For their second Paris date, the Guns N’ Roses once again took over the Accor Arena on July 3. With three hours of music, an avalanche of classics, and a Slash who remains as imperial as ever, the Los Angeles band proved it still had strong arguments to offer.
Mammoth
The evening opens with MAMMOTH, a project led by Wolfgang Van Halen. The American quintet has little trouble finding its place in a universe ultimately very compatible with Guns N’ Roses. Despite a hall that is still sparsely filled, the group quickly captures the attention of an audience already eager. Solidly rooted in modern hard rock nourished by classic influences, Mammoth demonstrates from the first tracks the breadth of a repertoire that is as melodic as it is powerful. An effective opening act before the legends arrive!
Guns N’ Roses
Within the ranks of Bercy, two camps seem to coexist in perfect harmony. On one side the devotees of Slash’s iconic top hat and on the other those who wear Axl Rose’s traditional red scarf. Families come to share this musical heritage alongside the loyal fans who have followed the group since its early days; all generations are represented. Forty years after their debut, GUNS N’ ROSES continue to draw crowds far beyond their original audience.
The band, however, made to wait (you don’t change old habits!). The few minutes of delay announced end up turning into a good half-hour wait. Fortunately, the unstoppable “Bohemian Rhapsody,” now a staple in many pre-show playlists, serves perfectly as a safety net. The entire Bercy joins in singing the Queen classic in a colossal karaoke, transforming the general impatience into heightened anticipation before the arrival of the Los Angeles legends. And what an entrance.
“Welcome To The Jungle” is arguably one of the best album openers in rock history. Making it also a concert opener is obvious given how immediate the impact is. From the first notes, the Accor Arena erupts. The crowd moves, sings, even though afterward the mood remains more familial than explosively energetic. We’re not in a setup best suited for wild pogo. No matter, the Guns N’ Roses have set the scene with formidable efficiency. The rest of the show follows with the classics almost without giving the audience a breather. “Mr. Brownstone,” a pristine “It’s So Easy,” then the unmissable “Live And Let Die,” Wings’ cover that settles everyone and turns the audience into a gigantic choir. Among the many gems unearthed tonight, one cannot fail to mention “Don’t Cry.” Admittedly, the track is among the band’s great classics, but it doesn’t always appear on every setlist, which makes its presence all the more precious. A true masterpiece of the Guns N’ Roses discography, this timeless ballad literally suspends time. Carried by an audience that knows every word, it offers one of the most moving moments of the evening.
You know where you are?
Indeed, with three hours of performance, the Americans have plenty of time to explore their heritage. And that is the true hallmark of this tour. Aside from two songs unveiled in 2025, “Atlas” and “Nothin’,” the band has no new album to defend. The perfect opportunity to revisit forty years of career through a succession of titles that have become legendary. For example, Appetite For Destruction (1987) is almost played in its entirety with eight tracks out of twelve. Also, impossible to escape “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” Bob Dylan’s cover now inseparable from the group, nor “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” which literally lifts the Arena with the legendary opening by Slash.
For the second part, if there is one certainty tonight, it’s that the musicians hold the fort with impressive mastery. Duff McKagan remains astonishingly solid while Slash, as ever, seems totally out of time. With his iconic top-hat and sunglasses, the guitar hero appears frozen in the legend he helped forge. His solo is one of the great moments of the concert. A demonstration of surgical virtuosity. Rarely does a musician give the impression of captivating an entire hall by the sheer power of his instrument. A true moment of grace, honey for the ears.
As for Axl Rose, the concerns were necessarily significant. Critics of his vocal abilities have multiplied in recent years, and one could legitimately fear a lackluster performance. Yet the singer surprises. Still as mobile, he roams the stage from end to end with unwavering presence and delivers the essentials with more efficiency than expected. Of course, three hours of performance represent a real marathon. Some signs of fatigue inevitably appear in the final stretch, notably on “Paradise City,” which bears the wear and tear somewhat. That is probably where the only caveat lies. If such generosity commands respect and gives the audience ample value, one might also wonder whether a slightly more condensed format could allow the band to maintain all its power to the end.
Finally, one cannot overlook the care given to the visual universe. Without reinventing the rock arena stagecraft, the band offers immersive projections that are particularly successful and extend the imagination of the songs performed. Special mention goes to the prolonged sequence dedicated to Use Your Illusion I and II. In the background appears a monumental architecture housing the philosophers of L’École d’Athènes by the Italian painter Raphael, emptied of its figures and transformed into a graffiti-covered squat bearing the Guns N’ Roses emblems. A particularly clever wink knowing that the cover art of the two albums reprises exactly one of the figures from Raphael’s famous fresco. A further proof that behind the grandeur of their status the Guns N’ Roses continue to carefully cultivate their artistic identity and the array of references that shaped their legend.
In a final demonstration, “Nightrain” and “Paradise City” signal the end of the show. Yes, time has left its marks. Yes, some limits now appear more clearly than before. But seeing Guns N’ Roses in 2026 is still witnessing a meeting of extraordinary musicians and a performance of a cult repertoire. And that remains, whatever happens, an immense pleasure.
