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Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; Baby Boomers Shelling Out

By Last Night in Little Rock, Section Off Topic
Posted on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 04:59:37 AM EST
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by Last Night in Little Rock

On Thanksgiving, Talkleft saw the Rolling Stones in Denver. For those of you in big cities, no big deal. For those of us in the hinterlands, the Rolling Stones hitting town is a big deal. This is their second time in Little Rock. In 1995, they sold out 50,000 seats in eight hours. Ticket prices: $55 & 30. It was the best show I'd ever seen. The only other time I saw the Stones? 1967 in Syracuse NY. Tickets were $8. They were the counterpoint to the Beatles back then.

In August, tickets went on sale for March 9th's show. Ticket prices: $300, $150, $90. So I paid for these tickets six months ago.

This is near the end of the tour, and we are an add on, just like the shows in Australia and Indonesia in three weeks.

We Baby Boomers are a target, and a big one indeed.

The first Baby Boomers turn 60 this year. (For me, it is not for 1 year, 10 months and 19 days, but who's counting?) Ticket prices are always a function of what the market will bear, and look at the market. People with a larger income and willing to spend it. You can tell we are a target. Go to the Rolling Stones website and look at the swag they sell. One hot item this year? Wine. What happened to the good old days when it was just cheap t-shirts? $, of course. The target audience is older, and so goes their stuff.

Broadway plays are over $100. Super Bowl tickets are $700. What's the big deal? It costs a fortune to put this show on, what with traveling all over the world in private jets and five or six touring sets in 15 tractor trailers. Mick didn't go to the London School of Economics for nothing.

So, come tonight, I will have seen the Rolling Stones three times in 39 years. Tonight, I take my sons and their wives. And I don't regret spending $1,900 on six tickets. (My wife teaches college and complains that she got up at 5 this morning to prepare for three classes and may have to take a nap before the show. Is our age showing?)

And this refrain still holds true: "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need." Solace for the things in life that got away.

No time to philosophize. Time to get to work and to maintain the lifestyle to which I have become accustomed. As a Baby Boomer, I realize that Social Security is only there to help me take care of my father. It will be exhausted by the time I get to draw, which will be extended and out of reach until it is too late for me.

As a friend said just before he died, "Enjoy your life. It doesn't last long enough."

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    Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; Baby Boomers Shelling Out | 25 comments (25 topical)
    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 06:05:57 AM EST
    Jeralyn, I'm sitting here looking at my stub from the '72 Tour when I saw them at the Spectrum in Philly. It's for 10 bucks and they weren't bad seats. I'm glad I saw them at the peak of their powers. Keith - The Human Riff - will always be my hero. You've got to respect someone who had Hitler drop a V-1 buzz bomb on his row house the night he was born, dress up like a pirate when he was 6 or 7 and see no reason to change back and make it work for him. As for the swag, Mick didn't go to the London School of Economics for nothing. Still. Most of it offends me. It's a long way from the spirit of rock&roll as I understand it.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 07:16:01 AM EST
    $300 for a ticket to a band you've seen before, who are themselves incredibly wealthy? Assuming you are going with another person then you're paying $600 plus parking, food, beverages, and t-shirts. I can't do it! I'd feel too guilty driving by hungry, homeless people. $300 can buy health insurance for a person for a month or two. Where are our priorities?

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#3)
    by kdog on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 07:33:17 AM EST
    The prices are out of hand, but they are the best. I spent $100 for nosebleed seats during the last tour at MSG and it was worth every cent. "I never had a problem with drugs, only with policemen" -Keith Richards

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#4)
    by desertswine on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 07:39:33 AM EST
    "Enjoy your life. It doesn't last long enough."
    Yes indeed.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 07:52:52 AM EST
    We're here for a good time, not a long time.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#6)
    by Peaches on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 08:10:23 AM EST
    Charlie, Yes, you saw them at their peak. I saw them for the first and lonly time during the Steel Wheels tour in nosebleed seats at the Metrodome in Mpls. Couldn't even hear Keiths guitar. Just Charlies snare and Mick's muffled voice. The worst rock-nroll show I have ever witnessed by far. I was redeemed when I saw Keith with the expensive winos in a smaller venue in St. Paul. Front row seats. The Stones were the real deal for a few years. I will always acknowledge their run as the World's Greatest Rock-n-roll band from 1968-1972. After that, things faded. Rock-n-roll kind of died as a form of rebellion and became more of a marketing phenomenon controlled by corporate executives. Then, along came the Clash to carry the banner for a few years to the end of the seventies. Rock-n-Roll died for good. Kurt Cobain couldn't even revive it. Corporate Rock Still Sucks on the cover of Rollingstone, merely making him a marketed rebel. made him sick to his stomach until he couldn't stomach no more. Rock-n-Roll might be still out there, but it isn't in Arenas and it doesn't cost any more than a couple slices of pizza as one of my favorite rock-n-roll band used to say.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 08:10:30 AM EST
    LNIR, have a great time. It was the best show I've seen in years and years. They are worth every penny. Luckily, I didn't have to pay for my seat. The TL kid's dad has the best box at the arena and wasn't going and gave me his seats and his parking pass. The boxes are open (not glassed in) and it was the closest I've ever been to the stage. Plus there was plenty of dancing room. I didn't sit down from the second they came out until their final encore. It will be a night to remember when we are in our nursing homes.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#8)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 08:21:28 AM EST
    The price of one's youth goes up every year. Enjoy.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 08:30:12 AM EST
    I saw them on their first US tour in '65, top price $5, I got a $3 ticket. There was almost a riot. I had a wonderful time. Saw them twice in LA in late 70's early 80's. Recent footage of them doing"Sympathy for the Devil" seemed almost Vegas-like to me. The danger was gone, replaced by show biz polish. The New Yorker said this tour was "by the rich for the rich." The best concert I ever went to was Woodstock.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#10)
    by Che's Lounge on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 08:46:57 AM EST
    1982 San Diego Stadium (Some Girls? - early blow-up Honky Tonk girls) - About $30 1989 LA Colliseum (Steel Wheels?) with GnR. About 80 bucks each, very close but to the side so we could barely see Charley. I'm trying to remember as best I can. It's...difficult. One thing I DO remember about rock concerts is that as soon as the announcer begins his thing, a breeze of MJ smoke wafts over the crowd and the sound of people savoring the aroma is all around. I'm sure of it because I heard all those sniffing sounds at the same time. what?

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 09:36:02 AM EST
    The '82 Tour would've been Tatoo You. Start Me Up, Waitin' on a Friend, Long Black Limousine, etc. Some Girls was '78. Che, I am one of the rarest of all birds. I actually bought a three day ticket to Woodstock(18 bucks)and did not make it there. I carried it around in my wallet for a couple of years until it started to disintegrate from going through the wash a few times. Maureen and I were hitchhiking from Woodstock, VT. We got as far as Whitehall, NY. where we got shaken down by a State Cop. The same Cop shook us down three more times in the next hour and a half. Just being a dick. Just because he could. Just another reason I've always loved authority so much.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#12)
    by kdog on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 09:42:55 AM EST
    I hear that Che...at the Garden show when they hit the lights all the smoke looked like a storm cloud....a gloriously pungent storm cloud. A Stones show is one of the only places it is socially acceptable to pass to a complete stranger. Good times.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#13)
    by Peaches on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 09:58:29 AM EST
    A Stones show is one of the only places it is socially acceptable to pass to a complete stranger. Good times
    Kdog-You need to get out a little more. Go check out a reggae show at a local pub. Or go to one of those summer Jam fests put on by those Jambands, influenced by Phish and The Dead. Check out Michael Franti. Lots of people still passing at venues besides the Stones. People you might be able to relate too. Maybe what you meant was a Stones show was the only place it is socially acceptable to for upper- and middle-class left wing liberals to pass a joint to upper and middle-class right wing republicans.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 10:29:15 AM EST
    Peaches, Thanks, you're right. I was lucky. I was born at the right time in the right area. I was at the Fillmore East the night it opened which was, ironically enough, 38 years ago, last night. Albert King, Tim Buckley and Big Brother and the Holding Company. I saw Sly and the Family Stone and the Jimi Hendrix Experience there on 5/10/68 which just happened to be my 15th birthday. I was in the 7th row left on the aisle which was fine by me. I knew that was the side Jimi stood on. Both bands were fantastic. To this day, as much as I love Jimi, I can't tell you who was better. I go back and forth. This is before Sly got all coked out and he was outrageous. That band was tight and they had it goin' on. He's really overlooked in my book. He's the link from James Brown to Prince, but the best part was outside after the show when they were gettin' into the limo, I got to shake Jimi's hand. Yeah, I was lucky. Old enough to see Hendrix, but young enough to stay outta Vietnam. Speaking of Minneapolis, my oldest son lived there, St Louis Park, actually, from '96-03. He'd turned us onto the Replacements and Husker Du 20 years ago when he was still in HS. We saw the Placemats at Dartmouth in '88. They were great and the first show we ever took them to was the Clash. We always tried to give them a good foundation. I know what you mean about corporate rock, though. It all started in '70s with dreck like Styx and Journey and all that velveeta, but, truth be told, there's always been good stuff and there's always been garbage.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#15)
    by Peaches on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 10:43:02 AM EST
    Charlie--I envy you, man. The Stones, Sly, Jimi...those guys were my heros. They were who I grew up listening to. I always wished I was born ten years ealier. As it turned out, I spent my late teens and twenties going to mpls clubs and watching a whole 'nother scene develop. Now, I talk with kids in their twenties, and I can tell stories about seeing The Mats and Husker (and Soul Asylum, Run Westy Run, The Suburbs, The Jayhawks,...) when they were just getting started. So, if you look around and stay away from the arenas, and don't listen to the radio, you can end up with a messload of memories of seeing the good stuff.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 11:33:03 AM EST
    Peaches, it is what is. I used to hang with this Band called Looking Glass when I was 15 or 16. They had a hit in the Summer of '72, Brandy, you're a fine girl. You still hear it on hold and in the finer supermarkets and elevators today. I was a roadie. Get in free, get experience, hang out. Anyhow, we used to cross paths and do shows with a band called Steel Mill all the time. Their guitar player, Bruce, was really good. Kinda quiet, but a pretty nice guy once you got to know him a little bit. He showed me a couple of things on the guitar. Bruce Springsteen was his name. Those guys were all four or five years older than me. That's not much now, but it's huge when they're 19 or 20 and you're some pain in the butt tag along 15 year-old kid always askin' questions but they were always pretty good to me. I guess they'd done the same thing themselves not that long ago. Besides, you help schlep enough Hammond B3s up and down 3flights of stairs ya win 'em over soon enough.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#17)
    by kdog on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 12:11:43 PM EST
    Go check out a reggae show at a local pub

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#18)
    by kdog on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 12:17:38 PM EST
    Ooops..hit post too soon. I live in police state NY peaches...anybody lighting up in a local pub goes to jail...goes directly to jail. When the Black Crows were in town a few months back...I saw 2 dudes get dragged out the place during the 2nd song for lighting up. These days...it only flies in the really big venues or outdoor gigs. At least in the land of "too many damn cops". And the Stones may be the only band playing the bigger venues worth seeing.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#19)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 01:29:01 PM EST
    The wine has not been particularly well-reviewed, but that's probably not the point of buying it I guess. Can you even bring a glass bottle and/or alcohol into a show these days?

