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Barbie Spa: For the cosmopolitan plastic beauty in you
Obama in China: Long gone, and still headlinin'
Cinematheque: Mulan is finally Chinese again! (and other film news)
Lot o' Hotpot: Three Travellers
We didn't go to the Rolling Stones concert last night. And we have only heard from one person who did go, second hand at that. Here's the message we received today:
my mate said the stones were ho-hum. bad sound. late start. no cabs at the end and rain. no beer. but mick jagger pretty strong performance.
The Associated Press, the AFP and Reuters all had people at the show. They all talked about the songs that were censored (five was the latest count, we think -- "Brown Sugar," "Honky Tonk Women," "Beast of Burden," "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Rough Justice"), Mick Jagger's attempts at speaking Chinese to the mostly expat audience, high prices for scalped tickets (someone reported $600) and Jagger's "Wild Horses" duet with Chinese artist Cui Jian. Only the AFP included this tidbit:
In a bow to the Godfather of Chinese rock, the band invited Cui Jian to accompany Jagger on the ballad 'Wild Horses.'The decision to perform a duet was hastily arranged two days ago and for China's most famous rocker, it could not have gone worse.
Cui, who said he had waited 20 years for the Rolling Stones to come to China, stumbled through the lyrics, forcing Jagger to come to the rescue several times.
There was some controversy the day before the show -- reportedly no Chinese media were allowed to attend the Friday press conference with the band. Bizarre, no? The Shanghai Daily and China Daily still had stories, but they were written by guys named Douglas Williams and Mark South. (By the way, take a look at the photo that accompanied the Shanghai Daily story: Is Charlie Watts alive?) Maybe the domestic media was excluded because the Stones knew they would say something stupid. Keith Richards supposedly blurted out "We feel like Marco Polo!"
Jagger was definitely aware who his audience would be Saturday night: "I'm pleased that the Ministry of Culture is protecting the morals of the expat bankers and their girlfriends that are going to be coming."
So was the local press:
The newspaper Shanghai Morning Post also complained in an article that only one Chinese media outlet had been allowed to cover the band's arrival Thursday."The Rolling Stones come to Shanghai, but they're only performing for foreigners," read the headline on the front page of the paper's entertainment section.
UPDATE: Flickr user Neil Z J Y was at the show. His photos start here. If any other Flickr users have photos, tag them "shanghaiist" and they will automatically appear on our photos page. Or you can simply email them to photos@shanghaiist.com.
Also on Shanghaiist:
Are the Rolling Stones headed to Shanghai?
Rolling Stones ... Shanghai ... April 8
Do the Rolling Stones know they are playing Shanghai?
Extra! Extra! Train tickets, Rolling Stones tickets and crowded graves
The Rolling Stones talk about Shanghai (briefly)
Rolling Stones arrive, city’s average age increases slightly
Related:
In a First, the Stones Rock China, but Hold the Brown Sugar (Howard W. French)
Great Rolling Stones concert in Shanghai! (Marc van der Chijs)
Most locals don't hear city's Bigger Bang (Shanghai Daily)
Image of Mick Jagger and Cui Jian from the AP via Yahoo! News. More photos here.
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We went to the concert. We sat in the cheap seats. From where we sat with the plebs, everyone seemed to be having a great time and the big screen meant that everyone could see the Stones up close in wrinkled glory.
Our Chinese friend who hadn't even heard of the Stones came with us. He also had a great time.
The Rolling Stones are the most famous band in the world. They can start whenever they bloody well like. If they need extra time to finish their oxygen drips so be it. They started two hours late in Brisbane a few years ago. They can and they do. Who goes to a rock concert early anyway?
Mick "Started 'Em Up" at 9.30 and for the next 90 minutes we were treated to an energetic, masterful, professional performance.
I wonder if some of the corporate bankers were too busy on their mobile phones to enjoy the performance. The plebs - the teachers, small-time businessmen, salesmen, translators, artists, musicians, writers and designers who surrounded us in the cheap seats had none of the complaints mentioned by Shanghaiist. Maybe we are easily pleased.
