(Photo: Getty Images/WireImage, Marc Grimwade)

A rock star can do pretty much anything on stage and call it a “rock ‘n’ roll moment.” You can set things on fire, you can bite the head off an animal, and you can wear nothing but a sock, and everybody will love it as long as your tunes rock and you take some time to ask the crowd if they’re having a good time. The one thing you can’t do, though, is disrespect the city you’re playing in by getting its name wrong. You can shut your brain off and play the same songs on every night of a tour, but if you don’t take five seconds to learn whether you’re in Milwaukee or Madison, the crowd will turn on you in a heartbeat.


Sadly, that’s exactly what happened to Guns N’ Roses at a recent show in Australia. As reported by the BBC, the band’s guitar technician/announcer (“McBob”) shouted “Sydney” as the band was taking the stage, even though they were actually in Melbourne. The BBC story notes that Guns N’ Roses also got on stage late, so this introduction was “met with a chorus of boos.”

The band later apologized on Twitter, explaining that this was McBob’s first mistake in 30 years.


Also, to make it up to the people of Melbourne, Guns N’ Roses declared that—for that night at least—it was the real “Paradise City”: