Exile On Main Street

Never saw the Rolling Stones live, so when they came through (again) I just had to. Ticket for a seat on the floor, toward the back, cost $150, plus there was about $45 in taxes and fees. I could have gone for the $350 seats about sixty feet closer, but this was already abusing my budget.

The Dave Matthews Band was opening, and I'll confess to not having heard much of them. I remember that "Crash" song from about ten years ago, but that didn't make a fan of me. So I didn't plan on being there for that; figured The Stones would go on about eight, so I left the apartment around 5:30pm, with the objective of finding parking somewhere in the International District and getting several drinks at Temple Billiards until about 7:30pm, then heading over.

I got as far as Belltown. I expected traffic to be dense, but Manhattan rules were in effect here. After moving two blocks in almost ten minutes down Second Avenue, I just pulled off near Virginia and paid $10 for a parking space. I crossed the street to use the bathroom at The Starlite Lounge, figuring to get a quick drink there and walk the mile down to Qwest Field from there.

The Starlite is quite something. A bit tony, but nice: done up in crimson, with low-key lighting, and a big charcoal drawing of Sinatra, Martin, and Davis Jr above the bar. I gotta check that place out again--and they make a decent Long Island.

With that shooting to my head, I walked downtown to Temple Billiards, a pool hall in Pioneer Square. After two more Long Islands, I headed over to the show. They must make them stronger than I would have thought, since I lost my hat somewhere between Temple and Qwest Field. So if you see a homeless person in Pioneer Square wearing a dark blue nylon ball cap, you can think to yourself "Russ really enjoyed the show."

I'd never been to Qwest Field before (since I hate sports). Not bad, pretty spacious, easy to get around. I found my seat, discovered that the view was pretty good. The Dave Matthews Band was in its closing number--and I thought they sounded pretty good. Turns out the sound overall was exceptional: the writeup in the Times said it was one of the best sounding shows ever to play there. Leave it to The Rolling Stones to deliver. Certainly the stage show was impressive. It's one thing to have a five-storey Jumbotron; it's another having good coverage. The camerawork was truly captivating--it really captured the band very well.

They opened with "Jumpin' Jack Flash", and it was electric. Exactly what I wanted from a Stones concert. I like musicians, not singers, so I've only lately come to appreciate how good Mick Jagger is in his job. Me, I was watching Keith Richards the whole time, one of my guitar heroes. Didn't seem to be slowing down any. The highlight was when he took center stage for "You Got the Silver", followed by "Little T & A", two of my favorites of his.

Then there was the mid-point of the show, where a section of the stage rolled out to the center of the floor seating, so that even those of us in the back got a close-up view of the band performing "Start Me Up" and a few others. It was great.

Only thing that I found disappointing was that the show was only two hours long. Forty years of music, and you can only do a two-hour show? When Led Zeppelin played the LA Palladium back in the 70's, they were on for five hours. When I saw Rush at The Gorge in '97, they played for over three hours. I pay $200 and I only get two hours?

Two hours of The Stones. Can't get that anywhere else.

I put the earplugs in after the show--as a way of easing the impact on my eardrums after the fact. I walked out of Qwest and up to the first bus stop on First Ave. I soon realized that there wasn't going to be much room on the city buses, so I just walked up First to my car, mile and a half away. Drove to Queen Anne, the Mecca Cafe, had a roast beef sandwich and potatoes. Gravy on the side. And a beer and a shot. Then drove back to the apartment. Now that's a concert.