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MEMORY MOTEL WEEKEND
Sep. 1 - 3. 2000 in Wildwood
© All photographs on the page Susan Weisner & Delores
Woodward
A QUICK REPORT ON THE MEMORY MOTEL WEEKEND
Blue Lena just returned from a trip to the Memory Motel in Wildwood
Crest, New Jersey where a large group of the world's most crazy Stones
fans gathered (Sept. 1-4) for 4 days of Stones filled partying, music,
videos, trivia & singing. The get-together was planned & hosted by fan
club member Stonesdoug, and attended by fans from the States, Canada &
England. It was amazing the number of people who flew thousands of miles
to attend this gathering. Fan club members in attendance in addition to
Blue Lena & Stonesdoug included Elizabeth Johnson from California, Susan
Weisner from Virginia, Marilou Regan from PA, Frank O'Hanlon from
Canada, Shari & Larry Bruschi from New Jersey, Nathan Levy from New
York, Maryellen Trendler & Randey White from New Jersey, Carole Smith
from New Mexico and two new members joined us this weekend-Rob & Gail.
Thanks to those of you who sported your fan club t-shirts in support of
the fan club!
Most fans arrived Friday and the party started immediately with people
sharing photos & scrapbooks of the past tours. Later we had an ice
breaker at a local bar, and a few more folks dropped by Saturday to
attend the kick-off event which was the Mike Hunt Band/ Hot Rocks Band
show at the pier Saturday afternoon. Both bands played awesome sets to
an appreciative crowd of Stones fans & curious beach going observers.
The weather held out until about 5:30 when Hot Rocks had to cut short
their second set of audience requests & rarities due to a sudden rain
storm. The Mike Hunt Band's lead singer Tammy even attracted the local
cops with her outgoing performance & striptease! Hey, what's a Stones
gathering without the cops eh? Saturday night some folks ventured to
local bars, while others stayed at the Memory Motel for a party on the
patio till the wee hours of 5am.
Sunday began with a sing a long to live music, played by a variety of
guitarists (Glen, Larry, Cici, Jim, Randey, a few others whose names
escape me) with percussion (Frank aka Mars Bar) back-up. All fans were
encouraged by Stonesdoug to take their turn at the mic for their
favorite Stones tune rendition. It was great fun, and as the BBQ began &
people started to consume a bit more, things loosened up & more
participants took part. Even Marcus & Cici from Hot Rocks joined in &
treated us to a few more numbers which got rained out on the beach.
Most people got to take a dip in the Memory Motel pool & try out the
awesme giant tongue slide...Jumpin' Jack Splash as it is known by motel
owner Peter Ferriero. Later Sunday evening we all headed to the Surf
Tavern to hear Sticky Fingers play a ripping couple of sets to which
everyone got up & danced. They even attempted a few bootleg tunes
including a crowd favorite Criss Cross Man. While we were inside it
began to pour torrentially & by the time we got back to the motel, the
streets were flooding & we walked in ankle deep water. The parties
carried on again on the upper balcony with test tube "shooters"
courtesy
of Carole & then moved to the patio outside Blue Lena & Elizabeth's room
until around 2am with Stones trivia & Jason The Keithaholic's bootleg
playing on the boom box. People needed to end this evening a bit earlier
since most had to be up early for the long drive/flight home in the
morning.
Till the next time we say goodbye...Stonesdoug plans to make this an
annual event!
Life's
Just a Cocktail Party.... at the Memory Motel!
Memories from Labor Day Weekend 2000
For any good Stones fan, there was no
mistaking it: the tongue slide at the pool was gleaming bright
and proud in the sun, and then there was the sign with the huge guitar:
Memory
Motel
Let’s
Spend the Night Together
After a long day of traveling, this was
a MOST welcome sight, and a smile spread across my face
that remained for the rest of the weekend! Walking into the pool/patio area, I
saw a large tongue banner in someone’s window...
