I was 15-1/2 years old. (I'm 60 now.) Some friends said let's see the Rolling Stones. I knew the hits I liked the band, so I was in. There were two shows that night. One at 8:00 and one at 11:00. Being 15, I figured that my friends would get tickets for the 8:00 show.

Nope. The tix were for the 11PM show. Somehow I convinced my parents to let me go. The oldest guy in our group was 16 and he had a driver's license. So we crammed into his car and went to Inglewood. We got there about 9:00 and parked a few blocks away. We walked over to the Forum and there was a huge group of totally excited people waiting to get in for the second show.

Somehow we got word that the first show was running late. Very late. I told my parents that I'd be home around 2AM. I don't think we got into the building until well around 1AM. At this point, I was going wherever the magic carpet was taking me. I was going to see the Rolling Stones!

Our seats were way at the top of the upper level. I'm pretty sure the warm up acts were B.B. King and Ike and Tina Turner. I'm not 100% sure because there may have been some drugs involved.

I remember that I could barely see Tina Turner. After the warmup acts were done, someone had the crazy idea to see if we could get down on the floor. Like I said, I think drugs may have been involved, so we left our seats and headed to the lower level.

I remember that it was pretty easy to get down to the floor. We made our way forward and then the lights went out. They always had three sections in front of the stage at the Forum. Totally by random chance, we started making our way down between sections B and C which put us straight in line with where Keith would soon be. Of course, we didn't know that at the time. It was the first Stones show for all of us.

I'm about 5-7 and at that point, I probably weighted about 119 pounds. And suddenly I felt a surge of people behing me pushing me foward up the aisle. We must have been some of the first people with the crazy idea to head down to the floor. And before I knew it, I was right in front of the stage. One of my friends was with me. In the melee, we had lost the other two guys.

This is decades before cell phones. We had no idea how we'd get home and I remember it as if it was yesterday... We didn't care. They opened the show with Jumping Jack Flash and my life changed forever. I seem to remember Midnight Rambler and Honky Tonk Women. Or maybe I have that confused with the Liver Than You'll Ever Be bootleg of the Oakland show that I found weeks later. All I now is that it was one of the most amazing nights (actually mornings) of my life.

Street Fighting Man ended at around 4:30. The drugs had worn off long ago, but my friend and I were in a haze. It was beyond amazing. We really couldn't quite comprehend what had just happened. But we quickly realized that we had no idea where our driver was. And to make matters worse, we really didn't remember where he had parked. Dumb kids.

We wandered out to the parking lot without a clue how we'd get home. We were just two 15 year old kids who had been blown away by what we just saw. Here's where it gets totally unbelievable, but still true...

As we are wandering around the parking lot, someone asks us if we need a ride home. We say YES! These total strangers actually pile us in their car and drive us right to our homes.

They pull into my driveway at about 5:45 in the morning. It's now November 9th and the sun is coming up. I walk up to my door and when I walk in, there are my parents. They are understandably scared that I was gone so long, relieved that I'm home safely, and above all, pissed.

I don't remember how long I was grounded for, but however long it was, it was worth it. I saw the Rolling @#$%& Stones right in front of the stage!!! I had amazing stories to share when I went to school. (I think I was in 11th grade at the time.)

Since then, I've seen the band about 30 times. My friends all know that I'm their crazy friend who is nuts for the Rolling Stones. So, none of them were surprised when I saw the band in L.A., Oakland and San Jose in May of 2013. Since 1999, I've been sure that this show will the "the last time." And every time I've been wrong.

Three Footnotes:

1) I got married in 1988. My wife has joined me for about a dozen shows. She liked the band before she met me. She has the fever now. In 2005, we had the pleasure of being in the onstage boxes in San Francisco. That was a very special night.

2) One of the great joys of my life was when I took my daughter to see the band. I paid too much and got great seats. I was 15 when I saw the band for the first time. When I took my daughter, she was (wait for it...) 15.

