1992.09.07 - Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, USA

IF ALL GOES WELL, GUNS N' ROSES, METALLICA AND FAITH NO MORE WILL ROCK ON MONDAY
- Michael Miller, 9.4.92

Pardon us. We're sorry about the delay.

Before being rudely interrupted by Axl Rose and his crusty vocal chords, we were talking to Billy Gould of Faith No More, Jason Newsted of Metallica and Gilby Clarke of Guns N' Roses about their triple-bill, mega-metal summer stadium tour that was supposed to visit Columbia Aug. 2.

Axl's voice went south, but unfortunately none of the rock bands followed.

So what about this mercurial rock 'n' roll front man who claims to be one of the most misunderstood pop culture icons of the '90s? Does Axl have all his tires on the pavement?

"I really don't talk about other band members, but I can say that Axl is a very charismatic person, a very talented person," said Clarke, rhythm guitarist and newest Gunner. "If he wasn't like the way he is the band wouldn't be where it is right now.

"You'd think that by now he'd be some art collector with all his money, but he's not. He's a rock 'n' roll guy. He buys all the new records that come out because he likes to keep up with the music."

That clears the air. Axl is just a down-to-earth rock dude, and Gilby gets to keep his job.

But there's no denying that a certain amount of charisma surrounds the camps of both Guns N' Roses and Metallica, two of rock's best-selling acts. Clarke and Newsted attribute their bands' massive popularity to the fact that they've never tried to be anyone or anything they're not.

"We're just being ourselves," Clarke said, "playing what we want to play."

"Metallica hasn't strayed from its grip on reality, you know, keeping your feet on the ground and being who you are and all that," Newsted said. "We just stuck to what we knew the best and worked off that. We didn't change with the wind in order to sell a few records."

Guns N' Roses and Metallica may be proven rock warriors of the '90s, but what about this upstart band Faith No More who came out of nowhere in 1990 with a hit song ("Epic") and album ("The Real Thing")? Guess what? They're just being themselves, doing what comes naturally.

"We're doing what we want to do, we've got a cool band, it's a really good atmosphere," bassist Gould said. "But sometimes when we open for bands that we don't like that much or have bands open up for us that we're not too happy with, it kind of feels like work. You're a bit compromised, but you've got to do it."

No such problems on this tour, since the members of Faith No More and Metallica are good buddies. Both bands call San Francisco home.

"Those guys (FNM) are all from the Bay Area as well," Newsted said. "Jim Martin, their guitar player, and I are good friends. We get together and play quite a bit when we're not on the road. We do a lot of jamming, a lot of acoustic music, banjos, mandolins and stuff.

"They came out with us for 12 dates on the 'Justice' tour (1989), and it gave them a good boost then."

"Metallica? They're cool," Gould said, echoing the buddy-system sentiment. "They totally helped us out when nobody knew who we were. It's cool that they invited us to do this tour, but the bottom line is we're doing this for ourselves, to give ourselves more freedom."

Gould hopes that touring stadiums with two of rock's heavyweights will help his band graduate from club to theater-size venues for headlining tours of their own.

"We have a little bit of power now, but we don't have the power to really do what we want," Gould said. "We're somewhere between clubs and theaters, and if we go on to the theater thing, we want to make sure we can draw enough people to make it worth the promoter's time."

Word from the road says that Metallica is performing the most powerful set of the three bands, although Guns N' Roses has turned in some solid work. Metallica front man James Hefield suffered severe burns on his arms Aug. 8 in a flash pot accident in Montreal, and Metal Church guitarist John Marshall has been recruited to handle the rhythm duties for the remainder of the tour.

But Clarke's not worried about things escalating into a rock feud.

"This isn't a boxing ring," he said. "This isn't Guns N' Roses against Metallica. This is all together, the fans are getting a diverse show."

Faith No More, Metallica and Guns N' Roses are scheduled to appear at Williams-Brice Stadium Monday. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. and the concert will begin at 6:30. Tickets are $27.50 (plus service charge), and all seats are reserved. The concert is expected to last until about 2 a.m.

