| August 25th, 2005 10:45 AM |
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| Lazy Bones |
An offer the Stones can't refuse
John Ivison in National Post
August 25, 2005
OTTAWA - Ottawa is gripped with Rolling Stones fever, as the city anticipates the arrival of the self-styled ''World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band'' on Sunday. Quite why the Rolling Stones are so gripped with the idea of playing in Ottawa, hardly noted as the one of the world's great rock capitals, is another matter. It conjures up images of Spinal Tap's visit to the Simpsons' hometown: ''And we thought Shelbyville could rock, but nobody rocks like ... [checks back of guitar] ... Springfield.'' [Crowd roars at gratuitous mention of their city.]
The reason why Sir Mick and his bandmates are visiting the Canadian capital is because they were made a financial offer by the promoters they couldn't refuse. The organizers sold 41,000 tickets for the concert at Frank Clair Stadium, home of the Ottawa Renegades, in 80 minutes to an audience that has traditionally been ignored by A-list artists. It will be the biggest concert in the city's history and the first major stadium gig since David Bowie played here in the early 1990s.
You can hardly turn on a radio station without hearing Jagger preening on the stage at Altamont in his faux southern drawl: ''Don't push arowwnd ... brothers, sisters we don't want this,'' or some obscure bit of trivia about how the riff for Satisfaction came to Keith Richards in a dream. Local restaurants are advertising dishes like Roasted Beast of Burden, Shrympathy for the Devil and Richards' favourite, Shepherd's Pie.
Even the residents of the tony Glebe neighbourhood next to the stadium are mulling the potential for noise pollution with equanimity. Rather than raising a rumpus, one local councillor was quoted as saying ''everyone's got to live a little.'' Teens in the area are rubbing their hands at the prospect of selling parking spots in their driveways. One colleague's daughter is already charging $20 for the SuperEx, which is running concurrently with the Stones gig, and hopes to double the price on Sunday.
Many of those unable to get a ticket for the concert plan to take themselves along to the SuperEx and at least listen to the Stones. Some lucky fairground goers will be able to go one better and watch Mick'n'Keef twitch their arthritic limbs from the top of the Ferris wheel. Your intrepid reporter dragged a photographer with a severe case of vertigo to the top of the ride this week and can confirm that it affords panoramic views of the stage -- at least for about a minute every revolution.
Judging by the number of tickets being sold on eBay, some at less than face value, those who are keen to see the Stones in the wrinkly flesh may still be in luck. One friend, who shelled out $240 for two tickets, recovered his wits and sold them on. ''My wife said to me, that's nearly $500 -- no way.''
One reason for the exorbitant ticket prices is a stage that requires 40 tractor-trailers to move around and 350 people to assemble. The gear started arriving last Sunday and workers were assembling the first tier of the eight-storey stage when we hung precariously from the Ferris wheel on Tuesday.
All this for a band that hasn't made a really good album since Exile on Main Street in 1972*. To be sure, the two-and-a-half-hour show is likely to be filled with crowd-pleasers like Jumping Jack Flash, Honky Tonk Woman and Brown Sugar, judging by the set list from earlier gigs on this tour. But the Stones are such a parody these days that if Jagger announced that they were going to cover Spinal Tap's Break Like the Wind, no one would blink an eye. It's a long way from April 24, 1965, when the Stones last played Ottawa at the local YMCA. Now that would have been something to see.
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* WTF...
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| August 25th, 2005 11:25 AM |
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| UGot2Rollme |
quote:
Lazy Bones wrote:
Shrympathy for the Devil
Please allow me to introduce myshrimp,
I'm a prawn of wealth and taste...
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| August 25th, 2005 11:31 AM |
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| gimmekeef |
This guy should go back to covering the Canadian Parliament where he belongs....Guess he never bothered to check out Some Girls either...probably doesnt even like girls!.....lol |
| August 25th, 2005 11:40 AM |
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| Mel Belli |
"All this for a band that hasn't made a really good album since Exile on Main Street in 1972."
I thought 1981 was, for cranky bitches like this writer, officially the Last Year the Stones Made a Great Album. |
| August 25th, 2005 12:19 PM |
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| Lazy Bones |
his [email protected]
and mine...
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"...All this for a band that hasn't made a really good album since Exile on Main Street in 1972."
Dear, Mr. Ivison.
With regards to the aforementioned quote in today's column - "an offer the Stones can't refuse" - I certainly hope that you will no longer string words together for any coverage of the Stones' Canadian shows in Ottawa, Toronto, Moncton, Calgary or Montreal.
Your reflection of the Rolling Stones discography only paints a negative portrait that conflicts with a positive 'vibe' in an article that begins - Ottawa is gripped with Rolling Stones fever, as the city anticipates the arrival of the self-styled "World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band" on Sunday.
At the very least, please educate yourself with what the media, mediocre and even some hardcore Stones fans classify as "their last great album". That, Mr. Ivison, would be Tattoo You (1981).
If you seek to identify last moments of greatness, Parliament Hill awaits you!
[Edited by Lazy Bones] |
| August 25th, 2005 03:48 PM |
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| gimmekeef |
Zingerrrrrrrrrrrrr..Lazy..good one! |
| August 25th, 2005 04:13 PM |
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| Lazy Bones |
Look here, I got a reply -
Ok. Even if I accept your point about Tattoo You (which I don't) that was still nearly a QUARTER CENTURY AGO! The Stones' continuing popularity has nothing to do with the music they have made in the last three decades was my point - and I think it still stands.
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| August 25th, 2005 05:54 PM |
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| JumpinJackFlash |
Hey Lazy Bones, I sent you a Private Message |
| August 25th, 2005 08:28 PM |
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| Rutger |
Two options here: 1. this guy is ignorant 2. he doesn't know music very well! It's quiet easy to say the Stones haven't made a great album since the seventies (which is utter crap!). The Stones wrote more classics than any other band in the world. Every album from the early 80's forward had at least 4 great songs on it. They might not have been classics like Rocks Off or Bitch, but if they were released by any other band they would be classics.
This guy Ivison won't accept any answer. He probably loves U2 and Coldplay. |
| August 25th, 2005 08:36 PM |
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| Angiegirl |
Hey, I like Coldplay! I was nodding all through reading your post, until you said THAT.  |
| August 25th, 2005 08:47 PM |
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| Rutger |
I'm sorry if I offended you by saying that Angiegirl  . I didn't say they are a bad band, but they sure aren't the Stones. Many people these days seem to think that most songs by bands like Colplay are classics, but really they only qualify as mediocre or good (compared to songs from other 'mainly' older acts).
For example, if Coldplay released songs like Saint Of Me and Out of Tears they would've been classics IMO. |
| August 25th, 2005 10:19 PM |
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| Soldatti |
quote:
Rutger wrote:
For example, if Coldplay released songs like Saint Of Me and Out of Tears they would've been classics IMO.
Agreed. |
| August 25th, 2005 10:53 PM |
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| J.J.Flash |
quote:
UGot2Rollme wrote:
Please allow me to introduce myshrimp,
I'm a prawn of wealth and taste...
lol....
hey Stan.....how are you my dearest Stonesian brother? It's been so long since the last time we talked. Must e-mail you.
Best regards! |
| August 26th, 2005 02:54 AM |
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| UGot2Rollme |
Fausto, my Brasil bro,
how are you? Great to see the boys will be making it down there - don't worry, they will add more dates, and "Fausto in Rio" has nice ring to it.
Keep on Rollin! |
