1991.07.11 - Los Angeles Times - Rockers Roll On as Probe Continues

Rockers Roll On as Probe Continues: * Pop music: Guns N' Roses prepares to resume its tour as police and a promoter dispute Axl Rose's claim that the group was kept from returning to the stage during a July 2 riot.

July 11, 1991|CHUCK PHILIPS | SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Guns N' Roses' tour is due to continue tonight in Denver after a pair of trouble-free performances Monday and Tuesday in Dallas.

Meanwhile, police and a concert promoter in Maryland Heights, Mo., Wednesday disputed a statement to The Times by the band's lead singer, Axl Rose, that the hard-rock group was kept from returning to the stage July 2 at the Riverport Amphitheatre in the St. Louis suburb.

The issue of why the band didn't go back on stage may prove to be important in any lawsuits growing out of the disturbance that caused an estimated $200,000 in damages and left more than 60 people injured. Some observers believe the band's failure to return to the stage after its abbreviated 90-minute set sparked the unrest.

Band manager Doug Goldstein re-affirmed to The Times on Tuesday night Rose's allegation that the band wanted to go back on stage to help calm the crowd but was ordered to leave the building.


Steven Schankman, president of Contemporary Productions Inc., the show's producer, disagreed.

"Axl Rose was not asked to leave," Schankman said Wednesday. "In fact, the senior vice president of our company asked him to return to the stage, but he was not at all responsive to that idea until it was too late."

Neil F. Kurlander, chief of the Maryland Heights Police Department, also disputed Rose's account.

"None of the officers at the scene report having had any contact or conversation with Axl Rose at all," said Kurlander, who is soliciting statements from hundreds of witnesses--including accounts from all the members of Guns N' Roses' entourage--before making a decision on filing criminal charges.

A fan who claims he was assaulted during the riot by a member of the band's security staff at Riverport filed suit Monday in St. Louis seeking an unspecified amount of damages from Rose, other unidentified members of the band's entourage and the concert promoter. The fan's attorney said Wednesday that he expects to file additional claims next week on behalf of others who were injured at the concert.

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