Category: Concerts

The Stones draw 80,000 in Regina
REGINA (CP) – It was all about Mick and the boys Friday in the Queen City.
Some 80,000 people were set to attend Rolling Stones shows on Friday and Sunday in what officials were calling the city’s biggest-ever concerts. Among the thousands who mingled at the site more than three hours before showtime was Brock Montgomery, 25, who drove in from Moose Jaw to see “the greatest rock and roll band of all times – hands down.”
“I’ve been listening to them for a long time,” he said.
“The old man, he brought us into them,” Montgomery said, referring to his father, who was also at the show.
“It’ll be awesome, probably the best thing that ever happens to me.”
Some ticket holders could be heard on cellphones, calling friends to say that they were at the show. One group of four, clearly expecting satisfaction from the show, was singing the Stones hit, albeit somewhat off key.
Others hadn’t actually scored tickets to the concert but hung around outside Mosaic Stadium in the hope something would materialize.
One woman, who would only identify herself as Joan, waited in front of the ticket office wearing a placard that said: “Wanted: Stones tickets.”
“I’ve never done this before,” Joan said. “(But) we thought what the heck, if we can get tickets we’ll go – concert of a lifetime.”
Officials at Tourism Regina agreed, saying the show was the biggest the city and possibly the province had ever seen.
“There is nobody in Saskatchewan who doesn’t know somebody that’s going to be at the concert,” said Steve McLellan, the agency’s executive director.
“In Regina, and indeed throughout Saskatchewan, it’s a big deal . . . it’s the biggest deal going in our city literally for years.”
McLellan said the shows are expected to bring in between $10 million and $15 million in direct tourism spending.
“(It’s) the most amount of tickets ever sold in Regina, the biggest band that’s ever been here, we think the biggest production that’s ever been into the city,” he said.
Crews worked for several days to turn Mosaic Stadium – the home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders football team – into the massive stage dubbed by the Stones production crew as “the Big Grey Whale.”
“It looks just like this big grey collage of artwork and then when the lights go down, and we turn on our effects, it just lights up,” production manager Dale Skjerseth said of the steel structure rising above the field.
The stage rises 27 metres off the ground, is nearly 62 metres wide and more than 30 metres deep, said Skjerseth. It weighs 272 tonnes and also includes a video LED wall that is nearly 15 by 15 metres.
Skjerseth, who has 27 years of touring experience, said the show is “bigger than anything out there on the road right now.”
Even the weather co-operated on Friday.
Whereas Stones fans in Halifax endured frigid temperatures and driving rain at a show there last month, it was a balmy 20 C in Regina by mid-afternoon Friday.

Stones ticket scalpers not getting satisfaction
Time is not on the side of hundreds of people trying to unload their Rolling Stones tickets, with many facing a monetary loss.
While local fans are giddy at the prospect of seeing the Stones in a few days, some people who bought tickets hoping to sell them to the highest bidder are getting worried.
The group many call the world’s greatest rock band is set to play in Regina on Friday, then again on Sunday.
On Monday, the online auction house eBay was listing about 200 items for tickets to the Regina shows. The same day, the Leader-Post had more than 100 ticket holders trying to make last-minute sales. Some sellers were offering their tickets at well below face value.
It’s a far cry from earlier this year. When the Oct. 8 concert was announced in the summer, some scalpers bought the maximum number of tickets they were allowed, hoping they’d make a huge profit.
Initially, some were asking $2,000 a pair on eBay.
But then a second concert was added for Oct. 6, flooding the market with another 40,000 tickets.
‘It’s their own fault’
Leader-Post rock critic Gerry Krochak said it’s hard to feel sorry for people who had dollar signs in their eyes when they bought a pile of tickets.
“If scalpers are getting stuck with tickets, I’m not alone when I say, ‘Who cares?'” he said. “It’s their own fault.”
Faced with the first show just a few days away, some concerned sellers are trying to be creative.
