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Topic: Rolling Stones promos get city wrong Return to archive
May 21st, 2005 12:26 PM
CS Rolling Stones promos get city wrong
By: Bill Doak 05/20/2005
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East Hartford's mayor went from singing "pleased to meetcha" at news The Rolling Stones will perform here August 26 to going "whoo, whoo" that the superstars don't know our name.


Advertisements for the concert here at East Hartford's Rentschler Field omit the "East" part of the town's name under the stadium's Art Deco-style logo.

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"I'm hurt. I'm insulted. Who do I call?" asked Mayor Timothy D. Larson. East Hartford's mayor went from singing along to Stones songs on a CD in his office last week to irritated his town was not getting any satisfaction over the manner in which the Stones outdoor concert is being promoted.

"This is East Hartford, not Hartford," said Mayor Larson. "Frankly, I'm more than a little ticked about it. They are promoting this as a Hartford concert." The show is being produced by WPC Piecemeal Inc. and is presented by Concert Productions International, The Next Adventure and Jim Koplik Presents.

East Hartford's identity crisis is not new. A town of just under 50,000 people across the river from where the new Hartford Convention Center is set to open June 2 saw its largest hotel, The Sheraton, renamed "The Hartford Sheraton" when it was remodeled two years ago.

East Hartford is best know as the headquarters of United Technology Corporation's Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Rentschler Field (pronounced "Wrench-ler") takes it name from the airfield of the same name owned by P&W parent UTC. This week The Matos Group unveiled an ambitious plan to rework the 1,000-acre airfield and industrial site into a $2 billion complex of residential, retail, manufacturing and office space around a new 10-acre lake. The plan will take an estimated 18 years to develop, said Dan Matos, principal planner.

Frederick Rentschler, P&W's preeminent engineer, helped design the innovative air-cooled piston engine known as The Wasp. Built as a test landing strip, Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh landed there in the 1930s.

The Stones outdoor, rain or shine concert is only the second major outdoor rock event at "The Rent", the state's new, $90-million 40,000-seat football stadium built to house the University of Connecticut Division 1 Huskies football team. In 2003 Bruce Springsteen was the first major concert at Rentschler Field. The Stones concert was announced by Madison Square Garden-Connecticut.

Some here in East Hartford believe The Rolling Stones will book a second performance date here, as happened with the Springsteen shows in 2003. The Stones will play Fenway Park, the first stop on their north American tour, August 21. This week The Stones added a second Fenway Park concert August 23. Tickets to the local show went on sale May 17 on-line - but only to paid-up members of the Rolling Stones Fan Club. Tickets go on sale to the general public Saturday, May 21.

According to the band's website, the rock 'n' roll superstars will then visit four Canadian cities after East Hartford. Ottawa on Aug. 28 at Lansdowne Park; Moncton, New Brunswick Sept. 3 at Magnetic Hill; Toronto Sept. 26 at the former Skydome now called The Rogers Centre; and in Calgary, Alberta Oct. 28 at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

The Stones announced the tour in New York May 10. Ameriquest, one of the nation's largest mortgage lenders, signed on as the tour's "presenting sponsor" of the U.S. portion of the tour. Ameriquest will seek to capitalize on its advertising promotion that it is the "proud sponsor of the American dream" featuring Rolling Stones-themed TV spots, direct mail and Web content including free music downloads and a national consumer sweepstakes.

This is Ameriquest's first sponsorship of a major concert tour. Financial terms were not released, but the mortgage company spent $125 million on advertising last year. Other companies have paid dearly for the rights to market products to Stones music. The top price is the $12 million Microsoft paid to the rights to use a Stones song in their ads.

"In today's saturated marketplace, the Rolling Stones break through the clutter to reach fans in a way that few iconic brands can," Brian Woods, Ameriquest CMO, said in a statement. "Being the presenting sponsor of this tour allows Ameriquest the opportunity to reach those fans by fulfilling their dream to see the Stones on stage live."

Although its members are each over 60 years old, The Stones claim a younger following has discovered their music. And no one dares call this the twilight of their career although one band member battled cancer last summer.

After 36 booked concerts on their North American and Canadian tour, the band will tour Mexico, South America, the Far East, and has booked dates for a European tour in 2006 as well.

Concert organizer Donald K. Donald was quoted as saying of the decision to play in small market venues such as East Hartford and Moncton, N.B.: "They want to go to areas they've never been before."

Maroon Five will be the opening act for the Rentschler Field, East Hartford show. There is also a new album in the works to coincide with the tour.



©East Hartford Gazette 2005
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