Riverport Riot
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Riverport Riot
The Riverport Riot was a riot at the Riverport Amphitheater (now named Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St. Louis) in Maryland Heights, Missouri (near St. Louis) at a Guns N' Roses concert on July 2, 1991. It is also known as the "Rocket Queen Riot."
During the band's performance of "Rocket Queen", the 15th song in the set (counting drum & guitar solos), lead singer Axl Rose jumped into the audience and tackled a fan who was taking still pictures of the show. This occurred after Rose pointed out the fan and told security to confiscate the camera. When security failed to do so, Rose decided to confiscate the camera himself. After taking the camera, striking members of the audience and the security team, and being pulled out of the audience by members of the crew, Rose said: "Well, thanks to the lame-ass security, I'm going home!", slammed his microphone on the ground and left the stage.
The sound the microphone made sounded to some fans like a gunshot, so band member Slash quickly told the audience, "He just slammed his mic on the floor. We're outta here." The angry crowd began to riot and dozens of people were injured. The footage was captured by Robert John, who was documenting the entire tour for the band. Rose was charged with having incited the riot, but police were unable to arrest him until almost a year later, as the band went overseas to continue the tour. Charges were filed against Rose but a judge ruled that he did not directly incite the riot.[1]
Rose later stated that the Guns N' Roses security team had made four separate requests to the venue's security staff to remove the camera, all of which were ignored, that other members of the band had reported being hit by bottles from the audience and that the venue's security had been lax, allowing weapons into the arena and refusing to enforce a drinking limit. Consequently, Use Your Illusion I and II's artwork featured a hidden message amidst the Thank You section of the album insert: "Fuck You, St. Louis!"
External links
- YouTube video of Axl Rose jumping into the crowd, confiscating the camera, and leaving the stage
- Memory archive personal diary of a concertgoer, with interesting recollections of the riot itself but some inaccuracies about the band, concert and line-up
- Documentary from local St. Louis radio station KSHE 95. Look for "Riot Room" in the top portion of the "9."
References
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