I Want to Shout, But I Can Hardly Speak - Stones and Beck at Hershey 10/1/05

Go ahead. Just try to convince me that I spent way too much money on my tickets for last night's show. I won't tell you what I paid, but let's just say that they were good seats, not the best, but about 27 rows from the stage and over to the right. For the last few weeks, some of you have taken your jabs at me for this. But you know what? I had a really good fucking time last night. And you can't put a price on that. I've been listening to the Stones since I was practically still in diapers and I love them like a fat kid loves cake.

We were smart this time. Usually, coming out of a show, I'm really thristy. We brought a cooler this time and stopped at Sheets for Pomegranate Green Tea (I need the antioxidents to prevent the lines under my eyes). Mmmm...yummy. Then it was off to Red Robin for lunch/left overs for after the show and some browsing at the Hershey outlets. I finally found a copy of Dick's Picks Volume 20, so that was kinda cool.

We made our way into the stadium. The stage was freakin' huge! It had levels for seating and fiberoptic beaded curtains similar to what U2 had. I bought a shirt and then we made our way to the seats. We just kept getting closer and closer to the stage. I knew this was going to be good and silently hoped that it wouldn't be another Oasis incident. I kinda figured it wouldn't be since there were actual chairs and a lot of security keeping people out who did not belong there.

We were just taking everything in, people watching and digging the pregame music when suddenly the unmistakenable guitar chords for Beck's "Loser" brought me out of my daze. At first I was thinking, "Oh yeah, this song! When I was a senior in high school, I used to cruise around coal region towns listening to it." And then I realized that Beck was actually on stage performing. We could see fairly well, but for some assistance, there was also a big screen in front of us. I decided then and there that Beck is the coolest person alive. I'm not usually one for little skinny blond guys, but he was actually hot. He also had "his friend Brian" jumping around the stage dressed in a dress shirt and tie. Weird. Very weird. He played a bunch of his songs and then his band sat down at this table on stage and started eating dinner. "We were going to invite the Stones for dinner tonight," he said. "But we figured they had other things to do." Then he broke into "No Expectations" solo. It was great. At the end of the song, the band started banging on glasses of water on the table and they broke into "Clap Hands." When it was all over, I was sorry to see him go.

So, then there was intermission. I considered fighting the crowds to go to the bathroom, but thought better of it. The Stones came out at about 8:45 and played for about two hours. I saw Keith first and couldn't believe how great the view was. It was such a thrill.

Here is their setlist:

Start Me Up, It's Only Rock & Roll, Shes So Cold, Tumblin Dice, Rough Justice, Back Of My Hand, Midnight Rambler, All Down The Line, Night Time Is The Right Time, The Worst, Infamy, Miss You, Oh No, Get Off My Cloud, Honkey Tonk Woman, Sympathy, Paint It Black, Brown Sugar, Jumping Jack Flash, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Satisfaction

I'm a little disappointed because at the show at Pittsburgh, they played "Rocks Off" and since Pearl Jam opened, Eddie
Vedder came out and sang "Wild Horses" with them. But overall, it wasn't so bad. I got to hear "She's So Cold" which made me happy, even though I take a lot of ragging for liking that song. They played a lot of new stuff, which I guess is okay. The new album isn't awful, I guess.

Some other highlights:

~During "Miss You" part of the stage turned into a boat and took them down to the second stage in the middle of the crowd via the catwalk down the middle. There were also catwalks down each side of the stage and when Mick or Keith walked on the one on our side, they were so close! It was really cool.

~During "Honkey Tonk Woman," they were still on the second stage and the roadies inflated this gigantic flowered tongue and lips on the main stage for when they got back. That was kinda cool.

~At another point in the show, Mick Jagger actually said, "I hear we have people from Mechanicsburg in the audience."

~They paid tribute to Ray Charles with "The Night Time is the Right Time" and their gorgeous back up bimbo came out and sang. She was great. But she was teetering around on these necker shoes. I thought she was going to tip over.

~The setlist was posted around Charlie's drums and when they showed him on the big screen, you could almost read it. We knew that the last two songs were going to be "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Satisfaction."

I'm sure there are a lot of other things I'm forgetting. But I assure you it was fantastic. I didn't even mind sitting in the parking lot for an hour before we ever even got on the road to go home.

Anyway, back to reality today. I better get moving on my homework and laundry.