Riverport Concert Riot. Should GNR have supported Axl or supported their Fans? 🤔

[Karice]

So, in the Riverport Concert, Axl spots a guy with a camera who was illegally filming. Axl told Security to take the camera, and they refused, so Axl dived off stage into the crowd like he was diving into a swimming pool! 🤣😏 And hit a Security Guard in his head as a "Wake up!" Command (Axl himself said something like,"I never hit the guy who had the camera. I just held on to him and wouldn't let go. Security were trying to get me to let go of the guy with the camera and I didn't want to let go. This camera guy and his Friends had been harassing me all throughout the show and the camera was the last straw. I slapped a Security Guard as a "Wake up!" Command)

 

Axl went back on stage and said,"Thanks to the lame ass Security, I'm going home!" And angrily slammed the mic on the floor and stormed off backstage. The crowd jeers and boos.

 

Slash says,"He just smashed the microphone, we're out of here!" He gave a "I'm sorry," gesture," and the show is cut early. A riot soon occurred.

 

Who do you think GNR should have supported? Axl, or their fans? 🤔 I honestly don't know what they should have done in this case. I mean, Axl is their Band Brother and just stormed off backstage angrily. Obviously, he's upset and they should comfort and support his angry ass,  but the Fans did pay to see him and then perform. It's honestly a very complicated situation. 🤔

[Stay.Of.Execution]

you didnt have to tell the whole story, since we all know it.

[Karice]

12 minutes ago, Stay.Of.Execution said:

you didnt have to tell the whole story, since we all know it.

Who do you think GNR should have supported? Axl or their Fans? 🤔

[SoulMonster]

1 minute ago, Oldest Goat said:

And the audience shouldn't act like monkeys, they're responsible for their own actions, they chose to riot.

I think this is a good point that is often overlooked. Yes, Axl is partly to blame for having induced the riot, tensions were running high and he ended the show early. He should have known it could result in havoc. But this doesn't absolve the audiences for their blame in starting the riot. They could definitely have done things differently, as evidenced by other audiences that did not riot when a band ended a show early. 

[Karice]

21 minutes ago, Oldest Goat said:

1. Shut up already. You and a few others seem to have a bad obsession with this poster, actively seeking them out just to constantly be a bitch. Either they are a troll/fake account like you claim and you're giving them exactly what they want or you're wrong and just a bully.

2. Some newer fans may not be aware of what happened.

 

As for the riot, the creepy obsessive fan who was hassling Axl is a loser and probably deserved to be punched but then Axl should've sucked it up and continued the show. And the audience shouldn't act like monkeys, they're responsible for their own actions, they chose to riot.

Thank you for standing up for me! 😃 About Stump(Camera guy) I saw a video where he says something like,"I wanted to make a collage of Axl, that's why I was filming him." He said he took Axl to Court and didn't care about money, he wanted Axl's autograph, which Axl gave him. I remember Fans responding something like,"This guy seems slow and how pathetic that Axl hitting him in his head over 30 years ago is his sole claim to fame. Axl should have hit him harder!" 🤣 But in all honesty, Stump wasn't the guy who got hit by Axl. Axl hit a Security Guard, not Stump.

3 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

I think this is a good point that is often overlooked. Yes, Axl is partly to blame for having induced the riot, tensions were running high and he ended the show early. He should have known it could result in havoc. But this doesn't absolve the audiences for their blame in starting the riot. They could definitely have done things differently, as evidenced by other audiences that did not riot when a band ended a show early. 

At least Axl implied he went to far by jumping off the stage(Kurt Loder interview after his arrest and booking) 😉😏 

[Karice]

2 minutes ago, Oldest Goat said:

I thought he punched Stump? Well, if he didn't that's his first mistake.

"Hi, I'm gonna harrass you and make a collage of you - whether you like it or not." That's some Annie Wilkes shit. Fuck that.

I found that disturbing too. Making a collage of Axl? 🤐😕😱😳😐👀🤨 Axl only held on to Stump, but didn't hit him. He honestly should have hit Stump and not the Security Guard.

[©GnrPersia]

59 minutes ago, Oldest Goat said:

1. Shut up already. You and a few others seem to have a bad obsession with this poster, actively seeking them out just to constantly be a bitch. Either they are a troll/fake account like you claim and you're giving them exactly what they want or you're wrong and just a bully.

