The Rolling Stones arrive in Cuba
The legendary British band will play a massive concert this Friday, March 25, at 8:30 p.m., in Havana’s Ciudad Deportiva, as the final gig of their América Latina Olé Tour
Author: Michel Hernández | michel@granma.cu
march 25, 2016 12:03:27

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Yander Zamora

“It’s a pleasure to be in Cuba, we are going to perform a special show for Cubans,” said Mick Jagger, the legendary leader of the Rolling Stones, on landing yesterday afternoon at the José Martí International Airport along with his fellow band mates Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood.
The four Stones arrived just after 6:00 p.m. and were welcomed at the airport by Orlando Vistel, president of the Cuban Music Institute, and British Ambassador to Cuba Tim Cole.
Jagger spoke briefly with the press and confirmed the band has no plans to retire yet, while adding that it is a pleasure to be here following the visit by President Barack Obama.

Accompanying the Stones were Bernard Fowler and Darryl Jones, of The Dead Daisies, who assured Granma during their first visit to Havana that they would encourage Jagger and the band to play on the island. A promise that has now materialized.
The musicians and their extensive entourage spent some 15 minutes in one of the airport lounges before getting into the cars that took them to various hotels in the Cuban capital.
Arriving with the Stones was a staff of 70 people, including managers, assistants, relatives and friends of the band. It is expected that the musicians, as they have done in other countries during the tour, will visit cultural venues in Havana and other sites of historical interest. This reporter also discovered that they will meet with Cuban musicians, as Jagger himself did during his trip to Havana last October.
Fans of the Rolling Stones began making arrangements to be at the concert since early this week, with a large number of the most dedicated fans expected to travel to Havana’s Ciudad Deportiva from the early hours this Friday. Many from other provinces arrived in the capital from Thursday, while Cubans living in other countries have also traveled to the island to enjoy this highly symbolic concert.
The band will perform some of its classics, including the mythical “Satisfaction” and “Sympathy for the Devil”, along with others such as “Start Me Up”, “Paint It Black” and “Brown Sugar”.
The concert will last 2 hours and 15 minutes, but it is possible that the band, aware of the significance of this gig, includes a major encore.
For the debut of the Stones in Cuba, artists of great caliber have traveled to the island, including the English filmmaker Julien Temple (friend of Jagger and director of several films on David Bowie, Joe Strummer, leader of punk band The Clash, and the Sex Pistols), and rock photographer Jill Furmanovsky, while other important figures of the rock ‘n’ roll scene are expected to join them.
The Rolling Stones will use the most state-of-the-art sound system in the world (audio of 1,300 kilos) during the concert.
The concert will be the conclusion to their América Latina Olé Tour, which began in February at the National Stadium in Chile, and has seen the legendary British band take to the stage in Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico.