History
The most infamous event during the tour took place during a show on August 8, 1992 at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. Metallica frontman James Hetfield suffered second and third degree burns to his left arm after mistakenly standing on a pyrotechnics blast during the opening of "Fade to Black". Hetfield himself has said "There were extra pyro in addition to the original pyro and I got too close the original pyro." Metallica was forced to cancel the second hour of the show, but promised to return to the city for another show. After a long delay, during which the audience became increasingly restless, Guns N' Roses took the stage. However, the shortened time between sets did not allow for adequate tuning of stage monitors, resulting in musicians not being able to hear themselves. In addition, Guns N' Roses' notoriously volatile frontman, Axl Rose, claimed that his throat hurt, causing the band to leave the stage early. The cancellation led to a riot by audience members, reminiscent of the rioting that had occurred during a Guns N' Roses show near St. Louis one year earlier. This time the aggrieved audience members took to the streets of Montreal, overturning cars, smashing windows, looting local stores and setting fires. Local authorities were barely able to bring the mob under control. Footage from the debacle was later included in the 1992 documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica.
The tour resumed in Arizona, but with Hetfield sporting a thick elbow-to-finger bandage and unable to play guitar until his arm had fully healed. Former Metallica roadie and Metal Church guitarist John Marshall filled in for the rest of the tour on rhythm guitar while Hetfield continued to sing.
The tour was a big financial success for Metallica, but Guns N' Roses made very little money. According to Slash, in his self-titled autobiography, Axl Rose was very extravagant in his spending, funding expensive backstage theme parties at every show, as well as the band being fined heavily for their many late appearances.
Read more about this topic: Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour
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