Attending Stones Concert
Discussion
los angeles said:
Well, I enjoyed myself. The Hollywood Bowl is smaller than it appears in photographs, but its open air auditorium is much, much bigger, huge, in fact. There were 17,000 folk at the concert.
After the expected pyrotechnic opening: fireworks and flame throwing jets, our wrinkly troupe trotted onto the stage surrounded by a giant electronic screen behind, and three other screens in the auditorium, whereupon the entire crowd stood up as one and cheered. Unfortunately, the girl in front of me was a compulsive hairflicker, one of those Californian women with a head of Clydesdale's tail hair. She kept leaping and dancing and flicking her hair this way and that, bunching it up, bunching down, swishing it around in circles, then in a figure of eight: Oh, look, everyone. I have beautiful long golden locks that can cleave the air. Eventually, a heavy-set guy near me, with a face that looked as if chewed by rats, leant over and told her to sit down or he'd ensure she did. She did.
The first thirty minutes of the concert sank like a stone - pun intended. The Stones sang numbers from their latest release proving Mick Jagger is one of the world's least talented writers of lyrics. It only came alive when they sang, Stone-fashion, someone else's song, The Night Time is the Right Time. From then on, things got brighter, but listening to the old numbers suprised me to learn how limited is the beat bashed out by their drummer, Charlie Watts. Still, Hot Lips strutted his stuff in his inimitable way, and yes, he was dressed in a crushed velvet jacket and tight jeans. The band looked tired after an hour of this, they really showed their age, but the crowd wanted their icons to keep going, and going they kept right up to and including, I Can't get No Satisfaction.
"It's great ta be here. (Cheers) Wot we'd like ta sing next is an old number, bit creaky, like, but feel free to sing it wif us." (More cheers)
A highlight of the evening was spotting Johnny Depp among the crowd. Afterwards, I was impressed how over 10,000 cars left the arena parking lots in a civilised, methodical manner. They were gone within an hour leaving a few tons of paper cups and spilt beer to be cleaned up by teams of hard working Mexicans. Folk drifted home singing, waving their Stones Tee shirts and flashing-lips badges, and quite a few happy wives and girlfriends looked set to be a little more accomodating to their men than normal that night.
LA
Good post! I think the older they get, the more fans they garner. If not for the music or nostalga, for sheer admiration at how they keep on rolling at their age!
A compliment?! Swoon ... thump.
Quite some years since I last saw them. 3rd row at the Liverpool Empire, supporting artists were someone called "Ike & Tina Turner???"...
I well remember a young Mick Jagger being interviewed on TV, ridiculing the "old" performers and saying that he couldn't imagine himself still doing that at the age of 60.....
Maybe someone should show him the film
I well remember a young Mick Jagger being interviewed on TV, ridiculing the "old" performers and saying that he couldn't imagine himself still doing that at the age of 60.....
Maybe someone should show him the film
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