Slash addresses Axl Rose’s behavior on stage in Argentina

Slash clarified that Axl Rose‘s irate microphone throw was unrelated to drummer Isaac Carpenter or the other members of the band in response to the widely shared incident that resulted from a technical error during last week’s Guns N’ Roses performance in Argentina. This is what he stated, as reported by UCR.

Oh, that whole thing, God, it got so blown out of proportion. Well, we all are on in-ears. So for monitors, instead of wedges on the stage, we use in-ear monitors. And so there was something fucked up in Axl’s mix where the only thing that he could hear was the drums. And that was it. And it was the first song. So he’s trying to communicate that to the engineers and they don’t know what the fuck he’s talking about. And so it was one of those frantic moments trying to get it together at the beginning of the set. And that was it. And he was pointing out that it’s the drums; it’s not something else. Whatever your myriad of different things it possibly could be, it was the drums, and that’s what he was trying to convey. But it got really blown out of proportion. Jesus. I guess people were thinking that it had something to do with Isaac because it was directed at the kit, but it wasn’t about Isaac.

Following their performance at Buenos Aires, Argentina’s Estadio Huracan on October 18, Guns N’ Roses garnered media attention. At the end of the band’s opening song, “Welcome to the Jungle,” Rose ripped off his jacket, threw his microphone at the drum kit, and stormed offstage, according to widely shared fan footage. In “Bad Obsession,” their second song, Rose approached the drum riser and kicked the bass drum. He once told the crowd bluntly, “I’ll just try and wing this.” After over ten years of the frontman’s impeccable behavior, several fans made jokes that “old Axl” had made a comeback. Others were concerned that, only seven months after joining the band, Carpenter’s employment would be in danger.