"Gotta be Stonesdoug’s room!", I said to my friend and roommate,
Fran. Over on the wall to the right: a mural of the Stones and other stars......
Painted on the patio, a giant "Twister" game...... The memorabilia in
Pete’s office...... Playing on the big screen TV, a Stones video, of course!
Hugs and laughter as old friends were seen, and new ones were made......
This was the scene that greeted about
100 Rolling Stones fans arriving in Wildwood Crest, New
Jersey for Labor Day weekend of 2000. There is something magical that happens
when you get Stones people together like this. We came from 16 states, 3
countries, and from all walks of life. The common denominator was that little
band from England, the Rolling Stones....and the internet. Most of us had seen
each others websites, chatted in Stones chat rooms, or posted
on Stones messageboards. We knew of each other, but didn’t "know"
each other until meeting at these Glimmerfests. It’s a very unique experience
to meet the people behind the
having drinks, talking and laughing,
listening to the Stones, and anticipating the start of a great weekend.
We received our commemorative t-shirts, created by Ken (Moondog426) for the
occasion, as well as our laminated "all access" passes courtesy of
Carole (honkytonkwoman). Jason the Keithaholic handed
us a copy of the Stones "Live in Brookfield, MA", a tape that he and
his girlfriend Holly made for everyone. Debi (Boosa62) and her husband Phil were
there with our name tags. And all around me, people were wearing their hand-made
Stones jewelry, courtesy of Anita (Stones505). Later that evening, many of us
headed to a local bar where the lone bartender was totally unprepared for our
group! The partying continued well into the night, and
Fran tells me that when we finally got back to our room, she was talking to me
and suddenly I just stopped answering!
By Saturday, things really started
heating up, and I’m not just talking about the weather! As we slowly made our
way out to the pool/patio area, hangovers were quickly cured with some coffee,
breakfast and a little "hair of the dog", as well as a dip in the pool
courtesy of a slide down the tongue. Was this the morning that Kathi (little514)
doled out the Kahlua? Not sure, but man did THAT hit the spot!
We got it together and headed down to
the beach, where the "Mike Hunt Band" was getting ready to play. This
is a female Stones tribute band, and frankly, I didn’t know what to expect. I
mean, c’mon a FEMALE Mick and Keith? Welllll... lemme tell ya, they ROCKED!
WOW, what a show! Combining great music, comedy, trivia, and an edge of
raunchiness, they had the joint rockin’! Aside from being a female tribute
band, their set featured the unique twist of playing an entire album, ("Let
It Bleed") in the KEY it was recorded in. "Micki J" had us
laughing between songs with her irreverent trivia-type banter. There were jibes
at "Mick Taylor" for leaving the band and "how successful he is
now", as well as jibes at "Bill Wyman's" penchant for young
girls. Nobody escaped!
Then it was time for the "Hot Rocks
Band" to take the stage. Now here was "one for the ladies"!
Marcus, C.C. and company played a kick-ass set of classic
Stones tunes that had the look, the moves, and the sound of the Stones, complete
with "Lisa Fisher" (Valerie)! On top of that, they were truly a great
bunch of people. You had to feel for the guys, especially Marcus, who was
wearing leather pants, a long-sleeved Mick-like shirt, jacket and scarf. The
heat and humidity was just stifling, and I asked him prior to the show how he
could stand it. He replied, "Anything for rock -n- roll!" At one
point, the Honky Tonk Women were invited onstage to dance during "Honky
Tonk Woman", and as one of the participants, I can tell you that it was a
BLAST!
