Axl Comes Off In London

Yahoo’s Dotmusic Web site claims it was Sanctuary Music Group’s Merck Mercuriadis who made a short appearance at Wembley Arena to explain Axl Rose’s failure to complete Guns N’ Roses‘ July 30th show.

Apparently the singer, who surprised many in the industry by seeing out the tour, was diagnosed with “low blood pressure and low blood sugar” earlier in the day.

The Dotmusic report says fans produced “a volley of boos and slow-hand claps” because the act was late onstage, although venue manager Peter Tudor said his staff didn’t receive any complaints from the crowd.

Rose reportedly quit the stage midway through “Night Train,” the last song of the set. NME was among the music papers reporting guest star Sebastian Bach (ex-Skid Row) leading the band through an encore of “Paradise City.”

It quoted Rose saying, “We have had an amazing tour and it has been fantastic for the band and I to experience this. I approached this last show with equal parts determination, obligation, responsibility and insanity.

“It was an amazing night. I want to thank everyone in Europe and the U.K. for inspiring us and for giving us the opportunity to play for them,” he added, making no mention of a canceled Zurich show and a disaster in Istanbul, where a 6,000 crowd was barely enough to half-fill the venue.

Earlier in the tour, Axl was arrested for an alleged drunken assault on a security guard in Sweden.

The dates, which began in Madrid May 25th, are still reported to have attracted 700,000-plus people to 32 shows in 18 countries, which would make it one of the biggest European tours of the year.

– John Gammon