Stones show that time is on their side: Aging rockers make history at Reliant Stadium
It was to be a quiet Saturday night at home- if only the g*****n phone would stop ringing. Eric was off at a debate tournament until late, so Susan and I had the place to ourselves. The lights were down, the fireplace was stoked to a near-nuclear level, and we were good to go. Just another evening to be spent doing whatever it is that two adults in love do when the kiddos are nowhere to be found.
And then the g*****n phone rang. Again….
Just as my frustration was about to peak, Susan looked at me and said “How would you like to go see the Rolling Stones?” Sure, we’d been talking about the concert earlier in the day, but we both agreed that $92 a ticket was a bit steep for us, especially given our threadbare wallet. A nice idea, to be sure, but not one to be seriously entertained for any length of time.
As it turns out, Susan’s college roommate is a lawyer who just happens to be married to another lawyer, who just happens to be the Stone’s local attorney (“If they get drunk and end up in jail, I’m the one they call.”). They’d been told that they would have two free tickets, but when they arrived at the Will Call window, there were four. Thankfully, Gina remembered that Susan listened to the Stones a lot when they roomed together. (They listened to the Stones. I got stoned….).
Of course we said yes. What, like we were going to turn down free tickets to a Rolling Stones concert?? Suddenly, we were scrambling around the living room like madmen (Where’s my underwear??), because we had to pick up the tickets by 9pm, and I had no idea what traffic would be like once we got to Reliant Stadium. As it turned out, we got to there in plenty of time to pick up the tickets, if not to use the VIP passes that were included. If we’d arrived early enough we could have gone backstage. Ah, well, we did get some nifty VIP passes out of the deal (Susan’s planning on selling hers on Ebay.).
I realized that we were going to be seeing a group that’s been around awhile when a Cadillac parked next to us, and out stepped a woman who looked like my first-grade teacher. I kept thinking “Man, if only I had the Geritol concession for this tour….” I didn’t see anyone in a walker, but I did see a few people with canes. No joke.
I’ve never been to a Stones concert before, but it was a great show. For a bunch of guys in their mid- to late-fifties, they put on an amazingly energetic show- and it was LOUD. My ears are still ringing (yes, it’s true, if it’s too loud, you really ARE too old….). Our seats were 13 rows from the left side of the stage- close enough to confirm that, yes, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger are every bit as homely as you’ve been led to believe. Of course, for that kind of money, I’d consent to being ugly. Hey, women were throwing panties at them throughout the 2 ½ hour show. How bad can that be??
As soon as the lights went down, we were surrounded by the pungent smell of…is that marijuana? Breathe deep the gathering gloom, eh?? Ah, well, there’s a time and a place for that, and college was a long time ago. It would have been nice if someone had at least offered me a toke, so I could have impressed Susan by saying no. Selfish bastards….
It was apparent immediately upon entering the stadium that Rolling Stones, Inc. is a humongous marketing machine. All you had to do was to look out into the crowd at all the glow lights ($10 apiece). There were the posters ($5), jackets ($50- $100), bobbleheads (God only knows how much), and the T-shirts ($35-$50). Yes, I’m almost ashamed to admit that I paid $35 for a T-shirt (and when I got home, I discovered that it has a small hole in it- Mick will be hearing from me). Something tells me that Mick and the boys aren’t going to have to worry about where their next Big Mac is coming from.
And then there was the music. Two and a half hours of trips down various parts of Memory Lane. It took me back to everything from 7th-grade dances (slow-dancing with Pamela Curo to “Angie”, all the while trying to figure out how to get my hands under her sweater) to college bacchanals (no, we’re not going to revisit any of those). The band’s longevity is amazing when you think about it. The Stones have been around for almost 40 years, and they’re still relevant (How many of us can say that??). They’ve come a long way since the “Ed Sullivan Show”. Hopefully, the rest of us have also.
At the end of the show, the band rushed off the stage, to be whisked directly to the airport in stretch limousines. The explosions and fireworks that signaled their departure were some of the loudest things I’ve ever heard (Oh, my ears are bleeding…that must mean the show is over….). OK, so it wasn’t a night on the couch playing “hide the weasel”, but it was a hell of a lot of fun.
Yes, a good time was definitely had by all. The only problem is that I still don’t know where my underwear is….
