 Stones roll with the questions
Rock legends will perform at Super Bowl halftime
By Patrick McManamon, Beacon Journal sportswriter
DETROIT - The
Rolling Stones brought their irreverent selves to the Super Bowl on Thursday and
told a packed news conference not to fret about what they might play or do
during their halftime show Sunday.
``It'll all be worked out in the night,'' Rock and Roll legend Mick Jagger
said. ``They needn't worry about it. Just calm down and take life as it comes.''
Of course, Jagger punctuated his remarks with a word that's a no-no on
television, a word that had to have NFL Network folks running for the pause
button as they showed the news conference live.
The way he did it, though, made everyone laugh, including the NFL
representative running the show.
The Stones filled the largest ballroom at the Super Bowl Media Headquarters
for their news conference, and they handled it with a nifty combination of
wisecracks and aplomb.
They would not reveal what songs they will play but said they'd be limited to
three in the 12-minute show.
 Asked if it was
tough to boil their decades-old playlist down to that number, lead guitarist
Keith Richards cracked: ``It's hard boiling.''
Jagger did not disagree when it was proposed to him that 20 years ago the
band wouldn't have thought of doing a Super Bowl, but he said the cultural
difference between America and the Stones has decreased.
``America has obviously changed since we came here,'' Jagger said. ``It's
almost unrecognizable, to be perfectly honest. It's very hard to imagine what
the U.S. was like 40 years ago. It wasn't like this.
``And the Super Bowl wasn't like this either. It wasn't such a worldwide
event. I think we've grown with the American culture changes, and America has
changed a great deal. Though both of us still have our core values intact.''
The ``core values'' remark came with just the right hint of skepticism, which
brought audience laughter. As did other questions:
When a bald, middle-aged, portly Detroit radio guy stood up and said he
thought that Jagger might be his father, Jagger deadpanned: ``There's a great
similarity in resemblance.''
When another man opined that Jagger still looked young, he said: ``That man
is my father.''
When the mini-controversy over whether Motown singers should be represented
at halftime was brought up, Jagger asked, ``You mean, are we gonna do a Marvin
Gaye tune?''
When someone mentioned that with one billion people watching, it could be the
largest audience to watch the Stones, Jagger said, ``I don't know who actually
counts these numbers.''
And when Richards cracked his way through several answers to serious
questions, Jagger just shrugged and went to the next question.
Finally, Jagger discussed being on The Ed Sullivan Show almost 40
years ago (Feb. 12, 1966), and said the band had been warned that Sullivan might
or might not want to shake their hands after they sang.
 When another man opined that Jagger
still looked young, he said: ``That man is my father.''
When the mini-controversy over whether Motown singers should be represented
at halftime was brought up, Jagger asked, ``You mean, are we gonna do a Marvin
Gaye tune?''
When someone mentioned that with one billion people watching, it could be the
largest audience to watch the Stones, Jagger said, ``I don't know who actually
counts these numbers.''
And when Richards cracked his way through several answers to serious
questions, Jagger just shrugged and went to the next question.
Finally, Jagger discussed being on The Ed Sullivan Show almost 40
years ago (Feb. 12, 1966), and said the band had been warned that Sullivan might
or might not want to shake their hands after they sang.
Jagger said the band performed, stood, waited and watched Sullivan, who gave
them a small wave.
``Very odd show, really,'' Jagger said.
The exclamation point came late, when a questioner mentioned to Richards that
the joke always had been that the only two things left after a nuclear war would
be him and the cockroaches.
``What will you do to make sure you outlast the cockroaches?'' the question
went.
``I'm going to eat them,'' Richards said.
At which point, Jagger called an end to the questions, saying things had
gotten ``a bit silly.''
Imagine -- the Rolling Stones ending a news conference because things had
gotten silly.
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