Nothing scratches my brain quite like a Chris Stapleton rock cover.
And lucky for me, and everyone else with good taste in the world, this past weekend was filled with ’em. The Kentucky-born country music staple had a couple of onstage crossover performances with the legendary band Guns N’ Roses.
As fate will have it, the ’80s classic rock group was in Toronto for their headlining show this past Wednesday, August 5, and Stapleton happened to be taking the stage at the same venue, Rogers Stadium, the following night for his All American Road Show. Insanely enough, the collaboration is a pretty epic full-circle moment given Stapleton opened for Guns N’ Roses a little over a decade ago at Nissan Stadium in July 2016.
Reuniting once more, Stapleton paired up with lead singer Axl Rose during their concert for the band’s 1991 cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” The following night, Stapleton reintroduced the band to the stage for their 1988 staple, “Patience.”
Apparently also taking advantage of the fact that he had the band’s bad*ss guitarist, Slash, on stage to jam band with, Stapleton put him to work shredding on Fleetwood Mac’s 1969 “Oh Well, Pt.1.”
The pre-Stevie Nicks-era tune is the first of two parts (per the name), featuring an electric guitar-heavy track, originally recorded by vocalist and lead guitarist Peter Green. As can be expected, Slash and Stapleton were the perfect duo to bring this early Fleetwood classic to life.
Now is the song about three minutes of them just absolutely playing the h*ll out of their guitars together? Yes. But man, is it an amazing three-minute experience.
I still gotta give credit to Stapleton’s few singing lines, with his absolutely impeccable vocals lending themselves well to this heavy song. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, this man needs to lean into his rock era in his retirement.
Check out both of Stapleton’s and Guns N’ Roses’ performances from last Friday night down below:
Stapleton Tour Dates:
- August 14—Boston, MA—Fenway Park
- August 18—Virginia Beach, VA—Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
- August 21—Atlanta, GA—Mercedes-Benz Stadium
- August 26—Wantagh, NY—Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
- August 28—Philadelphia, PA—Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
- October 2—Bristow, VA—Jiffy Lube Live
- October 7—Lincoln, NE—Pinnacle Bank Arena
- October 9—Kansas City, MO—Morton Amphitheater