Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter
July 2nd, 2019
Nine words from Axl Rose in concert led to a full-on riot 28 years ago today (July 2.)
Of course, there are plenty of other concert moments that will live in infamy. Here are just five moments that have reached legend status.
Admittedly, the above description sounds like an amazing band name, but what wasn’t amazing was the riot that ensued at a Guns N’ Roses show in Maryland Heights, Mo. on July 2, 1991 at the Riverport Amphitheatre. Axl Rose cut the set short after seeing a fan in the crowd with a camera, and well you know the rest: Cut to the infamous “Well, thanks to the lame-ass security, I’m going home!” line...and cue riot!
Another classic! At a January 20, 1982 show in Des Moines, Iowa, a fan threw a dead bat onto the stage. Ozzy thought it was a toy bat. (Oops!) Of course, after the show was when he went to the hospital for a round of rabies shots. FUN!
Alice Cooper was playing the Toronto Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival in September 1969, when a chicken was thrown onto the stage. Alice then threw the chicken back because, “It had feathers; it should fly!” Wrong! This iconic moment only added to the Shock Rocker’s legend…and likely still gives PETA fits.
What’s so crazy about this incident is that decades later, no one really knows if it actually happened. During a 1969 gig in Miami, Morrison allegedly exposed himself on stage and was later charged with indecent exposure and “the use of obscene language.” There’s still no photographic proof that the Lizard King shows his...lizard, which is likely why decades later, the Florida Clemency Board issued a pardon.
There are few classic rock concert moments as tragic and infamous as Altamont, which took place on December 6, 1969. Poor organizing and the Hell’s Angels acting as security was a recipe for disaster and led to the stabbing death of Meredith Hunter, which was chronicled in the documentary Gimme Shelter.