Michael Miller wrote:METAL SPECTACLE FANS REWARDED FOR PATIENCE WITH MONSTER ROCK SHOW AT STADIUM

The comparisons screamed to be made Monday night, when heavy metal's biggest stadium tour of the year finally arrived in Columbia.

Down were the goal posts. Up was a monstrous, steel girder and skull-draped stage.

Nowhere to be heard were the marching band fight songs. Roaring in their place was the power-hungry crunch of heavy metal.

Instead of game programs and USC paraphernalia, booths along the concourse hawked the virtues of Amnesty International, AIDS awareness, chiropractic care and NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

"Rock the Vote," shouted a vendor.

"Rock out censorship," shouted another a few feet away.

It was a sideshow, a spectacle, the huge rock 'n' roll party that many people thought would never happen.

After misfires, medical problems and onstage accidents, Faith No More, Metallica and Guns N' Roses made it to Williams-Brice Stadium Monday. And the crowd of about 40,000 was ready.

The show was originally scheduled for Aug. 2, but when Guns N' Roses lead vocalist Axl Rose suffered a case of burnt-out vocal chords, the show was canceled.

When the tour resumed a week later in Montreal, a stage prop exploded during the Metallica set, and guitarist and singer James Hetfield suffered serious burns on his hands and arms.

All the problems and controversy prompted much speculation about whether the Columbia concert would ever happen and even gave rise to questions about Irish rock band U2's scheduled appearance at the stadium Sept. 23.

"People are waiting to see the whites of Axl's eyes," promoter Wilson Howard said a week ago. "But this show is going to happen."

That realization struck like a thunderbolt at 6:30 p.m. when Faith No More erupted onto the stage.

"We are ready for this! We are ready for this!" shouted one fan who bolted out of his seat at the first sonic boom.

The Faith No More set was an ear-popper, but it was nothing compared to the explosion when Metallica, one of rock's loudest and fastest bands, hit the stage at 7:40 p.m.

Forty thousand fists shot into the air and heads bobbed frantically in time with bassist Jason Newsted. The tranquil Columbia skyline seemed to vibrate in the evening haze.

Hetfield, his left hand and forearm still bandaged from the flashpot accident, commanded center stage while drummer Lars Ulrich propelled the band through song after song.

It was easy to see why this band has developed such a devoted following. "We're here to see Metallica," said Kay Burch, who drove from Asheville with her younger brother and twin sister. "We're driving back after Metallica plays. We have to be at work at 5 a.m."

Not everyone was here strictly for the speed metal band's performance. There were plenty of Guns N' Roses fans on hand as well.

"Guns N' Roses, that's why we're here," said Pierre, who'd driven to Columbia from Beaufort with his girlfriend. "We've been looking forward to this for a long time."

Pierre also said he was prepared for a long night. The Metallica performance ended at 10:15, and the Gunners hit the stage at 11:30.

No, it wasn't a typical football crowd gathered in the venerable University of South Carolina grid temple, but then it wasn't exactly a tractor-pull crowd either.

Black was still the dominant fashion statement, but Harley-Davidson and Hard Rock Cafe emblems had replaced the trusty Gamecock logo on T-shirts and baseball caps.

Concertgoers started arriving about noon, although the gates weren't scheduled to open until 4:30 and the seating was reserved.

This didn't bother Bradley Mason, 17, of Greenville, who was first in line. He said getting to the stadium early "just seemed like the thing to do." Did he think Axl would show up this time?

"He better," Mason replied, "at $27.50 a ticket."

And there he was, at 11:30 sharp, in a lone spotlight at center stage, W. Axl Rose, gazing over the crowd.

Just a few paces behind him, Guns N' Roses mercurial lead guitarist Slash ripped off the opening salvo of "Welcome to the Jungle." If there were still any doubters in the stadium, they were rocking now.

One thing heavy metal concerts are known for is the opportunity they provide for loosening of inhibitions, and Monday night's show was no exception.

Bare-chested men and scantily clad women paraded around the stadium as if it were an everyday thing.

"It's a great place to just people watch," said Jeff Shows, who was working at a booth promoting chiropractic care. A sign behind his booth attested to Axl Rose's use of a chiropractor.

At a booth on AIDS awareness sponsored by the HIV Task Force, workers dispensed cards with an 800 number to call for information about the disease. Condoms were available for anyone who requested one.

"This is our target audience," said Julie Lumpkin, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Preventive Health. "The statistics for young people with HIV in South Carolina are starting to go up.

"Axl Rose's sister stopped by earlier and said she was glad we were here. They were having trouble getting AIDS awareness groups at some of their shows."

Meanwhile onstage, Metallica had turned up the intensity, as Hetfield prowled the length of the 80-yard-long stage and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett's flying fingers were broadcast on the mammoth video screens.

Was it all worth the wait?

"Let me put it this way," said Jeff Savage, 27, of Fayetteville, N.C. "If work wouldn't let me off, there would've always been job search. This is one good show."

Michael Miller wrote:CONCERT PROVES COLUMBIA READY TO ROCK

Notes and observations from Columbia's biggest rock concert ever: Faith No More's Mike Patton is a wild man; Metallica's intensity is mind-boggling; and there's still some gumption left in Guns N' Roses after all.

Monday's mammoth metal show at Williams-Brice Stadium was not a flawless affair, but things went rather smoothly during most of the almost eight-hour event. Each band hit the stage on time, and each performer put a great deal of effort into his night's work.

The 40,000 or so concertgoers who made it to the stadium Monday know all about the spectacle and enormity of the staging, lights and video that were part of the show. But for those who were snoozing comfortably when Guns N' Roses' fireworks finale rattled their windows, it could easily described as colossal.

Stadium tours are equal parts sideshow, music and visuals, and Monday's concert was no exception. The people parading around and through the vast reaches of Williams-Brice provided a fascinating look at an array of rock fans from the Carolinas and Georgia. The massive video images and synchronized lighting was eye-popping, and the sound, although muddled at times, was loud and impressive.

Faith No More, a punk/funk/metal band from San Francisco, didn't let their role as openers spoil their fun. Concentrating primarily on songs from their two latest albums, "The Real Thing" and "Angel Dust," FNM brought the crowd to life and set the tone for the fireworks to follow.

Metallica took the stage like they had a lot to prove and proceeded to unleash a sonic bombardment of dense, ominous hard rock for 2 1/2 hours. It was my first Metallica show, and I was impressed with their workman-like attitude and the tremendous devotion displayed by their fans. Metallica has struck the adolescent angst nerve deeper than almost any other band, and their fans' emotional release at the close of their set hung in the air like steam.

The set change between Faith No More and Metallica took less than 30 minutes, but the massive stage overhaul between Metallica and Guns N' Roses took an hour and 15 minutes. Nevertheless, the Gunners hit the stage at 11:30 sharp and were primed and ready to deliver the goods.

Axl Rose's voice didn't sound too worse for wear, and he's got to be commended for his outrageous energy. Rose sprinted from one end of the 80- yard-long stage to the other, stopping occasionally to spin ferociously around center stage with a microphone stand.

Guns N' Roses played for more than two hours and suffered only a few lapses in concentration. One of the things I was most impressed with was the playing of lead guitarist Slash, who for all his posturing and excessive string-bending, exhibited a surprising versatility.

His blues break with keyboardist Dizzy Reed was tasteful, and his evocations of Hendrix helped draw the line between rock 'n' roll generations.

All in all, a solid night of hard rock entertainment, plenty of bang for the buck and all that. Williams-Brice Stadium rocked and survived, hopefully to rock many more times in the future.

Guns Ν' Roses concerts generate extra security, some arrests

By The Associated Press

COLUMBIA - Sheriff Allen Sloan’s estimate that as many as 2,000 people will be arrested at an upcoming Guns Ν’ Roses concert is far above the experience at the heavy-metal group’s other recent appearances.

Several of those concert cities stepped up security and had extra uniformed and plainclothes officers at the concerts to ensure they were trouble-free.

Police in others, however, said Thursday they took no precautions other than normal for a rock concert with large crowds.

Organizers estimate about 40,000 heavy-metal fans will attend the first rock concert ever at Williams-Brice Stadium on Aug. 2. It will start 6:30 p.m. and is expected to last until 2 a.m. Alcohol will not be sold, a University of South Carolina official said.

