Keith Richards – live and unfiltered
Sunday, May 27, 2018 at 13:53 Since reading Keith Richards' autobiography and seeing him interviewed by Andrew Marr, among others, I've become a huge fan of the great man.
So thanks to John Burton, one of Forest's non-executive directors (and a bit of an old rocker himself), for drawing my attention to this report in Metro, the free London newspaper:
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards ... was seen having a crafty cigarette during the band’s show in London this week — aptly called their No Filter tour.
He was cheered by the crowd of 70,000 at The London Stadium in Stratford as he lit up, flouting the strict no smoking rule.
But Newham Council said it would not be taking any action because smoking was part of the act. ‘Smoking on stage is permitted “where the artistic integrity of a performance makes it appropriate for a person to smoke”, therefore no action will be taken,’ it added.
Delighted to see the council demonstrate some common sense on the issue but I wonder how much they were influenced, not by this unusual interpretation of the law, but by Keith Richards being rock royalty and 70,000 people cheering him on!
England, as we know, does indeed allow smoking on stage and film sets, but the practice is banned in Scotland and Wales so it will be interesting to see how the authorities react when the Stones play in Edinburgh (June 9) and Cardiff (June 15).
Before then however the band will play at Old Trafford, Manchester, on June 5. Will the local council adopt the sensible Newham approach or will officials use the occasion to promote the region's ambitious plan to 'make smoking history' and create a 'tobacco free Greater Manchester'?
I'll keep you posted.
See also Shock horror: iconic rock star allowed to smoke during BBC interview (Taking Liberties, September 2015).
Below: Keith Richards pictured in Julian Temple's brilliant documentary, Keith Richards: The Origin of the Species, broadcast on BBC Two in 2016. I wrote about it here.
Reader Comments (2)
By the look of that photo, Richards has taken up vaping. After all, a cloud of smoke doesn't come from a wisp of heated or burning tobacco but plumes of sickly sweet smelly vape sticks 😉 😂
Keith did that several years ago in Scotland and there was manufactured outrage.
However they reviewed the incident and concluded that while the group played within a canopy, with a roof and 3 sides, it was technically an open air event. So no action was taken.
This year the venue is the Murryfield Stadium, our home to rugby. It too is open air and Keith will smoke, partly because he doesn't give a toss, partly because he's at his best with fag in mouth, partly because the standard fine is inconsequential to him.
Personally I don't think Keith is out to point score, nor be a role model. It's the controllers who make these claims, which is fine because Keith doesn't read MSM stuff and if it gets onto television, then so much the better for future ticket sales.