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promoters DNA Networks' Venkat Vardhan said that two concerts would
take place on 11 and 14 April. The first one is in Bangalore for
which tickets will go on sale on 10 March. In fact today the whole
of Asia tour is being announced in different countries. The Karnataka
government has been most helpful and the company is trying to get
the band to perform in Mumbai the next day, Vardhan said.
"Economically however this has to be made viable. Petitions have
already been made to the Maharashtra government. We are pushing
for a reduction in the 50 per cent entertainment tax. Other states
charge between 15-20 per cent. Also the 50 per cent tax on sponsorship
and on complimentary tickets given out must be abolished as this
is blatantly unfair to the organiser. Fingers crossed things will
work out but if not then Delhi and Kolkata are other alternative
venues," Venkat said.
SET CEO Kunal Dasgupta said: "When I was approached by Dilip Doshi
to be the broadcast partner I did not think twice. After all I have
spent a large part of my life getting "no satisfaction"
and "Jumping Jack Flash". Max will be the primary host
and it is important to note that just two concerts worldwide from
the Rolling Stones 2003 World Licks tour are being aired on television.
The first one was the Madison Square Gardens event, which was televised
by HBO in the US. The second one will be the Bangalore concert.
After MAX the event will air on Sony. It might go to HBO or AXN
later on depending on how much revenue can be generated, Dasgupta
said.
"For all events we have different event producers but for
this one I am going to be personally involved. I would say that
this is the pinnacle of my career with Sony and we will be creating
a promotional campaign using the network, which will create a new
dimension to event marketing, Dasgupta added.
Dasgupta also tried to draw a link between cricket and the Rolling
Stones. "Mick Jagger is a major cricket enthusiast and he co-promoted
cricinfo.com before selling his stake to Satyam. I would like to
point out that tickets for the Singapore concert have sold out in
two hours and we expect a similar reaction to Mumbai. This band
cuts across age groups, gender. Not everyone speaks English but
everyone is aware of the Rolling Stones," he said.
MAX business head Rajat Jain said, "We view this as a major event
that doesn't come around too often. We have bagged the rights to
Devdas along with three or four other films. The trick to
hooking viewers is how you push the smaller events and properties
around the major ones. The Rolling Stones and The World Cup are
major events. The CEAT Cricket Awards is a medium sized event. The
Rolling Stones do not represent a shift in programming strategy
whatsoever. We will continue to focus on events related to cricket
and movies. Whether or not The Rolling Stones becomes one of the
defining events of the year is for the viewer to decide."
Venkat said McDowell No.1 is the title sponsor. There would be
an opening act for both concerts but it is still to be decided whether
this would be English or Hindi music. " Nine to ten bands have approached
me personally requesting me to give them a stage for such an important
occasion. The finer details of the concerts like arrangements, ticket
prices, promotional campaigns will be announced on Tuesday. As far
as other events are concerned the Adnan Sami tour is taking place
and we are trying to promote Indian music as well."
Ex-cricketer Dilip Doshi, whose company it is that is promoting
this event, said: "This represents a long time dream come true.
The band has withstood all the problems associated with rock 'n'
roll for 40 years. Mick Jagger has been a cricket fan for 30 years
and has been wanting to come down to India for a while now. However
due to logistical reasons this was not possible earlier. Jagger
in fact visited India in 1996 for the World Cup semi final."
An innovative promotional video was aired showing the excitement
that the Rolling Stones create today whether the music lover is
from Mexico or Holland.
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