Sloan, the Richland County sheriff, said he expected 1,500 to 2,000 arrests at the concert that also will feature rock groups Metallica and Faith No More.

Most charges likely will be for drugs, drunkenness, disorderliness, fighting and stealing, Sloan said.

We’re certainly anticipating the worst and hoping for the best,” Sloan said. “This is not the Glenn Miller Band.... I'm not going to put up with any foolishness from this crowd.”

About 30 people were arrested recently at a Guns Ν’ Roses concert in Pontiac, Mich.

Pontiac police Sgt. Gordon Bovee wouldn’t say how many officers were on duty in addition to the stadium’s private security officers. Alcohol also was not sold, he said.

Charges ranged from delivery of a controlled substance to disorderly conduct, he said.

‘That’s about the same that we normally arrest,” Bovee said. We didn’t have any problems but we usually don’t have. We didn’t experience anything out of the ordinary.”

In Indianapolis, where Guns Ν’ Roses performed Wednesday night, about 150 people were arrested, about five times the normal number, police Lt. Timothy Horty said.

“It’s two headline concerts back to back,” Horty said. “There’s an hour and 15 minutes intermission in between and that’s a time where people get a little restless. They just get into a little more mischief.”

During a Guns Ν’ Roses concert last Saturday in East Rutherford, N.J., no
major incidents were reported, officials said. An unspecified number of extra officers were on duty, but no more than usual for a concert, Sgt. Joseph Kirchhofer said.

Guns Ν’ Roses is scheduled to appear in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Saturday night. About 125 extra officers will be on duty outside the stadium, with private security inside, Police Chief Robert C. Henning said.

But the crowd is unlikely to be as big as it was for a recent Grateful Dead concert, Henning said. Authorities arrested about 30 people at that concert and had two drug-related deaths, he said.

We’ve had some concerts where arrests were in the neighborhood of 50 people and... we impounded hundreds of illegal and abandoned vehicles,” Henning said.

Sloan said he would have more than 60 deputies at Williams-Brice Stadium, primarily looking for drugs.

But John Bolin, the University of South Carolina coliseum director, said he would be “real surprised and real sad” if Sloan detains that many people.

"I would think if that were to happen, we would be telling the world we’re not really capable of doing these shows,” Bolin said. “Just trying to arrest folks, I don’t think that serves any great purpose.”

Candidate wants exposed women arrested

Janice Kraft, a Republican seeking the House District 72 seat in Columbia, said officers should videotape the women if they expose themselves at the Guns N’ Roses concert and use it as evidence.

COLUMBIA (AP) —Women exposing their breasts to cameras and the crowd at Sunday’s Guns Ν’ Roses concert should be arrested, state House candidate Janice Kraft said Thursday.

The concert will be the first held in University of South Carolina’s Williams Brice Stadium.

Kraft, a Columbia Republican seeking the House District 72 seat, said law enforcement officers patrolling the concert should videotape women exposing themselves and use it as evidence to prosecute them.

• But Tom Connelly, a Guns Ν’ Roses road crew member, said It’s a tradition that began with the group’s current tour.

“If you try and arrest one of the women, you might incite a riot,” Connelly said.

Concert promoter Rob Manley said band-owned cameras in the crowd, on the mixing platform, or on stage take random footage of the crowd to add variety to scenes displayed on two large video screens.

Solicitor Dick Harpootlian said Thursday he’d encourage law enforcement officers to use their own discretion.

"I don’t see why we can’t have just a peaceful concert. All we should be concerned about is crowd control,” he said.

Guns N’ Roses’ last concert in Washington, D.C. resulted in only five arrests, Harpootlian said.

Kraft acknowledged she’s never attended a “heavy metal” concert before. She said she became aware of women baring their breasts during the group’s tour from a newspaper article.

The women are being exploited, she said.

If cameras show women exposing themselves it’s a coincidence, Manley said. The camera operators don’t purposefully look for such women and often such images are not shown, he said.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with the concert. It’s just a bunch of teenagers away from their parents,” Kelley Krotts, another road crew member, said. “Guns N’ Roses doesn’t encourage it.”

Indecent exposure is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum of 10 years or $10,000 fine, Harpootlian said.

