We May Get Some Satisfaction

Oh ye of little faith! You mocked my border solution. You made fun of my idea about how to get a new arena at minimal cost for Windsor by partnering with Detroit to make Joe Louis Arena the new Joe Louis Detroit/Windsor International Center/Centre (DWICC). You doubted when I told the Mayor and Council how to deal with our tourism problems.

I am sure that you saw the front page story in the Star about the possibility of the Rolling Stones coming to Windsor for a concert. To Windsor, you say, how can that be possible? Well, after Allan Rock moving here, why not? For heaven's sake we have a funky bus terminal after all and Councillor Zuk may do a dance for us....

For your information, I have attached below the Regina newspaper article for you to read.

The question remains though, why was Windsor chosen in competition with all of the other cities in Ontario if the story is correct. You, dear reader, should know very well.

Remember my BLOG May 08, 2006 Where's Mick Jagger http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/2006/05/wheres-mick-jagger.html

• "It is again up to the Blogmeister to save this City. I had a really wild idea which the Report authors did not consider. We need to hold a Rolling Stones benefit concert like the one in Toronto after the SARS epidemic to put Windsor back on the map after all of the disasters we have lived through. Do you think it is ridiculous? Remember who headlined the Half-time show at Super Bowl XL in Detroit!
  
  And who do you think was seen with Paris Hilton, John Travolta and Hugh Hefner dining at a very famous restaurant in downtown Windsor? If that does not get the gossip columnists talking about Sin City again, nothing will!"
  

So there you have it. The world-wide reach of this BLOG brought Windsor's plight to the attention of the Rolling Stones and their managers. They decided to help us out based on my suggestion! Of course, I cannot tell you about what happened at the restaurant in Windsor when they held their Super Bowl concert but clearly something did or else Windsor would not have been considered.

For those of you who may write or call me asking for tickets or backstage passes, please do not. While the power of this BLOG to bring the Stones here is now obvious, I have to line up at Ticketmaster just like everyone else.

When will the concert take place? Just another hint for you.

I am sure that you are aware that President Bush and Prime Minister Harper are meeting on July 6. The items of discussion will include border security, trade, energy, and environmental progress. But where is that meeting to take place?

Given that the border and trade will be discussed where is the most important border crossing in North America located? Energy---Who is the Minister of Energy for Ontario and where is he located? Who was Minister of Infrastructure in the Liberal Government and where is he moving to? The July 6 meeting is right after the big July 1 and July 4 celebrations. And where is the biggest international fireworks display in the world? The answers---Right here in Windsor/Detroit.

I am sure you read "[Canadian Ambassador to the US] Wilson wouldn't say where the meeting will be. Harper had originally hoped to visit Washington in June but there were scheduling problems with the White House." Our leaders were so crafty.

Now you know why the meeting was postponed and where it will take place. Bush and Harper are meeting in Windsor to watch the Rolling Stones on July 6! It's the dress rehersal for the Stones' big European tour that starts July 10.

Now start believing what I write!

Rolling into Regina?
Gerry Krochak, The Leader-Post

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.