Great Moments in Axl History: #25

#25: Axl vs. James Hetfield

It seemed like good idea. The two biggest rock bands of the time double-headlining a tour of stadiums in the summer of '92. What could possibly go wrong?

Surprisingly, not so much, as the Guns N' Roses/Metallica tour started off pretty well and with no major problems.

But then came August 8th in Montreal.

During the beginning of their song "Fade to Black," which is about wanting to die, Metallica's lead singer James Hetfield nearly did after he walked too close to a pyrotechnic flash and suffered second and third degree burns. Because he is not Axl Rose, Metallica's set was cut short and James was taken to the hospital. Pussy!

This meant that GN'R who were up next after Metallica, would have to take the stage earlier than planned to keep everything moving along, right?

Wrong. Duh! Everyone knows that the energy needs to be just right, and sometimes you just have to wait. (It's like Heinz, deal with it!) Well, everyone except for those damn Canadians at the show that night, who began to become impatient. The nerve!

Guns N' Roses finally took the stage, but about an hour into their set, Axl ended the show due to throat problems and monitor issues. Those are very, very, serious things dammit! All hopped up on too many Labats and already pissed off about getting gypped out of one band's full show, the crazy Canadians rioted.

Here's Tabitha Soren to tell us all about it (Is anyone else having deja vu watching these old MTV clips?) Oh and if you have an alcoholic beverage, take a swig every time Lars Ulrich tosses his hair back:


You can almost see Axl off-camera yelling to Slash "The monitors!! Talk about the monitors some more!"

After that incident, things got even worse between Axl and James, St. Anger kind of worse, and the two sparred back and forth ranting about each other to their audiences.

Tabitha?



As with many of Axl's feuds, it never resulted in an actual physical fight. (James was a little cowardly.) It is rumored that Metallica's song "King Nothing" is about Axl.

The two really should make up as many years have passed and they now have a lot in common. Both had/have new albums coming out this year and both have issues with illegal downloading.

THIS HAS BEEN A GREAT MOMENT IN AXL HISTORY

Oh and speaking of the crazy Canucks, check out this commercial which aired on Canadian television last night: