When Guns N’ Roses play a pair of shows at Gillette Stadium next month, “It’s So Easy” might be changed on the fly to “It’s So Early”.
The Massachusetts town of Foxborough, which hosts the stadium where the reunited rock band will perform July 19 and 20, has denied a request from the group to perform after curfew. According to the Sun Chronicle, Guns N’ Roses asked to be able to perform until 11:40, but the town’s selectmen, weary of two loud, late night concerts going down on weekdays, imposed the standard town curfew of 11:15 p.m.
As the paper notes, Taylor Swift was allowed to perform until 11:40 p.m. for her shows at Gillette last summer, but those concerts were held during the weekend.
Gillette Stadium’s director of external affairs and business development, Jess Enos, told the town board that the current Guns N’ Roses tour, which has reunited its classic lineup of Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan, has not had any behavioral issues or complaints on previous stops, and the venue expects an older crowd to be in attendance.
Selectwoman Ginny Coppola, however, said the issue had mostly to do with the days of the week and the residents in the Foxboro community. “This is on a Tuesday and a Wednesday,” Coppola said, via the Sun Chronicle. “If this was a weekend, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. But it’s a work night… This isn’t going to be an acoustic evening. It’s going to be loud.”
George Bell, a member of the stadium advisory committee, even suggested that Gillette can lower the volume of the concert if the venue receives a noise complaint.
Guns N’ Roses were notorious for late starts to concerts in their late-’80s and early-’90s heyday. Let’s hope Rose is ready to go at the proposed start time next month — or Massachusetts could be getting some short shows.
[h/t Blabbermouth]