11-17-2005, 03:03 PM
What can be said for the Stones? They're a rock and roll mastadon, overblown, over-the-top, but not over-the-hill. They've survived generations of rockers and they're still turning out music. So many songs are anthems. There's just no comparison to anything else out there today and no one even in the ballpark. Everclear played and I barely noticed. Metallica, who coudl sell out Candlestick all by their lonesome, took the stage and I didn't even realize it. At $450 a seat on the floor, there was no moshing and why the hell would you even want to listen to Metallica if you weren't moshing? They were completely dwarfed by the Stones, by their monstrous stage. It was a five-story apartment complex that shot columns of flame you could feel on the other side of the stadium. It had several balcony-like tiers, complete with a built-in 'backstage' bars, and you could actually be up there, that is if you're willing to drop $1500 per ticket for a few hours. My god. And they have two of these - because it takes so long to build them and tear them down, they leapfrog the two stages from city to city. It also had this glory ramp that moved a whole section of the stage out into the audience, giving those back $450 seats a close-up view for a few songs. And of course, the stage was a pyrotechnic and lighting wonder, with the largest TV screen ever, projecting images of topless black women next to phallic landmarks like the Washington monument, the Eiffel tower, the leaning tower of Pisa, as a backdrop for Brown Sugar. Then there was Mick, who's still mean and lean and gyrates more than most 20-year-old rock stars. Stones music is painfully simple, but the do it live to tremendous effect. Even the nosebleed seats are like $80, so they punch you in the face with every song. For Sunday's show, which I missed, they did an hour-long acoustic soundcheck, complete songs, just for workers. Sorry I missed that because I would love to have heard them stripped down. I took their free 25+ page oversized catalog as a memento - it had more gear on one page then most bands have for their whole tour. Rock monsters. Rock Leviathans. Long may they run.
SF complained that it was too loud. That's ridiculous. It's the Stones.
SF complained that it was too loud. That's ridiculous. It's the Stones.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
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