“So, thank you very much for being here and we will continue”.
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The Stones’ Latin American tour happened to roughly coincide and the band was at first set to play Havana on Sunday, but organizers then learned of the Obama trip and postponed the show until Friday, the band’s production manager said.
A crew of 140 Stones employees and at least 80 Cubans have set up on grounds including a football field and adjoining baseball fields with room for hundreds of thousands of spectators who are invited to arrive for free on a first-come, first-served basis.
In preparation for the historic free concert, the Stones have released a video message to their Cuban fans.
The band is not charging for tickets in the impoverished country and state news media estimate that as many as 500,000 to a million people, out of a total population of about 11 million, may come.
This concert event follows the band’s “America Latina Ole tour”, which is now playing to huge audiences in stadiums in SANTIAGO, BUENOS AIRES, MONTEVIDEO, RIO DE JANEIRO, SÃO PAULO and PORTO ALEGRE with LIMA, BOGOTÁ and MEXICO CITY following next week. A huge stage is being erected in the sports park as well as 10 giant video screens – unheard of in Cuba where technology mostly lags far behind.
The concert comes after U.S. President Barack Obama visited Cuba this week (beg21Mar), cementing an improvement in relations between the two countries.
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Despite official disapproval of rock music, the Stones have always been popular and former restrictions have gradually melted away over the last decade. Jagger, 72, actually visited Cuba a year ago to attend a concert.
