GN’R Cancel Show, Fans Riot
Guns n’ Roses cancelled the Vancouver, B.C., opening date of their
North American tour Thursday night, sparking an hour-long riot at
GM Place arena.
After workers at the venue posted signs announcing the
cancellation at 7:37 p.m., a crowd of thousands chanted “bullshit!”
Some rioters then rammed steel barricades through the venue doors
and box office windows, as well as threw rocks and fired bottle
rockets at police, who responded with pepper spray and nightsticks.
Police could not be reached for immediate comment, but News 1130
radio reported that between ten and twenty people were
arrested.
According to a band spokeswoman, the cancellation was the result
of technical difficulties on singer Axl Rose’s plane, and Guns n’
Roses’ Friday night show in Tacoma, Washington, is expected to go
on as scheduled. A representative from promoter Clear Channel
Entertainment did not return calls Thursday night. The outing is
the band’s first American tour in nine years.
Fans, some of whom had traveled from as far away as Toronto and
Calgary for the $80 show, largely blamed Axl Rose, the only
remaining original member of Guns n’ Roses, for the melee. “He
tries to put on airs that he’s changed, but he’s not any
different,” said Beth Wood, twenty-one, of Toronto.
“He cancelled here before, twelve years ago, I think,” said
thirty-year-old Lori Hoffman of Vancouver. “I bought tickets both
times. I’d be kind of reluctant to [do it again]. It’s a waste of
time.”