Watch as festival pulls plug on Guns N’ Roses for breaking curfew

Guns N’ Roses headlined the second night of Napa Valley’s BottleRock music festival on Saturday night, but fans got less than they bargained for after festival organisers switched off the PA when the band broke a strict 10pm curfew. 

The action unfolded during Guns N' Roses' encore. Having been joined onstage by pop star Pink for a version of Patience, the band launched into the set closer, Paradise City, with their line-up augmented by Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl on guitar. 

It didn't last. Video shot at the event (watch above) features the PA being faded out just past the three minute mark. But, heroes to the last, the band carry on, apparently oblivious to the change in sound "out front". 

It all ends with the crowd picking up any slack and taking over, bellowing out the lyrics as Guns N' Roses finish the song, while Axl Rose screams silently before tossing his microphone into the crowd. 

The BottleRock festival has always featured a notoriously strict curfew, as it’s held in a residential area, and in 2019 the festival pulled the plug on Neil Young during his performance of Rockin’ In The Free World. The same fate befell Foo Fighters in 2017 (during Everlong) and The Cure in 2014 (during Why Can't I Be You?, a mere 34 songs into their set).

Last month, Guns N' Roses launched a new song, Absurd, during their show at Boston's Fenway Park. 

In November 2017, Grohl joined Guns N’ Roses onstage at the BOK Centre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he also played Paradise City.

Fraser Lewry

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.