Stones Will Play and Donate Proceeds

The famous British rockers The Rolling Stones were set to play the Sluzewiec Race Track on the evening of July 25th when tragedy struck in France - a bus carrying a group of elder Polish pilgrims crashed near the Alpine village of Vizille. Some 26 people died and several others were badly injured, and Polish President Lech Kaczynski declared a period of national mourning following the fatal bus crash.

The three day mourning period means that hundreds of concerts and other such events have been called off or rescheduled throughout Poland, most notably Rod Stewart's postponed performance that was to take place in Gdansk on Tuesday. However, the Stones' Wednesday night show will go on, though it will start at midnight after the end of the mourning period. Not only that, but the Stones have pledged to donate a portion of that night's proceeds to the families of the victims of the crash, a surprisingly generous move by the ageing rockers. The band will also ask the crowd, which is expected to number in the tens of thousands, to observe a minute of silence during the event.

President Kaczynski has already pledged 110,000 PLN to each of the families gravely affected by the crash, but undoubtedly the additional support from the Rolling Stones will be greatly appreciated by the victims' families. And fans at the concert tomorrow night will probably feel a lot better knowing they're rocking for a good cause.