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| Gazza |
Rolling Stones are no hot favourite for Indians
Fri Apr 4,12:56 AM ET
BANGALORE, India (AFP) - The Rolling Stones may have arrived in India 40 years too late. The legendary rockers are to play in India for the very first time -- in the southern city of Bangalore on Friday and in the western financial hub of Bombay on Monday.
There has been much excitement over the concerts in India, which rarely sees performances by Western pop or rock stars, but they are still not sold out.
And musicians who play Western music in Bangalore said they do not play the British band's songs because their audiences are not keen for them.
"They only want to hear music by Metallica (news - web sites), Deep Purple, The Doors and Dire Straits," said Chris Avinash, guitarist and singer in the Angeldust group which plays in colleges and other venues.
"Not a single song of the Rolling Stones has been played as there have been no requests. You should understand that most of the young generation has not been brought up on Stones' diet," said Avinash, who formed his band in 1996.
"I do not possess a single cassette of Rolling Stones and do not know any of their songs," he said.
"They were not exposed to India unlike the Dire Straits and Pink Floyd. I will give them that benefit," he said.
The veteran band -- Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Woods and Charlie Watts -- are on the second half of their "Licks World Tour" with 50 sell-out gigs in the United States and eight in Australia behind them.
They brought forward their Indian tour by almost a week after they cancelled concerts in Hong Kong in view of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome raging around the globe but mainly in East Asia.
Some musicians said people would still go to the "hyped" concerts just to see the lead singer Mick Jagger.
"People will come to see the event and not listen to the music," said Brucelee Mani, guitarist and vocalist with Thermal And A Quarter, a Bangalore-based rock band.
"I am not a big fan of Rolling Stones. But the way the show is made out it seems larger than life. Only about 20 percent of the crowd may be real fans.
"And I sure they will be above 50 years of age. Tell me how many college kids are into Rolling Stones? I am sure they, like me, will go to see the band's performance on stage. That will be it," said Mani.
Organisers said video support systems, a self-standing stage and a prefabricated roof were being brought in with the help of eight sea containers.
The concert venue will have digital plasma screens to display video and include special effects. The 240,000-watt sound system will be complimented by 800 mobile lights and sky tracers.
Santosh Gnanakan, guitarist and song writer with the band Document Done, said people might turn up thanks to the hype.
"People will go because of the hype created around the concert. It has been projected that this is the best thing to happen in Bangalore for a long time. So everyone is going," Gnanakan said.
"If you ask a majority of people in Bangalore I am sure they will not be able to recollect more than one or two songs of Rolling Stones," he said.
The three local musicians said they might turn up on Friday to see Jagger on stage.
"I want to watch what he does on stage," said Angeldust's Avinash. "I want to learn from a showman. There are people who teach what you should not do and there are others who teach what to do. Jagger falls in the latter category," he said.
"I am yet to decide whether to go or not," he said.
(Yahoo News)
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| Gazza |
This is an "approximate" setlist running order. Posted on IORR by Nandita - who tried to note the songs down in the correct sequence but whose pen ran dry in the rain!
Brown Sugar
It's Only Rock'n Roll
Start Me Up
Don't Stop
Angie
Rocks Off
Bitch
You Got Me Rocking
Miss You
Tumbling Dice
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Slipping Away
Thru & Thru
Sympathy For The Devil
Honky Tonk Women
Gimme Shelter
Street Fighting Man
Satisfaction
Jumping Jack Flash(encore)
http://www.iorr.org/tour03/bangalore.htm
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| VoodooChileInWOnderl |
Nandita rules I met her in person at the Giants Stadium parking lot, very nice! |
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| jb |
Ticket sales as of late have been atrocious....very poor planning as usual by Cohl who is determined to make the Stones a joke. |
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| steel driving hammer |
Cohl is not determined to make the Stones a joke.
But it was raining durring the show? |
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| jb |
I like Indian food....the breads are very good...and the lamb is delicious. |
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| Gazza |
I dont think theyre too worried about not selling that many tickets - thats only part of the plan
The Stones arent well known in India and in case you hadnt realised its a third world country
Its also the second most populated country in the world and (like China) one of the last great "untapped" markets for western acts. The Bangalore show was recorded for TV broadcast and will be broadcast in a country which has over one BILLION inhabitants. Thats quite a lot of potential new "consumers" for Stones "product". Whilst hardly any of them know the band's music or would be able to go see them in concert (or could afford to) the knock-on effect of a large and curious TV audience plus the exposure theyre getting in the media over there will maybe translate into record sales.
The ends in this case certainly would justify the means. A large concert gross is hardly #1 priority when it comes to the two Indian shows - same would have applied to the 4 Chinese concerts had they taken place. |
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| Strange_Stray_Cat |
Bad setlist..but then again: they never played India before. |
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| Monkey Woman |
Very interesting analysis, Gazza! I remember, a few weeks ago, an article on these same lines about the China market, where Cohl and the Stones had high hopes to develop records sales. |
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| Gazza |
theres nothing wrong with that setlist,SSC
its a stadium show in a country theyve never played before.
I think to anyone seeing the band for the first time, that would be an almost perfect setlist. I can't imagine a show choc-full of album tracks and non-hits being greeted by anything other than indifference |
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| steel driving hammer |
I know Gazza but to people like us, it's a bad setlist.
I hope Mick carries along his video camera in India, backstage and hotel too.
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| Gazza |
Tony - I know what you mean but "people like us" who have seen the band numerous times in different sized venues and who have all the albums and own hundreds of bootlegs tend to be spoiled when it comes to setlists - also, we're not the people who paid in to this show and we're not the target audience
China and India's combined population counts for over a THIRD of that of the entire world. Both countries are "virgin" territory for the Stones and for most western acts in general. Its hard for many of us who have grown up with the band to comprehend a society where musically, historically and culturally the Rolling Stones dont count for shit.
of the 17 songs sung by Mick in the above setlist, 15 of them are on "40 Licks" (all but "Bitch" and "Rocks Off"). To many of the people in the audience, this is their first introduction to much of the Stones back catalogue. That setlist is obviously tailored to the sort of audience who, if they havent bought the new album already will rush out after the concert and buy it because they like the songs they've just heard being performed. |
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