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Ford Field, October 12, 2002 by John F. Martin/AP
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Topic: The Saga Continues, Giant's Stadium Return to archive
10-07-02 11:46 PM
Sir Stonesalot It seemed as though I had just got home from the MSG show. Oh yeah, I DID just get home from the MSG show. I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and slept the good sleep. When I awoke, sometime around Jeopardy, I was ready to rock again. Good thing there was a Stones show to go to! But this one would be different. I was taking my 6 year old son to see the greatest show on earth....no, not Ringling Bros. Circus...The Rolling F'n Stones.

As usual, when travelling with the family, we got underway about an hour late. This meant that instead of being able to enjoy a nice, relaxed supper on the way to the show...we had to settle for fast food drive thru. Of course, this sat well with my boy, less so with his mom & I.

I hate fast food. I hate everything about it. Read the book "Fast Food Nation" and you will see where I'm coming from.

Anyhow, after our fast food banquet, I took over the driving duties. We made it to exit 16w with no problem. However, as soon as we hit the off ramp, things slowed to a crawl. It is so very frustrating to be able to physically SEE your destination in the twilight, yet not be able to get there. It took 47 minutes to get into the parking lot. We were in lot P, on the far side of Continental Airlines Arena. It looked like at least a mile to the stadium. That was doable, it would give me time to try to get rid of my extra ticket.

And I did get rid of it, fetching nearly face value, so I was pleased. I sold it with a cop standing right beside me. When he heard what the final price that we haggled on, he simply nodded and walked away. Next step, get the recorder past security...

Easy. The security guy saw me holding onto a 6 year old, and he just waved me thru. Now to find our seats. We were in the 3rd row of the 300 level, just off of Keith's side of the stage. We had a great view of the stage, and the screens. When we finally got to our seats it was about 9:10 pm...about 20-25 minutes to show time. I'm sure that you probably know what is coming now. That's right, about every other minute my boy would ask, "When is it gonna start Daddy?" "In a little bit buddy, in just a little bit."

In just a little bit, it started. From the very first notes, my boy was up and dancing. The people in front of us were amazed when he started singing along. My boy does that to people quite often. A few months back I took him to get his hair cut. They had a copy of Rolling Stone magazine with Dylan on the cover. I showed Lil Marc the magazine and he pointed and said, "Hey Dad, that's Bob Dylan on that magazine." The lady cutting his hair just stopped right in her tracks. She says to him, "How do you know who Bob Dylan is"? He says, "He sings the Tweele Dum & Tweedle Dee song." Then he starts to SING the song. The haircut lady just stared at him, and then she stared at ME. Like I had done something awful to the kid. Whatever.

You should have seen his face when the big fireballs poofed out from the top of the stage during Sympathy. They were so close that we could feel the heat. He was literally jumping up and down with excitement during the Woo Woo part. It was around this time that pretty girls started pinning those flashing tongue things on him. Guys on their way out to grab another beer were giving him low fives. He was the king of our section. When it was time for Honky Tonk Women to start, I sent he and my wife out for a potty break. I didn't want to have to answer THOSE questions.

The show was great, and a treat for me. The setlist varied greatly from the stadium show that I saw in Philly. Keith was really animated that night. And the band played great. The sound on the B stage was murky. But all in all a really fun show. This is how good it was, my wife said it was the best concert she had ever seen. My wife doesn't like anything. But she liked the hell out of that concert. I'm still confused if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Man, getting out of the Meadowlands complex is a fucking nightmare. Whomever came up with that system is a fuckin' retard. I did manage to scam a nice Tshirt for $5.00 while stuck in traffic. My boy was asleep not more than 5 minutes after we got in the SUV. I had the forethought to book a hotel room about half way home. Good thing too, because it was about 1:37am when we finally got on I-78 headed west.

Quite a long day, and quite a bit of hassle, but worth every bit of it.

Next installment tomorrow night...Roseland.
10-08-02 01:28 AM
parmeda SS...You are a great Dad!