2. Some newer fans may not be aware of what happened.

 

As for the riot, the creepy obsessive fan who was hassling Axl is a loser and probably deserved to be punched but then Axl should've sucked it up and continued the show. And the audience shouldn't act like monkeys, they're responsible for their own actions, they chose to riot.

wow

[©GnrPersia]

1 minute ago, Oldest Goat said:

Wow what? Explain. Btw is this the Persia I've spoken to on Discord call?

I mean you don't need to be that harsh. And yes I'm Persia on Discord. ;-)

[©GnrPersia]

9 minutes ago, Oldest Goat said:

Hey bro, how are you and yours over there in your neck of the woods?

Doing fine, from where I'm standing, I can see a bit of stormy weather on the other side of the gulf.

You keeping well?

Totally off-topic lol

[PatrickS77]

1 hour ago, Stay.Of.Execution said:

you didnt have to tell the whole story, since we all know it.

I didn't know exactly what Axl said and I think that's kinda funny.

[darkside259]

i mean the st louis show was alredy like 1.30 hours sou or more so the audience were way out dramatic, they saw a epic show and most bands don t play 2,30 hours longs so wtf was all the riot about? if the band didn t present i could undestand it more, but they have they show!!! and what a show!!

[star]

10 hours ago, Stay.Of.Execution said:

you didnt have to tell the whole story, since we all know it.

Lol!

Every Godam one of us knows THAT story!!!

[janrichmond]

I've removed a bunch of off topic posts. 

Please be respectful to others, if someone pisses you off you can block them and/or report them.

Thank you

[Karice]

Izzy was partially to blame for the infamous Riverport Riot incident. Izzy was directly behind Axl and could have reached out and stopped Axl from jumping into the crowd. On a side note, Izzy looks at Axl concerned even before Axl says,"Hey take that!" There were reports that a biker gang had been harassing Axl all throughout the show which could be why Izzy looked at Axl concerned even before the"Hey take that!" 

[Stay.Of.Execution]

8 minutes ago, Karice said:

Izzy was partially to blame for the infamous Riverport Riot incident. Izzy was directly behind Axl and could have reached out and stopped Axl from jumping into the crowd.

Are you serious?

[Natty]

26 minutes ago, Karice said:

Izzy was partially to blame for the infamous Riverport Riot incident. Izzy was directly behind Axl and could have reached out and stopped Axl from jumping into the crowd. On a side note, Izzy looks at Axl concerned even before Axl says,"Hey take that!" There were reports that a biker gang had been harassing Axl all throughout the show which could be why Izzy looked at Axl concerned even before the"Hey take that!" 

Blaming Izzy for the St. Louis riot is huge girl! I wouldn’t even blame Axl, but only the audience itself AND the company who was responsible for the security. The show was not finished after 15 mins but after 1,30 hours so there was NO reason why an audience has to freak out and destroy everything and put others in danger!! Some rock shows last only 1.30 hours. Second thing revealed only a few weeks ago by Snake Sabo during Brando s podcast: Snake saw that one of the securities was an 18 ! year old girl!!! I mean seriously??? He was surprised and a bit scared that they put someone like an 18 year old girl as security and had „a bad feeling“ .

what if several securities were totally not adapted for hardrock concerts and not able to react in the right way?? Fault is clearly there and in those idiots in the audience. 
 

[D4NNY]

Because this really needed to be bumped… 

[Spike Killer]

There seems to be a missing part of the story.  I believe the

Jump in the Crowd and screw you guys I'm going home > riot is the edit for TV entertainment.

I believe several minutes passed between the band leaving the stage and the start of the riot.  I'm quite certain around 2010 video footage was posted online that showed the band was getting ready to return to the stage before things got very serious after the crowd started throwing arm rests from the arena seats.

While the band's behavior was less than professional - I don't believe Axl leaving the stage directly caused the riot.  I would point towards the behavior of the police in not properly addressing the crowd and at times antagonizing (throwing items back) that created an us for them mentality and the riot.  Also, let's not forget - the venue was brand new and the staff likely weren't prepared for a crowd that size.  Maybe it was the VH1 Behind the Music that mentioned the concerts that came before had been tense and a powderkeg between security and the crowd. 

[Karice]

All I said was that Izzy could have grabbed Axl before he jumped into the crowd. I wasn't expecting ragging and dragging for that. 🤷‍♂️🧐

[IrishgunnerII]

3 hours ago, Spike Killer said:

There seems to be a missing part of the story.  I believe the

Jump in the Crowd and screw you guys I'm going home > riot is the edit for TV entertainment.

I believe several minutes passed between the band leaving the stage and the start of the riot.  I'm quite certain around 2010 video footage was posted online that showed the band was getting ready to return to the stage before things got very serious after the crowd started throwing arm rests from the arena seats.

