1) The rehearsals are private, if the Stones wanted them to hear the rehearsals they would let them in;

2) The security is there to keep over zealous fans away from the band;

3) The complaints about the security are insane. Security is doing what the Stones hired them to do;

4) The picture taking and in particular trying to read private papers is RUDE;

5) Mick is using the cell phone to avoid contact with people who have no business being outside the rehearsals.

no way ho se ,,,hey thats the price ya pay for being the greatest R & R ,Blues, Country, & forgive me,, Disco band in the world. hey ,i shook keiths hand twice & micks once ,,& they were cool about it ,,,Its been like this on their tours here or in canada since their 75 rehearsals in montauk, when that year they had mucho security..

1) The rehearsals are private, if the Stones wanted them to hear the rehearsals they would let them in;


If the Stones wanted to be really private, they wouldnt rehearse in a major city - for the fourth world tour in succession

I can see some of the rest of your argument but the band know by now through experience that when theyre in town, theyre going to attract a lot of attention - so I guess they dont mind it too much.

They obviously go to Canada for tax reasons and they choose Toronto because they seem to like the place. If they really wanted no attention, theyd sequester themselves in some remote location (Canada has plenty of them) and NOT in the biggest city in the country

When did rock n' roll fans become so soft, pc, candy-ass, polite...and a few other things i could say.

take your good manners out the door. i don't explain to people why i won't sit down during keef's 2 songs...i just give em a look like i'll kick their head in if they yell at me again. THAT does work!

i tell ya, I don't sit down either, I've had "venue security" tell me to sit after another patron "tells" on me, I tell 'em, "if you make ME sit down, then you have to tell evryone to sit down," (while I point to the hordes of fans standing). That "usually" shuts them up, but I have had trouble. I mean if ya want to sit, stay home and watch the show on TV!

"Fuc the Rock babe, I want the Roll." (KR)

There's the name for the tour...NO SITTING!

Now i do like that title NO SITTING!!!

When I was at Wembley in 2003, our seats were in the middle of the row, but directly opposite the B-Stage. We decided we'd watch the whole gig standing on the end of the row so we could be right there for when they came onto the B-Stage. People weren't happy and had many calls of 'get back to your seat' and 'move!', but we didn't - we stood firm. The fact is, we weren't blocking anyones view or anything else 'out of order', so @#$%& THEM!!

There is two situations. First is when the Stones are on tour, security is very big and it's impossible to contact them. It's a normal position. What should happen if someone would hurt one guy of the band. Tour is cancelled and after it's a catastrophic situation.
Second situation: the studio session. It is a completly different way. There is NO SECUTITY. If you respect them, you can easily talking with them, taking pictures in the arms of each others etc... I knew this situation during the Dirty Works session in PARIS in 1985. I knew someone, a people like you and me, who made the road from the restaurant until the recording studio with keith in his black ferrari. I knew 2 others guys who gone into the recording studio. The second guy have made some good pictures of them outside the studio when thew arrived or leaved the studio. One day he has shown the photos to josephine, ronnie's wife and few hours later he could enter in the studio (without his camera of course). For the other it was a litte bit strange. He was a little bit mad but sometimes he gave some bootle of wine to ronnie.
Well, all that to say that during a world tour, security is important and it's normal. Rehearsals are the beginning of the tour and it is the same security.
Heu! A little bit too long!!!

Last tour I didn't sit once for 4 shows. People sitting at a Stones concert is crazy. It's lame. Maybe I shouldn't have sold my Fenway tickets.Maybe I could have brought my couch to the show.

As for the security, IT helps create the spectacle and madness doesn;t it?

I mean, we need to keep those people who are looking for mortgages at arms length.

Have you seen the new Ameriquest add? There is one with a guy instead of that blonde groupie who gets felt up in the commercial.

i have to say. i think its fine to go down once or twice to try and get a pic and an autograph. but after that what's the point ?

some folks seem to go every day. are they stalkers or something ?

cos its not normal behaviour thats for certain

If the goal is to be normal you should sit at home drinking beer and watching football. Or shave your legs if you are a girl.

Bjornulf

BV,
Men can't shave thier legs?

if the Stones had a problem with fans outside the rehearsals they wouldn't be shy about letting their displeasure be known

In fact they don't just treat the fans as garbage. They could ask the police to get rid of the fans an time but they like to have their fans - who actually made them what they are today. In fact they all 4 - Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ronnie - walk over to the fans and spend time writing up many signatures every day. And by taking a look at their faces it does not look like they think the fans are rude, or what?

