Founding Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver member Duff McKagan brought his 2024 Lighthouse tour to the El Rey Theatre on Nov. 13, and the resulting evening was a rock n’ roll family reunion for the ages.
Stream: ‘Lighthouse’ – Duff McKagan
Anyone who says rock n’ roll is dead clearly hasn’t met Duff McKagan.
As a founding member of both Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver, the author of two memoirs, the husband of supermodel and award-winning author Susan Holmes McKagan, and the father of two artists in their own right, Grace and Mae, McKagan has fearlessly traversed four decades of the genre without ever looking back or calling it quits.
On Nov. 13, the troubadour touched down in Los Angeles for an evening to remember at the El Rey Theater, and magic brewed around him from before he ever walked onstage. As longtime fans filled out the barricade and recounted their worldwide treks for McKagan’s various outfits, a star-studded VIP section filled out beside them, including Axl Rose and Linda Ramone. Whispers of possible special guests spread, but one thing was sure – it was a packed house ready to rock. On a Wednesday night, no less.
Grace McKagan opened the evening with a set full of flawless motion and vibrancy, dawning an all-white outfit and performing key tracks like “Jimmy (Lookin’ Like Trash)” and “Surrender.” Everything from McKagan’s 2022 full-length Heart of Hearts to her newest single, “Checkmate,” broadened the scope of her sonic reach – with elements of classic punk, power pop, alt-rock and even moments of new wave, her wide-spanning taste translated wonderfully on the stage, and provided the crowd with melodic singalong outros for a more immersive experience.
When I wake up in the morning
I’m in his Harley heart
Jimmy’s here, yeah, Jimmy’s soaring
I get a kickstart, I fuel my heart
I wanna keep your soul
– “Jimmy (Lookin’ Like Trash),” Grace McKagan
McKagan is also the host of Heart to Hearts with Grace McKagan on iHeartRadio, a space where she shares new and old favorites Fridays from 3-5 PM.
Through her lively, heartening set, the musician set the stage for a night of hard-edged riffs, sincere lyricism, and communal energy that didn’t let up for a second. Her career is sure to flourish, not of her father’s doing but of hers – her sound is infectious, fiery, and gorgeously confident, all three qualities of which shone through and will surely continue to in the years to come.
At 9pm, Duff McKagan hit the stage in darkened sunglasses and a sparkling suit – as he equipped himself with an acoustic guitar and broke into “Forgiveness,” it became evident that this particular crowd was intent not only on enjoying the show, but experiencing it with one another. From the cramped photo pit full of new and old fans and collaborators, to the general admission floor packed with smiling faces, there wasn’t a connection left unmade.
Song by song, McKagan’s set slowly shifted my understanding of what a show is meant to be, and how it’s meant to be observed and interacted with as an audience member. I now believe there are two overarching purposes a concert can set about serving – to showcase an artist’s work, and to bring a room of people together. Luckily, McKagan achieved both at once, without sacrificing the power of either objective.
“We all have depth, and there’s all these stories out there and I keep taking them in. It’s kind of overwhelming,” he said, in-between songs. “I started writing songs for what became Tenderness in 2015, watching cable news and this divide they were pandering to sell ads, and I turned it off. There’s no divide. Fuck them, you know? I think us rock n’ rollers are a family. It’s a thing we do together, and we take care of each other and lift each other up.”
Go and get your good rags on, honey
Call your friends and come along, oh, yeah
Open up our eyes and see, yeah
Rejoin your hands and hold someone and feel
So open up your eyes and see
It can only get better
– “Forgiveness,” Duff McKagan
As such, the show became something we all did together. Through the entirety of the 21-song setlist, I witnessed old friends shaking hands, couples dancing, families cheering, and most importantly, a room full of people seeking to understand one another by truly listening. Shuffling past world-renowned photographers in the photo pit and hearing a full front row of longtime fans reminisce on shows decades previous, each and every person seemed to have both something to say, and something to learn from the person next to them. It was best put by someone walking by mid-song: “It’s like there’s love surging through this place.”
Fostering this environment was a decades-long process which involved McKagan building a following apart from the monstrous success of Guns N’ Roses – one more attuned to his own distinct style of playing and recording. And while the band’s 1987 debut Appetite For Destruction is regularly hailed not only as one of the greatest rock records, but indeed one of the best records ever made period, McKagan refuses to rest on his laurels.
