Rolling Stones treden niet op bij rookverbod
Het optreden van de Rolling Stones in Regina, in de Canadese provincie Saskatchewan, staat op losse schroeven nu Keith Richards heeft aangegeven niet te zullen spelen als hem het recht wordt ontzegd om te roken tijdens het optreden.
Zowel de provincie als de stad hebben rookverboden voor openbare gebouwen afgekondigd, maar er bestaat nog onduidelijkheid of dit ook geldt voor een groot openluchtsstadion zoals het Mosaic stadion waar dit grootste concert, dat ooit in de stad is gehouden, zal plaatsvinden.
The rules dictating whether or not cigarette-puffing Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards will be allowed to smoke on stage in Regina are somewhat hazy at this point.
“There are two pieces of legislation.
There’s the (provincial) Tobacco Control Act and then there’s the city smoking bylaw,” said Regina city solicitor Neil Robertson. “They both prohibit smoking in enclosed public places, but there’s always been a question of, for example, stadiums (and) how that applies to them.”
Robertson said the bylaw also refers to enclosed sporting arenas, but it leaves a question as to whether any smoking ban applies to open-air Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field — the venue for the biggest concert ever to hit Regina.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders previously decided to impose their own ban during CFL games, but those responsible for organizing other events at the stadium have to come up with their own rules regarding smoking.
The City of Regina’s manager of facility services, Rod Schmidt — who’s also a member of the Stones concert organizing committee — said concerns include not just fans’ cigarette smoke bothering other fans, but also the potential damage cigarettes could bring to the stadium’s artifi cial turf playing surface.
While some form of a smoking ban for concert-goers remains likely, there remains a question of whether it will extend to the stage area.
Schmidt knows what the organizing committee is facing: Richards is legendary for lighting up on stage and picking his way through guitar riffs with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Schmidt saw it fi rsthand when he went to check out the Halifax show recently.
Richards may get no satisfaction if stadium implements smoke ban
