ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Rolling Stones -- Ron Wood, left, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts -- might be coming to Hawaii. |
Rolling Stones headed to Hawaii?
A radio station says the Rolling Stones will play a concert at Aloha Stadium
A HONOLULU radio station is sticking to its story that the Rolling Stones are indeed rocking the town on Thanksgiving Day.
KPOI-FM is reporting that the Stones will end their lengthy "A Bigger Bang" tour in Honolulu on Nov. 23. The station had no information on ticket prices or where the band would play.
Officials at the expected venue for the show, Aloha Stadium, could not confirm the KPOI report yesterday. Any concert would have to be made official soon because of the particularly busy Thanksgiving weekend.
Two high school football playoff games are scheduled one day after Thanksgiving, leaving little time to clear out a concert setup. The University of Hawaii plays national power Purdue that Saturday, and the Pop Warner Hawaii regional championship game takes place Sunday.
KPOI is sticking to its story.
"We're closely connected with the rock 'n' roll community," said program director Ed Kanoi, "and a source close to the Stones (a tour booking agent on the mainland) called our deejay Dave Lawrence to confirm that the band was heading to Hawaii to wrap up the tour."
"We've not seen a press release or e-mail yet to confirm that everything is in place and ready to announce, but at this point the info we got seems pretty reliable," Kanoi said.
"We have no inkling how they got the story," stadium manager Kenny Lum said. "(The concert) has not been confirmed, and that information didn't come out of the stadium."
Stadium board chairman Kevin Chong Kee also said that despite the rumors, "nothing's been fed to us as of anything solid concerning the Stones playing here. There've been rumors that after the band plays Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Nov. 18, they were going to Asia and probably stop in Hawaii."
Chong Kee also said he had heard negotiations were to start soon between stadium management and promoters.
"It's just a lot of talk right now," he said. "But if anything were to be settled, management would let the board know. But if the official announcement is made too late, it'd be tough to do the show at the stadium."
Tom Moffatt, an intermediary promoter for all of the Stones' previous local concerts, dating back 40 years, said he has heard nothing firm from the band's management: "With those football games already scheduled, they obviously can't play that holiday weekend. But we would love to do the concert."
The Rolling Stones have already completed a Pacific Rim tour, playing venues in Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand from March 22 to April 18. The band is touring Europe through Sept. 3, then will begin a North American leg starting Sept. 20 in Boston.