Mercader Rolls With Stones Cancellation

Leading Spanish promoter Gay Mercader greeted his third canceled Rolling Stones show this year with a shrug of the shoulders.

“I’ve been in this business for 34 years and it’s no use freaking out about it,” he told Pollstar after Mick Jagger’s throat problems led to the cancellation of the August 14th show at Valladolid Estadio Zorrilla.

The 63-year-old frontman’s sick note might lack the dramatic impact of 62-year-old guitarist Keith Richards’ coconut-related head injury while vacationing in Fiji, which led to the cancellation of Mercader’s Barcelona and Madrid shows May 27-28. But it was enough to complete the Gamerco chief’s hat-trick of Stones no-shows.

Admitting he had no sort of luck with the band in 2006, Mercader said he felt particularly sorry for the fans – he sold tickets as far away as Argentina – because all four of the country’s Stones shows had been canceled.

Within hours of the Valladolid show being pulled, the August 16th show at the Estadio Santa Domingo in El Ejido was also scrapped.

Mercader said he can’t complain about losing three high-profile sellouts because Gamerco and its Iguapop and Troubleshooter offshoots have had such a good year and he has no reason to moan.

“You have to accept it. We set up the show, it gets canceled, we dismantle the whole show and we refund the ticket money as soon as possible,” he said. “If they tour again, we look forward to being there to set up the next shows in Spain.”

Mercader said he believes the thick, smoky air from the fires that swept across northern Spain and Portugal may have contributed to Jagger’s throat problems.

The two Spanish cancellations came a couple of days after the band played the Estadio do Dragao in Porto, north Portugal, where some members of the touring party complained it made their eyes water to walk along the street.

The Bigger Bang tour was scheduled to restart at London Twickenham Stadium August 20th and 22nd, and finish off with U.K. shows at Glasgow Hampden Park, Sheffield Don Valley Stadium and Cardiff Millennium Stadium August 25-29.

– John Gammon