Guns N’ Roses Tour Diary (November 25, 1992 – December 13, 1992)

Guns N’ Roses Tour Diary (November 25, 1992 – December 13, 1992)
Following the conclusion of the dates with Metallica, Guns N’ Roses rested, then flew to Venezuela for the start of a nine date South American tour. The Schedule ran as follows…

Wednesday, NOVEMBER 25
POLIEDRO, CARACAS, Venezuela. In the absence of a suitable venue, the show is played outside one (!) in a parking lot in front of 45,000. The biggest show ever staged in Venezuela.

Thursday, NOVEMBER 26
THE 80-PERSON party leaves Venezuela in the evening – just hours before the country was thrown into turmoil by an air-based military coup. In the ensuing chaos, only one of the band’s cargo planes is able to take off, leaving over half of their equipment and several crew members stranded.

Friday, NOVEMBER 27
GN’R ARRIVE in Colombia for two scheduled shows at El Campin Stadium in Bogota. But without so much equipment, these shows are immediately in jeopardy. After touchdown in the early hours of the morning they research ways to either bring in new equipment from North America, or get their incarcerated cargo released from Venezuela. Neither is possible in time to set up for Saturday’s show, so Saturday tickets are made valid for Sunday and the two gigs are rolled into one. GN’R originally offered to reschedule and play a second show on Monday, but local promoters believed that those who had travelled long distances would not be able to stay an extra two days.

Saturday, NOVEMBER 28
WITH MANY fans already camping outside the 60,000 capacity stadium, the wait for gear to arrive from Venezuela ended around 7pm when the first shipment was delivered. As the crew battled to complete the load-in time for the following night’s show, a torrential downpour slowed their progress. At 10.15pm, the six tonne stage roof, complete with a lighting rig, crashed to the ground. Hearing the steel buckle, the stagehands had fled and none was hurt. An inspection revealed that the locally supplied structure had been unable to support the additional weight of the rainwater gathered on the roof.
With no time to build another roof, the set was redesigned so that all lights the fall was repositioned on the stage’s side walls, with the band having to perform under the sky and exposed to the elements…

Sunday, NOVEMBER 29
THE MASSING crowds were let in early to avoid clashes with the armed police. At lunchtime, a cloudburst damaged more equipment despite the crew’s efforts to protect it. As the day went on, tickets were still on sale. The Columbian promoters had been unable to give the band either accurate ticket sales for either of the originally planned gig, or of returns from the canceled Saturday show. As a result, by 10pm, the stadium was full – with hundreds of ticket holders locked out.
As the police attempted to disperse the disappointed fans, scuffles broke out, a few people were injured, and some nearby cars and property were damaged before order was restored by the use of tear-gas. Against this background, and with only two-thirds of the sound system operational, GN’R took the stage at 10.30pm with ‘Welcome To The Jungle’. 90 minutes later, Axl’s ballad ‘November Rain’ ironically heralded another cloudburst. With no roof to protect the stage, it and the equipment was beneath half-an-inch of water within minutes.
The band completed the song but Axl pulled a translator on stage to tell the crowd that they would need to take a short brake to dry and make safe all the electrical equipment. 15 minutes later, still in pouring rain, Guns were back on the waterlogged stage finishing the set with ‘Don’t Cry’ and ‘Paradise City’. The audience, whose enthusiasm remained undampened by the weather throughout, bid them an ecstatic farewell as the band dashed drenched – and relieved – to the waiting vans…

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2
SELL-OUT SHOW at the 55,000 capacity National Football Stadium in Santiago, Chile.

Thursday, DECEMBER 3
CHILEAN MEDIA reports that Axl was drunk prior to last night’s show, and that drugs were discovered in the band’s hotel rooms, were categorically denied by the band’s manager, Doug Goldstein, and the manager of the Sheraton San Cristobal hotel.
Goldstein stressed that Axl never drinks before a show and had spent December 2 doing a rigorous physical workout and undertaking intensive voice warm-up exercises. He admitted that representatives of the Chilean Department of Investigation had visited the hotel during the early hours of December 3 and searched some of the GN’R party’s rooms – but nothing at all was found. The band spent the rest of the day relaxing by the hotel pool before leaving for a flight to Argentina.

Friday, DECEMBER 4
THE BAND arrives in Argentina. They go to their hotel, Park Hyatt Hotel, where they play a little at the hotel piano. Later Slash, Duff, John Reese, Doug Goldstein and the Argentinian promoter Daniel Grinbak held a press conference. Axl later joined them.

Saturday, DECEMBER 5 – Sunday, DECEMBER 6
TWO NIGHTS at river Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Thursday, DECEMBER 10
FIRST OF two nights at Anhembi in Sao Paulo, Brazil, played despite torrential rain.

Friday, DECEMBER 11
SECOND SCHEDULED show at Anhembi has to be postponed 24 hours owing to the continuos heavy rain flooding both the site itself and access to the venue. In a press statement Axl apologized: “We hope that everyone who was planning to come to the show tonight can make it tomorrow. As we proved, both here and in Bogota recently… none of us are afraid to get wet!” But in this instance, the promoters and local authorities insisted that the conditions would be far too risky for the fans.

Sunday, DECEMBER 13
LAST SHOW at Autodromo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After it, the band takes a month’s break before the next leg of the tour…