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Topic: Getting into Vredenburg Return to archive
10-17-03 01:08 PM
Fred Hardin Getting into Vredenburg by Fred Hardin

My wife and I are pretty big Rolling Stones Fans. My first Rolling Stones Concert was in 1978 when my friend and I drove half way across America from Savannah, GA to the New Orleans Superdome. It was the Some Girls Tour. The night before the concert we slept in our car under a highway overpass next to the Superdome with a bunch of other Stones fans. This concert ended up being the largest indoor rock concert ever held. Over 83,000 people were there. Needless to say, I was hooked on the Stones. I have seen every North American Tour since then. My wife has seen them all since 1989. After we saw the 40 Licks Concert at Turner Field in Atlanta, in October 2002, we decided to go see them again somewhere on this tour. The Rolling Stones blew us away. It was to great not to try to see again. We chose to see them in Denver Colorado, neither of us has ever been there before. We would make the trip our Vacation for the year. We bought good tickets to the concert thru the Rollingstones.com Fan Club. As it later turned out, Teri�s mother was to get married on that same date. We sold the tickets to the Denver show and started to make our plans to see the Stones in Europe. Teri and I both love Amsterdam, We love the Stones, the Stones love Amsterdam, and Amsterdam loves the Stones, what better place to see the World�s Greatest Rock and Roll Band? We were already getting excited. We bought tickets to see both the Tuesday and Wednesday Arena Shows for August 19 and 20. For the first nights show we had 1st Vak. This is a front of the stage area, a special area up front for the Fan Club members. The second night we were to have seats so we could sit and drink some beer and relax. Once we received our tickets in the mail, we made our Hotel Reservations for a nice room on a canal near the Leidseplein. We were set. Now all we had to do was wait for 10 months to pass. This gave us lots of time to get even more excited. We were to fly to Europe using Delta Buddy Passes. This was the only way we could afford to go all the way over to Europe to see the Rolling Stones. Using Buddy Passes gives you advantages and disadvantages. If the flights are not full and there is room in the better sections of the plane you get to move up. But if the flights are over booked, you can get bumped right off the flight. Basically you are the lowest of standby passengers. You have to be flexible and patient.
When the time came, we decided to fly to Europe a day earlier than we had planned to. We wanted to get to Holland and take a train to Utrecht Netherlands and get in line at Vredenburg Musik Centrum. We wanted to try to be some of the lucky people to get tickets to the Rolling Stones Vredenburg show in Utrecht on Saturday August 16. That is if any tickets extra were to be released. This concert sold out in only 14 minutes on the Internet. We missed the sale. This venue is said to seat 2000 people. Needless to say that this was going to be a very high demand show. This was to be the only club show in Holland and one of only 4 club shows on the entire European tour. I saw one ticket sell for $3000 on ebay. I would never have tried to go to Utrecht to attempt getting tickets if it were not for the valuable knowledge I had gained from reading all of the information on club shows posted on iorr.org, by it�s founder and Web Master the all mysterious Bjornulf from Norway. In one inspiring posting he spelled out what one should do to assure themselves the best possible chance of getting into a club show. It gave me the faith that it was possible if we really wanted to give it a shot.
We flew out from Savannah, GA around noon Thursday, Aug. 14. Once in Atlanta we went straight to check with the Delta people to see what the chances looked like for us to get on the flight to Amsterdam. For weeks it was looking good, but the last couple days it was starting to get fuller. It ended up being over sold by a large amount of seats. We were definitely not going to be on that flight. The next day�s flight looked even worse for us. It is now less than an hour before most of the flights to Europe would leave. We rushed to the Delta counter and paid to have our flight changed to Brussels Belgium. We would catch a train to Utrecht from there. At least we would be In Europe and not sitting in Atlanta. We were very lucky, the flight to Belgium was not at all crowded, so we got bumped up to business class. Very nice indeed! There was plenty of space. Each seat had a private video screen with games and movies to watch. They also served a very good meal. Best of all, the chair had so many comfort control buttons that you could get so comfortable that we actually got some sleep. We arrived in Belgium early Friday morning, after everyone else picked up their luggage, we realized that ours did not get transferred onto our flight. We filled out the necessary forms and jumped on the next train that would take us to Brussels Central Station. From there it was on to Rotterdam to catch another train to Utrecht. We arrived at Vredenburg around 13:30. There were a few people standing around and some seated up against the door. There I was standing in my nice dress clothes I had worn on the overnight flight. I did put some comfortable shoes in my carry on bag but no other clothes. Teri had a complete change of clothes in her bag. It was only a few minutes before we were making new friends there. The people that were already there were from all over the world. I was very glad to find out they were using a List. This is the fairest and the most organized way to do something like this without having fights and all the other troubles you can have when there is a limited number of tickets and such a high demand event. When I put us on the list we were numbers 71 & 72. This was the beginning of a trip of a lifetime. After getting on the list I went and found a couple cheap T-shirts so I would have at least a change of shirts. Several times during that first day at Vredenburg I spoke to a real nice guy named Brian who was dressed all in black, I originally thought he must have been part of the lighting crew. I later found out he was part of the Stone�s security. Several times that day he had told me that Shirley said there were not going to be any tickets issued at all. He said she is the one who knows. I had explained to him that we had just flown from the States to Belgium that morning and then caught 3 trains to Utrecht to try to luck into seeing this incredible event. And that we were not giving up until it was over, he just smiled.
