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The St. Louis Riverport Riot of 1991 is a moment that stands out in the annals of rock history with all its wild beauty. It’s a tale of the unrestrained, unfiltered power of rock ‘n’ roll.
The quintessential rebel rock band, Guns N’ Roses, performed at the Riverport Amphitheatre in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 2, 1991. Just two years had passed since she had opened for The Rolling Stones on the Steel Wheels tour, which has been described as the “symbolic passing of the rock ‘n’ roll torch.”
It was also Use Your Illusion at its notoriously unpredictable moment. The atmosphere was electrifying, and there was an underlying desire for mayhem among the assembly. Leading the way were Axl Rose and Slash, whose music was a furious assault on “I’m heading home, thanks to the pathetic security!” Axl said. And he departed.
The general atmosphere changed at that very instant from exhilaration to fury. The audience exploded, feeling abandoned. A full-fledged brawl broke out as chairs flew, fans and security grappled. The night turned chaotic, with the amphitheater completely destroyed and numerous people hurt. It was like a tornado with whirligig momentum.
Like all of the band’s scandals, this one was widely reported, ranging from internal strife and drug misuse to ongoing legal troubles. It was a glimpse of the carefree lifestyle that typified Guns N’ Roses and a manifestation of the band’s worldview, not just a concert gone wrong. These bad apples rejected the commercial, sanitized path and lived on the edge. Their genuineness was what made them.
Naturally, litigation followed, and the band was forbidden from playing in St. Louis. To the people who really mattered, however, their public image and the media’s unhealthy fixation with them meant nothing. The riot served as a perverted badge of honor for their supporters.
This was about the angry, unrepentant spirit of rock, not simply the music. Guns N’ Roses played it real; they didn’t play it safe. They stood out among a million. The epitome of the rebellious heart of rock, an uncontrollable force.
The Riverport Riot was, in fact, so extraordinary that the band wrote “Fuck You, St. Louis!” on the liner notes that were included in the Use Your Illusion LP sleeve.The band Guns N’ Roses is a chaotic masterpiece, and The St. Louis Riot perfectly captures their basic, unpretentious core. They were renegades as well as musicians. They took life as it came and didn’t care about the consequences.
