What are ya most memorable experiences front row On The Rail at Stones concerts

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ColonialstoneNZ
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Stones tongue belly-piercing bent beyond repair …..



ROCKMAN

All of 'em.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Not exactly a memory of being there so much (was fantastic!) as one about getting there..
Stood/sat in the heat for hours to get a shot at grabbing the rail at Desert Trip. Enjoyed it for the most part, good fans, smoke, food, etc.

When the gates finally opened.. the mad dash was on! My fifty-something year old butt was running hard in the heat and when I slowed to take a necessary breather,
I honestly thought I was going to keel over.
I also honestly thought.. "well, there's worse things I could have in my obit than kicking it while trying to grab the rail at a Stones concert".. and started to run again
Ended up getting a prime spot on the rail, spent a ton of time defending it over the course of the day/night but well worth it!! Literally over a dozen of people ended up
being taken out of the pit due to fainting/heat exhaustion over the course of the evening, and that was just Keith's side, but I had the time of my life!!

You gotta fight for your right to be on the rail MisterDDDD - glad you survived.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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MisterDDDD
Not exactly a memory of being there so much (was fantastic!) as one about getting there..
Stood/sat in the heat for hours to get a shot at grabbing the rail at Desert Trip. Enjoyed it for the most part, good fans, smoke, food, etc.

When the gates finally opened.. the mad dash was on! My fifty-something year old butt was running hard in the heat and when I slowed to take a necessary breather,
I honestly thought I was going to keel over.
I also honestly thought.. "well, there's worse things I could have in my obit than kicking it while trying to grab the rail at a Stones concert".. and started to run again
Ended up getting a prime spot on the rail, spent a ton of time defending it over the course of the day/night but well worth it!! Literally over a dozen of people ended up
being taken out of the pit due to fainting/heat exhaustion over the course of the evening, and that was just Keith's side, but I had the time of my life!!

MisterDDDD..yea mate all the planning and getting to the rail (the holy grail) and standing ya ground defending it is all part of the fun a

Similar experience at HPII in 2013 in GA/T3/Ronnie, a mad dash to the rail (maybe 600 meters !) after the fence opened just in front of where we were standing to let us in to the turnstyles. Saw some people fall, lose stuff. Fortunately we had a super fast runner in our group and she was probably the first one there. Everyone was lying on their back arms and legs stretched, not to recover (well maybe a bit) but to save spots for friends. What an experience...and then a 9 hour wait started to see the Stones in massive heat and sun. Fortunately we were right at the angle of the walkway and could get some shelter from the sun there.

A sharp contrast to HPI where I was in the PIT/T1/Keith and casually strolled in a few hours before the show to get a spot on the walkway. Guess which experience I cherish more ;-)

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Three of the most memorables:

- Stockholm Cirkus July '03 - Given VIP early entrance and casually strolled right in. Snuggled right up to the rail front center with two Swedish model babes that looked like Christie Brinkley.
- Vredenburg, Utrecht Aug. '03 - Waited outside venue all day w/friend, and made it in dead center on the rail in front of Mick.
- *B-stage rail. L.A. Staples Center Feb '03 - Free NRDC concert, and was gifted with front of B-stage tix on the rail. Keith playing Midnight Rambler five feet in front of me the ultimate highlight - and it was free!

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Highly overrated in my experience but I have only had a couple of them, Altamont being one, for a short time. Usually stage is too high for it to be worthwhile. Did have ringside seats for the small stage one time, that was fun for the 20 minutes they were out there, but that left us there for the rest of the time and couldn't see the main stage all that well from that vantage point. In Copenhagen I had soundboard access and that was nice, place to sit and theoretically the best sound in the house. Only other real close experience like that was at Winterland, 1972 but couldn't hack it for long, went back to seat after half hour or so. Like I said, overrated in my view, but hey however ya get your jollies.

jb

On the rail:


Having Keith point straight at me, smile and say "oh yeah" as he walked down one of the arms of the stage in Adelaide 2014 as I was wearing a T-Shirt bought specifically off his website that year. The slightly khaki green shirt with a black n white picture of him smoking, in the middle. Walking back to the stage he made eye contact again, and gave me a wink and another point,


On the edge of the stage (does this count? It's where I sat, one bum cheek, for the whole Licks Enmore show on Feb 18, 2003:


Having Keith stop as he was wandering past and tousle my hair.

Having Mick look down at me after i touched his shoe at the Enmore again, with a look of "touch me again and you're dead" !!!

And finally, having Keith on one knee, one meter in front of me, again at the Enmore, one arm in the air, the other riffing out the opening to Honky Tonk Women and Keith saying to me "How f*****g easy is this?" with a huge grin on his face.

These are memories I will take to my grave.

Rod



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2020-01-31 07:49 by bitusa2012.

Being on the front rail with Beast and my wife. Watching Beast employ her strategy and tactics in defending her spot. London II May 2018.


plexi

My best rail experience is probably being the first to enter the Trabendo to find out how small and empty the floor was.

Stopping in the middle of the few stairs, shocked, while Pierre was laughing at me, probably thinking "get over it and find your spot".

Then first walking along the rail to Keith's side, then back to Ronnie's and finally settling for dead center, with Pierre going "so where are you going tonight? Keith side? Oh no, you're going to Ronnie ´s? Oh it seems it will be Mick's after all"...

After what seemed like a very long moment (we were entering the venue one by one), one by one, all my friend strolled in and slowly filled the first and second rows... My first Stones show in over 5 years was about to start.

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MisterDDDD
Not exactly a memory of being there so much (was fantastic!) as one about getting there..
Stood/sat in the heat for hours to get a shot at grabbing the rail at Desert Trip. Enjoyed it for the most part, good fans, smoke, food, etc.

When the gates finally opened.. the mad dash was on! My fifty-something year old butt was running hard in the heat and when I slowed to take a necessary breather,
I honestly thought I was going to keel over.
I also honestly thought.. "well, there's worse things I could have in my obit than kicking it while trying to grab the rail at a Stones concert".. and started to run again
Ended up getting a prime spot on the rail, spent a ton of time defending it over the course of the day/night but well worth it!! Literally over a dozen of people ended up
being taken out of the pit due to fainting/heat exhaustion over the course of the evening, and that was just Keith's side, but I had the time of my life!!

Was doing same for back rail in pit. Weekend 1 or 2?

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daspyknows
Was doing same for back rail in pit. Weekend 1 or 2?

2
Great three days!!

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Hairball
All of 'em.

Ditto...and don't we long for the days when we could get there just by sitting outside early and long enough.