On July 11, 1989 the Stones held a press conference at Grand Central Station in NYC to announce the 1989 tour. Mick told the audience that the tour would open on September 1st in Buffalo which would seem to be in stone. Yet, Buffalo not only didn't open the tour, the City did not get a show at all in 1989, what happened? Check the video at 4:45 for Micks announcement.







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-04-02 08:30 by The Sicilian.

It didn't happen.

The original schedule had the Stones playing Philadelphia's JFK Stadium on September 19 - 21. When the City of Philadelphia condemned the decaying structure as unsafe, there was a scramble to find Philly dates that would fit into Veterans Stadium's schedule (home of the Philles and Eagles). The opener was then moved to The Vet, at Buffalo's loss. The Stones spent the prior week in Philly and used vacant JFK setting up the full Steel Wheels stage for dress rehearsals on August 27, 28, 29. As the tour schedule developed, Buffalo never got that replacement date in 1989.

Poor Buffalonians...

And it was great fun going down to the parking lot outside JFK, sitting in folding chairs, drinking beer and listening to the Stones rehearse. The last night they did a complete run-through of the show and of course ruined any setlist surprise for those of us who were there. Gems rarely or never heard like 2000LY, Harlem Shuffle, One Hit, Rooster, etc

HBK

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sittinonafence
The original schedule had the Stones playing Philadelphia's JFK Stadium on September 19 - 21. When the City of Philadelphia condemned the decaying structure as unsafe, there was a scramble to find Philly dates that would fit into Veterans Stadium's schedule (home of the Philles and Eagles). The opener was then moved to The Vet, at Buffalo's loss. The Stones spent the prior week in Philly and used vacant JFK setting up the full Steel Wheels stage for dress rehearsals on August 27, 28, 29. As the tour schedule developed, Buffalo never got that replacement date in 1989.

So Buffalo would have also had the rehearsals as well, and maybe a club show. So Philly stole the Buffalo date. More reason to dislike them.

At least in my case, I make the trek up to Toronto for two shows, one at the CNE outdoors in September, and one at SkyDome in December.

What happened to the Denver theater show (Rainbow Music Hall) on Oct 5 1981? There are original ticket stubs on Ebay.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-06-24 17:04 by Monsoon Ragoon.

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The Sicilian

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sittinonafence
The original schedule had the Stones playing Philadelphia's JFK Stadium on September 19 - 21. When the City of Philadelphia condemned the decaying structure as unsafe, there was a scramble to find Philly dates that would fit into Veterans Stadium's schedule (home of the Philles and Eagles). The opener was then moved to The Vet, at Buffalo's loss. The Stones spent the prior week in Philly and used vacant JFK setting up the full Steel Wheels stage for dress rehearsals on August 27, 28, 29. As the tour schedule developed, Buffalo never got that replacement date in 1989.

So Buffalo would have also had the rehearsals as well, and maybe a club show. So Philly stole the Buffalo date. More reason to dislike them.

At least in my case, I make the trek up to Toronto for two shows, one at the CNE outdoors in September, and one at SkyDome in December.

You mean Rogers Center? Didn't they demolish the CNE Grandstand?

Wow I never heard that about Buffalo being the opener. My first child was born then, I think I may have been sleep deprived.

CNE Grandstand was around still in 1994 for the Voodoo Lounge Tour. Much better venue than Rogers Center and its echoes.

The 2 1989 shows were months apart. One is September at the CNE in mild weather. The other in December in Skydome (why I'm guessing it was a little too chilly to open the roof).

It was kind of bizarre as people were already in line for tickets for JFK which was to be around 9/21 or so and told to leave. I would assume people were already in line in Buffalo as well.

[articles.philly.com]

I do remember while the scramble was on they had considered Spectrum shows but likely figured they would have needed 4.

As fate would have it , due to the shows being moved I was able to win tickets from WYSP and it was my first concert ever.

I was planning for buffalo then things changed so we went to filly!!

I saw them in Toronto September 3, and I've forgotten about the Buffalo no-show for all this time. Kind of sucks.

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andrews27
I saw them in Toronto September 3, and I've forgotten about the Buffalo no-show for all this time. Kind of sucks.

I was also at that Toronto show.

Memorable because Bill walked right out to the end of one of the runways, and that spooked Mick.

--
Captain Corella
60 Years a Fan

Sessler didn't like Buffalo (too provincial) so Keef cancelled the show? ><
Keef : "Cohl, there's no way I play in this hole! Pull it!"

As someone who was there in buffalo this is the supposed reason. Months previous , the Who played Rich stadium and did not sell out. Far from it. Lots of empty seats. Buffalo economically then, not so good. So the promoters got cold feet and no show/opener. Stones came back for Voodoo Lounge and obviously Zip Code. Stones seem to have an interesting "connection" with this area. I never held it (the cancelation) against them. "hey it's not personal it just business".

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CaptainCorella

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andrews27
I saw them in Toronto September 3, and I've forgotten about the Buffalo no-show for all this time. Kind of sucks.

I was also at that Toronto show.

Memorable because Bill walked right out to the end of one of the runways, and that spooked Mick.

I saw them in Toronto also. memorable because they were smoking hot.

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inspector71
As someone who was there in buffalo this is the supposed reason. Months previous , the Who played Rich stadium and did not sell out. Far from it. Lots of empty seats. Buffalo economically then, not so good. So the promoters got cold feet and no show/opener. Stones came back for Voodoo Lounge and obviously Zip Code. Stones seem to have an interesting "connection" with this area. I never held it (the cancelation) against them. "hey it's not personal it just business".

When the Stones played Buffalo in 1997 they only sold about 40 thousand tickets in a stadium that holds 70 thousand.

I was at that gig at Rich Stadium in October '97. Great weather and paired it with the Sabres' home opener for a 2-night binge in Western NY...

I believe the official attendance in Billboard was shown as 30,000 or so. My bud and I had great seats, and only the lower bowl was opened and sold. When we reached our seats on Keith's side, I could see a guy down in the first rows below us walking over to various folks and then handing them tickets, and then they would stand and move to rows down closer to the field. I asked my bud and he said "Go see what's up!", so I did. The dude let us turn over our tickets, which I had purchased through the Sprint promotion that tour, for very good seats maybe 5 rows off the field. Funny thing is, those comped tickets show a price of $0.00... Printed that day.

I have a rough video boot of that gig, and I've never heard a better version of 19th Nervous Breakdown, played just after Mick welcomes fans from Western NY and North of the border in Canada... Totally rockin'!

In the parking lot before the show we wandered around, and as we parked the DJ on the local Rock station said to keep our eyes peeled, and The Stones' plane had landed and the police motorcade was escorting their vans to Rich... Within a few minutes we heard the sirens wailing and here they came into and through the parking area to the backstage compound. All the folks tailgating raised a glass and welcomed The Boys accordingly!!

When I saw they were finally returning to Buffalo last Summer, I really wanted to pay another visit, as it was scheduled on my 50th Birthday! But, my caring and ever-sensitive boss-man decided he needed the weekend off instead, and with only one of a crew of five allowed vacation on a given day, I got to work 12 instead... But I was there in spirit!!

Good times and great memories of The Stones in Buffalo 1997!!

Had a really nice time in BFLO last July for the Zip Code show. The place gets maligned on account of the winters, but in the summer it was aces

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ab
Had a really nice time in BFLO last July for the Zip Code show. The place gets maligned on account of the winters, but in the summer it was aces

I had a great day too!