I can remember the Guns N' Roses St. Louis Riot of 1991 just like it was yesterday. After all, who could ever forget Axl Rose's triumphant bitchery as he stormed off stage yelling, "Thanks to the lame ass security, I'm going home," slamming his microphone to the ground, breaking it into pieces before a full on riot of angry fans erupted? Ah, the 90s.
Still, if you don't remember this incident (or weirdly somehow want to relive it), you can now get a little piece of the action, so to speak. Someone, for whatever reason, has put one of the chairs from venue, formerly known as the Riverport Amphitheatre on eBay. Yes, what was once likely launched as a projectile is now on the verge of becoming a rock and roll collectible.
The incident that sparked the madness was a member of the crowd taking photos of the band during a performance of "Rocket Queen." Rose, seeing the photographer, began screaming to security, "Take that! Take that! Take that!" before taking matters into his own hands. Rose then yelled, "I'll do it, goddamn it!" and then proceeded to jump into the crowd and—presumably—hunt for the unlucky shutterbug. You can watch the initial incident unfold in the video below.
Props to the rhythm section of Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin, and Matt Sorum for never losing the beat throughout the melee. But, ultimately, that's the best that can be said about the whole scenario. Rose was later sued for the incident at Guns N' Roses were banned from playing St. Louis until 2017.
As for the person auctioning off the chair, the description of the "item" reads: "I was in the audience at the GN'R concert that ended in the infamous ban of GN'R in St. Louis in '91. A friend grabbed a chair during the mayhem on the way out and put it in my car. I've held on to this piece of history for 31 years. The wife said it's time to find it a new home. I am auctioning the chair as well as the original ticket stub."
Unfortunately, however, the listing was taken down—as no bids were offered. I guess the people of St. Louis are still pissed at Rose. But, if you want to check out the original listing, you can check it out here.
Ironically, this would not be the last riot Rose would instigate; barely a year later, while touring with Metallica, Guns N' Roses cancelled their performance after hours of making fans wait as a result of what was deemed a throat issue with Rose. Fans revolted and the ensuing riot is still one of the most infamous incidents in the history of live performance.
