2002.12.08 - Associated Press - Concert-goers Take Offense When Headliner Doesn't Show

Concert-goers take offense when headliner doesn’t show

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Guns N' Roses canceled tonight’s concert in Philadelphia, hours after angry fans tossed chairs and debris when they learned the band wouldn’t take the stage at the First Union Center on Friday.

A promoter for the hard-rock band told arena officials Friday night that an unidentified band member was ill, according to Ike Richman, a spokesman for Comcast-Spectacor.

“People were throwing beer ... they were tearing the seats apart and throwing them,” said Ryan Knowles, 22, a student at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., who watched from his balcony seat.

No serious injuries were reported, although a few people were taken to a hospital with minor problems, Richman said. Police said no arrests were made.

Angry fans who paid $37 to $67 waited for more than an hour after two extended warm-up acts before learning around 11 p.m. that Guns N’ Roses wouldn’t play.

“We’re kind of mad, but it’s not like it was the most important night of my life,” said Knowles, who bought his ticket online for $55 and traveled to Philadelphia for the show with friends.

Messages left by The Associated Press yesterday morning with the band’s promoter, Clear Channel Entertainment, its management agency, Creative Artists Agency, and its label, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, were not immediately returned.

The band is scheduled to play in Washington, D.C.; Greenville, S.C.; and Tampa and West Palm Beach, Fla., this week, according to the label’s Web site.

The Philadelphia shows won’t be rescheduled. Refunds will be available at the place of purchase, Richman said. Friday’s show was a sellout, with about 14,000 fans packing the center, but tickets remained for tonight’s show across the street at the First Union Spectrum.

The First Union Center was back in business yesterday afternoon, when the Philadelphia Flyers hosted the St. Louis Blues, Richman said.

Guns N' Roses, reformulated since its last tour in 1993, missed the first show of its “Chinese Democracy” tour on Nov. 7 in Vancouver, apparently after lead singer Axl Rose had problems with a flight from Los Angeles. Police used pepper spray to disperse thousands of irate fans who rampaged outside afterward.