Guns N’ Roses’ Wellington fans shut out due to rain

Image: NZ Herald

Thousands of Guns N’ Roses fans in Wellington were last night kept waiting in the rain outside Westpac Stadium after bad weather caused production difficulties.

The gates were to open at 5:00pm but queues stretched for 200 metres. Patrons were not given the go-ahead to move in until 6.39pm. As a result, opening act Wolfmother started out their set to a near-empty stadium.

Disgruntled fans took to Westpac Stadium’s Facebook page to express their dissatisfaction with the situation.One said, “Sort your technical difficulties out. It rains a lot in Wellington and if your system can’t handle it that it is poor performance from your team.

“And a bit more information would be appreciated – one hour standing in the rain is not cool.”

Another wrote, “It’s now been over an hour standing in the rain and you still haven’t opened the gates. This is such poor event management.”

Just what caused the delay is uncertain. Fans were told the storms had delayed the set up process of the stage. The Guns N’ Roses production rig weighs 90,000 tones, with 63 permanent crew bolstered by 50 local techs at each stop.

Earlier in the afternoon, at a media call at the venue with longtime Gunners’ production manager Dale Skjerseth, he revealed that strong winds had caused them to run behind schedule, but didn’t think it would cause an issue. Crews worked had through the night to resolve the problem.

But Westpac Stadium CEO Shane Harmon later issued a statement that the rains had affected its turnstiles, and some staff members had been delayed arriving.

Harmon said 22,000 fans were in the stadium by 7:30pm, 30,200 by 8:15pm, and the entire 31,500 by the time Guns N’ Roses hit the stage with It’s So Easy at 8:50 pm. The show was a total of 50 minutes behind time.

Certainly all was forgiven when the band delivered a hard-punching two hour 45 minute show with an elaborate stage set. They pulled out all the hits from Appetite For Destruction and Use Your Illusion, with peaks including Welcome To The Jungle, Sweet Child O’ Mine, Paradise City and November Rain, which showcased some of the classic intensity of the band.

Guns N’ Roses were themselves startled by the intensity of the crowd, tweeting after, “Not even the rain could stop you!”

The band finish off the two-date New Zealand leg of their tour tomorrow (February 4) at Auckland’s Western Springs Stadium. No rain is forecast for the evening.

Earlier this week it was revealed that the Gunners’ 13 dates across South America grossed US$56.5 million. Their 2016 tour of North America generated US$116.8 million over nine weeks.