Guns N' Roses takes the stage in Toronto on Saturday, July 16, 2016.Katarina Benzova
Guns N' Roses, an American rock band that historically keeps things interesting, was detained at the Canadian border Friday on its way from Philadelphia to a sold-out concert at Toronto's Rogers Centre on Saturday. Singer Axl Rose casually mentioned the incident on stage.
"Oh, yeah, we found a gun," Rose said, well into the 2-hour-and-45-minute performance. "We weren't exactly arrested, we were detained for a while," he continued, smiling. "Oh, they were very nice," he said of the border officials. "They were very understanding."
Pacing the stage, a mischievous Rose shrugged off the episode – "You know, it happens" – before denying direct involvement. "It wasn't my gun." He then nodded to guitarist Saul (Slash) Hudson, who, with some congruity, struck the opening chords to Out to Get Me.
According to a Guns N' Roses representative, the gun did not belong to any member of the band.
The Toronto stop on the Not in This Lifetime tour was the group's lone Canadian appearance. The next scheduled shows for the bad-boy rockers are in Foxboro, Mass., July 19 and 20.
Brad Wheeler