Quote
spikenyc
Here is a good video that shows the crowd entering.
Does not seem too bad.

[www.youtube.com]

I watched thst all the way through. Thanks very much for hunting that down. I agree that the crowd rush doesn't seem as bad as reported here, although it's very obvious that they got in prematurely with that fence collapsing the way it did. I wish I went now... . Nonetheless I'm hopeful of more gigs - hopefully something around this Exhibitionism mularchy

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grzegorz67

Quote
spikenyc
Here is a good video that shows the crowd entering.
Does not seem too bad.

[www.youtube.com]

I watched thst all the way through. Thanks very much for hunting that down. I agree that the crowd rush doesn't seem as bad as reported here, although it's very obvious that they got in prematurely with that fence collapsing the way it did. I wish I went now... . Nonetheless I'm hopeful of more gigs - hopefully something around this Exhibitionism mularchy

What you see in the video is a gate on Primelles (see maps) on the West of the venue. From there it's the largest distance to first row and that's why there are not too many people at the gate. There's no pushing at all, although you don't get the whole story as there's a cut in video. These guys didn't get anywhere, first rows were taken by others.

Regulars, hard cores, tourists and local fans had gathered at gates on Av. Santa Catalina (South side). That was the shortest and most direct run to get to the front on Ronnie's side. This street was really crowded before 2.00 pm when the run started. The situation was different there. People fell down, lost their bags etc.

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latvianinexile

Quote
grzegorz67

Quote
spikenyc
Here is a good video that shows the crowd entering.
Does not seem too bad.

[www.youtube.com]

I watched thst all the way through. Thanks very much for hunting that down. I agree that the crowd rush doesn't seem as bad as reported here, although it's very obvious that they got in prematurely with that fence collapsing the way it did. I wish I went now... . Nonetheless I'm hopeful of more gigs - hopefully something around this Exhibitionism mularchy

What you see in the video is a gate on Primelles (see maps) on the West of the venue. From there it's the largest distance to first row and that's why there are not too many people at the gate. There's no pushing at all, although you don't get the whole story as there's a cut in video. These guys didn't get anywhere, first rows were taken by others.

Regulars, hard cores, tourists and local fans had gathered at gates on Av. Santa Catalina (South side). That was the shortest and most direct run to get to the front on Ronnie's side. This street was really crowded before 2.00 pm when the run started. The situation was different there. People fell down, lost their bags etc.

Thanks for that Latvian. I did think that the front appeared to be already filled by the time this guy reached it and wasn't consistent with yours and others' account of events I've read. I've also read that an attempt was made to create and maintain a FoS area but it failed miserably. It sounds like people could easily have been hurt but luckily it seems not. For such s show you did very well to make your quick decision to choose the end of the catwalk. If you can get directly behind the podium, it's possible to get a very good unobstructed view and sound from there with no tall heads and selfie sticks to look past. I got that precise spot for Oslo 2 years ago and enjoyed the show a lot from there although I had a fair bit of crowd pressure behind me...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-03-30 00:52 by grzegorz67.

Cuba, where do I begin... It was certainly a fantastic experience. It reminded me a lot of Russia in the 1990's except Old Town Havana where the fabulous but decaying architecture has already been spoiled by everyone trying to hustle you tat, invite you to bars with overpriced drinks and other assorted tourist scams. Everywhere else I went people are busy surviving or watching the world go by and it made for very interesting people watching. It's a two currency and two price level economy, taxi rides are roughly ten times the price for tourists although everything is negotiable. Most of the time you are negotiating in monthly salaries or at least sizeable fractions especially when it came the event staff T-Shirts. My friend couldn't stop laughing as I went along a line of security and managed to literally buy the shirt off the backs of half of them (collectibles being my thing for those that don't know).

The concert itself was as brilliant as one has come to expect but the atmosphere was very different. In one way I regret not just mingling with the crowd, my best crowd experiences were in South America where I went with the crowd and met so many young fans for whom it was their first show. Incredible to watch grown, although young, men cry with joy when the band came out. The complete lack of water and only 4 portaloos put me off (hours before the concert the lines for the loo were already hundreds long and many had given up turning the sides into makeshift urinals).

South America had been waiting, the fans hardcore. In Cuba it was an event, most didn't really know who the Stones were, for them it was just an important event with the island never having seen anything like it before. People after the show couldn't believe it... the shear scale of the production (although there was no pyro as they weren't allowed to bring and explosives in). They talked about it as an important point and driver of change. One local even said to me that people are already talking about "Before the Stones" and "After the Stones" as separate times like before and after the revolution. Certainly a dramatic claim.

Watching the show from in front of the mixer most of the concert goers I could see didn't know every lyric like in South America. However it was most definitely the largest gathering of technology I have ever seen at a concert. So many phones and cameras on selfie sticks recording their owners "I was there" memories.

