 Blue
Lena´s Toronto tour diary
Stay tuned for a longer, more in-depth
review of the songs and the show itself in the next issue of Stones Planet
Fanzine due out in September. This is just a more personal diary excerpt.
I had the surreal pleasure of seeing the
Stones perform to roughly 1000 people at the Phoenix Club in
Toronto
on Wednesday August 10th. My husband and I left
the house in
Pittsburgh
at
6:30am
and we arrived in
Toronto
around
noon
the day of the gig and headed directly to the Four Seasons
to hook up with some friends and pick up our tickets and wristbands. Sincere
thanks to the MFTQ for that honor and for her hilarious comment to my husband
“Don’t give her shit for seeing all these shows, she’s special to us!”.
Upon entering the hotel I was promptly
greeted by my friends and none other than Bernard Fowler himself, newly
dreadless in a knit cap, who said “Hey Blue Lena, gimme some sugar!” which I
certainly obliged. The lobby was basically empty and after securing our tix and
wristbands my friends headed off for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and my husband
and I headed to the bar. Lo & behold if it wasn’t Blondie Chaplin sitting
in his old familiar place-déjà vu from July 2003 because he was on the exact
bar stool where I last saw him right before he left for the SARS gig! We
discussed doing an interview in
Boston
, something Blondie has been promising to do for Stones
Planet since December of 2003! Let’s hope he keeps his word. After having 2
drinks for a gastly $30 tab, we headed out.
After walking around trendy upscale
Yorkville for a bit, we took the subway to Eglington to eat at the best Chinese
buffet in town…but it had just closed for lunch and then we got stuck in a pop
up torrential downpour. So, since it was now
3pm
and we hadn’t even checked into our hotel yet, we headed
back by TTC to the Cosmopolitan and finally at
3:45
were let into our room. I made a quick change into my club
show attire and at
4pm
we headed out for dinner. I was so nervous that I could
barely eat, even though I hadn’t eaten all day. I had a glass of sangria &
a bunless burger and grilled veggies. Gotta stick with that pre-tour diet ya
know.
At
6pm
I headed downstairs and caught a cab to the
Phoenix
at
410 Sherbourne St.
The line was already about 50 people deep or so, and I saw
several familiar faces. Media was swarming the place, photos, interviews, TV,
radio-a zoo! The cab driver asked me “are they filming a movie here?”. I
went to the front of the line & chatted with a few old friends, then got in
line at the end. Funny enough, I ended up being in line behind friend’s of
Darryl Jones’ whom I had met at the Keith 60th Birthday Bash in
Toronto
in December 2003. You always manage to re-connect with
people during Stones tours, and pretty soon you end up knowing mostly everyone!
My friends arrived around 25 minutes after me and got in line 20+ or so people
behind me. It looked like rain again, and we felt a few drops, but luckily it
held off until we were inside. I was dying to call my friends back home from the
line and report in on the excitement, but my cell phone bill from Canadian calls
was already stretching mightily, so I didn’t.
 At 7:30 pm the
doors opened,
and Jake Cohl and some RS.COM crew scanned
through the crowd with their camera asking us to hold up our wristbands.
Security was very tight and we were thoroughly searched by hand held metal
detectors. Many people had their cameras confiscated. I had wanted to bring my
digital to get pix for Stones Planet, but knew it was a risk, so I left it at
the hotel. I wasn’t going to fuck this show up in any way, besides there would
be plenty more shows to take pictures. Once inside the door a woman asked
“Where did you get your ticket?” and I looked confused and she said “This
is not a trick question”. My answer I guess was correct. They were just
checking to see if anyone had obtained scalper tix. Evidently, some did.
Once inside, I made a B line for
Keith’s side in the front. I was surprised at how empty the club still was and
how easy it was to get up front compared to other club shows I’ve gone to.
Even during the show we weren’t shoved or pushed or squeezed like sardines. I
was right outside the backstage curtain that led to the dressing room, and I saw
Bobby, Bernard, Chuck &
Rose Lane
, Blondie, Lisa and Mr. Charlie Watts arrive! The picture of
Charlie that appears online of him getting out of the car at the Phoenix is
exactly what I could see from my vantage point-he had this huge smile on his
face. I could also see Ronnie’s guitar case, and marveled at the axes inside.
It was odd that there was a big gap in the curtain, but I was sure glad there
was. I was also right next to the bar, which was a plus, although I only had one
Beck’s beer during the show for fear I’d have to pee-and that we not going
to happen if I could help it!
My friends arrived inside about 20
minutes after me and we secured the rest of the rail on Keith’s side in front
of the speaker stack. We took turns hitting the loo before the Stones came on,
so our bladders were empty and our spots on the rail were saved.
Around
8:30
The Trews, a Canadian rock band came on. They were clearly
nervous as this was the gig of their young lives. They played well, but they
played LOUD. So loud that we had to literally hold our ears the entire set. Some
even stuffed cocktail napkins in their ears! I wanted to be able to hear the
Stones, and didn’t want to risk blowing my eardrums before they came on stage.
They finished at
9:00
and the crowd was polite and appreciative, which isn’t the
case for all bands who open for the Stones.
 Stones to
start
Just after
9:30pm
, pretty much on schedule, the lights dimmed and Michael Cohl
stepped out onto the stage and boomed “Please welcome the Rolling Stones!”
God I love hearing that, it reminds me of the bootlegs from the 70’s when they
announced the band…”Please welcome the Rolling Fucking Stones!”.
Keith was the first to stroll out &
the boys all followed cranking into their new single “Rough Justice”.
