| 6th October 2006 09:28 AM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
She's rolling in Stones: UM sophomore vies to be the band's biggest Missoula fan
By JAMIE KELLY
the Missoulian
Mandela van Eeden calls him “Ronnie.”
The rest of the world knows him as Ron Wood, rhythm guitar player for the Rolling Stones. But you'll forgive that bit of familiarity on the part of van Eeden, the band's biggest fan in Missoula.
It's no hyperbole to call her that. We are not joking around here. When the Missoulian put out a call for Rolling Stones fan stories, no fewer than 30 of van Eeden's friends got on the line.
“We know the biggest fan,” they said. “You have to write about Mandela.”
Why? Well, it's not just because she has a Ron Wood guitar pick framed in her dorm room from last November's concert in Denver. Or that for Wednesday night's concert in Missoula she's going to paint the “Hot Lips” logo on the entire front of her body with red and black Sharpies. Or because she skipped class Tuesday to help build the stage, or that her dad drove from Billings to join her, or that she's painted in lipstick the countdown to the concert on her bathroom mirror, or that she owns a pair of “Some Girls”-themed shorts.
No. That's mere window dressing on the educated soul of this Rolling Stones fan.
It's that Mandela van Eeden, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Montana, isn't just Stones crazy, she's Stones berserk.
“I love them,” she says. “For me, every Stones song is good.”
But her love is neither fawning, doting, mindless nor sycophantic. When she talks about the Stones, she talks like a history professor, filling in details that put the band in context, in the literature of world music, in their place in history.
“Mick Jagger is actually my least favorite,” van Eeden says, leading a tour through her dorm-room shrine to rock 'n' roll, a shrine that is about 50 percent dedicated to the Stones. “Don't print that,” she adds quickly. “He'll read it.”
The Stones will read the Missoulian?
“Actually, Charlie (Watts, drummer) does,” she quickly offers. “The first thing he does is read the local paper. And he draws a picture of every hotel room he stays in.”
Lots of Stones nuggets have accumulated in van Eeden's young head.
“That's Bill Wyman,” she says, pointing at a photo of the original Stones bass player. “He quit and Darryl Jones replaced him. Today, people joke that (Wyman) is the guy selling hot dogs outside the stadiums.”
Van Eeden's life wisdom and knowledge includes a mental Stones encyclopedia, from where they were born to their earliest musical influences to their personal habits. She's read every book and every article, owns every recording, and never tires of talking about them. It was a passion that her rock-'n'-roll-loving father bestowed upon her as a child in South Africa (yes, she is named after Nelson Mandela).
“He always told me when he was growing up in South Africa, he would listen to the Stones,” she says. “And it was really conservative then (during apartheid), so he couldn't even put up his poster of Jimi Hendrix. His mom wouldn't let him.”
The Stones love rubbed off quickly.
“I've liked them as long as I can remember,” says van Eeden. “I remember listening to their music when I was 6.”
Van Eeden is serious not just about the Rolling Stones, but about music - world music of all stripes and flavors, a love cultivated from her extensive world travels to places like Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia, mostly due to the fact that her mother was an airline flight attendant.
“When I travel, that's basically what I do - listen to their music,” she says. And it's reciprocal: When she hears people in other countries listening to Celine Dion and other sugary pop music, she tries to spread the word about what she considers real rock 'n' roll.
“There are a probably about a dozen taxi drivers right now driving around Vietnam listening to Hendrix,” she says.
It's a passion she brings everywhere. As the former host of KBGA-FM's “The Mandela Experience,” she often shared that music with college-aged listeners.
To this day, weather permitting, she drags an old phonograph to the Oval to share her collection, prompting stares from people “who think I'm some sort of hippie.”
There is, she's learned, a power outlet right next to the grizzly bear.
Van Eeden picks up her didgeridoo, a 5-foot-long aboriginal wind instrument she bought in Australia, puts one end in her bathroom sink and blows into the other. A hollow groan comes out, filling the bathroom.
She laughs. In the next room, one of her three Pantzer Hall roommates does a bit of studying.
“I wish I was as passionate about something,” says Kassidy Leonard, 20. “I think it's awesome. I just met her this year, and that's the first thing I knew about her, that she loved the Stones.”
Leonard lists her musical favorites, including bands like Hinder, Fallout Boy, The Used. Young punk and indie pop. The stuff women her age are into.
Van Eeden? She rattles off a few of her own: Muddy Waters, Led Zeppelin, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, the Beatles, the Sex Pistols.
The stuff women two and three times her age are into.
“There are a lot of kids my age who fancy the Stones and bands like Led Zeppelin, but it was more something they listened to in high school,” van Eeden says. “It's like they'll listen to it, and listen to the same songs, but they don't know much about it.”
Her message to people her age? The Rolling Stones aren't just some relic from your parents' generation. They're still a tour de force, and they're definitely not to be missed.
“People are like, ‘Why do you like them so much? They're old. They're out of their prime.' And I say, ‘No, they're in their prime right now.' ”
Though van Eeden's small room is papered floor to ceiling with photos of her musical heroes, there is one band that stands out above them all.
The band she's going to see Wednesday night at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, where she has a seat right next to the catwalk. And though she has a lot of friends, she's going alone.
“I'm not there to be with my friends,” she says. “I'm there to be with Ronnie.”