Don Peakman, who runs Murray’s Limousine Service in Saskatoon, is offering a prime concert seat and a limo ride to Regina and back for $300.
“We’re hoping this thing is going to happen because right now, we haven’t sold many tickets,” he said.
He sold four of his 20 tickets and stands to lose thousands if he can’t sell more.
Randy Johnson of Regina bought a number of tickets to both concerts, but has to leave the country before the second show. With tickets burning a hole in his pocket, he’s throwing in some Saskatchewan Roughrider game tickets.
“I thought it would be a unique marketing strategy to sell my tickets and include some prime seats for the Roughriders versus Montreal,” he said.
So far, Johnson’s received lots of calls, but no takers.
Meanwhile, there was more bad news for scalpers Monday when concert organizers announced they were going to put another 1,700 seats up for sale Tuesday.

Stones cancel concert in northern Spain
MADRID, Spain – The Rolling Stones canceled a concert Monday in the northern city of Valladolid after Mick Jagger was ordered by his doctor to rest his voice.
Jagger developed laryngitis over the weekend, the Stones said in a statement on their Web site.
The British rockers had sold 37,000 tickets for Monday’s appearance at the city’s Zorilla soccer stadium, said Carmen Carnero, a spokeswoman for the show’s promoter.
Their concert will likely not be rescheduled, Carnero said.
“I am very sorry to be canceling this show,” Jagger, 63, said in a statement. “I always love playing in Spain, but unfortunately I have no other choice and I apologize to everyone who bought tickets for tonight.”
The Stones are scheduled to play Wednesday in El Ejido, in southern Spain, as part of their “A Bigger Bang” world tour.
They were forced to postpone the start of the European leg of the tour after Keith Richards suffered a head injury in a fall from a tree while vacationing in Fiji in April.

Stones to roll into Halifax, Regina and Vancouver
After weeks of rumours, the Rolling Stones have confirmed that they will play their first-ever concerts in Regina and Halifax this fall as part of their current world tour.
In Halifax, the Stones will perform Sept. 23 at Halifax Common, the large city park where 80,000 people gathered for a visit by Pope John Paul II in 1984.
The veteran British rockers then move on to Taylor Field in Regina, where they will play Oct. 8.
The tour also includes a stop in Vancouver’s B.C. Place on Nov. 3.
Speculation in Regina and Halifax about the concerts was finally put to rest Tuesday at a news conference in Germany.
The Stones have played for 4.5 million fans on the A Bigger Bang tour, which has taken them to China, Rio and Australia. Last year, they performed in Moncton for the first time, before a crowd of some 80,000 people at Magnetic Hill.
The tour, which is currently in Europe, was temporarily stalled when guitarist Keith Richards underwent emergency brain surgery after falling from a tree in Fiji earlier this year. Fifteen concerts were cancelled while he recovered, but the tour still took in £79.7 million ($159 million) in the first six months of this year.
The band returns to North America Sept. 20 with a date in Boston and will go on to Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Halifax, Regina and Vancouver are the only Canadian dates confirmed so far.
“Most of the shows are going to be on the big stadium stage, with fans in the balconies behind us,” said singer Mick Jagger, who turns 63 on Wednesday.
“We’re going to play many cities we didn’t get to before and also return to some of our favourite places.”
Rumours of the Stones coming to Regina and Halifax had been swirling for weeks.
Asked about those rumours Monday, Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert would only say that a Stones concert would be a big deal for his province.
“Never before in the history of the province have we been able to attract the largest show on earth,” Calvert said.
“This is the largest show on earth.”
Stones rumours were ignited in Halifax earlier this month after a closed-door meeting of city councillors. They voted to spend $100,000 on an outdoor rock concert to be held Sept. 23 by a band that they did not identify.
The money is for extra policing and cleanup of the outdoor concert area in central Halifax. Moncton’s Stones concert cost $1.2 million for crowd control and cleanup.
