Riding Across the Desert on a Fine Arab Charger
Although the Rolling Stones are one of my favorite bands, somehow I had never seen them live until this weekend. I had opportunities over the years–in the ‘9os, I was going to get tickets, but Pat, my officemate at Details, talked me out of it, arguing that I didn’t really want to see “the dancing skeleton show”: “You don’t want to see the Rolling Stones,” he told me. “You want to have seen them in 1974.” I went along with his logic, figuring they were really too old. Of course, that now seems like a missed chance–I could have seen them when they were only in their 50s!
I saw opening night at the Staples Center this past Friday, in a good seat with a mind-boggling face value of $600. Jack Nicholson got a standing ovation when he made his way to his seat. Mick Jagger came out for an encore wearing a feathered robe; pulled around his body, it made him look like a low-budget villain in a Sid and Marty Krofft TV show. You can read my complete review for Rolling Stone here, but the short version is that the show was more awesome than not.
posted 5 May 2013 in Outside, Reviews and tagged Rolling Stones. 3 comments
May 5th, 2013 at 4:21 pm
And I made one straight-up error (got a little sloppy around 3 a.m.): “Emotional Rescue” only hit #3. But it’s still great, and I wish I could track down the parody version I used to hear on the radio, “Emotional Rooster.”
May 9th, 2013 at 3:18 pm
I was just popping in here to tell you about the “ER” chart position. Glad you caught it.
May 9th, 2013 at 3:22 pm
P.S. Mick’s “Beverly Hills, Brentwood and parts of Santa Monica” line was aces, but nothing will ever top John Lennon’s 1963 classic at the Royal Command Performance, “Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands — and the rest of you, if you’ll all just rattle your jewelry.”