Music

Riot footage from a 1992 Guns N' Roses and Metallica show in Montreal

by Tyler Munro

On this day in 1992, more than 2,000 Montreal metal fans absolutely lost their shit after a Metallica and Guns N’ Roses show ended far earlier than expected. Yes, Axl rose was involved.

How it happened is best described in the above report from MTV News, but the issues actually started during Metallica’s set. After about 80-minutes on stage and part-way through “Fade to Black,” frontman James Hetfield miscalculated some of the show’s pyrotechnics and was almost entirely engulfed in flames. He sustained burns on his arms, hands and face but managed to escape without serious injury, but obviously their set had to be stopped soon as this happened. The band, apologetic, promised a make-up date in the future.

But then came Guns N’ Roses, who after just six songs announced to the 53,000 person crowd that it would be their last show for a while. They played a couple more, then left. While the party line said Axl stomped off because of reoccurring issues with his voice, the aftermath was felt in La belle province, where a small chunk of the crowd angrily proceeded to flip cars, smash storefront windows and light things on fire.

Faith No More’s 45 minute opening set apparently went off without a hitch. So there’s that.