I love sports, but there's something really enjoyable about a concert in a sports arena or stadium - it's like the outsiders have taken over/occupied the whole world for a couple of hours. Then the world gets handed back over to the teams and wars.

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Send It To me
I love sports, but there's something really enjoyable about a concert in a sports arena or stadium.

I think it's because even a bad concert is more fun than a great ball game.

Funny, I feel like it's close to a Nuremberg Rally.

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swiss
Funny, I feel like it's close to a Nuremberg Rally.

Yep. All bad clothes and lots of arm waving.

Concerts in large stadiums are necessary evils at best. I personally find them dehumanizing.

Hate them. They are dehumanizing. And yes, like Nuremberg--only the t-shirts were cheaper there.

I don't know about Europe, but in the States often a stadium show has better sound than arena shows because the arenas can be wicked bouncy, unless you're in a prime seat.

I've been to several stadium shows where the sound was pristine because it's just blasting out into the air. Again, I had great seats -- never a nosebleed.

My most recent Stones show in Salt Lake's Energy Solutions arena sounded terribly muddy. Same with the stadium show in Houston on the previous tour -- but that was Reliant Stadium with the roof closed. It was like listening to a show on the inside of a hollow battle ship.

TeaAtThree

Send It To Me..yea..I know what ya mean mate..a few weeks ago I was doing some work on our new sports Stadium been built for the Rugby World Cup here next year (...boring).Me and me mates are more interested on how many more bands that will perform there yea..alot of the locals dont care less about the sports side of it..yea the feel of a concert in a Stadium..I like it.

stadium shows = a visit to the mall on a Saturday afternoon : not sth I enjoy nor want to repeat (last time for me was the BTB tour in 1998).

I might be in the very small minority but I love the Stones Stadium shows. I can't really compare them to arena shows because to me its like the comparison between apples and oranges... Obviously, there are possible drawbacks to some Stadium shows such as cold and severe rain or being stuck in the shitty 500's nose bleed section, none of which I enjoy. I have found the sound to always be superb from my usual spot 20-30 rows back, on the floor, next to the catwalk. Sometimes there is nothing better than the Stones playing in the open air on a perfect summer night (except of course a club /theater show).

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its good to be anywhere
I might be in the very small minority but I love the Stones Stadium shows. I can't really compare them to arena shows because to me its like the comparison between apples and oranges... Obviously, there are possible drawbacks to some Stadium shows such as cold and severe rain or being stuck in the shitty 500's nose bleed section, none of which I enjoy. I have found the sound to always be superb from my usual spot 20-30 rows back, on the floor, next to the catwalk. Sometimes there is nothing better than the Stones playing in the open air on a perfect summer night (except of course a club /theater show).

I've got mixed feelings about stadium shows. If I think back to say one particular 1990 Wembley show, for reasons I won't bore you with ... I was somewhere high up at the back end of the stadium. Although today I would never ever in a million years elect to attend a stadium gig and occupy that kind of a position within the venue, I do have to say that in a way - a Stones show is such a "spectacle to behold" from a distance, that it's not "all bad" so to say. However, there is absolutely nothing like being in those first few rows on the floor, absolutely nothing surpasses it. And if you're there and occasionally cast an eye on the rest of the stadium behind you, the magnificence of that spectacle that IS the "Rolling Stones live" is not lost on you, albeit that your nose is right up against the glass and you perhaps do lose a little something admittedly from not being to take it all in from a little further back. But these days, for me personally, it's front of stage or not at all. I apply that to 99.9 percent of gigs I attend, there is NOTHING that beats being within spitting distance of the artist.

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

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paulywaul

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its good to be anywhere
I might be in the very small minority but I love the Stones Stadium shows. I can't really compare them to arena shows because to me its like the comparison between apples and oranges... Obviously, there are possible drawbacks to some Stadium shows such as cold and severe rain or being stuck in the shitty 500's nose bleed section, none of which I enjoy. I have found the sound to always be superb from my usual spot 20-30 rows back, on the floor, next to the catwalk. Sometimes there is nothing better than the Stones playing in the open air on a perfect summer night (except of course a club /theater show).

I've got mixed feelings about stadium shows. If I think back to say one particular 1990 Wembley show, for reasons I won't bore you with ... I was somewhere high up at the back end of the stadium. Although today I would never ever in a million years elect to attend a stadium gig and occupy that kind of a position within the venue, I do have to say that in a way - a Stones show is such a "spectacle to behold" from a distance, that it's not "all bad" so to say. However, there is absolutely nothing like being in those first few rows on the floor, absolutely nothing surpasses it. And if you're there and occasionally cast an eye on the rest of the stadium behind you, the magnificence of that spectacle that IS the "Rolling Stones live" is not lost on you, albeit that your nose is right up against the glass and you perhaps do lose a little something admittedly from not being to take it all in from a little further back. But these days, for me personally, it's front of stage or not at all. I apply that to 99.9 percent of gigs I attend, there is NOTHING that beats being within spitting distance of the artist.