Immediate satisfaction from the Stones hungry crowd. Mick was stellar in his
energy and voice-he had everything “down”. Mick was wearing tight jeans
& a beautiful teal shirt under his jacket-his best color I think. Keith
looked genuinely “glad to be back” as he says, and cool in his raggedly
fashionable way. Ronnie was all smiles and Charlie was sleek & stylish. I
really like this new track, it rocks and has some way cool lyrics-the opening
line about “I was your little rooster, now I’m just one of your cocks” is
great.
From there we were treated to a kicking
“Live With Me”, always a pleasure to hear and I sang along to every word
“Don’t you think there’s a place for you in between the sheets?”
A re-working of “19th
Nervous Breakdown” into a slow bluesy groove was wild & unexpected.
My first definite thrill came with the
start of “She’s So Cold”. I
had just watched the
Seattle
’81 show on DVD (thanks to a friend) the day before the
show and that tour was the last time this track was played live-so this was
cool. Not to mention, it had been part of my Stones wish list I had submitted to
Chuck Leavell before rehearsals. I was jumping and clapping and singing “I’m
so hot for you and you’re so cold!”.
What more could I want? “Dead Flowers”
a total surprise and one of my faves. Keith singing harmony vocals, aaahhhhh,
the sweet ecstasy.
The new song I was most hoping they
would play was the blues number “Back Of My Hand” and they certainly came
through in Technicolor on that one! This song is just classic, back to the roots,
gut wrenching blues ala Muddy Waters. And Mick played slide guitar! Awesome! The
extended jam in the middle just melted my inner core.
Onto “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” and
the crowd went mad. Mick was a banshee. The moves he made tonight were beyond
belief. Ass shaking, stuffing the mic down the front of his pants, the thigh
& stomach caressing-the Mick chicks were wetting their collective panties
I’ll tell you that!
I got a couple guitar picks during this
song and was told that I could send my scarf backstage to Keith-holy shit, and I
didn’t even ask! Heartfelt thanks to TR. I asked to wait until Keith’s set
was over though before parting with the skull scarf…it’s a necessary
accompaniment to Keith’s songs, LOL.
Band intros, and everyone got loud
applause. Then came the chants of “Keith, Keith, Keith” as Mick put his arm
on Keith’s shoulder and introduced him to sing. Keith was genuinely touched,
you could see it in his eyes which sort of welled up and his body language. He
kept his words few and christened the crowd as the Stones “guinea pigs” and
launched into his new tune “Infamy”. Right away this song reminded me of an
old Winos song, and that was corroborated by several fans right after the show.
Gritty lyrics and guitars, a rolling bass line and an extended jam in the middle.
It’ll be a great addition to Keith’s set for the arenas & stadiums.
Mick bounced back on stage and the band
kicked into their other new single “Oh No Not You Again”. This time, the
performance was well polished and fast, much better than the earlier press
conference version, “oh no not you again, fucking up my life!”.
The next surprise was “Get Up Stand
Up” the Bob Marley/Peter Tosh reggae tune. WOW, that was a crowd pleaser, we
even got a reprise as the crowd kept singing & trading vocals back and forth
with Mick & Keith. Keith even did a little dance. Surely a keeper for other
venues right boys?
Another cover, this time Otis
Redding’s “Mr. Pitiful”, nice heartfelt soul vocals from Mick on that one.
I wonder if this was a one night only performance of that one?
 Now
we were nearing the end of the show & I got tapped
on the shoulder from the other side of the barrier, sent my scarf away (#14 I
think, I lost count) to be given to Keith and was rewarded with the set list in
return. Could the Keithian Gods have been smiling on me any more than they were
tonight? I guess all that wishing on shooting stars, wearing my dream bracelet
and prayers to the Keith Shrine actually helped!
Tumbling Dice, that familiar Keith riff
rolled out and then onto “Brown Sugar” as the show came to an end. We
chanted and roared our approval and the band returned for the encore of
“Jumping Jack Flash”, always a fitting way to end a show. The energy from
the band just dripped from the stage like the sweat that dripped from our bodies.
As the tune ended, Mick, Keith and
Ronnie came out to center stage for the customary bow, but where was Charlie? As
the three left the stage, out walked Charlie alone for his own final bow-a
fitting tribute to the World’s Greatest Drummer and the crowd expressed their
sincere gratitude-it brought tears to our eyes thinking of how Charlie had
battled and won over his earlier diagnosed throat cancer.
The crowd continued to scream, hoping
for a second encore, but soon the lights came up and everyone just looked
stunned & happy. People muttering stuff like “fucking awesome”, “I can
die now” and “I can’t wait for opening night”. We tumbled out onto the
street, hoping for some air, but the 90 degree heat was no relief. We were again
to be greeted with a massive media presence & they began interviewing fans
right away. I hopped a cab immediately after saying good bye to my friends and I
was surprised I didn’t have to wait at all and headed back to the Four Seasons
for the after party in the bar.
I was surprised that the bar was fairly
empty, not empty, but certainly not packed like after a regular Stones gig. Gave
my congrats on a well done show to Blondie, Bernard and Darryl during the
evening there. Met & chatted with Tim Ries, sax player for the Stones, whom
I had interviewed just about a week ago for Stones Planet regarding his new cd
“The Rolling Stones Project”. Chatted with Jerry Stone, from Stone’s Place
in Toronto, whom I’d last seen 2 years ago. Sat at a table with some new
friends I made earlier in the day, and one of them tried to convince me to go to
another bar after the Four Seasons closed at 1pm, but I had to decline that
offer. I had to get back to my hotel, get some sleep and then be home to
Pittsburgh to work on Friday morning. Ugh! You could not wipe the smile off my
face. In fact it’s now 3 days later and the smile still has not faded. This
gig got my tour off to a Bigger Bang for sure! See ya’ll in
Boston
on the 21st!
-Blue
Lena
8/13/05
©photo of sign Nate Miller all others Blue Lena
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