hollywood billionaire

Chapter 385 Fishing Net and Big Fish (Part )
"Get straight to the point, I like it."

Turki Al-Sheikh's too straightforward opening caught Mick Jagger off guard. The British old man looked at Dr. Dre, then at Han Yi, and finally returned his gaze to Turki. His thin lips, which were as broad as the Great Rift Valley in East Africa, opened wider. Several profound rings of time also appeared on both sides of the sagging, old cheeks.

No matter how energetic he is, no matter how immortal rock music is, Mick Jagger, who brought the 1960s into the new century, cannot escape the erosion of time.

“Man of productivity, Mr. Al Sheikh.”

"Everyone here has extremely busy schedules and I'm just trying to save everyone some time - that's how I always do it."

Turki Al-Sheikh held his plump belly and smiled heroically.

"And I respect people like this very much." Mick Jagger smiled and nodded, joking, "After all, I don't have much time."

"You still have many years to go." Turki raised his arms with a gentle, friendly and enthusiastic expression. "Mr. Jagger, you look as strong as a lion."

"But I remember an Arabic proverb." Mick Jagger tapped his temple with his hand, "'It is better to be a free dog than a lion trapped in a cage.' I am being Trapped - by my age, and my body."

"Very knowledgeable." Turki praised softly, "What you said is very correct, but don't forget that we Arabs also have a proverb, 'Death is afraid of him because he has the heart of a lion.'"

"Haha, yes, yes, I do have a heart." Mick Jagger looked up to the sky and laughed, "otherwise I wouldn't be here today."

"I hope that one day in the future, we can see the Rolling Stones rock concert in Riyadh." Indeed, as he said, Turki is a person who likes to make every conversation revolve around a clear goal and is extremely efficient. people.

"If I have the opportunity, I would be happy to perform there." Mick Jagger narrowed his eyes, which could not open enough. "This will be the greatest honor for our band."

"And that's why the three of us agreed to gather here today, isn't it?" Dr. Dre joined the conversation at the right time. He spread his hands, his smile equally bright and friendly, "To discuss our great Rolling Stones performing in the great Riyadh. possibility.”

“There are other equally great cities in the world,” Turki Al-Sheikh added, raising his index finger.

"Yeah, that's our plan for today."

Mick Jagger nodded, licked his lips, and pondered.

"How much information has Joyce revealed to you so far?"

"We know the Stones want to embark on a new world tour in the third quarter of next year."

Han Yi, who had been standing nearby and listening quietly, suddenly spoke and took over the conversation.

"That's right." Mick Jagger turned to look at Han Yi and gave an affirmative answer.

"The scale will be far greater than your 2014, 2015 and 2016 tours."

"hope so."

"It could even become a bigger world tour than A Bigger Bang Tour."

"I don't know about that, maybe." Mick Jagger shrugged and smiled, "After all, the tour lasted for two years and played a total of about 140...150 shows."

"147 games."

"Ah, yes, the exact number is 147 games." Mick Jagger raised his eyes and recalled, "The total box office was US$5.5 million."

"Very amazing." Han Yi responded, "The highest-grossing tour in history."

"This record has only been maintained for four years." Mick pouted and used his most classic expression to show his disregard for this historical record to the three people in front of him. "U2 has created 7.36 million, which is higher than us. More than 30%.”

"We should take back the throne."

"Oh, I don't know." The lead singer of the Rolling Stones breathed a sigh of relief. "Maybe at 62. At 73? Definitely not. Did you see my performance at Desert Trip Music Festival?"

"Epic."

"Not even close." Mick waved his hand and said with a self-deprecating smile, "This music festival is called 'Old Chela' for a reason. My throat was broken so many times that Paul probably regretted it to death. If he had known that the show was going to be like this, he definitely wouldn’t have served Keith so many shepherd’s pies.”

Hearing this joke, Han Yi, Dr. Dre and Turki Al-Sheikh all agreed and cheered loudly. The Keith mentioned by Mick Jagger is Keith Richards, another soul figure of the Rolling Stones and widely regarded as one of the greatest guitarists in history. Keith's love for the famous British dish shepherd's pie is well known. Since 1989, no matter where he performs, Keith has required a bite of shepherd's pie before going on stage. This has become an unforgettable stage ritual. .

And this is just the least excruciating item on the Rolling Stones’ long list of rider requirements. Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood, Charlie Watts, they all have their own preferences and quirks that need to be catered for.

For Rider, the Rolling Stones required a total of 13 rooms from the organizer. All core members requested a separate lounge, and each room had to bear the name assigned to it by the band. Mick Jagger's dressing room was called "The Gym," Keith Richards's was called "Camp X-Ray," Ronnie Wood's was called "The Healing Room," and Charlie Watts' was called "The Cotton Club." In addition, other minor members and backup singers will share three lounges, while the behind-the-scenes executive team will commandeer two empty rooms as temporary offices. Coupled with the costume room, dressing room, and private boxes where all the band members can dine and entertain together, it takes a lot of time and energy from the organizer just to arrange the backstage properly. This is not the most tiring part. In today's European and American music scene, the Rolling Stones are undoubtedly the one with the most outstanding achievements and the highest status among the bands still active. In other words, they are the rock band with the most seats that organizers around the world can invite. If they wanted to be bigger, they would have to get John Lennon out of the grass in Central Park and reform the Beatles.