VIP tickets for the shows in Halifax and Regina go on sale Wednesday, while tickets will be available to the general public starting July 31.
Young contemporary artists will open for the Stones, but their names have yet to be announced.

Rolling Stones playing Regina on Oct. 8
It’s a go!
The Rolling Stones, the world’s greatest rock and roll band, will play Regina’s Mosaic Stadium on Oct. 8, sources have confirmed with the Leader-Post.
After months of speculation and a rumour mill that would not stop, the worst-kept secret on the Prairies of Western Canada will come to fruition for not only the biggest concert event in our city’s history, but perhaps the single greatest event Regina has ever hosted.
Yes, this could be bigger than the two Grey Cups played in our fair city.
At a combined age of 248 years, there is still no one in rock and roll that can do it better than Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood and when they set foot on their massive stage in Regina’s football stadium, it will be an historic moment.
The official word will come down early next week, at a press conference in Germany, where the band is currently in the middle of the European leg of its A Bigger Bang stadium tour.
Tickets for the Regina concert go on sale at 10 a.m., on Monday, July 31, sources close to the show say. Tickets will range from about $100 (the cheap seats) and about $300 (the very best ducats). Our sources say many of the tickets will go for the average price of $200.
Following a six-week delay in which guitarist Keith Richards recovered from a tree fall in Fiji, while guitarist Ronnie Wood spent a one-month stint in a London rehab centre for alcohol abuse, the group resumed its tour on July 11 at Milan’s San Siro Stadium in front of 60,000 rabid supporters.
To date, the group’s current tour has played on three continents in front of 4.5 million fans. Set lists have been varied on the group’s current European leg, but all dates thus far have opened with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “It’s Only Rock And Roll” and ended with “Brown Sugar,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Satisfaction.”
The show at Mosaic Stadium will be the group’s only Prairie appearance on a Canadian leg that will also include concerts in Windsor, Halifax and Vancouver.
The massive stadium production is the group’s most ambitious to date and it requires about 80 tractor-trailers to transport.
Mosaic Stadium will be bursting at the seams, but it seems clear that the venue can accommodate 45,000 fans for this rock show of a lifetime.
Organizers are hopeful the show will sell out quickly. Because it’s the only
Prairie date, folks in Regina will have to compete with fans from around the province as well as Manitoba, Alberta, Montana and North Dakota for tickets. We’re told box offices here have already fielded calls from fans in the U.S. and Western Canada, some of whom have wanted to leave credit card numbers.
Only a Stones show, it seems, can create such hysteria.
If Oct. 8 seems a little late in the year for an outdoor concert, consider that the group played at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on Oct. 4, 1998 during its Bridges To Babylon stadium tour.
So the Regina show will go ahead rain or shine (and hopefully not snow). Of course, when the lights go down and the band hits the stage and launches into “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” chances are things will get very hot, very quickly.
Time is finally on our side and this will be a Thanksgiving weekend like no other.
Believe it, Regina. Like we first told you in this space on June 10, it is going to happen!

The Who Announce Seven Canadian Dates
Rock legends The Who have announced the first block of North American dates on their upcoming world tour, and it includes seven Canadian stops.
The trek is scheduled to begin on September 12 in Philadelphia and will, for now, end with a show at Toronto’s Air Canada on December 4.
Other Canadian stops include Ottawa’s Scotiabank Place on September 15, London’s John Labatt Centre on September 30, Winnipeg’s MTS Centre on October 3, Calgary’s Pengrowth Saddledome on October 5, Edmonton’s Rexall Place on October 6, and Vancouver’s GM Place on October 8.
Additional North American shows in November and December are planned, and will be announced at a later date.
The Who are also scheduled to hit South America, Japan, Australia and Europe in 2007.
It marks the first time the band has launched a full-scale world tour in 20 years.
Tickets for the Canadian dates will go on sale on July 17 through all TicketMaster outlets.
The Who’s new album, tentatively titled “Who 2,” is scheduled to be released on October 23.
