"We feel like Marco Polo!" proclaimed Keith Richards,
successfully upstaging Mick Jagger's attempt to conduct an orderly
Rolling Stones press conference in Shanghai on Friday
afternoon.
All four of the legendary rock'n'rollers put in an appearance
during the 20-minute promo-interview at the city's Four Seasons
Hotel ahead of their show on Saturday, but it was left to one man
to do 98 percent of the talking.
Holding court in a room crammed with a couple of hundred Western
and Chinese journalists, photographers and cameramen, with his suit
and no tie, Jagger had the air of a slightly posh, slightly hip CEO
in the Richard Branson mould, brusquely getting down to
business.
Next to him, Richards, waving his arms like a naughty schoolboy,
did his best to ensure there was still a bit of rock'n'roll
unpredictability to the occasion.
If he didn't already have a reputation for being addled whether
drunk, stoned or sober, you would have wondered who'd been spiking
his mineral water.
Guitarist Ron Wood and drummer Charlie Watts sat on either side
of rock's royal couple, Wood muttering a few words and fiddling
with his cuffs and Watts stonily silent, carrying the expression of
a man who has just woken up to discover he is the drummer in the
biggest band in the world, but isn't sure if he can remember how to
drum.
"It's very exciting for us to be here in Shanghai on our first
trip to China. It's always a great challenge coming to a new place
and we're very excited to be here," opened Jagger, confirming that
the band are to be joined on stage for a duet with China's own rock
legend, Cui Jian, before expressing once again the band's
excitement.
Over the next 15 minutes the singer fielded questions about
playing in China to a crowd thick with foreigners: "We're pleased
to play to any audience that turns up, you don't go round choosing
your audience individually. We'll do the show for anyone that turns
up, whatever they look like."
And why the band is still touring: "It's great to get lots of
money but actually we really enjoy what we do."
And the price of tickets: "If the tickets are too expensive you
can watch it on TV for nothing."
And about being asked to drop four songs from their Shanghai
set: "Fortunately we had 400 more songs that we can play, so it's
not really an issue."
(China Daily April 8, 2006)