Common Ground

DUFF McKAGAN HAS spent the past few years traveling the world with Guns N’ Roses on the band’s massive — and massively successful — Not in This Lifetime tour. The jaunt, which reunites the core Guns trio of Axl Rose, Slash and McKagan for the first time in more than two decades, has put the bassist on some of the largest stages and in front of some of the biggest crowds of his 30-plusyear career. And while that’s been a thrill ride in and of itself, as McKagan tells it, the time in between the shows has often proved as impactful as the performances themselves.

“When Guns was out, we would only perform every third day, because we were playing huge places and we have a huge production that has to be set