[iorr.org]

And even if it is heavy rain and thunders and Mick is busy talking on the phone he does actually take his time to turn around and salute the fans who say hello to him, rather than just walking the 6-8 feet into the door and shelter from the rain.

Bjornulf

Well put BV...there are just too many folks who say they are fans of rock...but they just like some as a music, not a way of life. It's like saying "isn't it rude that people bump into you at a Sex Pistols show?" They are just absurd & will get a beer/use the toilet during Keef's set. They will bother rock n' roll type people & they will drive home to suburbia when the gig is over. Their lives are vapid...so they become vampires trying to suck the life out of others.

I was at the rehearsels yesterday. It was a friendly
well behaved group, mostly fellow Canucks, maybe a dozen
in the afternoon, double that at night. I was hesitant to go
cause I'm not into being rude or obonxious and pissing my
favourite band off. I saw none of that, tho one excited fan
did get into a scuffle with security. There did seem to be
some bad blood from when he apparantly tried to follow
Ronnies car, on another night, to a bar. I dunno -I'm not
an insider, just a fan, but otherwise it seemed to be a
good night, the boys seemed to be genuinely receptive/
enjoyed seeing us there. Some, but not all of the security,
did seem kinda edgy. Apparantly Mick was also followed
to a local restaurant on another ocassion, and I could
see where concerns that they might've been being stalked
could be a legitimate security concern -tho to
punch someone? Hmmmmm. This is Canada eh?
Usually a pretty friendly, civil place
where no harm is intended. But I really
don't know all the facts.

Keith arrived in the front passenger seat of his car,
window rolled down, arm out, gave us a friendly wave and came
over at the end of the evening to sign autographs and so on,
as did Mick and Charlie, though at separate times. Charlie
perhaps stuck around with the fans the longest, didn't say much
but signed a fair bit of stuff. Mick just came by for a short bit,
hi and bye. No sign of Ronnie. None of them had a lot to say,
but it was fun anyway. A good Rolling Stone time!

There are a fair bit of folks just there to get stuff
signed, which seems rather dubious, like they are just
hoping to sell it etc., but most of us were true blue
local die hardfans, and the boys seemed to recognize that
and were glad to oblige us for autographs and pictures.
I've heard on some nights tho we are outnumbered, and
there can be a fair bit of pushing and shoving, though
apparantly it isn't as bad as during 2003.

By the way, I couldn't hear nada except the din of
drums and bass, and there's nothing to see once
they go inside the school rehearsel hall, the
windows have been papered over. Too bad, for
me the music is what it's really all about.
The rest of this stuff is a buzz, but
really beside the point.

BTAIM, I was somewhat surprised how good they looked up close
for their age. No doubt they are all using hair dye,
I'd suspect. They are not on tour yet, I thought
perhaps they'd forgo this during downtime,
but they look just like in their photos,
must be about ready to roll............:-)

Last night some jackals from the local bars
arrived hooting and hollering up a storm;
it was really kinda mindless and insane.
At one point they were making fun of one
fans girlfriend, had a very loud and nasty
demeanor. Security all took note,
and when the Stones excited they
just waved, didn't come over.
Dunno if related but they may
be getting wary. Course they were
rehearsing to quite late, so maybe
were just tired. Tho unfortunate, I'm sure
the Canuck fans behaviour must still be
pretty low key for the boys, compared to
some of the things they've seen in the past.
But if it's potentially a hassle, why bother?

BTW, Mick left first, and Keith played for awhile
with the band, we could hardly hear them tho so don't
know what numbers.

Bobby Keyes was good enough to come over to say hello,
sign a few albums. One of his entourage was telling
us that tonight they'd rehearsed a real killer
version of Moonlight Mile that's gonna rock
our socks off!!!!!! Can't wait.

I got a good Ronnie story but have to save it for later.
Suffice to say I was up real late after I got home.;-)

Thanks for the honest, perceptive reports, Davido! Looking forward to the Ron story...or any other perceptions...My guess is the RS may have been tipped off re the jackals if that was the time they just waved & split. And if he'd been followed, is it possible RW might have left via a different exit, or there was some other diversion?

Yeah, last night Ronnie just waved, got into his car
but sent security over to us to make a few friendly
inquiries, more on this later......