GUNS N' BRUISES

Crowd control at heavy-metal show? It'll be tough as body-slamming party gets ready for a pit stop in Southeast

CONCERT PREVIEW
Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Faith No More.
5:30 p.m. Sunday. Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, S.C. $27.50 at Ticketmaster.
249-6400.

By Russ DeVault
STAFF WRITER

Orchard Park, N.Y. — Just when it seems Guns Ν’ Roses — the reigning hellions of rock ’n’ roll — are roaring to an ear-splitting peak at Rich Stadium outside Buffalo, tempestuous Axl Rose stuns the crowd of 43,000 by shouting his heavy-metal band to silence.

“We screwed up,” the frenetic, long-haired lead singer says after the out-of-tune first notes of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” slither into the night. “If we didn’t do that, we wouldn’t be Guns N’ Roses, now, would we?”

Fans agree, although Mr. Rose, whose bad-behavior record is longer than the Gunners’ list of hits, recently has confused them by toning down his actions. He has been arrested only once this month (on four misdemeanor charges stemming from a riot triggered when he dived into the crowd during a St. Louis concert last year).

“I think he’s calmed down and seems more levelheaded recently,” says Jenni Ferguson, an Atlanta paralegal. Ms. Ferguson, 29, will leave today to enjoy the Guns N’ Roses/Metallica/Faith No More show Sunday in Columbia, S.C. — the closest to Atlanta this summer’s premier stadium tour will get.

Ms. Ferguson’s favorite is Faith No More, but she’s “definitely excited” about seeing Guns N’ Roses for the first time. “Six of us are going, and it’s going to be an awesome show,” she predicts. Tickets remain for Sunday’s performance.

Still, the spectacle at the University of South Carolina’s Wil-liams-Brice Stadium isn’t likely to match the action at the Orchard Park concert. The momentary truce yelled for shortly after midnight by Mr. Rose is the only cease-fire called during the 7 1/2-hour festival/battle of the three bands and their faithful.

Call it Woodstock With Weapons — the armament being guitars, drums, amplifiers, flailing bodies, plastic drink cups and ice cubes. Earlier, Metallica’s screaming guitars and thunderclap drums touched off vicious, full-body contact “dancing” among the fans on the seatless, tarpaulin-covered playing field.

The collisions — mostly between males in their late teens and early 20s — are nothing like the minor-league body-bruising that goes on in “mosh pits” at many heavy-metal concerts. This is serious slam-dancing in all its crushing violence. Spacious circles are cleared at several spots, and combatants frequently dig in and take 20-yard runs before blindsiding their partners.

The hitting is NFL-nasty here in the home of the Buffalo Bills. Some body-slammers exchange high-fives after getting up from neck-snapping exchanges, but the cool-headed moshers doubling as referees sometimes have to move quickly to stop serious fights from developing.

“I had to come up here in the stands so I could see Guns N’ Roses,” says “Dennis,” a sweaty rocker in a softball uniform. “It was really rough down there near the stage.” Adds another equally beefy, short-haired slammer who’s equally reluctant to divulge his real name, “One guy got clotheslined [hit with a forearm], and he just went to sleep.”

But instead of dozing during the two-hour lull between Metallica and Guns N’ Roses, the adrenalized crowd turns restless. Shortly after Metallica’s two-hour-plus bombardment, a 30-minute battle of plastic cups, ice cubes and even fireworks erupts between concertgoers on the field and in the stands. Some non-combatants in the metal seats stick it out, while others seek safety in the concourse.

The barrage ends when cameramen supplying pictures to the three giant video screens on the 200-foot-wide stage begin panning the crowd for females willing to bare their breasts. Many do, and some well-endowed flashers earn encores as the live T&A shots — people also are baring their rear ends — clear the air of cups and ice. (A total of 237 fans were evaluated by on-site medical personnel during the event, and 56 were sent to local hospitals for treatment, mostly for minor injuries.)

Similar incidents have oc-cured elsewhere on the tour, one of the summer’s few successful stadium rock events. However, no alcoholic drinks will be sold at the Columbia concert. Security officials also say they will not condone moshing by the 10,000 fans — about a fourth of the crowd expected — in reserved seats on the field.

