The Rolling Stones opened their first ever concert in China yesterday with the classic hit, Start Me Up.
The veteran rockers played to a packed house at Shanghai's 8,000 seat indoor stadium, where the audience was overwhelmingly foreign.
There was little sign of the fan frenzy that has followed the band on other stops on their current "A Bigger Bang" tour, however, demand for tickets had driven up the price to 5,000 yuan (US$624) on the black market.
Chinese rock pioneer Cui Jian who was to perform with the band said before the concert the show was a "milestone" for him and for all rock fans in China.
"It is a big moment, I will never forget this," said Cui, whose songs were anthems for student protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.
In a reminder of the authoritarian communist government's cautious attitude toward the influence of western pop culture, The Stones were told not to perform five of their biggest hits because of suggestive lyrics.
At a news conference on Friday, frontman Mick Jagger said he wasn't surprised to receive the demand, but added with characteristic bite: "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."
The banned songs were believed to be past hits Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Woman, Beast of Burden, and Let's Spend the Night Together, along with Rough Justice from the new album.
The band said they accepted the restrictions as the price to pay for a concert that has taken years to organize.
During the 1966-1976 cultural revolution, the Rolling Stones were considered a symbol of decadent capitalism.
Even when politics was no longer a major obstacle, nature has intervened.
The band agreed not to play the contentious four songs at a gig arranged in 2003, but it had to be cancelled because of the SARS crisis.
This time, with ticket prices equivalent to several months of the average annual wage in China, more than 80 percent of the crowd at the 8,000 venue were expected to be foreigners.
Keith Richards, the lead guitarist, joked that the band might still play an instrumental version of the songs "to give Mick a break."
Organizers said the gig was to be the first show by a foreign band to be relayed live by CCTV -- the Chinese state broadcaster.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about 1,900 as
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
MORE RESPONSIBILITY: Draftees would be expected to fight alongside professional soldiers, likely requiring the transformation of some training brigades into combat units The armed forces are to start incorporating new conscripts into combined arms brigades this year to enhance combat readiness, the Executive Yuan’s latest policy report said. The new policy would affect Taiwanese men entering the military for their compulsory service, which was extended to one year under reforms by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2022. The conscripts would be trained to operate machine guns, uncrewed aerial vehicles, anti-tank guided missile launchers and Stinger air defense systems, the report said, adding that the basic training would be lengthened to eight weeks. After basic training, conscripts would be sorted into infantry battalions that would take
DEEP-STRIKE CAPABILITY: The scenario simulated a PLA drill that turned into an assault on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, with the launchers providing fire support Taiwan yesterday conducted this year’s first military exercises at Longsiang Base in Taichung, demonstrating the newly acquired High Mobility Artillery Rocket System’s (HIMARS) ability to provide fire support and deep-strike capabilities. The scenario simulated an attack on Penghu County, with HIMARS trucks immediately rolling into designated launch areas and firing barrages at the Wangan (望安) and Cimei (七美) islands, simulating the provision of fire support against invading forces. The HIMARS are supposed to “fire and leave,” which would significantly increase personnel and equipment survivability, a military official said. The drill simulated an exercise launched by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern
RSS