Re: Your first Stones concert
Posted by:
timbernardis
()
Date: January 9, 2008 07:15
THE FIRST TIME I GOT STONED
Wednesday, July 16, 1975, second of 2 shows, Cow Palace, San Francisco (or is it South San Francisco or which municipality, Sweet?)
god, there is too much to tell about this EVENT.
Waited all night in line, passed right next to Bill Graham on my way in outside the place making sure everything was going smoothly
ran like hell, got into the equivalent of about 4th row right side of stage ("festival seating" = FOS)
drunken/high woman liked me, holding onto me whilst singing "Short and Curlies" rather loudly
some hippie passing around small pipe with what was either hash or hash-oil laced pot which I partook in (had smoked pot a few times but nothing had ever happened)
The Meters open
after a few songs, the floor starts going uphill and downhill, I'm thinking "what's going on?", then slowly realize "I'm stoned"
Soon, I cannot understand anything anyone is saying to me, have to tell my friend to watch out for me when the Stones come on
long break
lights go down
wild cheering, fanfare for the common man trumpets, strobe lights
suddenly, wiry figures start to climb onto stage being hit and framed by the strobe lights, you recognize the rooster haircuts and others and begin to realize these people u have worshipped for years are here
loud, opening chords of Honky Tonk Women, going on and on, drawn out
suddenly, white lights hit the far, back right point of the lotus
a figure in white laying on his side rolls like a log down the uptilted lotus petal
he jumps up, it's Mick Jagger, and the place explodes
he sings "I met a gin-soaked bar room queen in Memphis," prances down towards the front of the stage wearing an American Indian upright feather headdress, mocking, preening, teasing, coming right up to us
can remember a few songs, esp All Down the Line and singing 'wont you be my little ba-by, for a while', great line
getting worse and worse, sit down on floor, open my eyes -- all is black, I start to panic
then slowly realize i am on floor as a little light streams down in between peoples legs
i cant continue this, i must get out, get some fresh air, i stand up
slowly, ever so slowly, make my way out, must have been stumblin and falling as people were saying "take it easy man"
get out to the exit doors and breathe in blessed fresh cold Bay Area cool summer night time air, try to calm down in the hallways
finally, begin to regain my right mind, go back in
i watch the final i dont know how many songs from the lower stands/tier, one that stands out in my mind is Midnight Rambler and Mick with the belt
remorse is already setting in, you goddam fool, you waited so long for this and you had to fu*ck it up
the remorse reaches a crescendo as, during Street Fighting Man, last song i think, Mick throws a bucket of water onto the crowd . . . RIGHT where I had been standing
for 3 years after this, I had dreams that I would go to a Stones concert and they wouldnt show up, or some other band played, recurrent nightmares of this ilk
1978 -- Anaheim -- get in with the surge of the crowd being literally lifted off my feet and carried several feet
to the front row up against the wooden barrier, hot as hell, during the show a woman completely bares her upside to Mick whilst he reaches down to his crotch and makes bug eyes at her
last song, Mick brings out a water hose this time and sprays us all -- BAPTISM AND REDEMPTION
no more nightmares
I ruined my first Stones concert by getting stoned out of my mind, but still remember parts of the show (not all of which are herein recited), one of my old teachers Br. Thomas Dodd, F.S.C. laughed and said "you got stoned at the Stones"
But at this late date, no more remorse after many years of that, I think now "what a helluva ride and helluva story."
Tim Bernardis "The Plexiglass"
January 8, 2008
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2008-01-09 18:57 by timbernardis.