That's the problem with front row seats. Once you've had them, you never want to sit anywhere else. And front row seats are getting really expensive. When I first started going to concerts, I sat in the nosebleeds all the time, and was thrilled just to be in the same building as my heroes. First row seats spoiled me. I think a big part of the reason I don't go to many shows anymore is that I can now only afford to buy the nosebleeds, and if I'm in the nosebleeds for someone I used to see from the front row, I feel like I might as well not even be there, like 'what's the point'?

insert "disconnect" for "magic"

I was watching something on TV about the Beatles, Beatles In The Studio, or something, but I remember a comment about the making of Sgt. Pepper, about what a liberating experience it was to make an album that was never meant to be performed. And now that I think about it, it was stadium shows that pushed the Beatles over the edge into never wanting to play live again. I suppose all the screaming had something to do with it as well. But for that band at that time stadium shows had reached a dead end.

The Stones have the opposite problem. They have learned there is a lot of demand, so a lot of money to be made on the road. I doubt if much studio work is done without an eye on what will or will not go over on stage. Indeed, the marketing interface of a release and an tour is obvious. But I have often wondered how much the band's life long playing in stadiums effects the band's studio creativity. Also, stadium shows require a certain Big sound, subtlety or nuance is not required. It requires the band to play to the broadest tastes of their audience. Success can be very easily measured in numbers, attendance and $$$. The band can blame the demand, but it their choice and I think it is a very calculated choice for more reasons than one. It is on the grand stage that the least is required of it.

I saw a stadium show in Anaheim in '78 and a LA Coliseum show in '81. For the most part, the latter show ended my intense interest in the band until I discovered the internet in '98 or so. True, arena sound is terrible, but sitting in a stadium makes me feel like I'm duped.

After sitting in the cold, pouring rain in lousy seats for over 2 hours at Churchill Downs, I vowed to never attend another outdoor Stones show. Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio has excellent acoustics and the Stones have said they like performing there.

My first stadium show was in The Hague, 1976, end of May. Beautiful wheather, a fine evening, a good, almost intimate, atmosphere (it was a very small stadium). Standing on the field right in front of the stage with much room all around me and a good sound quality I didn't felt duped, though I was rather disagreeably surprised by the musical quality of the show, having attended one of the last 1973 shows in Rotterdam Ahoy. But I certainly didn't feel duped. When I was in the Feyenoord stadium in Rotterdam, a big stadium, in 1982, somewhere rather far away from the stage and the sound quality as well as the musical quality being really disappointing I also lost my interest in the band. Until I found out the possibilities of downloading the old stuff. That brought back my enthusiasm for the only band I ever really felt emotionally attracted to. And it resulted in a very fine collection of bootlegs that I'm still enjoying very much. But no more stadium shows for me (if there once will be any).

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Send It To me
I love sports, but there's something really enjoyable about a concert in a sports arena or stadium - it's like the outsiders have taken over/occupied the whole world for a couple of hours. Then the world gets handed back over to the teams and wars.

i would rather spend money on a great concert than a great b'day show

Arenas/Stadia are fun for taking in the spectacle aspect but they are not optimal places to appreciate a live music performance. Clubs and theaters are usually better.

seriously - would some folks PREFER to see a concert in a stadium than a small, intimate venue with great acoustics? if so, i imagine the attraction has little to do with the music....

I saw the Stones in L.A. in 81 at Memorial Coliseum . Steel Wheels ( Same Place ) . Saw them on Voodoo ( Rose Bowl ) . No security ( Anaheim Pond) , Licks ( at the Wiltern and Ana heim Stadium ) Then somehow my sis-in-law got 6th row to the left of walkway for Bigger Bang. Nothing compares .I will forever be JJJaded .I prefer the stadium shows because of the energy

Are you mad? Intangible magic of charging God knows how much dosh to watch Alvin & the Chipmunks forty miles away? B!tch, please...

"The wonder of Jimi Hendrix was that he could stand up at all he was so pumped full of drugs." Patsy, Patsy Stone

unless you're in a section with 150 people that you know, to distract you from the pedestrian sound, the mediocre performance and the atrocious setlist then stadium shows get old fast,; once the "new tour magic" has worn off.

OLDKR

have we forgotten about those 78-98 stadium shows that the stones used to sell out with no problem? NOW THAT WAS MAGIG

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71Tele
Concerts in large stadiums are necessary evils at best. I personally find them dehumanizing.

Ditto.

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ChrisM

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71Tele
Concerts in large stadiums are necessary evils at best. I personally find them dehumanizing.

Ditto.

Yeah I'd agree. Even a stadium as good as AT&T in San Francisco still is rough for a show. The McCartney show there a couple weeks ago was good. But the first non-Stones stadium show I've been to in quite a while....and likely the last.

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

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kleermaker
My first stadium show was in The Hague, 1976, end of May. Beautiful wheather, a fine evening, a good, almost intimate, atmosphere (it was a very small stadium). .

Was this show at the Zuiderpark where they had a (prototype?) mini-stage of the one they ended up using at Knebworth?

The unbearable distance of stadium shows is more like it. They're more to be suffered than savored and only to be attended as a last resort.

Mostly too far away. Although when I saw them at Giants Stadium, it was a pretty sweet moment seeing Keith stomp his foot down as he hit that last chord of "Brown Sugar" and BOOM! the fireworks go off along the top of the stadium, right on the downbeat.

Not just the Stones, but any band...when you get a stadium show and the MOON is attending and checking out the concert, full and beautiful and low in the sky, peering over the lip of the stadium -- that can be really awesome. Before the band goes on, I will say to my friends, "oh, wow, this show is gonna be great -- look, even the moon is here checking it out." I remember seeing a Bowie stadium concert where the moon was just ridiculously beautiful, started out low and was high in the sky when we left.