Posted on 08/29/2007 3:49:05 AM PDT by WesternCulture
Two Swedish tabloids have provoked the ire of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.
In what the veteran rocker claimed was the first time he had publicly reacted to a review, he lashed out at Aftonbladet and Expressen's reports on the band's performance at Gothenburg's Ullevi stadium earlier this month.
The papers both gave the Stones two stars. An article in Expressen was headlined "Keith was very drunk," and gave the star a personal zero stars.
"This is a first! Never before have I risen to the bait of a bad review. But this time... I have to stand up for our incredible Gothenburg audience and for fans all over Sweden...to say that you owe them, and us, an apology," Richards said in a statement released to newspaper Dagens Nyheter by concert promoter EMA Telstar.
The star continued his rant:
"You have a duty to wield the power of the press with honesty and integrity. There were 56,000 people in Ullevi stadium who bought a ticket to our concert - and experienced a completely different show than the one you "reviewed". How dare you cheapen the experience for them - and for the hundreds of thousands of other people across Sweden who weren't at Ullevi and only have your "review" to go on. Write the truth. It was a good show."
But Expressen was unrepentant:
"Our reviewer has made one judgment on the quality [of the concert], and Keith Richards has made another," Dan Panas, enetertainment editor of Expressen, told Dagens Nyheter.
They weren't overly impressed.
Keith Richards is probably too deaf (and a lot of other things too) by now to form any reasonable opinion whatsoever on what their music sounds like today.
Keith Richards, “I wasn’t drunk, I was stoned.”
I saw this interview and Richards actually said “ Huuubluh bla rufu blah doo Sweden da da da muh fofan apologif” (cigarette puff)
People like Ozzy and Keith Richards are not being good ambassadors for heavy drug abuse.
Sounds like pretty good (accurate) reviews to me.
From the concert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4BnqKNe-_A
Looks decent, but if you’re not a freaky, die hard Rolling Stones fan, you’ll probably have a better time in Gothenburg at the Liseberg theme/amusement park, exploring the nice nightclubs along ‘Avenyn’ (’The Avenue’), making an excursion to our archipelago or taking ‘The Blue Train’ around the main Volvo plant (where the most expensive Volvo models, like the XC90, XC70 and S80 are manufactured) - one of the most advanced examples of industrial productions found on this planet.
I dare to say all these things are far more impressive than Keith Richards & Co.
I guess it's like getting blood from a turnip, but I can't make sense out of this.
If I bought a ticket and went to the concert, I enjoyed it or I didn't.
How is MY experience "cheapened" by reading someone else's opinion?
If ever there was a day when I would shell out hundreds of hard earned dollars to hear millionaire rock stars, it wouldn’t be for the Stones after hearing them from the Super Bowl.
Keith Richards drunk on stage?? You don’t say... I’m shocked, I tell you (/sarcasm)
Apparently the tabloid stories a) were filed approx 5 minutes after the show ended and b) were based on comments made by a Swedish journalist (Ove?) who later demanded the tabloids correct their story, saying they had exagerated what he said.
So yes this is very uncharacteristic of KR, but is apparently warranted. Anyway, the tabloids would be well-advised to not mess with Keith Richards...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyK0y02HvVc
:-)
Thanks for posting that link.
The Stones are pretty much a nostalgia act nowadays.
I think one can count in decades how long it has been since they were on the edge.
JMO.
Keith Richards PSA (from SNL): “Don’t do drugs. They’re mine.”
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