Will They Call It the Guns N’ Roses Bowl?

The year’s hottest hard-rock package--Guns N’ Roses and Metallica--looks like it’s a go for this summer.

But will the dream bill find a home in Los Angeles or Orange counties?

Tour insiders say that the Rose Bowl in Pasadena is Guns N’ Roses’ first choice over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Dodger Stadium and Anaheim Stadium.

But will the Rose Bowl welcome them?

We should know more Tuesday when Rose Bowl management goes before the Pasadena City Council to ask permission to hold the concert there on Aug. 22 or 23.

Looking to increase revenues from the 101,000-seat stadium, the council has already approved a June 27 date for the Cure and tentative Aug. 29-30 dates for an Elton John/Eric Clapton package (which is also reportedly considering Dodger Stadium). In both cases, the city body waived noise and curfew ordinances that would have prevented the shows. The shows would have to end by 11 p.m., under council rules.

Everything looks ready for the Guns N’ Roses/Metallica request, but longstanding opposition to hard-rock concerts by the Rose Bowl’s neighbors could stand in the way. The request is for this show to end at midnight.

“Guns N’ Roses--no, Elton John--yes,” says Cam Currier, vice president of the Linda Vista-Annandale Assn. of nearby home owners. “To pack (the stadium) up with drug-oriented rock concerts not only offends the community as a whole, but is a blatant disregard for the neighborhood.”

Yet residents of the Arroyo Seco, the well-to-do setting of the Rose Bowl, seem almost resigned top accepting an increase in concert activity, given the estimates of nearly $300,000 that a GNR show could add to the recession-depleted Pasadena coffers.

As it stands, the three dates thus far approved are unprecedented for the facility, which last hosted a rock concert in 1988, when Depeche Mode performed. And that was the first since a 1982 Journey show. Neighborhood opposition prevented a 1984 date for the Jacksons’ “Victory” tour, which went to Dodger Stadium instead.

The biggest concerns of residents are the increased traffic (there are only two roads in and out of the Arroyo Seco), litter, loitering and rowdiness. Acting Rose Bowl Manager Bob Holden and Pasadena Assistant City Manager Ed Sotello are pledging that no concert would be held without those issues’ being adequately addressed.

But Brian Murphy, president of Avalon Attractions, which is promoting the Gun N’ Roses/Metallica show(s) in Los Angeles, remains “optimistic” that the Rose Bowl will be the Los Angeles site.

“If the band chooses to play there, I’m sure (Pasadena officials) will welcome the show,” says Murphy. “There can’t be an easier way for a community to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars and be impacted for only 24 hours. It doesn’t seem much trouble for that much money.”