Keith Richards has taken the unusual step of releasing a written statement blasting two Swedish newspapers for writing critical reviews of the Rolling Stones.
The guitarist, perhaps sporting a monster hangover, demanded apologies from the 'Aftonbladet' and 'Expressen' papers after they canned the Stones' August 3 concert at Gothenburg.In a statement forwarded to newspaper 'Dagens Nyheter', Richards wrote, "This is a first! Never before have I risen to the bait of a bad review. But this time... I have to stand up for our incredible Gothenburg audience and for fans all over Sweden...to say that you owe them, and us, an apology.
"You have a duty to wield the power of the press with honesty and integrity. There were 56,000 people in Ullevi stadium who bought a ticket to our concert - and experienced a completely different show than the one you 'reviewed'. How dare you cheapen the experience for them - and for the hundreds of thousands of other people across Sweden who weren't at Ullevi and only have your 'review' to go on. Write the truth. It was a good show."
Dan Panas, Expressen's Entertainment Editor, defended the paper's decision to run the headline, "Keith Was Very Drunk".
"Our reviewer has made one judgment on the quality [of the concert], and Keith Richards has made another," Panas said.
