Guns N Roses have done it again, in traditional Guns N Roses style, the band are reported to have cancelled the remainder of their first American tour in a decade on the basis of an unspecified illness in an unspecified member of the band. However rumour has it that guitarist Robin Finck has left the group in undisclosed circumstances.
The first cancellation took place on Friday night in Philadelphia over an hour after the band were due to take the stage to 15,000 in the First Union Center Arena. Following rioting at the Philadelphia venue, the next batch of shows were cancelled : one more in Philadelphia, New Mexico, Phoenix, Sacremento, and San Jose.
Support band CKY have stated that when they arrived at the Philadelphia venue, they were told the G'N'R would not perform that night and that the rest of the tour had been cancelled without reason. Ticketmaster in the US has begun to withdraw ticket sales for the rest of the tour and remove the shows from listings.
The new-look G'N'R are notorious for not showing up to gigs - the band's 2001 European tour was postponed, then cancelled, along with the opening date of the now cancelled tour being cancelled moments before the band were due on stage.
In the meantime, the band are still sticking to the party line that their new album “Chinese Democracy” is planned for release at some point in the future, provisionally in June 2003. In addition, band members have stated in interviews that there will also be two further albums to be released during the bands world tour, which - assuming that Guns’N’Roses will ever play again - is due to last until sometime in 2005.
