Rolling Stones set to start it up in Rome

(ANSA) - Rome, June 20 - In what some could call true rock-and-roll fashion, the city of Rome was ensnared in bumper-to-bumper traffic chaos from the Colosseum to the Tiber Friday due to preparations for the Rolling Stones' concert Sunday. Some 70,000 are expected to attend the concert, the Stones' first in the Italian capital since 1982, and to make room, police already closed a key artery next to the Circo Massimo (Circus Maximus), the open-air ancient Roman chariot racetrack in which Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ron Wood will perform their sole Italian tour stop. A 'red zone' has been designated around the Circus Maximus in order to beef up security and prevent fans camping out for seats. Reaching as far out as the Colosseum, the Baths of Diocletian and the Tiber, the area will be cordoned off till Sunday night when the Stones perform as part of their 14 on Fire world tour marking the band's 50th anniversary. Featuring singer-songwriter John Mayer as the opener, the Rome concert marks 47 years since the band's first Italian performance in 1967, when it toured such cities as Rome, Bologna and Genoa. Some 50,000 tickets to the event sold out in just two hours in an initial offering, before organizers announced a second round earlier this month. The tour was briefly interrupted in March when the longtime girlfriend of front man Mick Jagger killed herself. Earlier this month the legendary band performed in Tel Aviv despite pressure from Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame to cancel amid what he described as a "global struggle for Palestinian freedom and equal rights". Meanwhile the Stones landed in the Eternal City at roughly 18:00 aboard a private jet along with 45 roadies and event staff fresh off a tour stop in Germany. And the only thing slowing fans was the crippling traffic, a self-inflicted obstacle to the concert venue made worse by a police strike that, officials said, would be taken care of by curtain call on Sunday.