"Hot Rocks" took a break, at
which time the "Mike Hunt Band" came back on to perform the "Get
Yer Ya Yas Out" album, intentionally mixed with the same muddy sound and
mistakes heard on the album. And it was "one for the guys" when Micki
J stripped to a bathing suit, then a thong, and rolled around in the sand during
"Midnight Rambler" (before being told to cover up by the police)! We
were later told that this was the g-rated show! (The Mike Hunt Band will be
performing the album "It’s Only Rock n Roll" at the ‘Lakeside
Lounge’ in New York City on Oct. 21, 2000)
The planned second set by "Hot
Rocks" was to be an all-request set of songs that our group had requested
on Stonesdoug’s messageboard. The band took the time and effort to learn these
songs for our get-together, which was very cool and appreciated by all of us! We
got to hear Steve’s (Waterpup) request, "Hey Negrita", but
unfortunately STEVE didn’t get to hear it because he was at the BAR!! And we
were about 3 songs or so away from my request ("Lady Jane") when the
thunder and rain started, and sadly, this put an end to our day at the beach. We
took the party back to the Motel, where not even a few raindrops could dampen
the spirit! A group of people headed for the bar for some fun, and ended up
getting kicked out on account of Steve (Waterpup)! I’ll have to let him tell
that story! (Several people wanted to express a heartfelt THANK YOU to John L,
who provided a sober ride in decidedly un-sober times. No one is sure how he
knew, but he seemed to magically appear at just the right times!) Meanwhile,
back at the Motel, we partied together much as we did the night before.... well
into the night, with a lot of "laughter on the 22nd floor"!
Sunday morning found us stumbling out to
the pool area, squinting in the daylight and downing coffee (and more Kahlua)! A
few motivated souls already had the gear set up for our sing-along/jam session,
and the grills were ready for a bar-b-que. What followed was an afternoon of
pure fun as many of us took turns being "Mick" for a song or two!
Janice was there with rolls of tongue stickers for everybody brave enough to get
up and sing. And as a fun "extra credit" bonus, we had Professor Rob
dishing out trivia questions between songs. Rob really is a professor, who
teaches a course in Stones history at a college in North Carolina.
We owe a grateful thanks to Glenn (Durtysox),
Daniel from "Sticky Fingers", Marcus and C.C. from
"Hot Rocks", Randey, Seth, Lary (LRSTONES), and Marsbar for
contributing their musical skills to accompany us during the sing-along. Nor can
we forget the people who went grocery shopping so early for our bar-b-que!
Later that evening it was time for
our final (and much anticipated) event of the weekend, the "Sticky Fingers
Band" featuring Glen Carroll. We got spiffed up and headed for the
"Surf Tavern", and got ready to rock! What an awesome show it was!
Glen came out in an authentic Mick outfit circa the 1969 tour, complete with the
omega shirt and studded belt, and nailed the sound of Mick to back it up! Daniel
(Keef) did an incredible job on "Happy", sounding and looking
JUST like our Mr. Richards! And the highlight for us all: 3 unreleased Stones
outtakes that the band had learned just for us: "Criss Cross Man",
"Travelin’ Man" and "Think I’m Goin’ Mad". It’s hard
to describe just what this meant to many of us. They performed a blistering
version of "Midnight Rambler" that had the place goin' nuts, and the
dance-floor packed! And once again, we enjoyed the company of these guys,
who hung around and partied after the show, giving us the full experience!
Monday morning came WAY too fast, and it
was time to "kiss you goodbye". What a huge letdown, after this
incredible weekend, to have to leave. But each of us left there with our
memories and stories, and knowing we had been part of something truly
spectacular. I don’t know about everyone else, but a week later I was STILL
buzzing! And you know what? This could not have happened without the effort and
organization of Stonesdoug. This guy could run a small
country! No amount of words can adequately express what he means to us, or
acknowledge what he went through to make this happen. Doug gives it his all when
planning these things, he attends to every detail, and he pulled off the weekend
of a lifetime. Thanks to Doug... AGAIN!
A week later, we received an e-mail from
somebody who was already counting down the weeks until the NEXT Labor Day bash:
"Well, 51 more weeks to go!" LOL........!! I know I’ll be there, and
I hope that many more will join us.
Cindy Parkhurst
(the article were originally planned for
STONES PLANET no. 4 in December)
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