When we first started talking about going to Holland to see the Stones, I got in touch with Rich, a friend who has been working in the Netherlands for about a year. He had never been to a Stones Concert before. He said he would like to go to the shows with us. We had prearranged to meet at the Utrecht central station at 18:30. I walked back to the station to meet Rich, we then went back and waited with everyone else. After waiting and hoping all afternoon that they would release some tickets, we were starting to feel the effects of the overnight flight to Europe. It was looking pretty obvious that they were not going to release any tickets that day. Shortly after they locked the doors of the Box Office about 20:20, we told our new friends that we had to go get something to eat & get a shower and try to get a few hour sleep and that we would be back around 04:00 in the morning.
My friend Rich lives in Amersfoort about 15 minutes from Utrecht. His Family lived in Turkey when we did in the early 1970s. Our Fathers were in the Armed Services. I got to know Rich at some of the reunions we have had. We had dinner at a Turkish Restaurant thenm went to his house. When we got there we decided to wash the clothes we were wearing so we would have fresh clothes for Saturday (remember we still have no luggage). After getting the clothes washed and into the dryer we finally got to bed, it was way past midnight.
At 06:20 we were back in line at Vredenburg. It turns out that after we left Friday night, the few people that actually stayed there, started a new list with all the people that would remain there through the night. So when we got back in line at 06:20 we were no longer # 71 & 72 but now numbers 155,156 & 157. More than double what we were when we had left, but we did leave, and that is how it is. I understand 100%. Things were not looking as good as I had hoped when we first arrived at Vredenburg on Friday, But at least I was with a lot of Die Hard Stones fans in an awesome country and I had on clean clothes. We had made so many new friends already and this trip was only just beginning.
Eventually the Security started getting the waiting people in order according to the list, they grouped the first 50 numbers together. I must add that there were some pretty happy faces on those people. Nothing happened after that for a long time. The day slowly passes. There was a lot of talking, smiling and socializing. This is a great gathering of true Stones Fans. A lot of email addresses get exchanged. I meet Tongue Lady who I had had contact with thru Stonesdoug.com. I meet several other people that I had seen their postings on that web site as well as on IORR.org. I was surprised at how many Americans were there from all corners of the United States for this concert. We had made new friends from Germany, Norway, Sweden, England, China, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands and several other countries. The Security people finally came out with the List and announced that there were going to be some tickets released. They also said there would not be enough tickets for everyone, but they would follow the list until there were none left. As you can imagine there was a lot of cheering and smiles. Brain asked me what my number was. I told him our numbers and he had a doubtful look on his face but also a you never know look. Things were starting to get very exciting now. They called out numbers up to 56. A few people had left. The first fifty had tickets. It was so cool seeing the looks on everyone�s face as their numbers were called out and they knew for certain that they would be seeing an incredible once in a lifetime Stones Event! The TV News Crew was passing thru the crowd getting footage. They had a lovely lady with beautiful long brown hair to sing part of Satisfaction as part of her interview. A couple hours went by before they came back out to release some more tickets. A good friend my wife had made on Friday from London came up to me at one point and said that he may have an extra ticket. He had to get in touch with his friend who may have gotten a ticket elsewhere. If this person already has one, there would be a ticket available and he would be making someone out there very happy. I said, "I bet that would make someone very happy..........Buddy!" We both had a good laugh. I saw him a few times over the next few hours. Around 15:30 he came back and said he had the extra ticket he told me what he wanted for it and asked if we wanted it. I said �Hell yes we want it.� He asked whom I would send in. I told him it would be Teri. At least if I were not able to get in she could give me a detailed description of what I missed. I have been Lucky enough to see 3 more Stones shows then Teri has, and besides that it was the only thing I could do. When I told her we had her a Ticket, you should have seen her expression, it was like I had told her she just won a thousand dollars. She was concerned about me not getting in but that was not about to stop her from going in. That's my Baby! I do love her so. She went to go get the bands put on with the other two girls she was going to be sitting with and while she was gone this guy came by selling event T-shirts. I bought her a Shirt. So now she had a ticket to a show we had only dreamed of seeing and an Utrecht event shirt. You could not get that smile of that girls face even if you had tried. It is true, like they say, "When Momma is happy, everybody is happy." She and her new friends went to queue around 17:00. I saw Brian a few more times and told him we got Teri a ticket, he asked what my number was again. I told him and this time he had a very unsettling look as if he knew that it would never get that high. I explained I would be out there waiting for her regardless of if I got in or not.
