Guns N' Roses got stuck in Dubai traffic on the way to their own gig
Even rock stars aren’t immune to Dubai’s notorious traffic…
Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose reportedly told the crowd he’d had a “real Dubai experience” during the band’s eagerly anticipated concert on Friday night.
Did he cruise through the Creek on a dhow, or sail around The Palm on a superyacht? Did he go shopping at the souks, or check out the views from the Burj Khalifa?
Err, no. He and the band got stuck in Dubai traffic on their way to the gig.
More…
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The rock legends were playing to a 30,000-strong crowd at the Autism Rocks Arena as part of their ‘Not in this Lifetime’ world tour.
But the gig got off to a rocky start when hundreds of fans – including the band itself – became caught up in traffic chaos on the way to the venue, which opened at 4pm.
Axl Rose told the audience the band was forced to take a detour through the desert to beat the traffic – but ended up getting stuck in the sand.
Thankfully, they made it to the stage just on time, and played more than two-and-a-half hours’ worth of hits like Paradise City, Sweet Child O’ Mine, and Welcome to the Jungle.
FANS DESCRIBE ‘SHAMBLES’
But many of their fans weren’t quite so lucky.
Some concert-goers were forced to abandon their taxis and walk up to seven kilometres along the highway to make it to the show, The National reported.
@117_Live shambles of an event, ruined the night for a lot of people
— Manus Bradley (@Irishbrads) March 4, 2017
@117_Live I had to walk for over 3 hours to get to a taxi on a hiway!I paid good money for the show and u ruined my experience #117liveFAIL
— Mr Periwinckle (@mr_periwinckle) March 4, 2017
@117_Live You simply didn’t organize adequate logistics for 30K people – epic failure! I was one of the lucky ones who only missed the start
— Kelly Daniell (@kellydaniell) March 4, 2017
@117_Live we didn’t miss out on the beginning we missed out on the entire show! Stop blaming the fans for your lack of organization. REFUND.
— Maria Ali (@MariaAli88) March 4, 2017
Others took to Twitter hours after the show ended, complaining that they were still trying to make it home with limited transport options.
@117_Live “organisers”! And fans are still unable to get home right now because you failed to provide adequate transport. pic.twitter.com/zsHbKhQDJY
— MJ (@Joshwoman85) March 3, 2017
In a statement on Twitter, events company 117 Live said organisers “acknowledge that there were some fans whose travel arrangements didn’t get them to the venue on time may have missed out on the opening of the show.”
117 Live has been approached for further comment.
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