Guns N' Roses Incur Dublin Fans' Wrath

American rock band Guns N' Roses have been bottled off stage by Dublin music fans after they showed up over an hour late for their appearance at the 02 Arena.

The rock band, fronted by Axl Rose, 48, were welcomed to the stage by a chorus of boos at around 10.30pm despite being due to begin playing at 9.15. Music forums lit up, with attendees incensed at the lack of explanation or apology from the band and an obscure opening song.

By 10.50, fans reported that the band had walked off stage after members of the crowd began hurtling bottles at the vocalist.

Just before leaving the stage, Axl told the 12,000 strong audience: “Alright, here’s the deal: one more bottle, we go home. It’s up to you.

“We would like to stay. Do you want us to stay? We want to say, we want to have some fun. If you don’t want to have fun all you’ve got to do is let us know - we’ve got no problem - and we’ll go on our way.”

During their rendition of ‘Welcome To The Jungle’, Rose was forced to stop the song short as some bottles landed on stage, before the band walked off without speaking.

An employee of MCD Leisure, who had booked the band, was then forced to apologise to the crowd, telling them to "calm" down.

“We’re trying hard to get Axl back on stage,” he said. “I would ask you to refrain from throwing items at him.”

Axl and his band returned to play a brief set to a vastly depleted audience, many of which left early to catch the last public transport services, while those who remained continued to jeer them.

Members of popular music forum Metal Ireland described the performance as "car crash viewing", with one adding "You'd be sickened having paid that money for such an atrocity."

The bands frontman Axl Rose has been notoriously late throughout his career. In Lima, March of this year, Rose was hit by a bottle at the very beginning of the show after being late by almost 2 hours, while in Belfast on Wednesday night, the band appeared on stage 45minutes after their allotted time, blaming their support band for the late arrival.

(DW/GK)