Guns N' Riot

Fri., Nov. 8, 2002 3:00 PM PST by Josh Grossberg

Talk about an appetite for destruction.

What was supposed to be a night of rock 'n' roll revelry turned into a rock 'n' roll nightmare for thousands of fans hoping to see the revamped Guns N' Roses tear it up Thursday night in Vancouver for the opening of their long-awaited Chinese Democracy North American tour.

That's because promoters called off the concert more than an hour before it was supposed to begin on account of frontman Axl Rose pulling a, well, Axl Rose and failing to show up for the gig.

The cancellation was too much for the 10,000 or so ticked-off fans who came from far and wide to see the platinum-selling rockers' first tour in nine years.

When the doors to Vancouver's General Motors Place arena failed to open at 6:30 p.m., a crowd began massing in front of the box office, chanting "Bullshit, bullshit."

At about 7:30 p.m., when an announcement was made that the show would not go on as scheduled, all hell broke loose, with the mob turning violent and storming the front gates to the arena.

Using metal guardrails used to queue ticketholders, the rioters began battering the arena's glass entry doors and smashing ticket booth windows, as well as windows on the upper level, to the cheers of other fans. Some set off fireworks. No serious injuries were reported.

To quell the stampeders and prevent extensive property damage, a small army of police officers rushed to the scene and used pepper spray, attack dogs and batons to disperse the crowd.

In other words, Paradise City it wasn't.

Perhaps the situation was even more severe considering Vancouvers past experience with Guns N' Roses. The last time around Axl and mates were slated to play Vancouver, the show was scrapped because of an earlier riot in Montreal that began when Rose refused to take the stage. (Rose has a history of rabble-rousing--two years before the Montreal incident, he started a crowd brawl when he dove into the audience to attack a fan.)

"That's it, I'm trashing all my GNR stuff," a fan named Dana Claydon told Vancouver's Providence. "I've been waiting for this since '93 when Axl canceled the last time. What a jerk."

That sentiment was likely shared by Rose's rent-a-bandmates. The sidemen arrived in Vancouver on Wednesday and rehearsed sans Rose, who was home in L.A. Apparently, that's how the newly braided Axl likes it.

GNR reps said Rose was MIA because his flight was held up due to mechanical problems. Promoters decided to nix the show when they learned Rose wouldn't make it to the auditorium by the band's 9:30 start time. Rose was supposedly in transit at the time of the cancellation. "Axl is gonna be pissed," bassist Tommy Stinson told MTV News from backstage.

Tickets will be refunded; no make-up date has been announced.

With the Vancouver date scuttled, GNR, Axl included, plan to make Friday night's show in Tacoma, Washington the de facto tour opener.

Here's hoping they don't bring the house down again. Literally.