Mr. Rose, however, retains his troubadour-as-troublemaker persona, and Guns N’ Roses’ drug-taking, havoc-wreaking reputation helps explain the band’s allure. “Axl does what he wants and if that messes people’s minds, tough,” says Barbara Walz, a student at Erie (N.Y.) Community College at Rich Stadium.

“I like Guns N’ Roses’ music, but I don’t like Axl,” notes Christine Prunty, a student at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

One thing’s certain: Mr. Rose keeps his own timetable. Faith No More opens the concert at 5:30 p.m., but Guns N’ Roses doesn’t crash onstage until about 11 p.m.

“I wanted to see Faith No More,” Ms. Walz says, lamenting her decision to arrive after the opening act performed. “But if I’d come early enough to see Faith No More, I wouldn’t have been able to drink or anything and still make it all night.”

Her conservative attitude toward partying is not shared by everyone at the show. No alcoholic drinks are sold, but many are consumed in the parking lot and smuggled in.

The heavily tattooed biker-type in the next seat finds coherence only once during Guns N’ Roses’ 18-song set. “Hey, man,” he carefully says, rising to his feet when Mr. Rose bounds out, “Got any good drugs?”

He should have swapped tickets with Henry Czechowski, who slumps against a concourse wall while Guns N’ Roses launches into “November Rain,” its current hit.

“My problem?” Mr. Czechowski, 20, a roofer from West Seneca, N.Y., asks. “I’m straight, and all the jerks in the seats around me aren’t.”

That’s to be expected at heavy-metal shows, which is why businessman Greg Bush, 43, of Buffalo has escorted his two teenage sons and three of their friends. He dismisses his apprehension and takes a break in a stadium tunnel when Guns N’ Roses captures attention with its music and frequent blasts of fireworks.

“I didn’t like Metallica, and Faith No More’s terrible,” Mr. Bush says. “Guns N’ Roses is OK, but that’s for my sons’ generation — our parents didn’t understand our music either.”

Duff McKagan, the Guns’ N’ Roses bassist, who hopes to someday attend law school, understands drugged-out fans and worried parents.

“When I see kids stoned or high, I try to educate them a little, but not by preaching because I’m no AA member,” Mr. McKagan says. “We are buddies with Metallica, but I’ve seen them only once this tour because I don’t like coming down to the shows early because there’s too many drug dealers around.

“I’ve done my share of stuff, but I’ve never pushed anything on anybody,” Mr. McKagan adds from the New York hotel where he’s staying with his wife of two weeks, Linda Johnson.

“It’s too tempting—that’s not the right way to say it, maybe — but I’m just not into drugs now. It’s sad to see kids who are,” says Mr. McKagan, 28. “So many people will push drugs on you.”

For him and Mr. Rose — whose current companion is model Stephanie Seymour—Mr. McKagan says having a solid relationship is a natural high, although GNR still performs “Mr. Brownstone,” its song about heroin.

“Axl’s a changed guy, and I think it’s because of Stephanie and himself,” Mr. McKagan says. “We’re also not getting any younger, you know. We’re all getting married and all this crap, and pretty soon it’s going to be Guns N’ Roses and kids.”

Nicole Peradotto and David Montgomery of The Buffalo News contributed to this report.

***

'Guns’ silenced by Braves, Falcons

The violence frequently associated with heavy-metal concerts was not a significant factor in keeping the stadium-sized Guns N’ Roses/Metallica/Faith No More show out of Atlanta.

“You can’t move the Braves’ schedule around to use Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, and the Georgia Dome would have been in its opening weeks with the Falcons, and the available dates wouldn’t work,” says Wilson Howard, the Columbia, S.C -based Cellar Door promoter.

Setting up and dismantling the giant $3 million stage created by Guns N’ Roses was also a problem. “We couldn’t meet the move-in, move-out requirements of the show because of the Falcons and other events,” says Khalil A. Johnson, general manager of the Dome.

Sunday’s concert in Columbia remains the closest the show will get to Atlanta. However, Metallica will return to Atlanta on Sept. 7, playing at Lakewood Amphitheatre.