My only complaint is the Mick didn't tell us which drugs he is taking these days, medicinal or otherwise. Damn. I want some of whatever it is!
Long live The Stones.
Rolling who?
I don't know who your "source" is, but the show rocked!! WOW...can't get a cab in the rain on a Saturday night? wah wah wah. Don't blame it on the Stones! They were energetic & yeah, a bit late but...whatever - SO WORTH IT!!
The show was pretty incredible. I'd daresay its one of the best shows I've been to. The energy in the room was palpable, at least in our section. Whatever complaints are being tossed around seem to be just a bunch of whining. The show was fantastic. A piece of rock and roll history.
I agree w/ Neil & Sweetlips. The show was incredible! I sat in the midrange seats and they were worth every penny! Mick & the boys put on an unbeleivable performance. Everyone I looked at was definitely having a wild time, shouting and screaming along at the top of their lungs! More to the point, the Stones were clearly having a fantastic time too. I defy anyone to see the look on Keith's face while playing the intro to Paint It Black and not feel the immensity of the moment. Plebs or not, if you are whining about the weather and the lack of cabs after the show, you clearly don't get the point of the show - the Stones took rock to such a level last night that nothing following ranks or matters!
The show did really rock! We sat in the cheap section, but seemed the crowds around all had a great time. To find the seats really took a bit time, but besides that the show really rocked, even with the duet part. Cui Jian deserves a salute, I mean he is no native English speaker, everyone could see how hard the guy was trying there. For anyone who complained, why not letting Mick sing a whole song in Chinese?
and for the Mick's greeting in Mandarin part, I thought that was wonderful. Compared to some expats in the city, they've been here for so long but never thought they should learn Mandarin. and if they wanted to see a show with decent sound, on-time start and enough cabs to hail, why not just go back to their own countries, and counting on the Stones might visit them the next? coz seems it was the location that some audience weren't satisfied, but with all respects, why they chose coming to Shanghai anyway?
you'd better get sources right... the stones rocked!!! the low point was definatly when Cui Jian choked on a mouth full of wild horese... but let's not blame mick for that. after sympathy for the devil the crowd was unstoppable! here's my flickr feed... don't know why it's not showing up on shanghiist... but if you are tired of seeing blurry, cell phone pics of the stones, click here
I'm loving the hyperbole in some of these comments. "A piece of rock and roll history." That's not you is it Keith, holed up in your room in the Four Seasons?
the rolling stones being ho-hum? lets be honest here, these guys have stuck around and will continue to rock not because they are ho-hum, but because they lit up an audience with tried and true rock songs. this isn't the backstreet boys, this isn't some other burnt out band that need to make money, this is the STONES, dude! i sat in the back and stood up almost the whole time singing and dancing. the audience went off between their set and their encore and made the energy tangible. i didn't hear any complaints when i left.
It could very well be that my friend's friend was the only person in attendance who wasn't blown away. I was hoping other people who attended would comment with their own impressions of the show, and several have. Sounds like most people had a good time. Good.
But now it's back to reality in Shanghai. Robin Gibb plays here May 15. The cheapest ticket is 280 kuai.
Robin Freakin' Gibb.
so anyone else hear the rumor the stones did an after party at YY bar?
> The energy in the room was palpable
I dunno, I still think I'd rather mosh to the SUBS 10 feet away from the stage than see the Stones from the cheap seats (or the expensive seats, for that matter).
The Stones put on an incredible show (big Stones fan here). For old men on their last legs, they had more energy than their younger counterparts. They're not just rock stars, they're professional entertainers, and they clearly still love what they do. Sure, they're faces looked liked they were melting off but they still got it. And that female back up singer was bad ass; I bet she could take on any punk/ alternative band and kick the shit out of their angsty asses. "Gimme Shelter" was definitely one of the highlights of the show.