A day of rockin’ in the free world

Paris — The concert in France, which took place at the Palace of Versailles, originally had been slated for Paris, next to the Louvre, within the Tuileries Gardens. The plan was abandoned after organizers decided not to risk damage to the deteriorating monuments surrounding the Tuileries and because they thought it might not be big enough to hold the 200,000 people expected to attend the concert featuring England’s the Cure, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, Latin pop star Shakira and several French musicians.

As it turned out, the show at Versailles attracted a crowd estimated at 65,000. Shakira said that as a native of Colombia, “I come myself from a poor country, and if my presence can help change people’s minds, then I’ll be happy.”