| October 3rd, 2005 10:43 AM |
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| Highwire Rob |
Great Show! The weather at PNC held up for us beautifully--at one point the wind off the Allegheny River stirred up as if on queue for Mick's Sympathy for the Devil. To hear "She's So Cold" and "Get Off of My Cloud":  "Nightime Is the Right Time" was performed flawlessly by Mick & Lisa.
I waited hours outside the Renaissance hotel to catch a glimpse of the band's soundcheck journey. The first to enter any van was Chuck but he really didn't make any effort to greet us fans who called out his name at the entrance. He looked a bit stunned and was soon whisked away.
I had never before seen any of these musicians up close and I have to say how wonderful Lisa Fisher is! We called out her name as she was crossing the exit to the van. She came over and signed autographs, smiling, gracious, and beautiful as ever!
Bernard and Daryll followed out to the same van and exchanged warm waves.
But the most amazing was Blondie! He just casually walked out and straight through our crowd to his ride around the corner. What a stand up performer, just like Lisa he chatted on his way and signed autographs.
Then a black limo was positioned and Charlie briskly entered, but smiled and greeted us all. Charlie! The grin, the dress, the way he comports himself to the limo--a true English gentleman.
Here's the funny part: Our crowd at the Renaissance was well behaved and relatively small I'm guessing to what the Stone's can sometimes still encounter. Security was keeping us at a distance without any ropes. But boy did Keith and Ronnie dart out of there like all hell broke loose!! They sprinted a diagonal at the same time and poor Ronnie had the worst of it--before he got in his van he was pretty close to some encroaching fans. LOL, does Keith use Ronnie as a sort of deflecting pick? Is that what you get for being the last Stone to join?  I could just barely make out Keith returning our waves and thumbs up from behind his tinted Keefmobile.
It turned out that Mick had given us the slip and gone out of a side door. Does he do that often? 10 to 15 minutes later even the hotel/security staff were telling us that they were all gone--but a veteran lady in the crowd told me it's not unheard of for security to say things like that just to disperse fans. Well, this time they told the truth and I felt pretty duped when the sound of Mick and crew started booming out of PNC Park across the Roberto Clemente bridge!
I had so much fun. To actually be able to call out their names with fellow fans and get their positive response is a priceless moment for me. I already knew how good the support singers sounded, but to experience their fan friendliness was icing on the cake. I'll even give Chuck credit for playing in a damn good performance!
But I thought that inflatable tongue was actually going to go airborne. The bouncing gob could have scooped down, lapped up Chuck and then floated him triumphantly over PNC Park and the three rivers. 
--Highwire Rob. |
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