2006.11.08 - The Portland Press Herald - Official: Band Balked At Alcohol Ban

Official: Band balked at alcohol ban

By Elbert Aull
Staff Writer

Guns N' Roses and state fire marshals disagree on who is to blame for the rock band's decision to call off its show at the Cumberland County Civic Center Monday night.

The band, through a press release issued Tuesday, blamed the decision on a pair of overzealous state fire marshals. Nelson Collins, supervisor of licensing and inspections at the State Fire Marshal's Office, said he was doing his job when he let band managers know performers wouldn't be allowed to drink alcohol out of bottles on stage.

Collins said Guns N' Roses' management objected.

Guns N' Roses canceled its performance at the civic center at 5:30 p.m. Monday, 2‡ hours before the show was scheduled to begin. The decision angered fans, many of whom blamed the band's lead singer, Axl Rose, who has called off shows before.

Collins and another fire marshal, Robert Cadigan, "made it impossible for the band to perform their show to the usual high standards that their fans deserve," according to a press release from the band's management agency.

The statement implies the two attempted to subject Guns N' Roses to rules that were not applied to Clay Aiken and Green Day, two acts that have recently performed at the civic center. The management agency
did not identify a specific rule it thought was unfair.

Collins said he believed a prior dispute over the band's pyrotechnics show had been settled and the alcohol restrictions were the main issue before the show. He said Green Day agreed to the alcohol rule and Clay Aiken did not have a pyrotechnics show, so fire marshals weren't needed at his performance.

It is illegal for entertainers to drink alcohol while they work in Maine, Collins said. The fine for violating the rule is $250, he said.

Collins said fire marshals, who would report alcohol violations at a concert, haven't had issues with bands
objecting to the law in the past. He said he tried to convince the band's management during a mid-afternoon meeting Monday to have the musicians limit their alcohol consumption to backstage. He said the band's managers balked at the idea.

Some of the band's past cancellations -- most notably in Vancouver and Philadelphia -- caused riots. Fans on Free Street Monday were angry, but not violent.

Rose was not in Portland for the discussions between inspectors and the band's managers, Collins said. He travels by plane while on tour and wasn't scheduled to arrive in Portland until Monday night, civic center General Manager Steve Crane said during an interview a little more than an hour after the cancellation.