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| Lazy Bones |
Jul. 29, 2003. 06:29 AM
RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR
Mick Jagger, grinning outside the Four Seasons, waves to an enthusiastic crowd of welcomers as the Rolling Stones arrived yesterday, set to perform at the SARS benefit concert at Downsview Park.
CYNTHIA LEE
STAFF REPORTER
A Rolling Stone gathers many fans.
The horde screamed as the black stretch limousine finally rolled into the Four Seasons hotel driveway last night in downtown Toronto. Singer Mick Jagger was the first to step out, waving into a sea of camera flashes around 8 p.m.
The age-defying frontman, fellow band members and their entourage, had landed in a blue 747 jumbo jet at Pearson airport about an hour before.
Aware the group prefers staying at the Four Seasons when in Toronto, about 40 people lined the sidewalk outside the hotel by 6:30 p.m.
Those numbers swelled by dozens as the evening grew on, blocking the way of bemused passersby.
At the front, Lina Cellucci, her two daughters and two nieces squealed, then sang "Happy Birthday" to Jagger, who turned 60 on Saturday.
They did this even though she had earlier told them as they waited for the rockers: "Remember, no screaming."
The group is in town to headline tomorrow's highly anticipated mega-concert at Downsview Park. The show, expected to be the largest music festival on the continent this year, features other groups such as the Guess Who, AC/DC, The Isley Brothers and Rush, and is intended to get Toronto back on the map after two draining bouts of SARS.
Cellucci's father used to take her with him when she was a young girl to try to snag autographs from celebrities, among them the Bay City Rollers, a group popular with teenage girls in the '70s.
She doesn't want stargazing to become a family tradition, but yesterday she made an exception.
"I don't want to raise them as groupies," Cellucci said of her daughters Krista, 13, and Gianette, 12.
It's just that the Stones are a part of history, she quickly added.
Krista Hovsepian has been lucky three summers in a row when it comes to Jagger-spotting.
Waiting with the crowd in front of the hotel, she also met Jagger last year while on a family vacation in Italy. He was sitting with former wife Jerry Hall and their children at the table next to her family in a restaurant.
"He was very nice," said the 18-year-old, who hopes to study acting at Ryerson University.
She remembers him wearing quite a combination of clothes, including a mauve dress shirt, black dress pants, navy corduroy jacket, and orange and yellow striped socks.
The summer before, on another family vacation, she spotted him in a water taxi in Venice.
Meredith McKay of Ottawa staked out the lobby of the hotel, trying to catch her sixth sighting of the Stones in the past year.
With tickets to tomorrow's festival, the 22-year-old aspiring actress is a huge fan who has seen them in concert numerous times.
In January, when the Stones played in Montreal, she stood outside their hotel for three hours.
"I really respect them as artists. Their music means a lot,'' she said.
Antje Grey brought her sons Anthony, 10, and Skylar, 4, to look for the group.
"I've loved them since I was 30 seconds old," Anthony boasted.
Rounding out the family affair, Grey's sister, Susanna Vieten, 32, and brother John, 16, flew from Dusseldorf, Germany, for tomorrow's concert.
Antje, Susanna and John were also expecting the arrival of their mother, Ellen, 52.
Susanna said she passed up an opportunity to see the Stones in Toronto more than a decade ago when she was living here.
The whole family had planned to visit Toronto on Thursday but rescheduled their flights when they learned of the concert.
Nearby, at the upscale Yorkville restaurant Sassafraz, customers were lingering longer than usual, hoping to catch a glimpse of the band members.
It's well known among the restaurant's regular patrons that the Stones frequent the eatery whenever they are in town.
Lewis Lehman, the service manager, said he never knows in advance when band members will be dropping by for a bite.
He wouldn't reveal their favourite dishes, saying he likes to protect their privacy.
Lehman said that last night he had no special dishes on the menu but did have extra staff on hand just in case.
"If they make special requests, we'd be happy to honour them.''
Lehman said a number of customers had been in the restaurant "all day," and he expected them to hang around late into the evening. |
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| scope |
To all the Rocks Off gang heading to the big event, hope you all stay safe and have a blast. Remember, those of us who can't make it there will live this day through you. Looking forward to late breaking reports.
And thanks to you Lazy Bones for the up to date news stories. A few hundred miles south of Toronto in the Big Apple, there is no mention of this concert in the news at all. |
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| Lazy Bones |
Thanks, Scope. Been my pleasure. I'm so excited about this show it's been hard to work straight through the day without a little concert reading.
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| jb |
They are only playing a 45 minute set...pray that they don't sing Miss You-that will kill about 44 minutes!!! |
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