My Night with the Stones

This has nothing to do with writing, but it does involve a Thanksgiving Eve in 2006. My sister had recently been in the audience of the Ellen Degeneres Show when Ellen handed everyone tickets to an upcoming Roilling Stones Concert at Dodger Stadium. My brother and I were handed some tickets, and here is the story of that night. 

Sorry it took me a few days to get this post up, but I have been busy working out.  You see, I’ve seen the convalescent homes of the future and I want to stay out of them!

They will look like a Rolling Stones concert.

Okay, it wasn’t that bad, but I couldn’t resist the joke.

It was a lesson, in part, on how rock concerts are milking the cash cow for as much as possible these days.The event was at Dodger Stadium – capacity 56,000. If everyone paid the $120 my ticket was worth, that’s $6.7 million.  My seat was one level below nose bleed, so you know many people paid more.  It was probably closer to $10 million for the gate. It was $20 a car to park. There’s another $320,000. It cost $12.50 for a beer, $6 for peanuts, and the least expensive Rolling Stone t-shirt went for $35 (I bought mine from a hawker out on the street for $20). Add to this that Radio Shack sponsored the event. 

Rock ‘n Roll is still making a lot of money. And I am acting like an old fart. complaining about how much money it cost, and my tickets were free.

The concert was great. Bonnie Raitt was the opening act and she went on right at 7:00 pm. Her voice and guitar are enough to make anyone convert to country music. I had no idea she was opening for the Stones, so it was an extra treat. 

Bonnie was off the stage before 8:00, a little bit of a disappointment, considering that the Stones were not out for a while. The stadium was less than half full. Thanksgiving traffic was taking its toll. You could see lines of cars snaking through the parking lot. My sister, who brought her son, didn’t make it in until 9:00 pm. As it turned out, the band held off coming on in order to allow fans to get through the tangled freeways. Another reason these guys are great.

In the meantime, I pondered the four-story structure in the outfield. It was a huge television screen–40 feet high, flanked by large wings. As a Southern California native, I have been to Dodger Stadium countless times–although this was the first time it was for anything other than a Dodger’s game–so I knew this structure was not permanent.

The audience was as you might predict–a lot of middle-aged folks from all walks of life. A few had broken out their tie-dye t-shirts, but most of them were dressed for their age, and dancing in the aisles like they were teenagers, clutching purses and teetering on wallets bulging with pictures of grandchildren. There were also some Gen-Xers and some Gen Ys, many of them were there with their parents. You could almost hear the older folks saying ,“This is what rock ‘n roll is all about.”

Just after 9:00, the bottom two levels of the structure in the outfield began filling up with people.  Those seats were probably upwards of $500. At 9:20, Keith Richards walked out, followed by Mick Jagger and the rest of the Stones.  Jumpin’ Jack Flash blasted throughout the stadium, and the mysterious structure in the outfield turned into a huge lightshow, comparable to anything you would see in Las Vegas or anyplace else. 

They have been playing concerts for better than 40 years, but the Rolling Stones are a class act.  Mick Jagger, north of 60, still moves like a teenager.  He never stopped.  He reminds me of an old Afro American blues musician who has been filled with religion at a tent revival. I got tired just watching him.  Thanks to the giant TV screen we got up close views.  Keith Richards never stopped smiling.  It was a lot of energy. 

Three songs into the concert Bonnie Raitt joined the Stones for a country song–Dead Flowers.  It was classic.  So was the The Midnight Rider and a version of Sympathy for the Devil that was worthy of any MTV performance.

I could see the scene around many Thanksgiving tables the next day: Grandpa in a $35 Rolling Stones t-shirt showing anyone who would look the fuzzy pictures he took the night before at the concert with his cell phone.  Pretty much described me.

The last song before the encore was Satisfaction.  This is where I turned into the old fogey that I  I am.  My brother and I knew the encore was coming, and after it, 56,000 people were going to pour into their cars in the parking lot. Judging by the heavy smell of marijuana wafting through the stadium, it was going to be an adventure. It would take hours to get out. 

We hit the exit and were on the Harbor Freeway ten minutes later, before the encore was probably done.  We were at a Stones concert, but we didn’t have the patience for the traffic.