Rolling into Regina?
Stones' concert rumoured for Thanksgiving weekend
Gerry Krochak, The Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, June 10, 2006
Naw ... it can't be. Can it? Can the persistent rumours really be true?
Could this really be a Thanksgiving weekend filled with the satisfaction of the Queen City hosting the world's greatest rock and roll band, the Rolling Stones? Yes ... it can.
We're all aware of conventional wisdom and cliches which insist that if it's too good to be true it probably is. Forget that notion for the time that it takes you to read this column and dream the biggest rock and roll dream Regina has ever known.
It seems almost a certainty that The Rolling Stones will give this province the concert of a lifetime at Taylor Field on either Oct. 7 or 8. Nothing is written in stone(s), but this show, you can't imagine, how close it is to happening.
Nothing is confirmed, but organizers from Regina and officials from the band are working very hard to make this happen, one of our well-placed sources, who requested anonymity, said Friday. The official announcement will come around mid July -- if the show proceeds, the source added.
One of the biggest earlier hurdles to a show in Regina, a head injury sustained by guitarist Keith Richards while vacationing in Fiji on April 27, has now been cleared. Last week, Richards declared himself good to go. "Feeling great, happy to be home and looking forward to getting back on the road with the Rolling Stones next month," he was reported as saying on several Web sites.
Further indication that all is well with the legendary axeman are rescheduled 'Stones dates appearing on Pollstar.com which indicate that the tour will commence July 10 in Nuremberg, with additional dates throughout Germany as well as the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Spain and the UK.
Multiple sources indicate the band will then come to Canada, for a three or four-show tour. The other Canadian cities that would host the outdoor stadium version of the group's Bigger Bang Tour are Halifax, Windsor and Vancouver, in effect covering the west, east and, of course, the middle, of this great country. News of the Halifax show has also apparently leaked out.
If the Regina date seems far-fetched, consider the success of the group's appearance last Sept. 3 in Moncton, N.B. The show drew 90,000 people and netted the act somewhere in the vicinity of seven million clams.
Although the band hardly needs the dough, it's never shied away from playing ... well, anywhere, really. The way it sits right now, Saskatchewan is the only prairie province that has never hosted a Rolling Stones show. Clearly, it's our turn.
The massive stadium production is the group's most ambitious to date, requiring roughly 80 tractor trailers to transport. Considering the size of the stage and the seating capacity of Taylor Field (including the field), the stadium which will go from hosting football greats to rock and roll legends, will probably be bursting at the seams with a crowd of anywhere from 40,000-45,000, although Taylor Field's capability to stage such an event remains a detail that has yet to be worked out.
Tickets are not yet on sale, and I can't stress this enough, so don't phone the usual places, because they have no information or ducuts to sell -- at least not yet. But if and when tickets go on sale in July, folks in Saskatchewan will also have to compete with fans from Manitoba, Alberta, Montana and North Dakota for tickets that are sure to be snatched up immediately.
If time is finally on our side, this concert just might be the single greatest event in the city's 104-year history. And that's no Thanksgiving turkey.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2006