The drama continues.

Just as it appeared that Axl Rose had gotten through a “homecoming” concert without serious incident Thursday night at the Pacific Amphitheatre, he threw down his microphone at the start of an encore number and stomped off stage.

It was a touchy moment because it was Rose’s abrupt exit during a Guns N’ Roses concert near St. Louis on July 2 that contributed to an ugly incident.

Apparently upset that the concert had been cut short by Rose’s departure that night, an estimated 2,500 fans went on a rampage that left 60 people injured and $200,000 in damages. Police in Maryland Heights, Mo. are expected to announce a decision Monday on whether charges will be filed against Rose or the band in the case.

Cooler heads prevailed Thursday.

Rose had flashed bits of his widely publicized temper in a few, brief verbal outbursts earlier in the evening, but had mainly stuck to music.

So everything seemed to be cooling down nicely on what had been a masterfully intense performance when Guns N’ Roses returned shortly after 11 p.m. for the encore.

After announcing “Estranged,” a song from the group’s upcoming pair of albums, Rose stood at the microphone and waited as the musicians began the song.

But Rose seemed dissatisfied with the intro and asked the musicians to start the song over. A few seconds into the second attempt, Rose headed for the wings. Caught off guard, the other band members stood around awkwardly for a few seconds.

While the others eventually followed Rose off stage, bassist Duff McKagan and guitarist Slash–perhaps wary of a repeat of the St. Louis incident–tried to entertain the crowd by going into a tentative jam.

After about three minutes, however, they set down their instruments and, too, left the stage. “We’ve run out of songs,” quipped Slash.

More to the point, they had run out of a lead singer.

As more than 18,000 fans milled around uncertainly, a voice on the sound system announced that the show was having to end one song early because of technical problems.

There was scattered booing and lots grumbling about Rose, but no noticeable rowdiness.

“What a loser,” snarled one male fan in his mid-20s on the way out of the Pacific.

“Axl’s act is getting tired,” snapped another male, also in his mid-20s.

The outbursts may be tiring fans’ patience, but they aren’t an act.

Part of the fascinating, yet unsettling nature of this Los Angeles-based hard-rock band–which begins a sold-out, four-night run Monday at the Forum in Inglewood–is its spontaneity.

Like him or not, Rose is what you see–outbursts and all. You can tell from tension on stage and the frequently surprised expressions on the band members face as the drama unfolds each night that he’s following his emotions on stage, not a script.

Just as he shares some of his personal torments and demons in his songs, he exhibits them, too, as they unfold in his life on stage.

The fact Guns N’ Roses didn’t come on stage until shortly after 9 p.m. was an early indication that Thursday’s performance was going to be an anxious one.

Because there was a strict 11 p.m. curfew at the Pacific, the concert was scheduled to begin at the unusually early time of 6 p.m. This was presumably to give the band time to do its full show, which has been running about 2 1/2-hours or more on most tour stops.

But that plan seemed in trouble when Skid Row, the opening act, went on stage at 6:50 p.m. and played a crowd-pleasing, but rather one-dimensional set that lasted until 7:40. With even a moderately fast set-change, Guns N’ Roses could have been on stage by 8:30 and still have done 2 1/2-hours.

Yet the group’s set didn’t start until shortly after 9 p.m.–and it was obvious that Rose was in a fury. The early numbers–mostly taken from the two albums due in September, but also including the old “Mr. Brownstone”–were raw and aggressive with Rose racing around the stage and snarling the lyrics in his deepest “Exorcist” voice.

After a half dozen numbers, he finally let the audience in on what had apparently angered him earlier in the day: an encounter with a TV cameraman who Rose suggested tried to interview him when the singer was trying to board a helicopter in Santa Monica for a flight to the Pacific. (Bob Tur, who reports for both KCOP television and KNX-AM, said it was just a coincidence he was at the airport and had no intention of interviewing Rose, who he said berated him with expletives.)

With the brief, but fiery tirade out of the way, Rose seemed calm–except for a couple of separate outbursts against the band’s former manager and its former drummer. In a humorous aside, he said his favorite word is “ex”–as in “ex-manager, ex-wife.”

A spokeswoman for the band said afterwards that the “official” reason for Rose’s leaving the stage at the start of the encore was a problem with the stage monitors–something Rose alluded to at one point during the show. But there were whispers from others backstage that there were other problems.

Though overshadowed for many by the sudden, unsatisfying end, the show included spectacularly emotional versions of both some old songs, including the torrid “Civil Wars,” and new ones, including a tender “November Rain” featuring Rose on piano.

Much like two very different attractions in rock–Bruce Springsteen and U2–there is a sense about Guns N’ Roses of trying to reach a new level of passion each time the group steps on stage. Because of the curfew and the quick end, the Pacific show–for all the white-heat moments–seemed a bit abbreviated.