Im just getting caught up on the ng now,it was quite a weekend,and quite a show. Last years was better for three reasons
- The stage in Moncton was on a hill,where everyone,no matter how far back, could see(at least the giant screens). I spend most of my time watching the screens anyway,even though we only a few rows from the "front" I like to watch what Keith and Ronnie are actually doing on their axes.
- The weather. Last year it was too hot if anything,this year it started raining before the opening act, Sloane,took the stage,and it never let up. We (Diane,Chris and Rauly) had our motorcycle rainsuit tops,wish we had brought the bottoms. It was a cold day too. Strange to see the Stones wearing long coats(G) Ronnie must have done some local shopping because he put on a good ol'Nova Scotia "Sou-Wester".
- That rapper. I don't remember his name,and what idiot thought of adding him to the line-up was nuts. All the young, drunk A-holes really got shoving and a few punches were thrown. I decked one jerk that was pissing in front of us(I let him put it away first). Rauly punched a guy who piled into him,hard. They made up and got talking,it turned out it was Sidney Crosbys linemate, Steve Dixon,from the Pittsburg Penguins. Good thing he was a nice guy,Rauly might have got his ass kicked.Diane held me back from several comfrontations. I love a scrap,but in a crowd of 50,000,its not a good thing to start a riot(G) The things that were great 1.Alice Cooper. Id never seen him before and he was great. Played all his old hits non-stop,and apperared for one with that giant python on his shoulders. He was kissing the f****rs fork tounge!
- The Stones. Despite the weather,they put on a fabulous show. From the opening riff of "Paint it Black" on,you suddenly forgot about the rain,how bad your legs hurt from standing for 10 hours,etc. Mick couldn't run around as he usually does,the stage was so wet they kept sqeeging the water off. Keith said,after singing "Little T+A", "He,its your town,not mine",as he looked up at the rain. Lisa Fischer, shes even more beautiful than last year(lost weight) Bobby Keys and Chuck Leveale,world class musicians.
At one point Mick said "My feet are squelche" But they played their full set,and came back for one encore,"Satisfaction" I particularly enjoyed the song off their new album "A bigger Bang", "Streets of love" Mick plays the electric (with Ronnie) and Keith fills it out with some beautiful acoustic. The fire and pyrotechnics were fantastic as usual. We were close enough that you could feel the heat from those big shots of flame that come up out of the front of the stage.
The Rolling Stones are certainly the worlds greatest rock band, even though I personally love Led Zepplin, Jimmy Page is a guitar god, right up there with SRV and Clapton. But Keith is the master of the riff,no ones come up with so many good ones as him.