While the band's behavior was less than professional - I don't believe Axl leaving the stage directly caused the riot.  I would point towards the behavior of the police in not properly addressing the crowd and at times antagonizing (throwing items back) that created an us for them mentality and the riot.  Also, let's not forget - the venue was brand new and the staff likely weren't prepared for a crowd that size.  Maybe it was the VH1 Behind the Music that mentioned the concerts that came before had been tense and a powderkeg between security and the crowd. 

The footage I’ve seen was about 25 minutes of footage before, during the concert, and the aftermath of the riot, and yes I think you are right there is footage showing Axl and the rest of the band standing off the left of the stage(looking from the stage) and they don’t look like they are going anywhere, and does call into question when the building manager said he saw Axl enter his dressing room, as he’s said Axl entering the dressing room and then chaos.

Axl isn’t blameless in the St Louis riot but yes the crowd deserve a lot of blame, as they were the one who made shit of the brand new arena. 
 

It’s the same with Montreal and the fans wreaking the city outside the Arena.

2 hours ago, Karice said:

All I said was that Izzy could have grabbed Axl before he jumped into the crowd. I wasn't expecting ragging and dragging for that. 🤷‍♂️🧐

He couldn’t have stopped Axl though. 

[D4NNY]

2 hours ago, Karice said:

All I said was that Izzy could have grabbed Axl before he jumped into the crowd. I wasn't expecting ragging and dragging for that. 🤷‍♂️🧐

Ragging and dragging? Where did that happen? 🤔

[Nintari]

As a fan of rock, I'm okay with it. Rock needs to be manic to be good. But you gotta admit, now that we're mostly all adults, Axl was way over the line. So over the line, that to me, it probably speaks to whatever he suffers from, be it borderline personality disorder, or bi-polar, or whatever. It's no different than that guy who goes into McDonalds, orders a value meal and starts screaming and assaulting people because his fries aren't fresh, or because they forget to put a pack of ketchup in his bag. Axl was clearly having a bad day with his mental health, and the camera guy was just the thing that pushed him over the edge.

Having said that, I think the band should have publicly stood up for him, and then in private, let Axl know that that shit has to end. You can stop shows to rant, or leave if someone gets hit with a bottle etc, but diving into crowds because of a camera and punching someone? Way over the line.

[Karice]

3 hours ago, Nintari said:

As a fan of rock, I'm okay with it. Rock needs to be manic to be good. But you gotta admit, now that we're mostly all adults, Axl was way over the line. So over the line, that to me, it probably speaks to whatever he suffers from, be it borderline personality disorder, or bi-polar, or whatever. It's no different than that guy who goes into McDonalds, orders a value meal and starts screaming and assaulting people because his fries aren't fresh, or because they forget to put a pack of ketchup in his bag. Axl was clearly having a bad day with his mental health, and the camera guy was just the thing that pushed him over the edge.

Having said that, I think the band should have publicly stood up for him, and then in private, let Axl know that that shit has to end. You can stop shows to rant, or leave if someone gets hit with a bottle etc, but diving into crowds because of a camera and punching someone? Way over the line.

I remember posting on another Guns N'Roses Website that all of the Guns shouldn't have left WITH their Rose Brother. 3 Guns should have stayed on stage, and one gun brother, like Izzy should have went backstage (I said something like,"Slash, Duff, and Matt should have been like,"Hey, Izzy, Axl's mad. Wanna go calm him down and support him? We three can jam out until you and he come back and he's in a better mood." and calmed him down and supported him and when he was in a calmer and happier mood, go back with him and finish the set.  I pointed out that Axl's anger was a tornado and not a hurricane (Is very powerful, but only lasts a few moments, and not long lasting but less powerful)

 

All of the band leaving was REALLY risky when only two should have temporarily left. 

Edited January 11, 2023 by Karice

[AXL_N_DIZZY]

Support the crowd, and have the band break-up before the UYI twins ever even hit the market would have been an epically horrendous decision.

Weren't thinking very clearly back then- but got that one right...

[Karice]

3 hours ago, AXL_N_DIZZY said:

Support the crowd, and have the band break-up before the UYI twins ever even hit the market would have been an epically horrendous decision.

Weren't thinking very clearly back then- but got that one right...

I surmise it to say that you are saying that supporting Axl was the right thing to do. 🤔 I still think they should have split the decision. Slash, Duff, Izzy stay on stage and Izzy goes backstage with Axl and supports him and calms him down and then they both go back on stage after Axl has calmed down. 🤔