 Shanghai Grand Stage, Shanghai, China
on Saturday, April 8th. 2006. The show on Saturday is unique, two
times before the band tried to play, but both times were cancelled, now the
guests and public sold tickets are in the Shanghai Grand Stage in University
area of Shanghai. 8500 seated audience in total.
Set list:
Start Me Up - You Got Me Rocking - Oh No Not You Again - Bitch - Wild Horses
- Rain Fall Down - Midnight Rambler - Gimmie Shelter - Tumblin' Dice - Intros -
This Place Is Empty - Happy - Sympathy For The Devil - Miss You - It's Only Rock'n'
Roll -
Paint It Black - Jumping Jack Flash - You Can't Always Get What You Want (encore)
Satisfaction (encore)
Review:
By Doug Young
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The Rolling Stones rode roughshod over China's censors
during their first show in the communist country on Saturday, serenading a
largely foreign crowd with songs about Satan, sleaze bags and serial killers.
Much was made before their Shanghai show of a ban on playing five songs,
including concert standards "Honky Tonk Women," and "Brown
Sugar." But they managed to toss a few risque tunes into their two-hour set
at the Shanghai Grand Stage.
"It's nice to be here, the first time we've played in China," Mick
Jagger told the boisterous 8,000-strong crowd, as the Stones made their China
debut after two failed attempts dating as far back as 1980. "It's fantastic,"
he said.
The group focussed on its greatest hits as it raced through 18 songs spanning
its 44-year career.
Highlights included "Oh No, Not You Again," a new song in which
Jagger boasts of staring at a woman's cleavage; and odes to the Boston Strangler
and the Satan in the concert classics "Midnight Rambler" and "Sympathy
for the Devil," respectively.
Jagger also practised his Chinese on the crowd, welcoming and thanking
everyone for coming, although a large number of the crowd were expatriates.
The lone musical nod to their host country came during a rendition of
"Wild Horses," in which China rock legend Cui Jian sang with Jagger
and later promised the audience the group would return to China.
The Stones had hoped to play in China in 2003 but cancelled due to the deadly
SARS outbreak that killed hundreds. A first attempt around 1980 reportedly got
nowhere after a meeting between Jagger and Chinese officials in Washington went
badly.
The China the Stones are visiting is a far cry from the socialist country
they would have seen in 1980, or even just three years ago, packed with
skyscrapers and luxury shops, testament to the nation's rapid embrace of
capitalism.
Despite advances in local pop culture, however, the band's edgier music, with
its racy lyrics, is a far cry from the syrupy ballads that now rule the Chinese
airwaves.
The Shanghai date was part of the group's "A Bigger Bang" world
tour, in support of its album of the same name.
But a Chinese version of the album being sold at the show was mysteriously
lacking several songs, just as the band's 2002 hits compilation "Forty
Licks" contained only 36 tracks after China censors excised songs thought
too rough for local ears.
Tickets for the group's maiden China show cost from 300 yuan ($37) all the
way up to 3,000 yuan, on a par with American prices.
The following pictures are with permission from Michael M.
Pedersen from his visit in Shanghai, China, his meeting with Uwe from Stuttgart
who have just released a book about his 3.000 singles with ROLLING STONES.
Autograph writing from Charlie outside Four Seasons Hotel
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