The Who’s North American dates (so far):
Sept. 12 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Centre
Sept. 13 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre
Sept. 15 Ottawa, ON Scotiabank Place
Sept. 16 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
Sept. 18 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Sept. 21 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
Sept. 25 Chicago, IL United Center
Sept. 29 Detroit, MI Palace of Auburn Hills
Sept. 30 London, ON John Labatt Center
Oct. 3 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre
Oct. 5 Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome
Oct. 6 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
Oct. 8 Vancouver, BC GM Place
Oct. 10 Portland, OR Rose Garden
Oct. 11 Seattle, WA Key Arena
Nov. 5 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl
Dec. 4 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre

Halifax allocates $100,000 for mystery rock concert
Halifax municipal council voted Tuesday evening to spend $100,000 on a rock concert set for Sept. 23, but the performers still haven’t been named, The Chronicle Herald newspaper reported.
So the Rolling Stones, rumoured headliners, may ó or may not ó make an appearance.
“I do not want to say anything to fuel the already wild speculation that is underway about which acts are expected,” Mayor Peter Kelly said.
But he did confirm that the city’s convention centre is talking to Donald K. Donald Promotions of Montreal. The promoter did not respond to calls from the paper.
The show “will be one of the largest events we’ve held,” Kelly said.
The city money will pay for extra policing and the cleanup.
Council met in closed session, which angered two councillors who said the talks should have been open to the public because taxpayers are paying.

Dixie Chicks bounce back with more shows
The Dixie Chicks, who late last week assured fans that the rumors of their summer tour’s demise had been greatly exaggerated, have booked seven new dates for the run, all of which are in either the northeastern US or Canada.
New to the schedule are stops in Uncasville, CT; Wantagh, NY; Atlantic City, NJ; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Saint John, New Brunswick; Montreal; and Winnipeg, Manitoba. Tickets for most of the new shows will hit the box office over the next two weekends. Details are shown in the itinerary below.
Meanwhile, tickets for most of the tour’s previously announced dates are already on sale, though some on-sales have been postponed, according to a message posted at the Dixie Chicks’ website, which says that tickets for some late-summer shows that were scheduled to go on sale last Saturday (6/10) have been held back “until a final determination is made if [the shows] are going to be moved to the fall.”
According to the group’s website, on-sale dates are still pending for previously announced shows in Kansas City, MO; St. Louis; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Las Vegas; Oklahoma City; Memphis; Houston; Jacksonville, FL; and Greensboro, SC.
Last week, some media reports indicated that the trio might be forced to cancel or postpone most or all of its summer dates due to tepid ticket sales in many markets, a situation largely credited to the controversy that has surrounded the group since lead singer Natalie Maines, during a 2003 concert in London, told the audience that she was “ashamed” that President George W. Bush was a fellow Texan.
On Friday (6/9), the group responded to the cancellation rumors with a message posted at its website.
“Any reports being made about the cancellation of our upcoming Accidents And Accusations tour are completely false,” the band’s statement began.
“We have known since March 2003 that our path in this business would have obstacles at every pass. We have enjoyed meeting each one head-on and we will continue to do so. Dixie Chicks fans are as active and dedicated as they come. This time around we are willingly feeling our way through uncharted territory. Things don’t come as easy as they might have come in the past, and it makes each accomplishment more exciting and appreciated.”
In contrast to the reported lagging ticket sales, the band’s latest album, “Taking the Long Way,” is showing healthy sales numbers, selling 526,000 copies its first week of release, according to Nielsen Soundscan, the third largest sales week of any artist this year. The album, which has spent the past two weeks in the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200 chart, will dip to No. 2 on the forthcoming chart after selling about 175,000 copies during its most recent week in stores, according to Billboard.
On Thursday (6/15), the Dixie Chicks kick off their tour with a sold-out performance at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire, the same venue where Maines made her controversial remark in 2003. MSN Video will broadcast the sold-out show at http://dixiechicks.msn.com.