As an orphan with no money to replace them, the Rolling Stones know very well that even if their reception needs are more arbitrary, there will be organizers willing to pay for it. Therefore, the personal rider of each core member interprets the word "enjoyment" To the extreme, especially lead singer Mick Jagger.

No matter how luxurious the hotel, Mick always asked for a new mattress in his room. What's even more shocking is that he also asked the organizer to hire a dedicated staff member to sleep on a mattress wrapped in plastic wrap all night to ensure that the mattress had been adjusted to the perfect fit before he used it. state.

It was a highly unusual and bizarre request, but hey, it was Mick Jagger.

Does he need a new mattress every time?
Why not?
Of course, this is not Mick Jagger's most spectacular moment - in the 80s, he hated American cars so much that every time he performed in North America, he insisted that the organizer fly an Opel Cadit for him from Europe. Drinking water, as well as ice added to the water, can only come from northern Norway. During the 2005 A Bigger Bang tour, the metal band Metallica opened for the Rolling Stones at two concerts at SBC Park in San Francisco on November 11th and 13th. At that time, Metallica had already entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, won the Grammy Award, and the 15 Madly in Anger with the World Tour also became the world's largest live concert that year with a revenue of US$2004 million. The performance ranked fourth at the box office.

Even the best metal rock band in history was still issued a strict "gag order" backstage at the Rolling Stones' concert. Mick Jagger wanted to stay focused before the performance, so all members of Metallica were prohibited from talking to Mick backstage, and even when Mick passed by them, they were not allowed to make any eye contact.

Mick Jagger's superstar style and perverse personality are evident. In fact, Mick himself is very aware of the outside world's evaluation of these backstage anecdotes of the Rolling Stones. After all, even he and Keith Richards often accused each other in newspapers and magazines of being too high-minded and not good. Serve. But since he can be so straightforward and candid in front of Han Yi and others, mocking himself in a joking way, it shows that he does not take this kind of big-name behavior to heart at all.

A truly irreplaceable rock legend, even if he eats people in public, he will still have a large number of fans. It is nothing at all for the organizer and opening artist to receive a cold reception.

So don't let Mick Jagger's good nature at the moment fool you. In Hollywood, there are only a handful of people like Madison Beer and Ed Sheeran who remain true to themselves after becoming famous overnight. More stars have the same mentality as the lead singer of the Rolling Stones - if you want to be a real musician, you must be a diva like Maria Callas.

Only the flowers of the high mountains that no one dares to touch are the most affordable.

"No matter what, you are still the most exciting live performance that audiences around the world can spend money to see." Han Yi's true thoughts in his heart were completely opposite to the compliments that came out of his mouth. "The title of the best rock band today, At least for now, I don’t see any competition.”

"Yeah...I'm not suggesting that we have any competitors." Mick Jagger put his hands on his hips and calmly accepted Han Yi's praise. Of course, according to the former, that's what it is, "What I'm saying is that we're aging at an accelerated rate, all of us. Keith, Ronnie, Charlie, and I are no longer the energetic young men we once were. We can dance on stage for two hours, take a shower after we get off the stage, hang out with four women in the hotel until 9:30 in the morning, and then rush to the next city to perform. Now, after I get off the stage, I have to give up. The masseur treated me for more than an hour, and I was able to walk normally the next day.”

"So...we will still do tours, and we will still do large-scale tours, but they won't be as big as in 05."

"Maybe there won't be that many games." Han Yi smiled and said, "But that doesn't mean we need to reduce the size."

"What do you mean?"

"A Bigger Bang Tour, 147 games, with a total box office of 5.58 million. Many cities have indoor venues, such as Madison Square Garden in New York, people. Washington DC, MCI Center, people. Los Angeles, Hollywood Bowl... …Seventeen thousand five hundred people.”

"You're not happy with the crowds."

"The Rolling Stones deserve better." Han Yi raised his arms. "For this round of our tour, we will not consider venues with 20,000 people at all. Unless the venues with 30,000 people are particularly high-quality, they will never be selected. Thirty-five thousand people are The minimum acceptable capacity, as for the average number, should be raised to 50,000 people. You know, a truly large-scale stadium tour that vividly demonstrates the status and historical legacy of the Rolling Stones.”

"for example?"

"In New York, for example, our choice is not Madison Square Garden but the MetLife Stadium."

"NFL Stadium."

"Yeah, 82,500 people, that's a number that matches the Rolling Stones."

"It's gonna cost a lot of money." Mick Jagger opened his mouth and was silent for a moment before continuing.

"You are looking at the money right now."

Han Yi glanced at his feet and then looked back at Turki Al-Sheikh. The meaning in his actions was very obvious.

The Chinese rich and the Middle Eastern rich, the two richest people in the world and the most willing to spend money, are standing in front of Mick Jagger.

Cost is the least of his worries.

“The Saudi Entertainment General Authority’s investment projects are funded directly by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.”

Turki Al-Sheikh duly explained.

"Of course, we may not be able to fully use every penny of the fund, but from the fund pool of 360 billion US dollars... you can name a number, one thousandth, to support our external publicity projects, the question It shouldn’t be big.”

"As for me, I don't have 360 ​​billion..."

Han Yi took over the conversation with a smile.

"But I have an offer you can't refuse, Mick."

(End of this chapter)