Yeah, it seems Ronnie has been slipping in thru
another entrance. And he's always the last to leave
on the three nights I've been outside the gate.
The exit pattern, if there is one, has been
Mick first, then Charlie or Keith, then
Ronnie way way afterwards. Course one
suspects he's having a pretty good time
at it, always has a giant grin on his face,
hugging everybody on the way out. I'm not
convinced security is a major concern yet, though
last night they came out to scope the crowds first,
they were quite big, maybe 150 people, but very friendly
and seemingly without incident. Nonetheless, all we got
was the wave from all concerned.

Jo left ahead of Ronnie last night, same with
Wren and the Jagger clan without Mick. They scoot
in and out in their own cars. The boys got their
drivers. They've certainly got the families
out for this one.

I'm somewhat surprised Charlie is always in the
van with Chuck, Lisa, Bernard and Blondie etc.
They all seem to be enjoying themselves
but I would've suspected by now he'd rate
his own vehicle. Tho it's really suspect,
trying to read too much into things like
this I suppose. Maybe it's for convenience,
or maybe it's just his personality type,
he enjoys being with them, and doesn't
want a big fuss?

There's been a fair number of suits coming
and going, and the rehearsels seem to run
quite late, with the din of instruments, or
perhaps rehearsel tapes, running late
into the wee hours. Anyway, that's
two nights without much autograph
signing.

Some of the fans are getting a bit uneasy
about this, got all sorts of albums etc
without one or more signatures, but not
a complete set. I know my personality type,
I could easily get hooked on the same roller
coaster ride too, so I don't think I'm going
to get started on that one! :-) But have
gotten a lot of neat fan snapshots on my
new Canon digital pocketcamera, and having
a great time with all the other diehards
who don't mind standing around on a nice
summer evening together for 4 or 5 hours,
to see the boys upclose. It is a buzz,
but again, for me the music is the thing
of course, we wait with bated breath for
word about the secret club gig. Rumours
are rife, but that's about it, if it's
going to happen here, it's no doubt the most
closely guarded secret in town right now.
Well that and perhaps how the Air France jet
really crashed. The sucker burnt for a good
day, and the gutted remains are now being
dissected and inspected in minute detail
out beside the highway. It sure has been
an interesting summer around here, but sio
far rather short on the Stone tunes.................

Oh yeah, the Ronnie story: I think I'll simplify
that one to the essentials and post on a separate
thread, might have some wider interest for IORR'ers
who like these sort of things...................

That is Charlie for sure. He doesn't like being taken to the rehearsals with his own driver and a Lincoln. He prefers to be one of many, some times going with Mick, but usually with some others. It even happens that he walk around in the streets on his own. I have met him several times on the streets that way. You have to respect the man. He is just like you and me, except he is the drummer in a famous rock band...

Bjornulf

davido,tanks for the reports,,lol with the secret gig

BV! Yeah, he seems real down to earth,
and diminutive, like perhaps he's still
humbled by all the furor, for example
here at rehearsals, each time he
steps out the doors, now decades
later into our Rolling Stones
mania thing.

The good old Beatles only had to collectively
put up with seven or so years of this to
help make them crack...............
but Charlie and the boys soldier on. :-)

I noticed, on the three nights I've been
out, that tho he only stopped to sign
autographs once, he stayed the longest
and was the most dilligent at it, tho
he said nary a word. He just seems so
centred in this natural down to earth
sincere, if not reserved demeanour,
that I'd hate to have anything rude
happen to him, or disrupt him in any
way. For that reason, I suspect even if
I did see him walking abouts the streets
of Toronto on his own, I'd probably not
say much/ anything out of respect. Even
tho, as a local who's lived here all my
life, I'd of course want to say hello,
even if just as a courtesy.

How about when you saw him? What
if anything did you say or do?

Thanks Chippy -keeping my fingers crossed
some word will leak out, but it
looks like a tight lockdown
in there...............

Hours of speculation, and it is
just that, out at the gates,
has narrowed it down to
a well known club in
Toronto this week
with concerns the
boys will cut and run
if they figure this somehow
was leaked, so is probably
best to say nada. Keep
your ear to the ground,
and you can probably
figure it out by
yourself. Or maybe
everybody is wrong.
Oh well! Helps wile
away the looooooong
hours out there.....................

PS crowd behaviour has been better
the past few nights, even though numbers
have grown. Don't seem to see as many
pro autograph hounds and photographers
trying to forcefully push their way in thru
the melee, each time a Stone comes out to
see us, which is good, our fan numbers
must've topped well over 100 on Friday
night. I haven't seen any more late night
bar room jackals out there to stir up
shit either. Am keeping my fingers
crossed, as next week could be
veeeeeery exciting, and I mean
that in a positive way.........