(MMP Cambridge)
Posted on 08/22/2007 8:10:48 AM PDT by Stoat
(MMP Cambridge)
Keith Richards enjoys a cigarette during the Rolling Stones gig at the O2 arena in London last night
Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood will continue to smoke on stage during Rolling Stones gigs in the UK despite reminders from authorities that it is now illegal.
Band insiders were responding to warnings from Greenwich Council that the two guitarists could face fines if they persist in lighting up on stage, as happened during a gig at the O2 arena last night.
Richards smoked throughout a rendition of You Got the Silver – despite frantic warnings from the venue's staff. He was joined by Ronnie Wood, who was cheered by the 20,000 strong crowd when he, too, defied the ban.
"Ronnie and Keith have been smoking on stage for the last three decades and they're not going to stop for the next two," a source close to the band told Times Online.
"Of course they're going to have a fag - it's what they do.
"You might say that Keith and Ronnie lighting up while they swap licks is part of the Stones performance."
The O2 was today warned that it could face a £2,500 fine if the Rolling Stones persisted in smoking during their remaining two gigs at the venue – tomorrow and Sunday.
Greenwich Council told the venue today that it had an obligation to enforce the legislation with a fine and potential prosecution if the ban is flouted.
Richards appeared from backstage – his cigarette already lit – about a third of the way through the set when he came on to sing two numbers while Sir Mick Jagger was taking a break.
Having a delivered a wistful rendition of You Got the Silver - which includes the line 'Hey baby – what's that in your eyes?', he then proceeded to puff his way through Wanna Hold You, joined by Wood.
A statement from Greenwich Council today said: "We have reminded the O2 of their obligation to enforce the smoking ban and are satisfied with the assurances they have provided that this will not recur," adding that it had not received any complaints from the public.
A spokeswoman for AEG, which runs the O2 arena, said: "We are sure it was an oversight and are grateful for the band's co-operation."
O2 claimed that the cigarette was extinguished "almost faster than the message to put it out got to stage," but witnesses said there was no evidence Richards was at all ruffled during the opening leg of the band's Bigger Bang tour.
"The pair of them looked every bit the rock 'n' roll legends that they are," one fan said.
The Stones have already been fined £100 for smoking on stage during a gig at Hampden Park in Scotland during the Forty Licks tour, and other musicians, including Pete Doherty, have also defied the ban.
“He took it out!”
“So? Jim Morrison did that in the 60s.”
“No, he took out a cigarette!”
“Lock him up!”
You’re quite welcome. I don’t always catch everything, but I do try to do my part :)
Now if more folks would follow this lead with a bit of civil disobedience, maybe these nanny state laws would go the way of the dinosaur.........wishful thinking, I know.....
Funny picture !
Isn’t this the Stones’ Medicare Tour?
Do they still have half pennies in England?
Like the saying goes, if there is ever a nuclear war, only two things will survive, cockroaches and Keith Richards!
Thanks for the Ping
I wonder how may concert goers will ‘light-up’ on the next two Stones concerts at the O2
http://www.theo2.co.uk/web/guest/home
Rebels with a cause.
Good on ye lads !
As I told my kids and their friends, Smoking is the one thing in my life that I regret doing, but I’ll smoke until I die. I tried kicking the addiction once, for 2-1/2 years, and the depression and anxiety it sent me into forced me to start again.
I absolutely agree, and this alternative one makes me want to throw up just a little bit. How do we go about getting back to one that resembles, say, 1958?
Good on them.
In my humble opinion, you have, in one sentence, encapsulated the entire "liberal" movement of the past forty years.
Hat tip to you FRiend!
Thanks. I was kind of stunned when I read the article and realized the reaction to smoking onstage was pretty much the same reaction they got back in the sixties for far more dangerous activities. Of course, I’m assuming that’s what you mean by your comment.
That is exactly what I meant by my comment and you clearly hit the nail on the head.
Nice to see that these “Geriatric Rockers” get it, LOL!
Meanwhile, if Keef freebased on stage, there’d be no problem.
Keith is probably the only person ever to get banned from Lynchburg for drinking the town dry, and Myanmar for depleting it of its #1 cash crop.
“Having fags, trading licks? What the hell is going on here?”
“When the Whip Comes Down” (Jagger/Richards)
eah, mama and papa told me
I was crazy to stay
I was gay in New York
Which is a fag in L.A.
So I saved my money
And I took a plane
Wherever I go they treat me the same
When the whip comes down
When the whip comes down
When the whip comes down
When the whip comes down
I’m going down fifty-third street
And they’re spitting in my face
I’m learning the ropes
Yeah I’m learning a trade
The east river truckers
Is churning with trash
I’ve got so much money
That I’m spending so fast
When the whip comes down
When the whip comes down
When the whip comes down
When the whip comes down
When the shit hits the fan
I’ll be sitting on the can
When the whip comes down
Yeah, some called me garbage
While I was sleeping on the street
I never roll
And I never cheat
I’m filling a need
I’m plugging a hole
My mama’s so glad
I ain’t on the dole
When the whip comes down
When the whip comes down
When the whip comes down
When the whip comes down
(Yeah, go ahead check it out)
Yeah, baby, when the whip comes down
When the whip comes down
(I’ll be running this town, I’ll tell you)
When the shit hits the fan
I’ll be sittin on the can
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