I enjoyed the pre concert build up. Ronnie went to check out the crowd early in the evening and mingled with the privileged few who had been allowed access to the production area. The was no VIP area as such, apparently because when the Stones asked about making provisions for their friends and family the government insisted they would need 7,000 seats at the front. The net result was there were a lot of tour staff who were not actually working :-)

Myself and my Dutch partner in crime Kariem posed for a photo pretending to push a flight case that was displaying the Cuban flag, little did we know it would be the backdrop for the official photo by regular Stones snapper Dave Hogan. It was Kariem's 100th show and we were determined to have fun! His first show was Paradiso, what an incredible pair of bookends to one's hundredth.

Keith did his usual, "it's good to be here" but omitted the "it's good to be anywhere", I was most glad he did as I've always thought it a little insulting to the local crowd. Although of course I acknowledge he's Keith Richards and he can say what he likes, his fans still love him.

Finally back on wet land in the UK, the next adventure to look forward to is the exhibition opening.

Looking forward to exhibitionism myself, although not until May as we're combining it with Lisa's gig. Hope your stuff there has your name somewhere ! Fortunately I got a lot of time pre show in Havana and got savvy pretty quickly. A historic week for Cuba and a wonderfully memorable Stones experience to end on. We are indeed the lucky generation.
Cheers,
Chriseganstar

Satisfied since 1976

1400 word review of show plus 1:50 video review from Sessions X. The latter has poor sound. The print review is worth reading.

[sessionsx.com]

I think Matt uses a synth harp at the beginning of Miss You and changes later in the song to a strings sound. You can clearly hear it during the sax solo and at the end of the song. I think I heard strings on PIB and GS too.

[www.youtube.com]

6 mins of Midnight Rambler

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MonkeyMan2000
[www.youtube.com]

6 mins of Midnight Rambler

I'll see your 6 mins and raise it to 10.5

[www.youtube.com]

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tryinginvain

Quote
MonkeyMan2000
[www.youtube.com]

6 mins of Midnight Rambler

I'll see your 6 mins and raise it to 10.5

[www.youtube.com]

You beat me with better sound and longer video! I think Keith was too early for Charlie with the slow part... But otherwise it sounds like a great version! Well, every version of this song is great! No backup singers, no horns, no Matt...Just raw energy!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-03-30 17:36 by MonkeyMan2000.

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MonkeyMan2000

You beat me with better sound and longer video! I think Keith was too early for Charlie with the slow part... But otherwise it sounds like a great version! Well, every version of this song is great! No backup singers, no horns, no Matt...Just raw energy!

That song was the highlight of the show for me......even though I screwed up and ended the video early. I'm looking forward to seeing/hearing a better one!

Will we get an early itunes release of the show like fonda and hyde park some days after the shows?

That'd be really nice.

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latvianinexile

Quote
grzegorz67

Quote
spikenyc
Here is a good video that shows the crowd entering.
Does not seem too bad.

[www.youtube.com]

I watched thst all the way through. Thanks very much for hunting that down. I agree that the crowd rush doesn't seem as bad as reported here, although it's very obvious that they got in prematurely with that fence collapsing the way it did. I wish I went now... . Nonetheless I'm hopeful of more gigs - hopefully something around this Exhibitionism mularchy

What you see in the video is a gate on Primelles (see maps) on the West of the venue. From there it's the largest distance to first row and that's why there are not too many people at the gate. There's no pushing at all, although you don't get the whole story as there's a cut in video. These guys didn't get anywhere, first rows were taken by others.

Regulars, hard cores, tourists and local fans had gathered at gates on Av. Santa Catalina (South side). That was the shortest and most direct run to get to the front on Ronnie's side. This street was really crowded before 2.00 pm when the run started. The situation was different there. People fell down, lost their bags etc.

Correct. Same on Keith side. The die hards estimated which gates were closest. I ran from Avenida de la Indepensia on the East side.After the event I talked to a belgian guy who was pushed over when the gates opened and he had do fight to to be run over.

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Cristiano Radtke
Meet the lawyer who paid for the Rolling Stones concert in Havana

Thanks for this, Cristiano - interesting read!

I thought I'd gotten really lucky since someone gave me an "invitation" when I was walking around out front before 2pm. But getting in with that was a complete fiasco.

They used a small, one at a time gate - AND only let a few in at a time before waiting for the next batch. I have no idea why they did this. There were hundreds of us pushing against the fence, and about every minute or so a wall of police would push the fence back and move the whole crowd. It was crazy, someone could have really gotten hurt. I got to my spot in front of the left screen at 2:30.









Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-03-30 22:02 by tryinginvain.

1.2 million people at a free concert. Great.

A few more I like. A couple are news items.


[youtu.be]


The girls on the rail get quite emotional at the end of Angie.

[youtu.be]

[youtu.be]

[youtu.be]

[youtu.be]

[youtu.be]

There are 14 videos by Slavko Ranca on his channel.
[youtu.be]

[youtu.be]

[youtu.be]

This guy has got four videos on his channel
[youtu.be]

[youtu.be]

[youtu.be]

Nice interview with Chuck where starting at 5:30 talks about the Cuba gig.
[youtu.be]

[youtu.be]

[youtu.be]

[youtu.be]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-03-31 22:27 by crawdaddy.

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mtaylor
1.2 million people at a free concert. Great.

500.000? 1,2 million?

