SPENDING THE NIGHT TOGETHER IN SHANGHAI

Convinced that the ‘60s bad boys of rock are no longer able to pollute the spiritual consciousness of the country’s young, China’s culture commissars finally allowed The Rolling Stones their mainland debut concert in Shanghai this coming April 8th.

The Stones had once planned to perform in China in 2003, but cancelled due to the SARS scare. Back then, according to Reuters, China’s Ministry of Culture told the band it could not perform four songs -- "Let's Spend the Night Together," "Brown Sugar," "Honky Tonk Women" and "Beast of Burden."

Although no specific reasons were given, it was assumed those songs’ sexually explicit lyrics were the culprit; highly likely, the group will neither play those songs at the upcoming concert so as not to offend the Chinese government.

According to Emma Entertainment, which handles the ticket sales for the British rockers' Shanghai Grand Stage performance, prices will set you back between $37 and $373.

On a side note: I saw the Stones once in Madison Square Garden; Stevie Wonder opened the show. The promoters asked the fans to mail in—as many as they wished—a postcard with his name, address and phone number listed on it. If you were lucky enough to have yours picked out, you get the chance to purchase two tickets. This was done to prevent a bunch of kids from camping out on the grounds of Madison Garden days before the tickets went on sale. I forgot how much I paid for the tickets.