In January, it will be "family night" for us as well...and I for one, can not wait. It took a lot of eye batting and lip pouting to convince my husband to get tickets as part of Xmas gifts for our two sons. Like your son, ours have been exposed to this wonderful music up to this point in their lives. (Like they have a choice, lol.) And although they will never admit it, I have caught the two of them bobbing their heads, tapping their toes and singing along while the music is blaring through the house and they thought I wasn't looking. Every chance they get, they pull my chain about The Stones...boy, are they in for a shock!

As far as HTW, and the animation...well, I did notice they seemed to "tone it down" this past weekend from what it was earlier in the tour. (Somebody mentioned that The Stones had caught some grief over that...hmmm) It's still a little too raw for the kids to see...I don't blame you for shuffling your little guy off for a while. I'm debating on my 12 & 15 year olds...who's going to be more mortified, me or them?

Out of the three of you, I can almost bet who had the most memorable time...daddy did, huh?
10-08-02 07:30 AM
corgi37 Sir Stonesalot, that is a top post. I would love to take my kids with me if/when the old geezers get to Oz in Feb, but they are only 12 weeks old. Next time!! Though, my dad (a guy who does not acknowledge any music after 1942, cept Sinatra) is threatening to come with me. Hey, if he forks out the expected $400 price for good seats, i may just let him. Keep up the good work with your kid. One question. What is the stage like? I take it this was the arena show, not the stadium. I still havent seen any full stage shots of the stadium stage. The arena one looks a bit bland. What is the light show like? Any effects?
10-08-02 09:59 AM
stonedinaustralia corgi - where'd you hear about the price of tickets? - where & when do they go on sale? - i've been meaning to ring dainty in the last few days but haven't gotten around to it - how old is this news?

thanks
10-08-02 03:32 PM
Sir Stonesalot No Corgi, this was a stadium show, and the stage is quite impressive. I read an article somewhere about the size of the stage and such. I don't remember the exact proportions, but I know it takes a fleet of 53 trucks to haul it around. It's massive. It is not as flashy as the Steel Wheels, Voodoo Lounge, or B2B stages. It reminds me more of the '81 stage. Instead of being a multi-level stage with ramps and such, it is a single level with stage wings extending to both the right and left. A walkway to the B stage extends through the crowd, bisecting it. The backdrop of is a large collage of images.....human female lips, kernels of corn, lengths of hair, fruit, and splashes of colorful liquids. Very odd looking.

The screens are huge, and sectional. They can be in 4 seprate panels, combined into 1 large screen, or in any combination there of. The picture quality is astounding. The screens are motorized, and on a track. The show starts with no screens, and then the screens zip around to the front from behind the stage. Very cool.

The lighting is well done, but modest. There is motorized track lighting on the screen tracks, and the support beams. These are moved about for different effect during different songs. Back by the B Stage there are light towers on opposite sides of the stadium. These towers have 6 spotlights each. There are also stage lights in towers both stage right, and left. More stage lighting is on the shelter type area that Charlie's drums are under. I'm guessing that if they gotta play in the rain, there is a plastic roof that can be extended over this to provide a dry area for the equipment, and band.

There really aren't a whole bunch of effects. Fireballs shoot from the top of the stage during Sympathy, confetti gets shot out of confetti cannons and whipped around by big fans during the final song of the set. For the encore there's some fireworks, and then when the band leaves the area, there's another, longer, fireworks display. Most of the other effects are done by computer on the large screens. Most notably, the flaming lips and tongue during Sympathy, and the soft porn animation during HTW. There was also some neat computer work on the images of the band playing during Undercover. Oh yeah, and the shower of sparks during Wild Horses or Angie....that was nicely done on the screen as well.

But honestly, this tour isn't really about flash. It's about 40 years worth of some of the greatest songs ever written. The emphasis is on the music. IMO, that is a good thing.

There is a great picture of the stage at the end of the tour book. Maybe someone who has a scanner could post that pic?

Hope that helps.

10-08-02 07:17 PM
Jaxx sounds like a wonderful family outing. the weather was absolutely perfect for a concert that evening.
10-08-02 09:10 PM
Sir Stonesalot Yeah, for a while there we thought Isadore was gonna piss on our parade. She blew through however, and left us with dead perfect weather.