Fan Rebecca Howe told the paper Adelaide Advertiser that she got the microphone on her nose. A photo accompanying the article shows that she had blue eyes and cuts on her nose. “What if he had landed a few centimeters to the right or left. I could have lost an eye. What if it had touched my mouth and broken my teeth? If my head was turned and he hit me on the temple, I could have been dead,” she said.
Axl Rose, who has been throwing his microphone at his fans for over thirty years, responded to the message. “Of course we don’t want anyone to get hurt,” he wrote. “We thought after 30 years it was a familiar part of our performances and that fans knew about it and wanted the chance to catch the mic. For safety reasons, we will no longer throw microphones or other objects at the fans during our performances.”
According to Rose, there were also media who wrote the news about the incident “more negatively” and called the band “irresponsible”. “That is far from the truth. We hope that our audience and fans understand that sometimes things happen.”
Incomprehension
On social media, fans react sadly to Axl Rose’s message. “Don’t let one rotten apple ruin it for everyone,” said several Twitter users.
Fans also emphasize that there has never been a similar incident in the past thirty years. Throwing the mic would be a moment true Guns N’ Roses fans looked forward to at every concert.
For example, fan Dan Campbell cites a concert in August 2021 where he caught the thrown microphone. “This was the best day of my life!” he writes. “Very stupid that Axl Rose will not throw the microphone again.”