3) In January of this year, my wife and I planned a trip to Europe for June. (I've always lived in California.) We set up our trip to start in Prague, head to Vienna, and end in Budapest. A very nice trip. Imagine how blown away I was when I found out the the band would be playing in Vienna when we were there! So, of course, we had to go. Once again, I was 100% into it... After all, it was the last time I'd see the band. I sure hope I'm wrong about that.

So that's the story of the first and last time I saw the Rolling Stones (and a couple of very special shows in between).

If one of you happens to be the incredibly nice person who drove me home in November of 1969, thank you! You put the "cherry on top of the sundae" on one of the best nights of my life!

Very cool. Now I'm jealous as I would have loved to see them in 69.
Thanks for sharing your story!

vibrolux: I was the one who drove you home!!!

... Just kidding. But in truth, I saw the Stones on the same 1969 US tour - at Altamont. I was just a bit younger than you. I've written about it many times on iorr.

My cousin heard (emphasis on audio, not visual) the Stones at the Oakland (Liv'r Than You'll Ever Be) shows. After the concerts sold out, Bill Graham violated numerous municipal and state laws by selling at least a thousand standing room only tickets in the walk ramps at Oakland Arena. My cousin and the many other people who paid (I'm told) 4 dollars could not possibly hope to see the stage or even the crowd. They just listened to the music.

Thanks for your fabulous story.

Nice!

Good story, thanks for sharing. Makes me remember the excitement concerts gave me when I was 15 years old. peace

I too was at that show vibrolux. Even then I thought I had seen something historic. Imagine the feeling when some 28+ years later I got to hear a very nice recording of that show. I closed the door of the room, put on some headphones and time traveled back to that night. An extraordinary moment. My impressions of the show were understood when I heard the recording. Taylor's playing was a little strange for me at the time. Strong show by Keith. Not as exciting as I thought it would be, but the band's confidence and restraint in its musical vision, the arrangements, the chosen set list were all impressive. Then, of course, they were young and very sexy, musically and otherwise.

It was a looong evening~ I was at both shows and thought it was a fabulous night, never to be forgotten!

Loved your account "Vibro"!

Believe there are a couple of other LA guys on IORR who were also there...and, of course pmk251.

We were all so lucky to have been there.

Have any of you been to the "new" revamped Forum?

Kinda think I wouldn't go there again unless, of course, the Stones were playing.

Great Story,

I was 16 in 1969 when I saw them for the first time at MSG at "the breakfast show".

Travelling to/from MSG on the A train not a big deal, but I understand now how life changing an experience it was. At the time, I did not, but then again, so many things happened in 1969 to us in NYC that year (Jets win Super Bowl, Mets Win World Series, Stones at MSG, Who play Tommy for a week at Fillmore East) that we only came to slowly appreciate as being "historical".

At the time, who knew?

Cheers,

Cool recount. It was special in 1969. Saw em in Chicago and it WAS real deal.

I was there at the late show. I was 13. I remember a huge rush to the stage during Midnight Rambler. That night changed my life.

Great story, wish I'd been there--I totally empathize with hearing JJF and knowing that your life would change forever!

Great story. Thanks for sharing

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

Hi, cool story. I'm not so sure the people who drove you home were "ordinary" people; I don't mean they were merely kind/altruistic. Did you notice anything incongruent in how they looked or what they said, something unusual?

Cheers,
SonicD

Great story.

Puts my missing the last bus in sunny brum in 1973 into comparison lol

All them years ago eh

Love the "rite of passage" aspect of your story Vibrolux. It's almost as of you went in the Forum as a boya nd went out as a man...

Now tell us about the June 1972 shows...

Cool..Thanx for sharing

Great story, thanks for sharing.

After my incredible experience at that '69 show, I saw them several other times at the Forum. Needless to say, I couldn't possibly pass up the chance to see them when they played there in March or 2006. They place really isn't the same. I think they use it mostly for big church services. It's no longer "The Fabulous Forum" that Jack Kent Cook built for the Lakers.

OK, since you asked about the '72 shows... (I'll keep this one shorter.)

Now I had the bug. I was 18 years old. Still living at my parent's place, but with a driver's license and my first crappy car. We heard that Stones tickets were going on sale at 10AM at the Forum two days later. So of course, we grabbed our sleeping bags and went to camp out at the Forum.

