Last night the Rolling Stones had their first performance ever in Shanghai, and luckily we had managed to get tickets. We had an early dinner with Jim Feldkamp and his friend Cecilia, and during the dinner Marcel Ekkel and a friend of his (Samuel, marketing director Asia-Pacific for Goretex) also joined. Marcel and Samuel did not have tickets yet, but I was quite sure they would be able to get them for a reasonable price at the entrance: for most Chinese concerts half the tickets are given to sponsors, who give them to their clients and employees. These normally have no interest in going, and sell them for a small amount to ticket hawkers. In the past I got many tickets for concerts in Beijing and Shanghai in this way, but times seem to be changing. There were only a few tickets available, and sellers did not want to sell them below RMB 3000 (EUR 300). Even after the concert started they refused to sell for a lower price!

The concert itself did not start on time. At 8 PM (the official starting time) the crew was still finalizing the stage building process! Finally at 8:50 the speaker announced: