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The Rolling stones It was one of those weekends. With that I mean I spend a ludicrous amount of money, drank more alcohol then any human being should and had so much fun that I always got nauseous of it. Life is good indeed. This weekend was exceptional in that the Rolling Stones came to our little corner of the world. Despite declining visitor numbers (I guess the original Stones fans are starting to die...) the rockers of ages gone by flew over to give away one show in Nijmegen. I've been a fan of the Stones almost all my life. I first visited a concert of them before I was born and according to my mother, I liked it. I listened to my dad's records when I was old enough to work the equipment and I started buying stones albums as soon as I figured out what money was. I only do 2 things together with my dad these days as that generation gap is finally kicking and we argue a lot about everything. We go to see military hardware shows and we go to Rolling Stones concerts. We got there early and stood for hours in the burning sun, waiting to be let on the field. Then me, and my dad with his busted hip, made a dash across the entire park to be amongst the 2000 visitors who were allowed on the foremost field, scant meters from the stage. We found some great spots and decided to stick there.
Yes, we had some good spots. However, as you can see from this picture, the rain-cover was already in place, which meant the organization expected rain in gratuitous amounts, very soon. In that, we weren't disappointed. Just 10 minutes into the act of the supporting artist, Van Morrison (not exactly a small timer himself) a massive thunderstorm erupted over Nijmegen and all 46000 of us were forced to huddle together under the cover of thin plastic, kindly distributed by the organization. There we remained for 2 hours, utterly destroying our knees and backs while collectively catching colds. It was hell on earth, only wetter. Then the moment came. The thunder finally abated and the Stones entered the stage. Mick Jagger personally apologized for the nasty weather and Keith Richards, as usually was stone drunk. Suddenly, all the bad stuff was forgotten. The heat, the sunburn, the rain, the aching knees, the hurting back and the standing in 3 inches of water, it all shriveled into insignificance when faced with the great rock n roll that was unleashed on us next.
Ok, so this picture isn't the greatest ever. I challenge you to take good pictures while standing in an insane crowd of people. At least it shows how close we were standing to the Stones! Things were perfect for the next 2 hours. All the great classics came and went, plus some great old songs I hadn't heard very often. Things were good. Life was good. Sadly, all good things come to an end and after the concert we had to walk back to the car, with the pain in our knees and backs that suddenly returned. Getting of the parking lot took another hour and driving home was something of a challenge as well as I was barely able to move my knee. Still, it was worthwhile to say the least. It was great, it was classic, it was memorable. If they come again, I shall be there.
The Rolling stones rule!
PS: I took quite a few photo's during the concert. Most of them suck but some are worthwhile. I decided to make a special page for this. Rolling Stones concert, june 8th
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