July 2006
21 – Detroit, MI – Joe Louis Arena
22 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mellon Arena
23 – Columbus, OH – Value City Arena
25 – Philadelphia, PA – Wachovia Center
26 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Casino (on sale 6/23)
28 – Albany, NY – Pepsi Arena
29 – Boston, MA – TD Banknorth Garden
August 2006
1 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
2 – Wantagh, NY – Jones Beach (on sale tba)
4 – Washington, DC – Verizon Center
5 – Atlantic City, NJ – Borgata (on sale 6/23)
8 – Halifax, Nova Scotia – Metro Centre (on sale 6/24)
10 – Saint John, New Brunswick – Harbour Station (on sale 6/24)
12 – Montreal, Quebec – Bell Centre (on sale 6/17)
13 – London, Ontairo – Labatt Centre (on sale 6/17)
15 – Chicago, IL – United Center
18 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
19 – Winnipeg, Manitoba – MTS Centre (on sale 6/17)
20 – Kansas City, MO – Kemper Arena (on sale tba)
22 – St. Louis, MO – Savvis Center (on sale tba)
23 – Indianapolis, IN – Conseco Fieldhouse (on sale tba)
24 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena
26 – Fargo, ND – Fargodome
September 2006
3 – Glendale, AZ – Glendale Arena
6 – Fresno, CA – SaveMart Center (on sale tba)
8 – Sacramento, CA – ARCO Arena
9 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
14 – Los Angeles, CA – Staples Center (on sale tba)
16 – Las Vegas, NV – Mandalay Bay Events Center (on sale tba)
23 – Omaha, NE – Qwest Center Omaha
24 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
26 – Oklahoma City, OK – Ford Center (on sale tba)
27 – Memphis, TN – FedEx Forum (on sale tba)
29 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
30 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center (on sale tba)
October 2006
1 – Austin, TX – Frank Erwin Center
3 – Nashville, TN – Gaylord Entertainment Center
5 – Tampa, FL – St. Pete Times Forum
6 – Jacksonville, FL – Veterans Memorial Arena (on sale tba)
7 – Sunrise, FL – BankAtlantic Center
17 – Atlanta, GA – Philips Arena
20 – Knoxville, TN – Thompson-Boling Arena
22 – Greensboro, NC – Greensboro Coliseum (on sale tba)
27 – Ottawa, Ontario – Scotiabank Place
28, 29 – Toronto, Ontario – Air Canada Centre
November 2006
4 – Edmonton, Alberta – Rexall Place
5 – Calgary, Alberta – Pengrowth Saddledome
8 – Vancouver, British Columbia – General Motors Place
9 – Portland, OR – Rose Garden Arena
11 – Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Dome

A Hitch in the Dixie Chicks’ Git-Along
Despite the fact that the Dixie Chicks’ Taking the Long Way has been the number-one album in the country for two weeks, the trio may be staring at wide open spaces when they take their show on the road this summer.
Billboard reported Wednesday that a handful of dates on the North American leg of the Dixie Chicks’ upcoming Accidents & Accusations tour, which kicks of July 21 in Detroit, might be postponed or canceled due to slow ticket sales.
Ticket outlets were averaging 5,000-6,000 tickets sold per date in major markets, although most of the arena-sized venues can accommodate more than 15,000 people. So far, a September date at Memphis’ FedEx Forum has been X-ed off the schedule and the fate of shows in Indianapolis, Houston and Oklahoma City are in jeopardy, according to Billboard. Shows in the band’s home state, including Austin and Dallas, are moving ahead as scheduled.
A publicist for the band did not immediately comment on the potential cancellations, and no direct connection has been made between the lackluster ticket sales and any ire fans might still harbor toward the Chicks because of the, um, unpleasantness. Lead singer Natalie Maines informed London fans in March 2003 that she was ashamed that President George W. Bush is from Texas. The overseas crowd lapped it up, but a lot of people on this side of the pond were none too pleased.
