Rolling Stones Cuba Concert Set for 3/25
HAVANA TIMES — The Rolling Stones confirmed today on their website that will give a free concert in Havana, Cuba on March 25, reported dpa news.
The legendary band led by Mick Jagger will perform at the Sports City in what will be the first open-air concert of British rock group on the island.
Thus, socialist Cuba opens its doors to Western musicians. For many decades, the music of the Rolling Stones, like the Beatles, was considered noxious to Cuban socialism and was prohibited on the island by the government headed by Fidel Castro.
“During our long career we’ve played in many special places, but this show in Havana will be a landmark event for us and hopefully for all our friends in Cuba,” said the musicians.
The concert will be held just three days after the visit of US President Barack Obama to Cuba. Obama will be in Havana on March 21 and 22 as the first US president in nearly 90 years to visit the island, after the two countries announced a diplomatic thaw in late 2014 in a historic shift in bilateral relations.
The Rolling Stones are currently on their Olé-Tour in Latin America. After stops in Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Rio de Janeiro they will travel to Lima, Bogota and Mexico City.
The statement is accompanied by a photo of the band in front of a Cuban flag in which they also see the symbol of the lips with its tongue out that identifies them.
Is a visa still required to fly to Cuba?
Faulty conclusion. Fidel deigned to allow Cubans to enjoy CERTAIN foreign rock music. So long as that music did not criticize his dictatorship. He has the right to do that?
The average wage in Cuba is about $20 dollars a month for 40 hour work week – $20 for 160 hours, Just over 10 cents an hour. So, yes, to a certain degree they have very difficult lives, but they still make do. A little grumbling should be acceptable under those conditions.
I love the ‘Stones. I hate dictatorships. Fidel censored rock music because he saw it as anti-socialist. He singled out the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley as particularly degenerative. Now that he needs US tourists $$$ to stay in business, he changes his tune. (Pun intended)
If only the Rolling Stones will have a Porno Para Ricardo as the opening act… now that would be a concert to remember!
Good response. But let me correct two things. The Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh band and live nearby to me and are still going strong. More left wing than anti-US I would say.
The Orishas are from Cuba originally but live in Europe (Milan, Madrid and Paris). Fidel would have recognized the boost to the tourism industry after their appearance in Dirty Dancing 2 and their contribution to the soundtrack of that film.
Undercover of the Night
American politqueros used to rail against Rock & Roll in the late 40’s and 50’s when it was slandered as degenerate, immoral and black. Don’t know that Moses ? So what’s your problem with Fidel ? And it is the Stones after all, not Ted Nugent. Many years ago, long before I discovered the infinitely more interesting music of Los Van Van, Carlos Puebla, and NG La Banda, I was a Stones fan, and saw them in Munich. They did songs like Street Fighting Man, Salt of the Earth, and some other song I don’t recall the name of about US backed death squads killing indigenous Central Americans.
Indeed we do. Typically, we change our minds because of new information or because we realize we made a mistake with the information that we had. In as much as nothing about Rock ‘n roll has not changed ergo no new information, then we can conclude that Fidel changed his mind because he realized that he was wrong. I hope that this is a trend and he allows the Cuban people to set their own course. I hope he realizes that he made a mistake with socialism the same way he erred about Rock music. By the way, the Manic Street Preachers were an moderately successful Irish rock group that was avowedly anti-US. His meeting backstage with the group prior to their Havava concert was a photo-op to generate anti-US propaganda. The Orishas are a Cuban group approved by the Castro regime.
People have a right to change their minds. Fidel has met a number of rock stars and attended their concerts over the years (eg the Manic Street Preachers and the Oreishas). You need to move on with the times.
I agree. It would be the ultimate insulte to Che! Lol
When are the Eagles going to Cuba?
You read into my comment incorrectly. OR, you are ignorant of historical fact. In numerous hours-long speeches, Fidel railed against US rock ‘n roll, professional baseball AND the US President. Methinks that you fail to see the irony that ALL three, as you point out, are visiting the same island that officially opposed them a generation ago. I find it hard to believe that Fidel is “thrilled” about this. It sort of makes him look stupid for saying all that crap in the first place. I feel no obtuse, let alone acute sadness for these visits. On the contrary, it tickles me that an old and decrepit tyrant like Fidel has lived long enough to eat his words.
Not exactly, Moses. It’s just wishful thinking on your part that Fidel is beside himself about all the affection the Rolling Stones, President Obama, Major League Baseball, etc., etc., are showering on the deserving Cuban people. In a three-day span later this month the President of the United States, the world’s most famed rock ‘n roll band, a Major League Baseball team from Florida, etc., will all be in Havana at the same time, No, Cuba is not ready for such a surge of love and decency, but it is not about to stifle all of it either. Alex Castro, the skilled photographer and the Castro son that spends the most time with him, says his dad is “thrilled that more and more love is coming to Cuba from abroad.” Anti-Cuban/anti-Castro zealots and propagandists making luxurious hay in the U. S. expect Americans to accept any vitriol against Cuba such as the deadly terrorist bombing of Cuban hotels, cannon-fire from speed-boats targeting coastal fishing cabins, the terrorist bombing of Cubana Flight 455 that Americans were told to celebrate as “the biggest blow yet against Castro!!,” etc., etc. Mick Jagger and billions (yes, with a “B”) like him around the world have tired of the sanctimonious batterings of how great the Batista-Mafia regime was and how evil revolutionary Cuba is, all a part of the anti-democracy propaganda that most Americans, and Cuban-Americans, now oppose along with the rest of the world. The continued punishing of 11 million innocent Cubans on the island by a handful of Cuban exiles and their egregious sycophants off the island {who happen to be hiding behind the skirts of the world superpower} is a fact that a great President, a great entertainer, and the new President of Major League baseball are trying to ameliorate, along with the nations of the world. Thus, your acute sadness over Mick Jagger’s love of the Cuban people is par-for-the-course, isn’t it, Moses?.
Free yea!
What about the superb statue of John Lennon in the public park in Havana which was visited by Fidel Castro. I have come to the conclusion that a number of your respondents must live pretty miserable lives as they appear to only respond in a negative and doomed manner.
Sometimes, a good hearty laugh is the best medicine. I wish you well.
Moses, I suffer from an incurable disease but you give me a hearty laugh when you post. Might not agree with you sometimes but you’re brilliant in my book. The Stones going to Cuba is spectacular. Google when Bruce Springsteen went to East Berlin. Saw the Stones when Bill Graham managed them years ago and still today they give a great concert. Congrats to Cubans and I’m sure a major flux of tourists, who will see this historic event. Train is express mode so no going back. Only wish Bill Gates would visit there.
Mick needs to wear a Che t shirt for the concert
Given all the sh*t that Fidel used to (maybe still does) say about Rock n’ Roll and the Rolling Stones, he must be ‘chewing nails’ about this concert. Good!