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| 6th October 2006 10:46 AM |
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| NHStonesfan |
She has great taste. |
| 6th October 2006 10:48 AM |
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| Taptrick |
And she' not a regular on this board - she must at least be a lurker
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| 6th October 2006 12:16 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
quote:
Taptrick wrote:
And she' not a regular on this board - she must at least be a lurker
They have computers in Montana??? |
| 6th October 2006 01:16 PM |
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| rocker |
my kind of girl
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| 6th October 2006 01:44 PM |
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| Poplar |
If that girl took me back to her dorm room - i would have fallen in love immediately... then ...
[Edited by Poplar] |
| 6th October 2006 04:52 PM |
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| NHStonesfan |
[quote]Taptrick wrote:
And she' not a regular on this board - she must at least be a lurker
There must be a way we can reach out to here and get her on this board |
| 6th October 2006 04:58 PM |
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| pdog |
quote:
NHStonesfan wrote:
She has great taste.
And is also less filling, we must get her to post! |
| 7th October 2006 08:54 PM |
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| NHStonesfan |
I looked her email up on U Of Montana's website and sent her the following
Mandy
Have you heard of RocksOff.Org? If not check it out.
There is a thread about you and your love of the Stones. You should register and contribute. There is lots of good stuff, some too negative at times but all in all pretty good.
Richard
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| 8th October 2006 02:19 PM |
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| Mandela |
A word on the concert itself. I did do full frontal body paint of the famous tongue and lips, and I had one of my mate's draw a smashing portrait of each of the boys on my back. At Griz Stadium when the opening act was preforming (BLMC) they shot two 500' images of me with my body paint and everything on the two screens. During the concert I was sitting right next to the catwalk, and this gave me the chance to talk to the roadies I made friends with when building the stage with them a week prior. These cats have been touring around with the Stones since 'Bridges' (it's something special to take home when you know exactly how a Stones stage is constructed). On top of that, the stage crew in New York built the stage in 36 hours, and the crew in Montana set the new record @ 34 hours!
All this aside, let's get to the meat of my story. During the preformance, a man came up to me and asked, "Are you the girl on the cover of the newspaper today?" I responded, "Yes, that's me." He then introduced himself as Keith Richards personal assistant. He told me that they read the article, and they were very impressed and thankful. He said, "We were looking for you, and I found you," he continues, "Ronnie is very impressed, and wanted me to thank you personally, did you know that Blondie Chaplin is also from South Afrika?" I then asked him where in South Africa Blondie is from. He did say that Mick was a little pissed off that I said he was my least favorite (I told that reporter not to put that in the article). He told me that Keith is even more ticked because he wasn't mentioned in the article at all (he was kidding of course). He ended with, "Well, they're looking for you." I said, "Well, I'm right here." He came back 1 minute later before the stage started moving forward towards the B-Stage and said, "Are you alone? Where's your father?" Then he opened the security gate and had me follow him to the B-Stage. He said, "You're in a skirt, would you have trouble climbing up onto something?" I said no and continued following him, smiling at fellow fans behind the security fence. When we got to the B-Stage he said, "I want you on Keith's side, come sit right fucking here..." I responded, "Here, sit here on the stage?" And he ended with, "Yes, sit right fucking here, I want them to see you, they want to see you, and here, take these." He then handed me a handful of 7 of Keith's old guitar picks and the set list from the concert. He then told me to calm down and enjoy.
When the stage 'landed' they all saw me and smiled and played around me. Ronnie was so happy and grateful. Mick gave me a funny look and smiled and laughed, but Keith was the funniest because he just kept laughing at my body paint and was trying to say something but I couldn't understand him.
The stage picked up, and Keith's personal assistant walked me back following the stage. I thanked him, and found my spot and danced all night. I could pay for my college tuition with the guitar picks he gave me... I know this because one of the guys there who told me he had been to 32 concert offered me $600.00 for one guitar pick. I am not a person who sells a gift, and especially not one given to me from Keith personally. |
| 8th October 2006 02:31 PM |
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| NHStonesfan |
Great Post and even a better story. Glad you had a good time. It must have been a dream come true. |
| 8th October 2006 02:39 PM |
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| Paulcarr87 |
Mandela, great post! You have the great distinction of pissing off Mick Jagger! Usually that's Keith's job. Welcome to the board..
Paul
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| 8th October 2006 02:51 PM |
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| Riffhard |
WOW! Cool story Mandela! Welcome to Rocks Off. Stick around you'll fit right in here. Any pictures of you in your body paint? What do the picks look like? I got a few of Keith's picks from tours past. My favorite says Keef Riffhard on one side and Five String King on the other side.
Riffy |
| 8th October 2006 03:55 PM |
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| jostorm |
"but Keith was the funniest because he just kept laughing at my body paint and was trying to say something but I couldn't understand him."
Story of his life, ey?....
This comes from a woman 30 years your senior :
you're one cool 19 years old woman, Mandela.
Welcome, and don't let them put you off.... |
| 8th October 2006 09:35 PM |
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| Mandela |
How would I go about posting a picture of my body paint? |
| 8th October 2006 11:27 PM |
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| Poplar |
http://www.photobucket.com/
welcome ... you'll fit right in. |
| 8th October 2006 11:58 PM |
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| Mandela |
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| 8th October 2006 11:59 PM |
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| Jiving Sister Jan |
Wow what a great read. You lucky girl.
You should have been my kid. |
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