Maines issued a public apology afterward but took her mea culpa off the table last month just before Taking the Long Way’s release. Still, the album took the easy way to the top of the Billboard 200, selling 526,000 copies its first week out and another 271,000 last week, per Nielsen SoundScan.
But this latest album’s success just adds to the puzzle over why the Accidents & Accusations tour isn’t meeting expectations. Back when the Dixie Chicks–Maines, Martie Seidel and Emily Robison–were taking Europe by storm and ticking off fans of the U.S. President, ticket sales were off the charts. The group’s 2003 tour moved 876,000 tickets during the first week of sales and encore dates had to be added in multiple markets. The ladies went on to have the top-grossing country tour of the year, raking in $62 million.
This summer definitely doesn’t qualify as a lost cause, though. Plenty of venues on the 40-plus date tour will be full of screaming fans, and hopefully they’ll be shouting nice things.
“We’re happy [with our on-sale] and comparatively seem to be ahead of most,” John Page, general manager and chief operating officer of Global Spectrum at Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center, where the Dixie Chicks are booked for July 25, told Billboard.
And you can’t blame Canada for slow sales. Toronto’s Air Canada Centre added a second date to accommodate demand.
“Canada loves the Chicks,” the arena’s booking director, Patti-Ann Tarlton, told Billboard.
According to a statement from Maines, fans who do show up in the next few months will be treated to “more of an old-style rock show, not so much about theatrics and props but just about the music. To rock out, we used to have to pull out a cover tune, so it’s nice to have your own songs to fill that part of the set.”
Before the Dixie Chicks hit the Motor City in July, they’ll perform in London this month to promote Taking the Long Way’s international release. Their June 15 show finds them back at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, the scene of the 2003 controversy. Then the Chicks will join the Eagles onstage June 17 at Twickenham Stadium.

Waters Bringing ‘Dark Side’ To North America
As expected, Pink Floyd principal Roger Waters will tour North America this fall and will be performing the band’s classic 1973 album “Dark Side of the Moon” in its entirety. Beforehand, Waters will spend the summer touring Europe, beginning June 2 at the Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon.
The North American tour, Waters’ first since 2002, will get underway Sept. 6 in Holmdel, N.J., and hit arenas and outdoor amphitheatres. The band will include longtime sidemen Andy Fairweather Low and Snowy White on guitar, drummer Graham Broad and Waters’ son Harry on Hammond organ.
Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason will make a guest appearance at Waters’ July 14 show in Nevers, France, but at deadline is not confirmed to join the band at any additional shows.
Sans Waters, Pink Floyd performed “Dark Side of the Moon” in full for the first time during its 1994 tour in support of “The Division Bell.” With Waters back in the fold, the band performed the “Dark Side” tracks “Breathe” and “Money” as part of its four-song set at Live 8 last summer.
Here are Roger Waters’ North American tour dates:
Sept. 6: Holmdel, N.J. (PNC Bank Arts Center)
Sept. 8: Mansfield, Mass. (Tweeter Center)
Sept. 12-13: New York (Madison Square Garden)
Sept. 15: Wantagh, N.Y. (Jones Beach)
Sept. 16: Camden, N.J. (Tweeter Center)
Sept. 18: Auburn Hills, Mich. (Palace of Auburn Hills)
Sept. 20: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
Sept. 21: Montreal (Bell Centre)
Sept. 24: Burgettstown, Pa. (Post Gazette Pavilion)
Sept. 27: Cleveland (Gund Arena)
Sept. 29: Chicago (First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre)
Sept. 30: Noblesville, Ind. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
Oct. 3: Phoenix (Cricket Pavilion)
Oct. 5: Los Angeles (Hollywood Bowl)
Oct. 8: Las Vegas (Theatre Under the Stars)
Oct. 10: Mountain View, Calif. (Shoreline Amphitheatre)
Oct. 12: Seattle (Key Arena)