2002.12.09 - Launch - Guns N' Roses Cancels More Shows

Guns N' Roses Cancels More Shows

(12/9/02, 6 p.m. ET) -- Guns N' Roses canceled two Philadelphia concerts--on Friday night and Sunday night (December 6 and 8)--and also canceled a show scheduled for Washington, D.C.'s MCI Arena on Monday night (December 9). The band's no-show at the First Union Spectrum Friday night resulted in a minor melee when disgruntled fans learned that the band would not appear.

A spokesperson for Clear Channel, the promoters for the tour, stopped short of saying the tour was canceled on Monday, saying instead that the rest of the group's dates were on as scheduled. Regarding future dates or why the Washington date and two weekend dates in Philadelphia were canceled, the company had an official "no comment."

A spokesperson for the MCI Center in Washington told LAUNCH that tickets would be refunded at the point of purchase, and that there were no plans to reschedule the date. She did indicate that the show was close to being sold out when it was canceled.

Friday's Philadelphia show was sold-out, which negates rumors that the performances were canceled due to poor ticket sales.

Current Guns N' Roses bassist Tommy Stinson told LAUNCH that the tour was a calculated risk all the way around. "No one's ever done this before. No one's ever... Like, the lead singer's never taken the name and continued on with an entirely new band successfully in history. So it sounded like, the whole prospect of it sounded like it would be historically awesome to pull it off and, you know, if it didn't work it was, like, the most interesting thing, you know, I had going at the time. I think it was a calculated risk and it was a good one."

The last tour date Guns N' Roses did play was on Thursday (December 5) at Madison Square Garden in New York.

-- Darren Davis, New York and Gary Graff, Detroit

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