We were among the first to get there. We slept there two nights right in front of the ticket windows. By the time tickets went on sale, there were at least 1,000 people waiting in line behind us.

I was first in line at my window when they opened up to start selling tickets. I got Section B, Row 2, seats 6 and 7. Second row, dead center.

Before the Forum show, I went to the show at the Hollywood Paladium. After that I was totally ready for the Forum show. I brought in a really good camera to the show at the Forum. I shot three rolls (36 shots each) of Ektachrome slides from my perfect vantage point. I couldn't figure out how to post pictures here, but if someone will tell how, I'd be happy to share some of them.

In writing this, I realize how lucky I have been to see the band up close so may times from 1969 to 1975. So it's not hard to understand why I became a raving Stones fan for life.

Thanks for your story, Vibrolux. What it really brings back for me was the communal feeling at the time. I was in Atlanta in the early 70s, living out in the suburbs of Sandy Springs. Most concerts were downtown at the Municipal Auditorium. I hitchhiked there, and hitchhiked back, often late at night. People helped other people. In fact I knew people who wouldn't pick up a hitchhiker unless they had long hair. I don't remember much detail about how we would get from point A to point B in those hazy days. And yes, now I realize that drugs may have clouded those memories. Price you pay.

Wow! All these stories are amazing!

Thx for the memories of 72! I'm beginning to think you saw ALL the 75 gigs too...

And we're dying to see your scans!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-10-04 21:27 by dcba.

LOL DCBA!

Actually, I went to two of the L.A. '75 shows. Opening night and Friday night. Another great story about opening night. I was extraordinarily lucky and got the two seats front row dead center in front of the center "petal" of the lotus stage. Here's the weird part... They were in two different sections. Unfortunately, I don't remember the seat numbers but I distinctly remember that the sections were different because of the angles of the rows followed the angle of the front section of the stage which came forward.

Final wild story: I bought these tickets when they went on sale which was a while before the show. I had purchased them for me and my girlfriend of three years. Shortly after I got the tickets, we broke up. She really wanted her ticket. I really wanted to get back together with her, so I gave her her ticket. I kept mine. After that, things got worse between us and we didn't speak again. I drove to the show alone. She drove to the show alone.

And of course, it was a fantastic show. By the time they played Angie and Wild Horses, she was all over me. We went back to her place after the show. A night I'll never forget.

And yes, I took my camera to this one too. Lots of great shots. Once in a while, I get out my old Kodak Carousel slide projector, put on some live tracks and I get transported back to some of the best nights of my life.

(Epilogue: That girlfriend and I broke up for good one year later, but the whole excitement of the evening and front row center seats made for another extraordinary experience seeing The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World!)

Love your account of the Forum shows. Ah the good ole days. Yes, please post the photos. Maybe you can do so no flickr and send us the link ?

The Friday show IS the show that'll be officially released soon so you haven't run out of luck with the Stones yet.

RE 1972 I always thought that tour was general admission all the way. I was wrong, wasn't I?

Quote
dcba
The Friday show IS the show that'll be officially released soon so you haven't run out of luck with the Stones yet.

RE 1972 I always thought that tour was general admission all the way. I was wrong, wasn't I?

Nope. Maybe Winterland was GA, but other shows were all reserved seats I think unless you said screw it and surged the stage.

DCBA - The '72 shows at the Forum were definitely not G.A.

Vibro, do you still live in LA?

The Church no longer owns the Forum. Irving "Sleaze" Azoff and Madison
Square Garden have completely re-done it. Not the same but nevertheless a
good job of renovation.

Won't be surprised if Irving moves the heavens to get the Stones there for a few more shows next year.

stonesrule - I'm up in Sacramento now. If he gets them there, I'll be there!

Great story! I may have run into you as I left from the first show. I remember walking out and seeing all the people in line for the late show. I've written about it here before. It was truly an historic show, unforgettable. And, yes, it was Ike and Tina as well as BB King. Terry Reid was the opening act.