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#20)
    by Peaches on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 01:48:45 PM EST
    Charlie--love that Looking Glass song. One of the reasons I still dial into the local oldies station. And Bruce...Yes, those are some good memories. Kdog--I lived in NY from 1999-2003, but I was attending graduate school, and my son was born in 2001, so I didn't get out to the pubs much. I find it hard to believe, though, that they could stop everyone from passing a spleef around when burning spear or Lee Perry come through NYC. It just takes a critical mass of smokers. Usually, a good reggae band will bring that in. In mpls, if a couple of guys at a rock show in a small pub, try and light up by themselves, yeah, they might be dragged off to jail too.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 02:55:09 PM EST
    Peaches, Ah, Brandy. The song that gave an identity to a million exotic dancers. If only I'd known that driving down Rte 22 as I sat on the hump of an old Ford Econoline Van with no heat on a January '71 night, going to play a High School Dance at a Somerville, NJ Catholic School. I could've gotten some pretty good odds. Between 5/72-9/72, it sold a million-eight singles. What a ride. They've got the number 2 song in the Country for most of the Summer - Lean on Me/Bill Withers just wouldn't budge - they're opening for Jeff Beck at Carnegie Hall and they're broke. I mean they're scufflin' for money to put in the gas tank. Goin' through the couch cushions, the laundry, the whole nine yards. We're drivin' down the road and Brandy comes on the radio and Elliot- the guitarist who wrote and sang it - just punches the button to change the station 'cause they're all sick of the damn thing at that point. That's when ya know it's a hit. When ya wanna hear somethin' else. Ya don't see the money for a long time. If at all. Everybody gets paid before you do. Elliot's the only one who stayed in the business. He does film and TV work in LA. Oddly enough, he did a lot of Lizzy Maguire Show stuff, if that's how you spell it. Hey, I'm outta the loop. I've got grown sons and young nephews. I'm at a total loss when it comes to girl stuff. The funny thing is, Brandy sounded totally different from the rest of their stuff. They were a straight ahead rock&roll band and ended up being a one-hit wonder because of it. Too bad. They were better than that.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 04:39:55 PM EST
    Can you keep this to the stones and concerts? Thanks.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#23)
    by Che's Lounge on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 05:44:52 PM EST
    Charlei, Thanks for the clarification. My first concert was the Byrds, 1967 in a HS auditorium in WI. If I could go back in time - San Francisco, 1967. Probably the womb of the most progressive and dynamic rock music ever to come through a speaker. Santana, Airplane, Hot Tuna, Steve Miller, the Dead, Hendrix. Not to mention the Stones and the Beatles at full tilt. I mean Jesus that was the CORE. Thompson called it the "high water mark" of the age.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#24)
    by Che's Lounge on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 08:31:33 PM EST
    Peaches, I got through the 80's on three little words: Stevie Ray Vaughn. Saw him four times live. What a terrible loss.

    Re: Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; B (none / 0) (#25)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 09, 2006 at 10:07:56 PM EST
    Che, The Byrds, eh? I know Gene Clark had left and they were down to their 4 man line up by then or had they hooked up with Gram Parsons by then and gone Country with Sweetheart? My first Concert was the Paul Butterfield Blues Band at Princeton U. in 5/67. Bloomfield had left had left so it was down to Elvin Bishop, but he was smokin' on that Cherry 335 w/Bigsby through a Super Reverb and Butterfield was so good. He was always my favorite blues harpist and what a singer. He's really been largely forgotten. I've always been a big Blues Man so you can imagine how I feel about Stevie Ray. I saw him a couple of times, too. What a loss. He'd gotten so good after he cleaned up. He was playin' the notes that mattered. But I know what you mean about him making the 80s palatable. Lord, Deliver me from Adam Ant and a Flock of Seagulls.

    Rolling Stones Hit LR, for Only Second Time; Baby Boomers Shelling Out | 25 comments (25 topical)