Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses Meets Angry Dublin Crowd

There was much confusion to be had at the Guns N' Roses concert in Dublin. Axl Rose arrived to the venue an hour late, an act that bothered many of the fans eagerly awaiting his performance. As Rose started to perform, bottles were thrown onto the stage by the angry crowd. Rose politely asked the crowd to stop throwing bottles, or he would not continue to perform. A bottle was thrown.

Guns N' Roses walked off stage. Despite their frustration with concert goers, they were forced to finish playing the concert to a nearly empty stadium.

Guns N' Roses is not the only band to have encountered a rowdy crowd or disappointed a stadium full of fans. Britney Spears' fans were let down by her performance in Perth in November 2009. At the time, Spears had given a mediocre performance at the music awards, and was debuting her "Circus" Tour. Fans expected her concert to make up for the rubbish they had been reading about her over the past year or two, but it was not up to their expectations. Many fans left as early as three songs into the set.

Spears seems to have bounced back just fine, though. She hit a rough patch, but she is back and hotter than ever. Australia did not affect her in the least.

Another performer who has received a lot of criticism for his arrogant attitude is Kanye West. During a concert in 2008 at Bonnaroo, West was forced to delay his appearance on stage for two hours. The crowd angrily shouted "Kanye sucks" and launched glow sticks at the empty stage. It is one thing to have fans upset at you while you are on stage, but West seems to be able to anger fans without even being on stage.

Although West is egotistical, fans still continue to listen to his music. The Taylor Swift incident at the 2009 VMA's, where he cut off her speech, was more detrimental to his career than the angry concert goers.

I think that Guns N' Roses' success will not falter because of the Dublin incident alone. Unfortunately, angry crowds and bands do not mix. There needs to be a mutual respect between the concert goers and the performers. If Axl Rose continues to show up late to his concerts, then people might stop buying tickets. They might say, "Why bother?"

Clearly, Spears' and West's careers have not been damaged by rowdy, disrespectful crowds, but these are performers who are still in the midst of popular careers. Guns N' Roses is an old, yet classic, act. The band should not be threatened by the crowd's reaction in Dublin, but they could easily fade into oblivion if they do not show more effort.

Sources:

Shawn Pogatchnik, Axl Rose tries Dublin's patience, sends crowd home, Seattle pi

Rebekah Devlin, Angry fans desert Britney, The Daily Telegraph

RIOT AT KANYE WEST CONCERT!!! ANGRY CROWD YELLS 'KANYE SUCKS' ... THROW GLOW STICKS AT STAGE!!!, MediaTakeOut.com