Irish crowd pelt Gun N' Roses after lengthy wait

Axl Rose (L), lead singer of the U.S. band Guns N' Roses, and a guitarist of the band perform during the Chinese Democracy World Tour 2010 in Montevideo March 18, 2010.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - American rock band Guns N' Roses incurred the wrath of a crowd in Ireland after showing up almost an hour late -- and then left the stage after being pelted with plastic glasses.

Irish concert promoters MCD and the O2 Arena said that despite every effort to get the band on stage on time on Wednesday night, it did not arrive until nearly 90 minutes after the support act.

During the second song, singer Axl Rose asked members of the crowd who were throwing plastic glasses "containing unknown substances" to stop or he would leave the stage, MCD and O2 said in a joint statement.

"Despite his continued appeals, having tried to continue performing for 22 minutes, people continued throwing unknown substances leaving artist with no choice but to leave the stage," the promoters said.

MCD Promoter Denis Desmond appealed to the audience from the stage to stop throwing items.

After backstage discussions Guns N' Roses went back on stage about 30 minutes later and played for about 90 minutes, but some of the confused crowd had left by that stage.

The concert's organizers acknowledged that Rose, the only remaining original member of the band formed in 1985, had a "long history for being late on stage," citing last weekend's Reading Festival in Britain as one example.

But the organizers added: "NO artist should be subjected to missiles and unknown substances being thrown at them."

MCD and the 02 apologized for any inconvenience caused due to late running of the show.

(Writing by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Dean Goodman)