The Rolling Stones aren't going to be there anymore. Wonder if Prince will not play also?

Rolling Stones won't play Hong Kong fest Organizers withdraw offer

Saturday, October 11, 2003
HONG KONG, China (Reuters) -- Organizers have withdrawn an offer to the Rolling Stones to perform at a government-funded pop fest in Hong Kong after criticism that the veteran British rockers were being overpaid.

"After a period of discussion with the Rolling Stones, during which we made them a firm offer and had a contract ready to be signed, we realized that the Rolling Stones were unable to commit to our offer in a timely manner. We have, therefore, decided to withdraw our offer," the organizers said in a statement.

Although the fee offer was kept confidential, Hong Kong media have speculated that the joint organizers -- the American Chamber of Commerce and a government-funded investment promotion unit -- might be overpaying the four-decade-old band.

In hopes of relaunching Hong Kong as a tourist destination after the economic disaster of this year's deadly SARS epidemic, the government promised to underwrite the three-week musical event to the tune of HK$ 80 million. But the gesture aroused public concern that the money might not be well spent.

The Harbour Fest, set to kick off on October 17, features artists such as Prince and Irish boyband Westlife.

A Hong Kong television station also reported that the Stones had cancelled what would have been their first performances in Beijing and Shanghai in November.

Deja Poo.

2the9s said:

Pardon my lack of French.

heh

I heard on the news tonight that he was but who knows

2the9s said:

Deja Woo

I don't think this reflects on the likelihood of Prince playing.

- The Rolling Stones stated that they withdrew because they couldn't secure other concerts in the region - this doesn't apply to Prince.
- The Rolling Stones fee would be much higher than Prince's
- It is very close to the concert date now, and Prince is still selling on the web site, unlike the Stones which disappeared from the web site quite some time ago
- Prince is playing on the opening night, so it would be a bad move by the organisers to cancel his spot
- There isn't anything to suggest that Prince won't play

And besides, I just bought my plane ticket over there so he'd better play!!

sabaisabai said:

Add to that:

Prince NEEDS the cash, the Rolling Stones don't.

The Event will pay for his crew and gear to be shipped over and returned to the US, all Prince has to do is pay the HK - OZ fee (he may have got a deal where the event will even cover this..) therefore his overheads for the OZ leg of the tour is minimal... = High Profits from OZ...

if the event was cancelled, i'm sorry to say Prince would more than likley cancel the OZ tour also.

july said:

Déjà vu !

the stones not playing has nothing 2 do with prince.

whoever plays or pulls out do so on their own steam.

if prince were 2 pull out it would have nothing 2 do with any other artists.

i hope it all goes according 2 plan 4 the aussie prince fans.

NME said:

---
How do you know he needs the cash??? Are you his accountant?

jimipaisley said:

ya'll stop speakin my name in vain!

I saw this story on CNN. They didn't mention that Prince was playing. I don't say that to infer that he's not going to appear. I was just listening to see if they would mention him and they did not.

laurarichardson said:

Funnily enough, i'm not his accountant. But he's charging fans a PREMIUM to meet him (there are no costs involved, therefore it's a profit generator), AND it's very expensive to tour OZ and the far east. And Prince ain't rolling in cash...