STONES CLOSE TOUR WITH A BIG BANG
THE ROLLING STONES closed out their latest US tour, A Bigger Bang, with a ten minute bang of fireworks to end the ‘Streets Of Love’ Dodger Stadium show. Considering the prescribed layoff of 4 days to rest Mick’s singing voice and the fact that Mick’s dad Joe passed peacefully away at 93 on November 13^th, the boys and Mick brought the ‘magic’, as usual, but more on that later. Probably what stood out more than anything for me was the amount of ‘fresh’ material they played. For 95% of the people who see a STONES show, any tour, they are happy as hell to have seen the boys play. But for a diminutive portion of fandom, ones who see THE STONES multiple times on any one tour (they must be kin to Bill Gates or Don Trump to be able to afford that), they are the ones who complain about a boring set list, with the ‘classics’ being played over and over at the shows they see. Well, Sports Fans, all those whinin’ Willies should have been at Dodger Stadium last night. After starting the set off with 3 classics, the boys opened the box of seldom heard goodies including ‘Dead Flowers’, ‘Midnight Rambler’, ‘All Down The Line’, and two by Keith, ‘You Got The Silver’ and  ‘Connection’. The stage, though bare by past standards, still provided thrills in the expansive technical abilities of the lighting, televised graphics, flames, and balloon rigging. But of course, it was THE ROLLING STONES, so much for the esthetics. For me, and maybe some other fans, getting to see THE STONES is always an adventure, always. Here is the story behind the story, the color commentary to this last U.S. tour date.
It, the story, starts just after the last time I saw the band a little over a year ago, on November 8^th at the Hollywood Bowl. As I sat there with a first time STONES show friend of mine, I thought about how much I would have liked for my son who is 14, to see THE STONES with me. A dear friend of mine had taken his daughter to see them back in Chi-town, and to be truthful, I was a little envious of him for having done that. Then two things happened, almost at the same time. My X called and said she wanted my son, Jaryn, to come and live in Paradise, I mean, Southern California, with me. It was also announced that THE STONES were going to swing back through the U.S. one more time. Holy Moley!!
I had already hatched a plan to net me tickets at a reasonable price (it worked, sorry, I can’t share the details. I may need to purchase tickets for their next tour). All I had to do was figure out a ride.
I started casting about and Java Jo’z was the perfect place. The people who are allowed ‘backstage’ are always very knowledgeable about music and musicians. The subject of who’s been to what concert is a regular topic in rotation. One summer night as each person put forth their ‘killer’ concert cards on the music poker table, Java Jo Johnny, being the senior musictisian (yes, like Don King, this is a word I made up) among the new, as in young, music scene spot, trumped the table with a TOM PETTY remembrance, until I threw the ‘STONES’ card out. Total silence for 30 seconds, though it could have been a giant mutual ‘brain fart’ since we were backstage. I made up my mind then and there that it was going to be old JJJ going to see THE STONES with me and ‘the Boy.’
As everyone who has been keeping up with my columns knows, the scene is undergoing changes. As these changes unfold, Johnny’s schedule has been up for grabs. In fact, had the show not gotten rescheduled from the 18^th to the 22^nd, Johnny would not have been able to go, ah, the ‘magic’ of THE STONES.
Leaving the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to travel to the heart of L.A. is best done by 11AM. We left town at 4:30PM, but surprisingly enough, we sailed up the (I) 15 and along the ‘91’ as if it were a Sunday morning, traffic but flowing well. Then we hit the ‘101’ and the world stopped, but it looked surrealistically ‘Christmassy’ because everywhere you gazed at the various concrete ribbons of freeway, there were strings of white lights or red lights, all stationary. Getting from that point to Dodger Stadium and to a great parking spot is all a credit to Johnny’s driving talent and us not being ‘the Droids they were looking for’. Arriving at the gate it seemed there were a lot of seats empty and the lights were on, but alas, the opening act, BONNIE RAITT, had already come out. Still we found our seats, chasing out some folks out who had misread their tickets. Our seats were choice Loge and already warm, although the night air was warm autumn with a grey fog slowly becoming the backdrop instead of the lighted skyscrapers. Dodger Stadium sits atop a hill in L.A. I had time to finish my beer, take a whiz, and score a radical design ‘event’ T-shirt only known about by the ‘insiders’ before the giant center projection screen started the viewing audience on a visual trip - swishing and swooping through the air and around buildings we could actually see in the distance - that ended up right in Dodger Stadium to a pyrotechnics blast of flames, then Keith Richards walked out and hit the opening riff to JJ Flash. I looked over at Johnny. His eyes were glued to the stage.
Bonnie Raitt joined Mick onstage shortly after he started into ‘Dead Flowers’, the fifth song of the 19 song set. I could sense she wanted to maybe get a chance to sing to a larger audience than she had at the time of her set. Looking around at the seating I could see many more seats had been filled since we first got to our row. Mick had apologized at the onset for having to reschedule the date, for getting stuck in traffic (we could relate), and for starting the show late, but he wanted to wait so more people could get to see the entire set. Indeed, a lady behind me got to her seat maybe two minutes before the start of the show. Again, the ‘magic of THE STONES.
The ‘Streets Of Love’, ‘Midnight Rambler’, and ‘Under My Thumb’ songs brought Johnny to his feet but it was the otherworldly version of ‘Sympathy For the Devil’ that ‘thumped’ him like a spike driven home by a mallet. For a band that is performance and music driven, this was a ‘PINK FLOYD’ moment. The 20 minute encore performance of ‘Brown Sugar’ just sealed the deal. “Man they pulled out all the stops. Everything! I’m really glad you dragged me down to this,” said Johnny. “I can’t believe Mick Jagger doing those laps (back and forth) on the stage like he‘s 25,” quipped Charity. I turned and looked at my son as the smoke from the fireworks drifted over to us, and said, “How was it?” Flashing the earnest half-smile he beams from the inside out when he enjoys something truly even before I could finish my question, he had three words, “It was awesome!” Thank you again, ROLLING STONES, for making turkey the desert this Thanksgiving.
PS: Coming home we got to the bottom of the hill (by Dodger Stadium) at 12:20 AM and pulled into the In ‘n’ Out drive-thru at Corona at 12:59, one minute before they closed so we all got to go to bed ‘fat and happy.’ The ‘magic of THE STONES’.