— Russ DeVault

***

Captions:

The stage antics of Axl Rose (above, left) and cohort Slash help juice up Guns N’ Roses concerts. At the recent show (left) in Orchard Park, N.Y., there was no stopping the adrenalized crowd.

One of the 43,000 heavy-metal fans makes it clear he is getting into the roaring music Saturday night in Orchard Park, N.Y.

40,000 rockers gather

COLUMBIA (AP) — At least 71 adults were arrested during the heavy metal concert that ended early this morning, but Solicitor Dick Harpootlian said the number was nothing extraordinary for the first rock concert at Williams-Brice Stadium.

The concert that began about 6:30 p.m. Monday lasted well into this morning, ending about 2 a.m., officials said.

Seventy-one people had been arrested by 12:30 am., mostly for public drunkenness and drug possession, before the final band started playing, officials said.

That’s more arrests than occur at South Carolina football games, but the concert also lasted longer than a game, officials said.

“I don’t see it as anything extraordinary,” Harpootlian said.

About 40,000 tickets were sold for Monday night’s concert, which featured Faith No More, Metallica and finished with Guns N’ Roses.

Authorities said overall things went smoothly and the number of arrests didn’t reach the 2,000 estimated by Richland County Sheriff Allen Sloan.

Richland County Emergency Medical Services reported about 90 fans were treated, mostly for heat exhaustion or alcohol-related fatigue. At least eight were transported to area hospitals.

Guns N’ Roses originally was scheduled to visit the 72,000-seat stadium Aug. 2, but that was postponed when lead singer Axl Rose hurt his vocal chords.

Faith No More caught the audience’s attention, but Metallica lit up the stage with fire and fireworks and kept the fans screaming for hours.

The excitement stayed under control, however, and most of the arrests were made outside the stadium, Mel Maurer, one of the magistrates handling arrests, said.

“I was real satisfied with the behavior of the crowd,” he said.

Wayne Guin and Hal Long of Raleigh, N.C., said they came because they wanted to join the thousands of others at the concert

“It’s the party — that’s it,” Guin said.

Jeff Kay of Pawleys Island said be didn’t like the size of the concert. Huge screens were set up for the audience because many seats were so far from the stage.

‘‘You can see it on the screens, but it’s like MTV,” he said.

The University of South Carolina had a chance to let The Rolling Stones play at the stadium three years ago, but decided against it. Fans flooded radio stations and newspapers with calls and letters of protest

The school later decided to expand use of the stadium beyond college football games, beginning with the Guns N’ Roses concert.

On Sept. 23, Irish band U2 will become the second rock act to play at Williams-Brice.

About 200 law enforcement officers were at Monday’s concert, including private security, campus, city, county and state officers.

Maurer said the high visibility of law enforcement in the stadium may have helped control the crowd.

Rose, 30, pleaded innocent in July to charges stemming from a disturbance at a show last summer in Missouri. His trial date is Oct. 13. Rose faces four misdemeanor assault counts and one property damage charge.

About 40 concertgoers and 25 police officers were injured at a July 1991 concert after Rose leaped from the stage, allegedly to take a camera from a fan and then abruptly ended the show.

Metallica helps rock Columbia

Guns Ν’ Roses finally makes its way South

By Russ DeVault
STAFF WRITER

Columbia, S.C — The sound, the fury and all the aggravation of world-class heavy-metal music — Guns Ν’ Roses and Metallica, in other words — finally came together Monday at Williams-Brice Stadium.

The powerhouse bands' summer stadium tour with opening act Faith No More arrived a month and five days later than originally scheduled, and the concert continued into the wee hours this morning. But only the ailing and the arrested among the crowd of 36,000 at the University of South Carolina stadium left early.

With Faith No More playing a short set at 6:30 and Guns Ν' Roses not even scheduled to take the massive stage until after 11:30, it was up to Metallica to keep the evening moving. And the band did so, despite what could have been a severe handicap.

James Hetfleld, Metallica's intense vocalist-guitarist, was limited to howling only because of burns suffered during a concert Aug. 8 at Montreal. The band carried on — as it did once before when Mr. Hetfleld was injured — by bringing in guitarist John Marshall from Metal Church.

