Check out the photos below.  There was an opportunity for the adventurous ones in the group to climb to the highest elevation of a rocky hill that rivals my Runyan Canyon Friday morning hikes! If there is one thing I have learned in life, exercise is the key to staying young and fit!

Later that evening it was on to the Hard Rock Café in downtown Reykjavik to meet up with my friends who hail from the U.S., Finland, Japan, and the U.K.!  The Guns N’ Roses fan contingent is global!  For the single fan, this makes building adventurous vacations around global tour dates ideal!  For most GN’R trips, I typically make some new friendships and strengthen existing ones.  Huge thank you to my friend Julia from London who kept my secret about the trip!  It was great to get to know you and Lyn a lot better!  I also met new friends Natalia and Daniel from Helsinki, Finland.  The nicest couple you ever want to meet!  The next morning we arrived to the stadium early to line up for the GA pit.  This is an experience unto itself that builds the camaraderie of this devoted fan group.  Our goal of course, is to be on the rail at the stage.  A major Iceland news organization interviewed us, fascinated with our early arrival and queuing strategy.  Guns N’ Roses at Laugardalsvollur Stadium  The photo of the person on the right wearing a leather jacket with the Guns N Roses logo on the back is yours truly! If any of you are fluent in Icelandic, I would love a translation of this article.

We made it to the rail and our band of wildly talented Rock&Roll musicians powered through 33 timeless classics before the night was over, over 3 hours of epic musical masterpiece by legends in their mid 50’s!  The set list included Velvet Revolver’s “Slither”, the first time I heard a reunited GN’R perform a song by Slash’s band Velvet Revolver.  Why is this significant?  Slash formed Velvet Revolver after he left Guns N’ Roses in the mid 1990’s.  It was a bad breakup that lasted 23 years with Axl Rose and Slash not speaking with each other until late 2015.  Another favorite of mine, recently added to the setlist, is “Madagascar” from the 2008 Chinese Democracy album release.

Remember life is short and precious.  Make the most of it! Go see Guns N’ Roses!

Cover Photo Credits: Cynthia Drew at the Geysir in Reykjavik, Iceland