Even though my new good friend Arve MM from Norway got his ticket in the first five minutes of the release that day, he was constantly by our side hoping somehow we would all get in. By 21:30 Arve had gone in, the Warm up Band has finished and the stage is being prepared for the Stones. Anyone with a ticket is now inside getting ready for an evening they will never forget. They got to list number 140 before they finally said and this time they really meant it "That is all the Tickets! We are very sorry but there are no more tickets, I am sorry!" I knew then I would be relying completely on Teri for my information about this show. Brian was out there when they made this announcement and he looked at me and shook his head like to say I am sorry Dude but they are all gone. I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders. It was a bit crazy around there for a few minutes as you can imagine. There were a lot of sad faces. Some girls were crying. Some people just not wanting to hear that shit. Some of the people were getting loud and being down right rude. Some were knocking on the doors as if that would magically make more tickets available. They finally locked the doors for the last time. I was standing near the entrance talking to Rich. I was telling him that he might want to go on home because I would be wanting to stay there and wait for Teri to get out of the show and from there we would go on to our Hotel in Amsterdam. I noticed Brian was standing out by the street talking to a couple of people. He was facing me and I looked at him and smiled. He was looking me straight in the eyes and winked at me and gave a slight tilt to his head as if to say come over here. I did not want to miss read this gesture by assuming something that was nothing, so I just smiled and looked away for a moment hoping like hell when I looked back at him he would do it again. I looked back and he did it again. I said, "Holy Shit Rich, I think we are in!" He said "What?" I said, "Come on, just follow me!" We walked over close to where Brian was standing and stood there. When he got done talking to the other people he turned to us, walked over and said, "So it's just you two left?" I said, "Yes, Teri is already in there." He said, "I think I can help you out." I said, "Oh God, I sure was hoping you were going to say something like that." He just smiled. I told him that I owed him big time for this. He said I had been so nice and friendly to him the past 2 days and some of the other people out there were being real ass holes. I knew exactly whom he meant too. He instructed us that in a few minutes, we were to walk down the side of the fence to the second T-Mobile banner, there was a gate and to wait for him there. It may be a few minutes. We thanked him again, then told him good bye and that it was nice to have met him, we shook his hand and turned toward the street and walked away. Once out by the road I tuned back and took one last very excited video clip of the outside of Vredenburg, then slowly walked off towards the spot Brian had mentioned. As you can imagine at this point it is starting to really sink in that I may yet get see this show. I was getting excited. During the late afternoon while in the line I had met a couple from San Francisco, as we talked I explained to them about the list and how it all was all going down. They knew that there was no chance of them getting in to this special event, not even being on the list. Well, they walked up and stood there too. I said, "Ah, I see you talked to Brian, He said "Yeah but your not in until your in!" I said, "Dude you are in" He said "We will see." I said, "You will see, you picked the right guy to talk to." About a minute later Brian went to the far corner of the fence, opened it and went in. A few seconds later the gate where we were standing opened just a small amount and a hand motioned the 4 of us in. Zip we were inside the fence. There we were greeted by 4 beautiful Blonde Dutch girls in there security uniforms with big smiles. One said to me "I see you have made a new friend. " I said, "Yes, this is my new best friend in the whole world!" Brian just gave his big smile, as she said, "You picked the right guy to make friends with." I said, "I can see that!" I asked Brian what I was to do with my pack. He said we would have to leave it at the counter. He said "I know you have a camera in there! I said, "Yes I do and do not want any problems!" We rushed in the back way straight to the box office, the other couple got their tickets and Bands put on. While I dropped off my pack, Rich got his ticket and bands. I feel pretty certain that when they put the band on my wrist it was the last band or very close to the last band they issued. I saw no one else behind me anywhere. Brian says quick follow me. We dash around a few corners and the next thing you know, WE WERE IN! I could not believe the feeling I had at that time. It was so exciting and so unreal. It was like a dream coming true in the most amazing way I could ever imagine! Getting in to this special show this way was like a wild movie or something. We went in to this beautiful room, I was so amazed at how small it actually was. You could tell by the crowd that at any moment A Hell of a Rock and Roll Event would be taking place. I needed to see where Teri was so she would know we got in. It only took a few seconds to find here in this small crowd. When I saw her I gave out my Loud "Wooot Woo" whistle that I do from Sympathy for the Devil. She did not notice it being me so I turned to look at the route I would need to take to get over to her. When I looked back at her she had already seen me. This time she had a look on her face as If she had won a Million Dollars! That was one of the best moments in my entire life people. I am not kidding you! We had talked and dreamed of getting into this show for many, many months. We were actually on the other side of the World in a small club show about to see the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the Whole World. Unbelievable! By the time I got around to the side she was on. She was out in the hallway to meet me.
