The Riverport

riot A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

took place on July 2, 1991, at the Riverport Amphitheatre (now named Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre) in

Maryland Heights, Missouri Maryland Heights is a second-ring west-northwest suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 27,472 at the 2010 census. The city was incorporated in 1985. Edwin L. Dirck was appointed the city's ...

(near

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

) during a concert by American rock band

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

on their

Use Your Illusion Tour The Use Your Illusion Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Guns N' Roses which ran from January 20, 1991, to July 17, 1993. It was not only the band's longest tour, but one of the longest concert tours in rock history, consisting of 19 ...

. It is also known as the "Rocket Queen Riot".

Incident

During the band's performance of "

Rocket Queen "Rocket Queen" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on their debut studio album, ''Appetite for Destruction'' (1987). The song incorporates moans from a woman, Adriana Smith, who was recorded having sexual intercourse with the b ...

", singer

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose ( ; born William Bruce Rose Jr., February 6, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its inception in ...

, in the middle of the chorus, pointed out a fan who was taking still pictures of the show, saying, "Hey, take that! Take that! Now, get that guy and take that!" With security unable to confront the person, Rose decided to confiscate the camera himself, saying "I'll take it, goddamn it!" and then jumped into the audience and tackled the person. After taking the camera, Rose struck members of the audience and the security team, and had to be pulled out of the audience by crew members. Rose then grabbed his microphone and said "Well, thanks to the lame-ass security, I'm going home!", slammed his microphone down on the stage and left. After Rose left, guitarist

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...

quickly told the audience, "He just smashed the microphone. We're out of here." This infuriated the audience which set off a three-hour riot in which dozens were injured. The incident was captured on videocamera by Robert John, who was documenting the tour for the band. Rose was charged with having incited the riot, but police were unable to arrest him until almost a year later, because the band had gone overseas to continue the tour. Charges were filed against Rose, however; a judge ruled that he did not directly incite the riot. "When something like that happens, you can't help but think back to Donington," noted guitarist

Izzy Stradlin Jeffrey Dean Isbell (born April 8, 1962), known professionally as Izzy Stradlin, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he re ...

, referring to the 1988 festival at which two fans died during Guns' set. "What's to stop us having some more people trampled, because the singer doesn't like something?" Rose later stated that the Guns N' Roses security team had made four separate requests to the venue's security staff to remove the camera, each of which were ignored. The band also reported that members of the band had been hit by bottles thrown from the audience, the venue's security had allowed weapons into the arena and the event security had refused to enforce a drinking limit. Consequently, ''

Use Your Illusion I ''Use Your Illusion I'' is the third studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released by Geffen Records on September 17, 1991, the same day as its counterpart '' Use Your Illusion II''. It was the band's first album to feature dru ...

'' and '' II''s album credits featured a message in their 'Thank You' notes: "Fuck You, St. Louis!" The band did not play in the city again until July 27, 2017, on the Not in This Lifetime... Tour.

References

{{Riots in the United States (1980–present) 1991 in American music 1991 in Missouri 1991 riots Guns N' Roses History of St. Louis County, Missouri July 1991 crimes in the United States Music of Missouri Music riots Riots and civil disorder in Missouri