Title: How The Stones - And RO - Saved My Life Last Night
Post by Shattered Stone on May 5th, 2013 at 3:54am
OK, so I need to get all of this out. Gazza, Voodoo, if you feel this shouldn't be its own thread I apologize, and ask that you please move it to the "Tour Opener" thread.
I was at Staples Center last night, incredulous that I was seeing the Stones again. I never, ever expected to see them perform again... I was absolutely convinced that my last time seeing them was at Dodger Stadium in 2006. I just assumed the Stones weren't going to get back together again given the long hiatus after the last tour. And I was fine with that. I've seen them as a kid in the '80s, seen them in the '90s, and if 2006 was the last time, then what a hell of a run it'd been. But by the time I heard of the possibility of a tour to be held in 2012 or 2013, though, it wasn't the Stones that were the problem.
You see, last year was a tough one for me. In May I was diagnosed with a rare form of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and although the best course of treatment for me would have been a bone marrow transplant, unfortunately no adequate match for such a transplant was found. So, from last May through this January, I've spent most of my days in the hospital receiving various forms of chemotherapy and other wonderful treatments.
Believe it or not, one thing that kept me going while in the hospital was reading Rocks Off, especially all the discussion of whether our boys would tour in 2012 (or ever again). I can't tell you how uplifting it was when it seemed that a tour was actually on the cards... I checked the board every hour it seemed, hoping that Gazza would share some inside info confirming any type of show. When the London and New York shows were announced, I was beyond ecstatic. I knew I'd never be able to be there in person, but I sure as hell was going to stay alive long enough to at least live vicariously through the good folks on this board who were going to the shows.
Your stories helped me through some dark times. Gazza getting an "affordable" ticket to the O2 show; Lady Jane's joy at actually getting to hear the Stones play "Lady Jane" again; the chance to talk about new (new!) tunes from the Stones; tales from the RO meet-ups; the beautiful and uplifting altruism in GotToRollMe's thread; the comic genius of SirMoonie's and WaiteringOnAFriend's posts; reports from the crazy folks willing to hang out on a sidewalk all week during the Paris rehearsals (never in a million years did I think I'd get the chance to do the same thing on a Burbank sidewalk months later); and of course the Joey??? thread... they all gave me energy when I needed it most. I'd never met any of you, but the effect the Stones has on one of us touches us all, I think.
Somehow, I'm still here. I'm in remission, and things are going pretty well, I guess. I don't know exactly how things will play out in the near future, so one day at a time is how I take it. And what a day yesterday was... the Stones were in it, after all, and I never believed that such a thing was possible.
But enough of that... let me talk about the show. Getting in was a clusterfuck... traffic was terrible (even by LA standards) and the $85 tix line was the most disorganized thing I think I've ever experienced. There must have been close to a thousand people in line when I arrived, and I was still very far away from the window when 8:00pm rolled around. Thank god the Stones waited until 9:00pm to play, or Staples would've been burned to the ground by the angry horde waiting to get in. By the time I finally get to the window, I'm in a shitty mood... OK, maybe the random $85 seats will land me in the pit or at least somewhere with a decent view of the stage... I get the envelope, and pull out... Section 304. Fuck me...
I hustle up to the nosebleeds, cursing up a storm the whole time. I sit down, and about 5 minutes later the lights dim. A video plays, and the hair on the back of my neck rises. The UCLA band marches in (thank god it's not that fuckin' simian, I think to myself), and my heart feels like it's going to explode it's beating so fast.
Then the first note of GOOMC punctuates the air...
Everything seems to stop. My heart, my breathing, those thoughts of how shitty my seat is and how fucked up that ticket line was and how sick I've been. Nothing, NOTHING, was wrong in my world at that moment. At one point I truly thought to myself "maybe you're dead, man, and this is what heaven is all about." They play "The Last Time", and now I'm a bit scared... "shit man, you really are in heaven!"... but then IORR arrives and I know I'm just a lucky soul, still alive and in the land of the warhorses.
Gimme Shelter is sublime, Gwen absolutely massacres Wild Horses (I mean, wow, that was... words can't even describe it), then Mick comes out with a guitar and says they're going to play a tune they haven't played in a long time. Every fibre of my being at that point is begging for them to launch into Moonlight Mile... I'm glad they didn't, because I don't think I could've taken that... and then Factory Girl hits. Factory Girl!?! And they play the shit out of it... god, it was masterful.
Mick announces Emotional Rescue and I lose it. I squeal like a schoolgirl, and immediately flash back to how good it sounded out there on that Burbank sidewalk a few days ago. It was even more brilliant on stage.
Keith's set comes. "It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere" resonates with me more than I could ever say. He launches into BTMMR, a song that became an integral part of me while I spent all those months in the hospital. Tears well up, and I can't get a handle on the emotion I'm feeling... elation? contentment? awe? feeling whole for the first time in a year?
Mick Taylor hits the stage... holy shit, I'm actually seeing MT play with the Stones!... and he shreds through MR. Shreds it! I've transcended any emotion I've ever felt at this point. The only disappointment I felt during the whole show arrives when I realize that MT isn't playing on anything else. Love In Vain would've been something else, man... something else.
The warhorses hit and I know we're in the homestretch. For the first time all night, I focus on something other than the band... I see how people are reacting to Miss You, SMU, Brown Sugar, and (as others have already pointed out) I come to the realization that the Stones can't not play these tunes. The energy from the audience is electric.
The choir on YCAGWYW adds an ethereal quality to the show, and the lyrics in the chorus hit me in a way I've never felt before. As Satisfaction finishes I desperately try to take in everything I can about the men on stage. The last thing I see on the big screen are huge grins from Charlie and Keith as they turn and walk through the door... I can't think of any better memory to keep with me than that.
And that was it. The last time I'll ever see the Stones on stage. Sure, they play in Anaheim and LA again in a couple of weeks, but I won't be there. My medical bills won't allow me to even think of trying for tickets again. And that's OK. I'm just grateful that I was able to get the $85 ticket for this show... grateful to see the boys on stage again... grateful to be alive... and grateful to the good folks at RO for keeping me going long enough to see the Stones one last time. Gold rings on us all.
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