A big hug and kiss and a quick excited explanation of how I got in was all we had time for as the Stones were going to be on stage at any minute. She said, �You need to get down to the floor quick.� She knows that's where I want to be. I must also mention here that my very good new friend Arve MM who was constantly by us hoping we would get in somehow was there when I caught up to Teri. We gave each other a big hug and It was so obvious that he was very happy to see me on the inside. It just added to the tremendous Natural High I was experiencing at that moment. This tremendous buzz did not die for 2 days and even now I still feel it. As Arve, Rich and myself rushed down to the floor, friends I had made that knew our numbers where high there were giving me hugs and high five's, screaming and shouting and some from all the way on the other side of the venue. They could not believe I got in. All of you helped to make this the most awesome night I can ever remember. Friends were pulling me up closer to the stage. I ended up very close to my very good new friends Stefan and Corinna from Germany. As it turns out they live about 10 minutes from another very good friend of mine. I could see Teri with her Million Dollar Smile up a couple levels. She was next to her new girlfriends. When you look around this place from the floor you can actually see everyone's face. I have never seen a place as cool as this to see anyone perform, let alone the Rolling Fucking Stones! I ended up about 1.5 meters from the stage at the extreme left side. I made friends with a nice girl I had seen several times the past 2 days she was from near Dusseldorf. She and I danced and jammed the whole show. Mick, Keith and Ron all made there way right over to us on several occasions. It was the cherry on the top of the ice cream having them all within 2 meters of me. Every one was doing a fantastic job on stage. They were all ON! The set list was amazing. Songs you will never hear at a large concert. The audience was loving it. The Stones were loving it. It was a magical show. Before I left to go on this trip. One of my best friends just joking said "Tell Mick I said Hi." During one of the songs when Mick was right there in front of me, I yelled out as loud as I could "Mick, Hunter says HI." Of course he could not hear me, hell I could not even hear me but I told him. Later when I told my friend about this, he got a kick out of it. If you where one of the Lucky People there inside Vredenburg that night, you know what a fantastic show that was. If you were not there, the only way you will ever get an idea of how great this event was is if they put it out on DVD. This was the ultimate Stones event for my wife and I. I had seen all the Stones Tours in the states over the last 25 years but nothing like this. Our first Club Show. The one we had hoped and dreamed for. When the show was over, I was giving my last good byes and hugs to new friends and trying to motion to Teri as to where I would meet her outside, when Brian came walking by with his headphones still on and that wonderful smile on his face. He looked at me as if to say, yes you look like you enjoyed the shit out of that. Even though I was soaked with sweat. I lunged through the crowd and gave him a big hug and another Big Thank You. He still had that big smile on his face. We finally got outside and meet up with Teri and the Buzz was still going strong. Telling everyone good-bye and telling others we would be seeing them in a couple days in Amsterdam. Then we were off to catch the late night train to Amsterdam�s Central Station and a cab on to our Hotel.
When we finally sat down on the train I had realized I had been on my feet nonstop for over 12 hours. Two of those hours I was rocking my ass off too! It felt so great to finally be sitting down. On the train were several people that were at the show. All of us had the same feelings. It was awesome. It was 3:00 in the morning before we finally got into our hotel room. What a day, what a night, what an event! We took quick showers but still had no Luggage with clean clothes. Even though I was laying there in the bed, I was so hyped up at being in Amsterdam again and having just seen the Vredenburg Concert, I could not fall asleep until after 05:00. We just had the Ultimate Stones experience and had not even used the tickets for the 2 Stones concerts yet to come. What a way to start a Dutch Stones Adventure huh?
Sunday morning waking up in your Amsterdam Hotel room knowing you will be on vacation there for five more nights. Well, Let me tell you, that was a good feeling. But looking down at your wrist and seeing the Utrecht Bands still on your arm, well that just made everything perfect. Well, everything except the fact that we still had no luggage. A good friend of mine from Germany was set to meet us at our hotel that afternoon. When he got there we talked awhile and then decided to go sit somewhere and have a beer. As we were leaving the room at 15:30 the phone rang. It was the front desk. Our Luggage had finally arrived! We delayed going out for a few minutes. You really learn to appreciate clean clothes when you have been without them for 4 days. With clean clothes and a great attitude we hit the Leidseplein. We sat at the Famous Bull Dog Caf� for quite awhile. It�s a great spot to sit and people watch. There is always something going on there to see. The Bull Dog turned out to be our favorite place for checking our email. It�s very clean and a real nice atmosphere. In the streets we saw quite a few people with wristbands still on from the Utrecht show. We talked to a couple of them. Everyone we talked to felt the same about that awesome show. The next day on the opposite side of Leidseplein at the Black and White Caf�, was the site for a big Shidoobee Rolling Stones Fan Club Party. We were ready for it too. We have both been to Amsterdam before. This was my fourth time there in 21 years. We felt very comfortable in Amsterdam and were enjoying ourselves totally.
On Monday at the Shadoobee's Black and White Party, we saw a lot of familiar faces. It was nice putting faces with names. Tim had made name badges for anyone who put their names on the web list. Lori, AKA Tongue Lady had an Utrecht News Paper with herself on the front cover. That was so cool. It really sucked that she was not able to get into the show. The party was a lot of fun. We made even more friends. The more people that heard about how I got into the Vredenburg show, the more they said I needed to write it down and post it on the various Stones fan web sites. I was already worried about mentioning Brian�s name. The last thing I wanted was to get him in any trouble for helping me out. Tuesday, we decided we would go to the Arena concert earlier than we had planned and see if it were possible to talk to Brian. When we got there we walked around the Arena, this was a much larger venue. The only Security people we saw were from the Venue and none of them were the actual Stones Security that Brian worked with. When we were on the backside of the Arena trying to locate Brian, one of the T Mobile people took our picture with a Camera Phone. They said they would be playing all the images of the people on the big screens before the shows. Everyone had to stick their tongues out in the photo. Once we were inside the Arena and in the First Vak Section, I told Teri we needed to keep an eye out for Brian. It was a little while but I saw Brian and another guy looking over the top of a black screen wall that was part of the stage on our side. Teri and I hurried over to where he was but just before we got there he climbed down. There was a man standing by a curtain door below were I had seen Brian. I told the guy I had just seen Brian and could he ask him to step out front for a moment. I was afraid the guy was going to come out and tell me that Brian was busy or something like that. The guy came thru the curtain and Brian followed him out. As soon as Brian saw me he had that big smile on his face again. He turned to the other guy and nodded. He walked over to us. I stuck out my hand to thank him again for the incredible Utrecht experience. His handshake back to me felt great. It was so sincere. I felt that he was truly glad he was able to get me in. I told him I needed to speak to him for a few minutes about Utrecht when he had a chance. He said he would come find us shortly. We were standing out near the Catwalk a little over half way to the B stage. We were standing there watching all the images of the fans that were taken outside with the Camera Phones. We were waiting to see our faces on the big screen when I heard Brian Call me. He was in the gated off area next to the catwalk. He asked us to walk over to the other side by a gate and he would meet us there. On the way over to the gate my new friend StoneBeatle said �If he�s taking you back stage, I�m with you!� I smiled and laughed. I told him we were going to talk about me posting this story on the Internet. He had the security guy open the gate and the three of us walked to the B stage and sat on a ledge underneath it. It was a nice quiet spot to sit and talk for a few minutes. I had explained that so many people wanted me to write this story down and put it on the web site. I told him I was very concerned about writing anything that mentioned him. The last thing I wanted was for anything bad to happen to him incase he could get into trouble. When I explained all this to him, I asked what I should do. Basically he just said, �Write whatever you want to. It�s OK�. I was very relieved. We were about done talking when Brian asked if we were going to be at the show tomorrow. We said yes as I was pointing up to the side, but we were going to be sitting up there in section 120 drinking some Beer and relaxing. He said, �I will come find you.� I said real quick pointing �Oh Yeah! We will be right there in Section 120 row 29 seats 129-131!� We all laughed. I said that it would be great to see him again and we would be looking forward to it. We spoke for a few more minutes before he had to get back to his duties. We said goodbye again and went back into the crowd. My Buddy Rich would be coming to the show straight from his work. We told him we would be as close to the corner of the stage and catwalk as we could get. Because we tried to find Brian instead of getting in the first in Queue we did not get that spot. We were standing with a new good American friend named Frank who was stationed in Germany. We had hung out together a lot at Vredenburg. He did not make it into the Vredenburg show. The Stones were almost halfway through their show when Rich finally grabbed my shoulder. He had made his way through the crowds all the way to the corner. Needless to say, we were not there. When he told us where he made it up to, we both told him he should have stayed there. At some point before finding us he had seen Brian and Brian told him where we were. He was glad to have seen Brian and to be able to thank him again. Several people had told me on line that the sound in the Arena would be bad. They were not wrong. With the roof closed it causes such a terrible echo effect. The show began with a pretty good Keith Blunder in the opening cords of what was supposed to be Brown Sugar. There were several other little screw ups during the show including the camera mounted at the end of Ron�s guitar during �Don�t Stop� was not working properly. Even with all screw up�s it was still a great show. Just the feeling you get from being in the presence of these guys is incredible. It is an amazing thing to share that feeling with 50,000 other people too. Mick did look a bit tired. But I figured it was probably just the Tour getting to him. He was sounding absolutely great to me and was giving everything he had to the Dutch fans. The Video Cameras were flying thru the air recording the concert. The next night was supposed to be broadcast live and was to be filmed for the up coming DVD. They were recording this show also incase they needed alternate footage of any parts.
Of all the different tours I have seen, over the past 25 years. The 40 licks tour has been the best to me. It makes me think of the Stones as a fine wine. The older they get, the better they are. It just solidifies the fact that they are and always be �The Worlds Greatest Rock and Roll Band.� Out of all the shows I had seen though, I have to say this one was the worst. I also need to say that even though it was the worst one. It was still a great event and I am so glad I got to see it. It was just the least favorite show I had seen. Another point I should make here, after you have just seen a show like Vredenburg, there is no way you can top it. As the Stones waved goodbye and left the stage, I had a very weird feeling in the pit of my stomach that I had never had before, I felt like this was it, I was never going to see them again. I knew it was crazy though, because I had tickets to see them the following night in the same place. After the concert we walked with Rich out to where we were to turn off in different directions. We were all excited about the next show. For one reason we would get to relax and do a bit of Drinking. On this vacation we had been on our feet a lot more then either of us were used to. The other reason we were excited, was because Brian said he would come find us. I did not know what that meant if anything, but it was exciting thinking about it. Brian had already made this vacation, the Rolling Stones Event of a lifetime for me. If anyone where able to make this adventure even more exciting, I think that person could be Brian.
It was not until we were on the train to the Wednesday Arena concert that we heard the show had been cancelled. I had heard that the broadcast had been cancelled but nothing about the show. We had to hop on a different train to get to the Arena. The station we had to change trains was just a block from the Amstel Hotel, where the Rolling Stones were staying. We decided to walk over there and see if it was true or not. It was true, there was going to be no show. Mick has a sore throat. We were bummed of course. But we had already had such a great time with the Stones in Holland that the cancelled show was not as devastating to either of us as I would have thought. Don�t get me wrong we wanted to see this show very badly. I know we would have felt a lot different if we had not seen that great club show in Utrecht. We came to see two shows, and we saw two shows, even though three would have been better. My biggest disappointment of it all was that I will never get to find out if Brian had something up his sleeve or not. That I will never know. But this I do know. Those 7 days of August we spent in Holland while the Stones were there, were absolutely fantastic! It was an excellent vacation in deed. Many thanks to everyone we had met and who became our new fiends on this trip. Lets hope I was wrong and that we all may see the Rolling Stones Tour again someday. If they do, I hope we get to see the shows together.

Fred Hardin ([email protected])
Savannah, GA USA
Pleased to meet you��..


10-17-03 02:46 PM
Phog Fred, that was an enjoyable read. Congrats on your good luck with the Utrecht show. There is nothing like the Stones in a small theater. Of course, that goes without saying.