Axl Rose is blaming the Vancouver venue where he was due to play last Thursday for the hour long riot involving Guns ‘n’ Roses fans, caused when the gig was cancelled at the last minute. Although he was running late for the concert at GM Place (he was in the air between LA and Vancouver when the show was cancelled) he claims he would have made it in time, and that the venue’s management made a bad decision when they decided to cancel the show at the last minute.
Talking to KISW Radio in Seattle he said: "We were going to play a show and the plug got pulled on us. We were fully able to meet our commitments, and we don't really understand what happened. Basically the building manager just decided, and in our opinion prematurely, that the show was just cancelled, and he didn't discuss it with anyone. He just announced it over the PA."
Distancing himself from responsibility for the violence he reckons the venue should pay the bill for the damage done by fans – reckoned to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But the venue’s manager Harvey Jones defended the last minute cancellation: "A decision to cancel this show was made when it was recognised that the band could not take the stage at a reasonable time.” He based the decision on how long it would take Rose to get to the venue when he learned his departure from LA had been delayed. “Los Angeles to Vancouver is a two and a half hour flight and Rose would still have had to go through customs. Was he going to walk out of his limo on to the stage? I don't think so."
No word on whether or not the Vancouver date will be rescheduled, but some lawyers are bound to get some business in the next few weeks.