Wednesday, November 2, 2016
She Smiled Sweetly and said, "Shut The F**k Up, Assholes!"
To my knowledge, the Rolling Stones played "She Smiled Sweetly" in concert only once. It was on September 30, 2002 at Roseland in N.Y.C.. I know this because I was there, upstairs in the V.I.P. area, where four to five dozen record execs and lucky unworthies got to sit above the massive nuts-to-butts ocean of people below. When I realized what I was hearing, I couldn't contain myself. This is one of my very favorite deep cuts. When the assholes around me did NOT recognize the tune as either "Brown Sugar" or "Honky Tonk Woman," they either made a bee line for a piss break, or worse, turned their backs on the stage and started talking about tennis lessons and their trips to the Turks and Caicos.
This could be about your favorite deep cut. Or, it could be about a concert experience, either good or bad. For me, it was about waking up and wanting to hear "She Smiled Sweetly," which I could never do without thinking of that night and those morons.
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17 comments:
I just listened to "She Smiled Sweetly" for the first time. I can't imagine them doing it justice in the 21st century.
I admit I've never heard "Between The Buttons". The only old Stones I know can be found on "Hot Rocks".
My favorite concert story goes back to 1976. My friends and I were psyched to see Genesis touring "Trick Of The Tail" at an outdoor venue in LA. We bought tickets for seats in the last row before the lawn and "festival seating".
We were so excited that we went there a couple days before the event and found our seats.
When we arrived for the show, our seats were taken up by the mixing board.
We were ushered down to the folding chairs they'd set up for us in front of the first row.
I sat right in front of Bill Bruford.
"I just listened to "She Smiled Sweetly" for the first time. I can't imagine them doing it justice in the 21st century."
They didn't. But the asshole that left or were talking, didn't know that.
Every Springsteen concert ever when he's slowed it down to play a slow sad song (which are always my favorites) the bee line for beer and piss is ridiculous and the bros start jabbering. Or how about the time last month Adele is singing a new ballad and two ladies behind me start jabbering. I mean they were in the 3rd row! you can't pay attention IN THE 3RD ROW!!
Sal my deep cut experience with the Stones is on the 1989 Steel Wheels tour, before the internet so I could not know what the next song could be, when they went into 2000 light Yrs. Holy crap, I thought I had gone to heaven. Its giving me goose pimples as I write. Live version is available as a B side that I do play regularly and I believe they do a decent version of it. Thanks for letting me share.
I hate everyone around me at every show I go to.
Is that wrong?
best - bought tickets to the early show (2 shows in one night) of a Humble Pie/Procol Harum double bill in Honolulu (my dad was stationed there). turned out only about 50 people bought tickets to the first show. Instead of canceling it the day of, Humble Pie came out and did their full set for 50 people, plus a "Don't Need No Doctor" encore, and what seemed like an hour-long version of "Rolling Stone" (Marriot said it was the last time they were going to play that song). This was the "Smokin'" tour. Marriot was a maniac.
worst - I had forgotten all about it, but watching the Dischord "Salad Days" documentary brought back memories of mosh pits. probably worst was an X show at the Cleveland Agora ("More Fun in the New World" tour) where you had to fight a rear guard action to stay close to the stage.
Yeah, the last Dire Straits tour at the Spectrum in Philly. It was "Money for Nothing," or nothing. All the quiet, beautiful, atmospheric songs from the last couple records were drowned out by jackasses with the attention span of a golden retriever.
My brother and I went to see Bonnie Raitt at the Center Stage in Atlanta in 1989. She's touring behind the Nick of Time album and it's beginning to get some airplay. While we are fans, we are actually there to see the opening act, Richard Thompson. He comes out alone with only an acoustic guitar. The crowd is milling about, buying drinks, finding their seats, carrying on conversations and just generally being rude to the genius in their midst. I am getting really angry but then something amazing happens. By the second song people have begun to quiet. His guitar playing is mesmerizing these 1,000 or so Bonnie Raitt fans who don't even know who is. He just takes command of the room. And I never had to tell anyone to shut up.
Brian Campbell,
I had a similar experience with RT. He was playing Jazz Fest in New Orleans, on the second largest stage. Of course it is hot and it is mobbed and people are doing the thing, just dying to dance. They are in New Orleans. And he comes out with just an acoustic. Second song in, complete attention from the 10,000 plus crowd.
I saw James Brown in about 1983. His career was probably at one of his lowest points.
He began a comeback shortly afterwards with "Living In America".
The venue was an old school nightclub in Del Mar on the southern California coast.
I believe I stayed for both sets, at any rate by the end the crowd was thin enough that I ended up dancing with some black girls, right in front of James. Literally three feet away. The stage was only about two feet high. After about 3 songs I was semi-drenched in James Brown sweat.
Then he did the whole cape routine.
Awesome.
BBJ-
That's a great story. I saw him in '87 at Valley Forge Music Fair (RIP). Revolving stage. To paraphrase Donald Fagen, he was Very High. About 4 songs in, he quieted the band and said loudly into the mic, "Turn the stage off!"
They did.
Sal - If you haven't found this already (which you probably have) here's a decent recording of that 2002 performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHHsc7Il-ek
Too many assholes talking during sublime moments as too many shows so I'll stick with a recent unexpected. Saw the Mavericks at the Beacon end of June and the did an incredible cover of the Pink FLoys song Us and Them. Unexpected and unbelievable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTVkud2a9OA
oh and speaking of revolving stages the first time I saw Springsteen at the Westbury Music Fair and he covered I Want You with Suki Lahvi on violin.
I worked at AMNH when Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played "The Rising" in front of the Hayden Planetarium for the MTV video awards. They took all day to set up, and ran through the song about 15 times. When it came time to shoot it, a light rain had begun.
I knew they weren't going to play just one song so I had a pizza and 12 tall beers delivered to me at the museum.
After they had the song, they played an unscheduled hour and a half set in the rain for 150 museum employees, while the whole neighborhood, "Get Back" style could hear, but not see.
It was Christmas, 2003 and I was having an extended holiday in New Orleans. January 2nd was a particularly quiet day and night, and I ended up at Tipitina's for a show billed as M.V.N.P. Two of my favorite drummers- Stanton Moore and Johnny Vidacovich, the M and the V, with George Porter Of The Meters and Ivan Neville, The P and the N.
Maybe 20-30 people for the start of the early set. James Brown's "The Payback" is playing over the sound system, as Stanton Moore walks on stage and starts setting up his drums. A few seconds later, Johnny comes out, then George and Ivan. I'm right there, my drink on the stage, and they start playing along to The Payback. They are laughing, but they are soooo in the pocket. The sound system fades out and they just kick off into ten minutes of a Payback Jam. This blew my mind and remains one of the best opening ten minutes I have experienced. Tips finally filled up, a few more Nevilles joined the festivities and it was another great NOLA night. I have a tape of the entire set and I think I may have written about this here, before.
Worst crowd noise experience:
Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve playing at the Supper Club in 1996 ( part of the show would eventually end up on the Costello Nieve boxed set). I think the event was being broadcast on WNEW too. It was clear there were plenty of record/radio industry people there, and whatever other hangers-on got in for free. Most of them hung out back in the bar, talking throughout the show, while those of us who really wanted to see these artists play together were up front.
During God's Comic, the buffoons got particularly loud, to the point of drowning out the music, and Elvis had to call them out from the stage. There's a recording floating around out there, and you can hear it all for yourself.
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