His latest records, 2023’s Lighthouse and 2024’s Tenderness: Live in Los Angeles, show the more vulnerable side of the bassist, while staying true to the grit and punk attitude that his career kicked off with. He performed almost all of Lighthouse’s tracklisting, including standout tracks “Longfeather” and “I Just Don’t Know” – with only one Guns N’ Roses song in “You’re Crazy,” McKagan focused primarily on newer projects.
Easy come but not so easy when it goes
How long do we have? I wanna know
Like a stream, you watch it flow
To the river as it grows, to the oceans under toe
To the ethers ever-glow
I don’t know
– “I Just Don’t Know,” Duff McKagan
Four well-received covers armored the backend of the set – The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” The Crickets’ “I Fought The Law,” Johnny Thunders’ “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory,” and David Bowie’s “Heroes.” McKagan brought out Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones for the last two – a “real fuckin’ idol” to him, and a key player in punk music at large. His arrival garnered a flutter of applause and appreciation as the two carried on through the last few songs of the night.
Sharing the stage, the pair sung the conviction-brimmed tracks with vigor and undeniable love for their craft. So when McKagan and Jones began the call-and-answer bits of “Heroes,” every lyric rang loud and true: “And the guns shot above our heads / And we kissed as though nothing could fall / And the shame was on the other side.” Though McKagan didn’t pen the track, it’s hard to deny that it embodies everything his work stands for – living moment to moment and cherishing those around us, understanding that nothing lasts forever and hearts can change.
It’s fitting that McKagan’s return to Los Angeles fell on a cold November night. The lyrics to “November Rain” are all the more accurate as the years go on, warming listeners while acknowledging the downpour that precedes the best times. He didn’t need to play it for the message to ring throughout the venue – like many of Guns N’ Roses’ biggest hits, it’s become an omnipresent symbol of hope, strength, and abiding optimism.
And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain
I know that you can love me
When there’s no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness
We can still can find a way
‘Cause nothing lasts forever
Even cold November rain
– “November Rain,” Guns N’ Roses
Like November rain, the show couldn’t last forever. But having finally experienced a Duff McKagan solo show, I can confidently say that the memory will. That’s often all we have to hold onto after losing something or someone we once thought immortal – a flurry of memories that fade in and out of clarity like butterflies flying in and out of view. And while you can’t put your arms around a memory, you can witness them flutter from afar and from within.
“We’re a fucking family,” McKagan emphasized during a pause in the music. “You know that phone call you’re not returning? Maybe pick it up. It might be somebody in trouble. Help out your friends, your kids, your wife, your husband, your husband and your wife… I don’t know what goes on around here,” he laughed. “Take care of the people around you. Go out of this place like, ‘Fuck yeah. We’re together. I’ve got friends, and I’ve got brothers and sisters.”
Come along, a little longer, come along with me
This is the song that’s gonna save my life
Its gonna set me free
As long as I’m writing, I know that I’m fighting
It’s the only remedy
Come along, come along, come along with me
Come along, we’ll get stronger
Come along with me
– “This Is the Song,” Duff McKagan
That sense of eternal community defined Thursday night’s show. All we can hope to receive in this life are a collection of moments where amidst the chaos, everything makes sense – where beacons of light reach us in the enveloping darkness. I don’t think it’s dramatic to say a song or a night like this can save or otherwise affirm a life, and neither does McKagan. He wrote a song about it, after all.
“This is the Song’ was written in the middle of a panic attack,” he explained at the time of the song’s release. “I couldn’t breathe and couldn’t see straight, and lately, I have thankfully found my acoustic guitar as a refuge. If I just hold on to that guitar, play chords, and hum melodies, I can start to climb my way out of that hole.”
As McKagan expressed a final ‘thank you’ and came down from the stage to high-five as many fans as he could physically reach, a cloud of love, starstruckness and support surrounded him, sending him off with the same authenticity and attitude he’s always had. I’d argue now, though, four decades into his reign over rock, he’s stronger and more poised to channel that support right back into the crowd.
James Baldwin once said that love is “the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light.” On a night like this, it’s rock n’ roll’s work, too.
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“This Is the Song” – Duff McKagan
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© Emma Schoors
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