Today is the anniversary of a key night in my life. I posted the following to Facebook on this day in 2020 describing it in great detail. In 2002, former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman published a book titled Rolling With the Stones. A couple years ago, I took a couple of pictures of page 489 which I've included at the end.
Forgive me but this week's album is a bit on the nostalgic and sentimental side. It was on this day in 1989 that I attended my first rock concert. I was fifteen years old and it's one of those father/son moments that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
My dad and I, along with some friends from our church, went to the Rolling Stones concert at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. That's right--a church group attended a Stones concert. It sounds like the setup to a bad joke. We may as well have walked into a bar.
It was a big deal. Many people had written off the Stones as being a bit past their prime. After 25 years, the band had seemed to fall apart over egos and sometimes rather public spats between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards that still continue to this day. It was their first tour in seven years (it had been eight since they had toured the U.S.). In hindsight, I find it interesting that everyone seemed to harp on their ages. Today, in 2020, jokes about the Rolling Stones being old... are... well, old.
Before the show, we were waiting for the opening act (Living Colour) to take the stage. I smelled something in the air that smelled to me like a cross between cigarette smoke and manure. Dad looked at me and said, "Do you smell that?" I nodded and asked what it was. He said, "That's grass. Don't inhale. Let me do that." It was the first time I ever smelled marijuana. I didn't understand how anyone could smoke something that smelled like that. Consequently, I've never tried it myself.
I wasn't that impressed by Living Colour. The most exciting moment of their performance for me was when the lead singer laid down on the stage and everyone in the band took a running leap over him. In fact, I recently checked out the album they released at that time ("Vivid") and it still doesn't do anything for me.
The sun finally went down over Louisville. There was a buzz among the crowd and you could tell that it was time for the main event. We could hear some pre-recorded introductory music. Then a wall of flames shot into the sky and when it disappeared there on the stage was my favourite band tearing into their hit "Start Me Up." A perfect way to open a show.
The highlight of the evening for me was when they did my theme song, "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Mick Jagger just sang, "You can't..." and 35,000 people sang back the rest of the line. It was the first time I ever felt like I was a part of something bigger than myself.
The one person I felt bad for was Keith Richards. At one point, Mick took a break and Keith sang a couple of songs. It was the only time during the whole show that the audience sat down in their seats. It was sad really. I actually think Keith is a better singer than Mick.
As a fifteen-year-old kid, I didn't have a lot of money for souvenirs. In fact, I had no money for souvenirs. Consequently, I still have my ticket stubs (not that you can read them anymore), the boxes from my first White Castle sliders that I ate after the show, and my shoelaces that got soaked in beer which are now tied around a small box of trinkets and keepsakes.
My sister told me a while back that Dad once said that he had difficulty relating to me. I always knew he loved me, but I wasn't a lot like him. We didn't share a lot of common interests other than chess. He enjoyed the outdoors and hunting and fishing--things I find boring. I tried to get into them, but just couldn't. However, once I reached adolescence, we managed to connect on music and movies (and even baseball when I got into my twenties and thirties). When people tell me (and they always do) what a cool father I had, all I can say is that when I was fifteen, I was out until two in the morning on a school night with my dad at a rock concert. You don't get much cooler than that.
So this week, please enjoy the Stones landmark album behind which they toured, 1989's Steel Wheels.
Until next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember that if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
Yours in peace, love, and rock and roll,
The Reverend Will the Thrill
Page 489 of Bill Wyman's 2002 book Rolling With the Stones
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