Stones cancel China concerts Worried about SARS, band plans to reschedule ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK, March 28 — The Rolling Stones have canceled their much-anticipated first concerts in China because of the deadly disease that’s sweeping across Asia. The band had been scheduled to perform Tuesday in Shanghai and April 4 in Beijing, but changed their minds because of travel warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization about severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. THE FLU-LIKE ILLNESS has infected more than 1,400 people worldwide, killing 54, mostly in Asia. “We are very sad and disappointed not to be able to do these concerts,” lead singer Mick Jagger said Friday. “We have been looking forward to the shows in China for so long and will reschedule them as soon as possible.” These are just the latest shows the veteran rockers have canceled in their “40 Licks” tour because of the disease. They performed in Singapore earlier this week, but scrapped two weekend concerts in Hong Kong. Front-row tickets for the Beijing show were going for $750 each, about the same as the average Chinese person’s annual income. But fans wouldn’t have been able to hear some of the Stones’ biggest hits, including “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Honky Tonk Woman.” The Chinese government banned those songs because of their sexual lyrics. The Rolling Stones are now scheduled to play April 4 in Bangalore, India; April 7 in Mumbai, India; and April 10 in Bangkok, Thailand. ‘We have been looking forward to the shows in China for so long and will reschedule them as soon as possible.’ — MICK JAGGER
I can't believe the Stones are going to play in Bangalore. My, how things have changed. When I was there for most of a summer, as a teenager, I explored the city on a bicycle. The place was fascinating and incredibly poor. People started looking for a spot to sleep on the sidewalks (where there were sidewalks) about an hour before dark. Thousands of people. It had a population of about a million and was about the size of Tyler, Texas. Now it's a high-tech center, one of the top two in India, and the Stones are going to play there. I'm amazed.
I know exactly why the 'Stones' won't play in China... Centuries ago, when it was still common practice to kill all of an Emperor's retinue when he passed on as some sort of celesstial support network, there were these clever royal clerks adn advisors who were apparently less keen on theat whole aspect of the job retirement plan, and when their Old Fellow kicked off, they had him essntially embalmed, in a slap dash way, and managed to parade the "Emperor' around for years, thereby extending their lives... That is the real reason for the 'Stones' handlers cancelling the tour...they are afraid that the Chinese, versed in such manners, will immediately percieve that they have been carrying around their embalmed meat tickets for decades...
