Keith Richards fuming

Keith Richards has demanded an apology from a Swedish newspaper, after a number of scathing reviews of a recent Rolling Stones show.

The rock legend has been angered by pieces in a pair of tabloids earlier this month, which dismissed the group's "Bigger Bang" concert in Gothenburg.

Richards has sent a letter to the tabloids Expressen and Aftonbladet, following the concert at Ullevi stadium in the city on August 3.

One of the reviews claimed he was "superdrunk" and "a bit confused" onstage, before dismissing The Stones' performance with a two stars out of five rating.

In his letter, which was published in the Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter, Keith ranted: "This is a first! Never before have I risen to the bait of a bad review.

"But this time...I have to stand up...for our fans all over Sweden ... to say that you owe them, and us, an apology.

"There were 56,000 people in Ullevi stadium who bought a ticket to our concert - and experienced a completely different show than the one you 'reviewed'.

"How dare you cheapen the experience for them - and for the hundreds of thousands of other people across Sweden who weren't at Ullevi and have only your 'review' to go on.

"Write the truth. It was a good show", insisted Richards, who had apparently read translations of the original reviews.

However, Aftonbladet's critic Markus Larsson has now refused to backtrack on the piece, explaining: "I am not going to apologize for my subjective opinion.

"It is Keith who should apologize. After all it costs around 1,000 kronor (US$145) to see a rock star who can hardly handle the (guitar) riff to 'Brown Sugar' any more."

The Rolling Stones completed their enormous "Bigger Bang" world tour at the O2 Arena in London on Sunday evening.document.write(unescape("