NEW YORK (AP) - When Guns N' Roses announced they were going on tour this fall after a nine-year hiatus, fans of the heavy metal band snapped up tickets. Axl Rose was back and there was talk of a new album.
But the comeback has been no ``Paradise City.''
Rose, the mercurial frontman whose disappearing acts have long irritated fans, failed to show up for the opening show Nov. 7 in Vancouver, prompting thousands of ticket holders to riot outside the venue. The band was a no-show again last week in Philadelphia, and fans got unruly.
By then it became apparent that the ``Chinese Democracy'' tour was finished. On Wednesday, promoter Clear Channel Entertainment made it official: The rest of the tour has been scrapped. Clear Channel didn't offer a reason.
The group's management, Sanctuary, referred all calls Thursday to Guns N' Roses' label, Interscope Geffen A&M, which declined comment.
``In a strange way, this tour has been very reflective of pretty much everything that has happened to the band since about 1992,'' said Chuck Klosterman, a senior writer at Spin magazine.
Led by Rose's screeching vocals and Slash's fiery guitar, Guns N' Roses broke onto the scene in 1987 with the hugely successful ``Appetite for Destruction.''
Containing the hits ``Welcome to the Jungle,'' ``Paradise City'' and ``Sweet Child O' Mine,'' the album was filled with rage, paranoia and profanity, and provided a glimpse into the excesses of a band rising through the ranks of Los Angeles' burgeoning metal scene.
But Guns N' Roses was plagued by a series of ugly episodes. Drug and alcohol abuse was rampant, band members had numerous scrapes with the law, and Rose's volatility and eccentricities put a strain on the group.
Still, the band managed to carry over the success of ``Appetite'' into the 1991 ``Use Your Illusion'' double set. The album and ensuing world tour enhanced its popularity, but infighting persisted and band members parted ways in the mid-1990s.
Rose became a recluse and reportedly began work on the long-running ``Chinese Democracy'' project.
All the while, Guns N' Roses followers held out hope for a reunion.
That sort of happened this year, when a new core of band members played a boisterous, surprise finale at the MTV Video Music Awards in August. A new tour was announced; Rose and keyboard player Dizzy Reed were the only holdovers from the ``Use Your Illusion'' days. (Rose is the lone original member.)
Then, however, came the Vancouver no-show, which a band spokesman blamed on poor weather in Los Angeles that held up Rose's flight. In Philadelphia, a promoter said the cancellation was because of an illness by a band member.
The band also was playing to thin crowds in venues they would have sold out a decade ago, Klosterman said. ``They just must be losing money hand over fist,'' he said.
One bright spot was a Madison Square Garden show earlier this month that won critics' praise and sold out quickly.
Interscope Geffen A&M would not comment on whether a new album is planned.