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IMST review by Jutta
Bridges to Babylon - Imst/Austria, 31. May 1999
Ater I was at the B2B concerts in New York (Giants stadium) on
the 16th. and 17th. of October 1997, in Boston on 10/21/1997 and in Hannover,
Germany on 06/26/1998, I talked my husband into driving with me to the Imst
concert.
I had to see the Stones once more! My husband's first Stones
concert was the one in Hannover, Germany, he hates overcrowded events. I told
him that in Imst would have "only" 50.000 people and we could spend
some nice days on our own - for the first time without our 2 children (after
about 18 years)! That convinced him finally and I instanty called for tickets
before he changed his mind.
On May, 28th. we started off to Austria. After a 6 hour drive
we arrived at our destination: Imst. A very beautiful place for a Rolling Stones
Concert, amid huge mountains in a great landscape. On our way to the guesthouse
where a kind e-mail friend from Austria had acquired a room for us we saw the
Stones-stage for the first time. We could see the skeleton of the stage. It was
already exciting. Our joy of anticipation began to grow more and more.
Our room was in a little town nearby Imst, a distance of about
1 or 1.5 miles. It was perfectly arranged so we could talk to the concert.
Already on the 28th of May an event with some local bands was organized at the
festival ground. We intended to walk down to Imst to find out the best way. But
after we had a little evening meal it was already late so we walked only half
the way down.
The next day we were invited by that Austrian friend to his
place in Innsbruck. He had invited some other Stones Fans he only knew via the
internet, like us, too. When we were there a girl from New York, another guy
from Austria and a family from Italy came around. It was an interesting
afternoon. Wolfgang showed us his impressive Stones collection. (BTW you can
visit him at his Stones exhibition: http://homepage.uibk.ac.at/~stones).We
were all looking forward to the next day, the day
of the concert.
Now eventually it was the 31st of May, the day of the concert.
It was an absolutely hot and humid day, it was too hot for moving about. At
midday we saw the first clouds coming up in the sky. A bad sign. Should we get
rain??? We peeked skeptically to the sky. Could it be true that we will get rain
at the concert??? We hoped not, but right at the time we decided to start
walking to the concert the first raindrops came down and we had to pull on our
rain-cape. But the rain could not spoil our good mood. What difference does a
rainstorm make when the greatest rock'n'roll band in the world is in town???
We arrived at the gates when they were already open so we
could immediately enter the festival ground to find a good place. We had luck,
we got a place right next to the b-stage on Keith's side. But we had to wait, to
wait, to wait...until the first part began. In the meantime we could enjoy the
great view of the Tirolean Alps behind the Stones stage - fantastic scenery.
At about 7 PM Zucchero (an Italian musician) started his part
of the show. He sang some of his rock songs but most of his stuff was more slow
and soft. He's not my fave - but he was OK.
The second part took place: Brian Adams - wow...He's a great
guy and I love him, too. I don't have any Brian Adams stuff at home but I always
love him when I hear him. He was followed by two other guys, all dressed in
white. Brian played bass, one guy guitar and the other the drums. Already the
first chords made the crowed cheer. Almost all of us were singing and dancing -
it was a very good atmosphere. He played all his famous songs, some lines he
altered with further ado, he sang: "and it rains, it rains, yes it rains...".
Brian was great. He didn't stand under the huge umbrella like Zucchero, he was
jumping and running over the whole stage and was as wet as all of us. After his
last number he wished us a good Stones concert. He's nice, isn't he??
Just before the third part of the show it stopped raining. Wow!!!
And then it was time for the greatest rock'n'roll band in the world, my favorite
one. I knew that the show had changed a bit but didn't know how. I was very
excited.
We heard an ominous sound, than the curtains opened and the large screen showed
us our beloved guys, coming through a dark aisle to stop at an elevator. All
looking if they had just killed one hundred people - very satisfied. They took
the elevator, the door closed and when it was opened again to let them out -
boooommmmm!! Jumpin' Jack Flash started, Keith entered the stage with his own
great aura, looking very nice with his hair decorations, Mick began singing and
jumping around, Charlie on the drums was fine as ever. Ronnie the nice fool
played his guitar and instantly the crowed was
deeply stirred. We were amid the great sound and the whole great scenery of the
large stage with the excellent light show. I felt as if I was in heaven, it
wasn't real. I enjoyed every minute of the show, knowing it was the last for a
long time.
After JJF they did You Got Me Rocking, Bitch, a great
Respectable, the great Gimme Shelter with the always nice Lisa Fischer, Honky
Tonk Women and then Ruby Tuesday. RT was absolutely fantastic, I have never
heard RT live. It was a very special experience. After Saint Of Me I was already
disappointed, nobody around us was singing or dancing. I couldn't stand still
and was singing all the time. The atmosphere wasn't very good, I couldn't
understand. Later I heard from another fan, Moorow, that he had the samer point
of view. Some Girls isn't my favorite song but was very good. Out Of Control
live is always a great performance, absolutely good. Then Paint It Black a song
I love very much, I was overjoyed with hearing it.
While Mick introduced his crew Charlie left his drum kit, I heard, for the first
time, came to the front of the stage and accepted the love from his fans.
Now it was time for Keith's part - my personal highlight. I
was a bit disapointed that he did not do You Got The Silver but All About You
was so fantastic, he sang with enormous ardour and Before They Make Me Run was
very good, too. I love to hear Keith singing. He has such an erotic voice and
one can feel his feeling of pleasure.
After the performance with the bridge to the little stage our
great moment came. I had never been so close to the Rolling Stones, now only 7
people were standing between us and the band. I was overjoyed, I took a look at
my husband and he was smiling very satisfied, too. First song on the b-stage was
Route 66 (destination of our last vacation) - very
well played, then a great Get Off Of My Cloud and the never ending Midnight
Rambler. I loved every minute and always think back to this experience. In the
meantime it was raining again but it could not change our good mood.
After Tumbling Dice, It's Only Rock'n'Roll, Start Me Up, Brown
Sugar and after the final Sympathy For The Devil it was over. We stood some
minutes overwhelmed not accepting that the show was over. Our heads were filled
with all the impressions we already knew from the other concerts but it was
inexpressible again. They had shown once again that they are the greatest
rock'n'roll band in the world.
The withdrawal was terrible. We were glad that we could walk
home. The location of this big event was very beautiful but too many people for
a little town in the narrow mountainous scenery. I bought the great b/w poster
of the guys, we drank a beer and headed on our way home.
Jutta
http://home.t-online.de/home/novemberrain/stones.htm
PS: The photo from Keith was taken by Moorow:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Frontrow/5455/stones.html
here you can read another interesting Imst review
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