I didn’t even know that the Rolling Stones were playing in
Southampton until my brother Paul phoned me on Sunday afternoon. My niece Lee
had bought the tickets as a birthday treat for Paul. Unfortunately, Lee couldn’t
get the time off work so when Paul asked me if I would like to see The Stones I
couldn’t say no, could I. Thank you very much Lee x. Paul picked me up from my
house and we set off on Tuesday afternoon about 1.30. The journey was quite
uneventful apart from a long slow crawl through Salisbury and driving in
torrential rain was a bit tricky. The rain had eased off by the time we reached the outskirts
of Southampton and it stayed dry for the rest of the day. We weren’t quite sure
how to get to St Mary’s Stadium but there were lots of people walking to the
concert so we knew we were going in the right direction. Finding a parking
place was a bit difficult because the car-park had been turned into a big
market area with food outlets, merchandise stalls, bars and even BBC Radio
Solent broadcasting from there. We got lucky and managed to park the car in a
side street only a couple of minutes’ walk away. In the market area the
sponsors were holding a scratch card competition to win a Jeep. I entered and
didn’t win but got a free Keith Richards style bandanna which I tied around my
hat.
At 5.00 the doors opened and in we traipsed. It’s nearly
five years since I last saw the Stones at Glastonbury and two weeks later with
Colleen & Barry on a scorching hot day at Hyde Park. Both those events were
great but maybe a bit too big. At St Mary’s it was just right. Everybody got a
decent view. From our vantage point it was quite good fun just watching the
people down on the pitch. We spotted snooker star Jimmy White having his photo
taken with people who recognised him. We also spotted comedienne Jo Brand. Finally,
the support act The Vaccines came on stage. I don’t know all that much about
them except they are a British Indie band. I have never heard their music
before. I thought they were very good at first with a driving guitar sound and
very loud drums. The crowd seemed to love them. I got a bit bored after a
while. They started to sound a bit samey to me. That’s because I didn’t know
the songs. Most of the audience thought The Vaccines were great but it was The Stones I was here for.
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| Me trying to look like Keef. |
Eventually after what seemed an eternity the greatest rock
n roll band in the world appeared. I’ll just give you the set list. Start Me Up, Let’s Spend The Night Together,
Tumbling Dice, It’s Only Rock n Roll, Just Your Fool, Under My Thumb, Sweet Virginia,
You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Paint It Black, Honky Tonk Women, The Worst
(Keith), Before They Make Me Run (Keith), Sympathy For The Devil, Miss You,
Midnight Rambler, Jumping Jack Flash, Brown Sugar, Gimme Shelter, I Can’t Get
No Satisfaction.
Some of those songs were long extended versions. It was
about 11.00 when we left the stadium. The energy of the band has to be admired,
especially when you consider their ages. Drummer Charlie is 77 in a few days’
time and he is still the best rock n roll drummer in the world. Mick said that
the first time they played in Southampton was 1963 when they supported the
Everly Brothers and they played a lot of blues numbers. That was why they
played the blues song Just Your Fool.
He also said being back in Hampshire brought back some memories because it was
here that himself and Keith were in prison. That’s when they got busted back in
67. Keith was on great form. I enjoyed his two songs with accompaniment by
Ronnie on pedal steel guitar. I enjoyed the whole show. It would have been nice
to hear Wild Horses or Ruby Tuesday but they have so many great songs you can’t
hear everything. I must mention their backing musicians who all received a deserved
bow. I think they were Darryl Jones – bass guitar, backing vocals, Sasha Allen
– backing vocals, Karl Denson – saxophone, Tim Ries – saxophone, keyboards, Chuck
Leavell – keyboards, backing vocals, percussion, Matt Clifford – keyboards,
percussion, French horn, Bernard Fowler – backing vocals, percussion.
I have seen the Stones four times now and I think
Southampton was the best. Driving home was a clear run once we got out of the
city and I was back home by 12.30 tired but still buzzing after a great show. Thank
you very much to Lee for my ticket, Paul for getting us there and home again
and thanks to the Rolling Stones for a great evening.
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