Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose says he will no longer throw his microphone into the crowd at the end of the band’s shows, after a fan was reportedly injured during their recent concert in Adelaide. For decades, the singer has tossed his mic into the audience at the conclusion of GN’R gigs for fans to catch.
During Guns N’ Roses’ gig at Adelaide Oval last Tuesday night (29th November), fan Rebecca Howe was hit in the face by Rose’s mic after the band played final song ‘Paradise City’, resulting in bleeding and bruising. “[Rose] took a bow and then he launched the microphone out to the crowd… and then bang, right on the bridge of my nose,” Howe told the Advertiser.
Axl Rose: “Obviously We Don’t Want Anyone Getting Hurt’
— Axl Rose (@axlrose) December 2, 2022
“There was this huge kerfuffle as this man tried to get the microphone… he held it up like a victory, ‘I got it, I got it’, while I was trying to keep my composure,” Howe said. “An off-duty police officer pulled me to the side because I was in shock and hyperventilating, my mind went, ‘Oh my God, my face is caved in’… I had blood dripping down the front of me.”
In a statement posted on Twitter over the weekend, Rose said it had come to his attention that a fan may have been hurt during the show. “If true obviously we don’t want anyone getting hurt or to somehow in anyway hurt anyone at any of [our] shows anywhere,” he wrote.
“Having tossed the mic at the end of [our shows] for over 30 years we always felt it was a known part of the very end of [our] performance that fans wanted and were aware of to have an opportunity to catch the mic,” Rose continued. “Regardless in the interest of public safety from now on we’ll refrain from tossing the mic or anything to the fans during or at [our] performances.”
Rose added that there were those who “chose to frame their reporting regarding this subject” in a “negative [and] irresponsible out of nowhere light which couldn’t be farther from reality.” He concluded by saying he hoped people understood “that sometimes happens” and thanked people for “understanding.”
It’s not the first time a fan has been injured from a thrown mic during a Gunners gig – not even the first time in Australia. In 2013, Darren Wright threatened legal action after he was hit in the mouth at the end of one of the band’s gigs in Perth, telling the West Australian a dentist had quoted him for over $5,000 worth of dental work to fix his damaged front teeth.
Guns N’ Roses’ Australian tour concluded on Saturday night (3rd December) at Melbourne Cricket Ground. This week, it’ll head to New Zealand for shows in Wellington and Auckland.
Further Reading
Guns N’ Roses: 10 Essential Tracks
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