Posted by Sugar Blue on March 24, 1999 at 14:03:00:
Just got back from the last 2 shows of the tour for me, and quite frankly, I wish that wasn't the case.
Couldn't have had a better time, inside or outside the
shows.
Thanks to priceline.com, I snagged a room at one of
Boston's pricier hotels, the Park Plaza, for $50
each night.
Turns out that the Stones hotel, The Four Seasons,
was right across the street.
Heading to lunch on Newbury Street yesterday afternoon,
and who's coming up the street pushing a stroller ?
Charlie.
Didn't want to freak out and slobber all over myself and him, but I did manage a brief hello and handshake.
Also ran into Peter Wolf on his way over to the hotel to see the boys.
Totally hyperkinetic, all in black, and psyched for the show.
Seems to me as though he would've been a natural to
open these shows, a fact I mentioned to him.
He felt the same way, but I guess there was too
much industry politics involved.
He just doesn't sell enough records anymore.
Apparently the word was out about Mick's dalliance
the night before, as a couple of paparazzi had the
hotel staked out.
Quite a strange scene when one of the vans (with Leah Wood inside)crashed through a barrier in their haste
to flee the photogs.
Blondie Chaplin walked by on his way out to one of the vans, and he looks even more spaced close up !
Didn't head over to the venue until after 8 - one night
of the Goo Goo Dolls was one too many.
Guinness was my choice of openers last night.
Get to our seats, and much to our dismay, the cables
to the B-stage PA obstructed our view of the main stage.
After some minor carping to Customer Relations, we
were given seats in the 24th row on the floor!!
The set list wasn't dissimilar to the others I've seen
on the tour, but Moonlight Mile was gorgeous, and
Some Girls and all it's interplay is simply incendiary.
Kmowing it was the last show I'd be seeing, I just
had to get close to the B-stage, so I started heading
over there during Out Of Control.
Surprisingly enough, or maybe folks just don't know,
but the rush didn't start until the bridgewalk.
By that time I was nestled against the rail, mere
feet from Keith's mic stand.
After Route 66, Keef slapped me five, and gave me a
pick !
Still delirious, they tore through Get Off Of My Cloud,
and then I braced myself for Midnight Rambler.
It left me quivering.
Mick prowling every inch of a stage that could
barely contain him, Keith just playing to Charlie,
Woody merely ornamental on lead cigarette, but fuck him. He couldn't have mattered any less.
This song has gotten more cathartic with each performance I've seen, and by the time Keef and
Charlie kicked it back in this time, the grin on
my face had become permanent.
Having seen the Stones for over 20 years, in venues
big and small, it may have been the last time. Who
knows ?
But that experience at the B-stage, witnessing their
fury that close, was the defining moment for me.
It just don't get no better than that.