The single-duty role freed Mr. Hetfleld to prowl the stage, and there was little difference in the quality of Metallica’s booming rock. “I think he’s even better than James Hetfleld," Morris "Roho" Lipe, of Hendersonville, N.C., said of Mr. Marshall. "But I love Metallica anyway."

Like many fans, Mr. Lipe, 27, a molding installer for a construction firm, was drawn to Columbia by the two headliners. "If it had been just Metallica or just Guns Ν’ Roses, I wouldn’t have come,” Mr. Lipe said, "but when you get both bands for one ticket, that’s just twice as good.”

The massive crowds of fans in their late teens and early 20s have caused serious problems at some venues — a riot broke out in Montreal when Guns Ν’ Roses stopped its set after less than an hour hour - but security officials re-ported no serious problems by the time Metallica left the stage after a nearly two-hour set. However, Carl Stokes, the University of South Carolina’s law enforcement chief, reported that 56 arrests had been made by 10 p.m. "That’s outside and inside the stadium," Mr. Stokes said, adding that most were on charges of "being under the influence of something and some for possession ... some crack, some marijuana and some cocaine."

Problems inside the stadium, which held a crowd of about 75,000 when the University of Georgia and the University of South Carolina opened their football seasons Saturday, were reduced by two factors: No alcoholic beverages were sold and all the seats were reserved, which meant there was no room for the body-bash practice of "moshing" common at most metal concerts.

But the music itself was violent, because of the amplification and the muscle with which Metallica followed Faith No More’s generally overlooked, but energetic performance.

Even the bands noted that it was a slow start. Vocalist Mike , Patton chided the fans as they straggled to their seats while Faith No More played. And Mr. Hetfleld paused soon after Metallica appeared to say, "You guys tired or something? You getting ready to go home?"

No one really wanted to leave, , of course — not with Guns N' Roses making one of its few appearances in the South and its closest to Atlanta, where its last appearance in 1986 at The Omni ended after about two songs because Mr. Rose was arrested for tangling with security personnel.

"I got here about noon," said Bradley Mason, who was first in line at one of the stadium gates when they opened at 4:30. "It just seemed like a good thing to do,” was his explanation for arriving early even though all seats were reserved.

Mr. Mason, an unemployed 17-year-old from Greenville, S.C., was irked, however, that the show scheduled here Aug. 2 didn’t come off because Mr. Rose had throat problems. "That upset me," Mr. Mason said, adding, "At $27.50 a ticket, he better show up."

Mr. Hetfleld apparently understood that. After Metallica ended its set with flashpots, strobing lights and thundering guitars, he told the concertgoers, "Thanks for sticking with us through all the [bleep]."

Guns Ν’ Roses goes out with mesmerizing bang

By Russ DeVault
POP MUSIC CRITIC

Columbia, S.C — For a glowing 20-something minutes early Tuesday morning, Axl Rose and his band Guns Ν’ Roses were everything that is righteous about heavy metal music.

Mr. Rose, the lead singer, was just that — not a screecher, screamer or shouter. And the five other
Gunners were mesmerizing musicians spinning a mix of sound that ranged from soft and gracefully melodic to guitar-drum barrages that hammered the ears of a crowd of about 40,000 at Williams-Brice Stadium.

“This is my third time to see them and I’m loving it,” said Ronnie Marr, 17, a solar panel installer from Gastonia, N.C. “They sound better in concert.”

The entrancing three-song interlude ended Guns N’ Roses’ two-hour set, which started shortly before midnight on Labor Day. It opened with “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” segued into a reggae-tinged “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” then closed with “Paradise City” — all accompanied by fireworks and a flawless light show.

The powerhouse band’s summer stadium tour with Metallica and Faith No More arrived here more than a month later than originally scheduled because of Mr. Rose’s recent throat strain and other problems. But only the ailing and the arrested left the concert early.

With Guns N’ Roses making one of its few appearances in the South, and its closest to Atlanta, there were no complaints. “I got here about noon,” said Bradley Mason, who was first in line at one of the stadium gates. The unemployed 17-year-old from Greenville, S.C., was irked, however, that the show scheduled here for Aug. 2 was postponed.

"At $27.50 a ticket," Mr. Mason said, “he [Mr. Rose] better show up.”