This remind me an article read about concerts on the great lawn in Central Park.
Some concerts are known to have gathered 200.000 (Simon & Garfunkel), 400.000 (Paul Simon) or even 650.000 peole (Garth Brooks!) on this area.
The fact is that people working in Central Park can explain that no more than 180.000 peole can stand on the great lawn!!!

All these figures are B... S...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-03-31 17:14 by MRAmandaJones.

Quote
Cristiano Radtke
Meet the lawyer who paid for the Rolling Stones concert in Havana

Thanks, a lot of great info in there and at least one weird error "Jayne Smyth, the manager of the Rolling Stones", make that JOYCE Smith, how could they get her name wrong ?!

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The Stones themselves agreed to do the show for free, but all those suppliers had to be paid

That's news to me, by all accounts they're previous "free" show in Rio came with a fee for them, but maybe not after all...

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(Some of the bills may be paid from sales of a DVD recording of the concert, which will go on sale later this year.)

It seemed likely given the crew on site but at least it's more or less confirmed now.

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Though Elias did feel one teeny, tiny spark of animosity himself during the concert. The Stones didn’t play his favorite of their songs, Far Away Eyes. It seems that even when you’re picking up the tab, you can’t always get what you want.

--------------
IORR Links : Essential Studio Outtakes CDs : Audio - History of Rarest Outtakes : Audio



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-03-31 17:13 by gotdablouse.

For anyone who bothers to pull my Cuba report through Google translate, thank you.

http://www.thebluesalone.nl/2016/03/31/een-historische-week-voor-cuba-met-obama-en-the-rolling-stones/

The gate crash at 1:55pm during the "unofficial" opening was raving mad and highly dangerous. hundreds of people were forced through a tiny narrow dangerous entrance in two minutes. Barriers tilted, liyingt upside down, you could break legs, if anyone fell or stumbled it could have been nasty. Kids could have been squeezed. It was just luck if nobody got hurt. Once inside there were more barriers but they did not work. They were crashed, people running over, around etc.

That video is not really interesting, as it is from another gate, and there are already 1,000+ people inside.

Bjornulf

Quote
MRAmandaJones

Quote
mtaylor
1.2 million people at a free concert. Great.

500.000? 1,2 million?

This remind me an article read about concerts on the great lawn in Central Park.Some concerts are known to have gathered 200.000 (Simon & Garfunkel), 400.000 (Paul Simon) or even 650.000 peole (Garth Brooks!) on this area.
The fact is that people working in Central Park can explain that no more than 180.000 peole can stand on the great lawn!!!

All these figures are B... S...

Official Stones figures. Don't think they would say 1.2 million if it was "out the blue". See their homepage:
[www.rollingstones.com]

Quote
mtaylor

Quote
MRAmandaJones

Quote
mtaylor
1.2 million people at a free concert. Great.

500.000? 1,2 million?

This remind me an article read about concerts on the great lawn in Central Park.Some concerts are known to have gathered 200.000 (Simon & Garfunkel), 400.000 (Paul Simon) or even 650.000 peole (Garth Brooks!) on this area.
The fact is that people working in Central Park can explain that no more than 180.000 peole can stand on the great lawn!!!

All these figures are B... S...

Official Stones figures. Don't think they would say 1.2 million if it was "out the blue". See their homepage:
[www.rollingstones.com]

Official figures are just for promotion etc.

If you look at the aerial view of the site, you can see baseball grounds.
If you compare these grounds with the place the Stones played, you can't put more than 6 or 7 baseball grounds in this place.
On a baseball ground, around 15.000 people can stand.
So 15.000 x 7 = 105.000

The fact that the Stones were in Cuba is great.
The fact that the Stones gave a free concert in front of 100.000 people is great

Not necessary to foolish everyone with silly figures...

The concert will be filmed and produced by award winning production JA Digital with Paul Dugdale directing and Simon Fisher and Sam Bridger as producers

[www.fundashonbonintenshon.org]

There will be a dvd , the concert is filmed by a Dutch crew ;

[www.omroepzeeland.nl]

United ,from Hilversum, Holland ;

[m.facebook.com]

Quote
chriseganstar
Looking forward to exhibitionism myself, although not until May as we're combining it with Lisa's gig. Hope your stuff there has your name somewhere ! Fortunately I got a lot of time pre show in Havana and got savvy pretty quickly. A historic week for Cuba and a wonderfully memorable Stones experience to end on. We are indeed the lucky generation.
Cheers,
Chriseganstar

Great to hear you had a really good time in Cuba Chris, which I know you would have.

Really good memories of Brasil ,and that great Porto Alegre show where we met up again at the Fans Fest the night before.

Such a great time on the day of the show and meeting you in the afternoon at the Stadium, before the rain really came down.

Great memories for us all.

[www.dailymail.co.uk]

Santa?

[www.iorr.org]

''The band agreed to do the show for free. Everything else cost $7million.''

I would love to believe the quote above.

I love The Stones no matter what, but my estimation of their feelings for playing in Cuba would go up 100% if that was true.

Either way.....................it was a truly historic gig for Cuba, The Stones ,and the whole world.