Rolling Stones in Halifax ~ Sept. 23 2006
After a successful show at Magnetic Hill in Moncton on Sept. 3 2005 (with special guests Les Trois Accords, Our Lady Peace, Maroon 5 and The Tragically Hip), The Rolling Stones returned to the Maritimes on their "A Bigger Bang" tour to perform before a crowd of 50,ooo in Halifax NS on Saturday, Sept. 23 2006. Opening acts this time around were Sloan, Alice Cooper and Kanye West. I left Ottawa in the morning on Sept. 22 and arrived at Darcy & Melissa's in Miramichi at 6pm that evening. Darcy, Melissa, Kim and I picked up Scott after he finished work, and we were off to Riverview to spend the night at Aaron & Jen's. [See details of this stage of the trip on Melissa's blog by clicking here. ]
After checking in at the Comfort Inn in Truro on Saturday afternoon, we were on our merry way to the concert at around 3:30pm. Here's a 'Kim's eye view' from the backseat on the road to Halifax.
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The forecast called for scattered showers throughout the evening, so we made sure to dress warm and pack some plastic rain ponchos. (A good idea! The rain didn't let up during the entire show.) We parked the car in a lot a few blocks from the Halifax Commons and arrived at the concert site at about 5pm (Sloan was just finishing up). Alice Cooper came on next, and played an awesome set. Same old Alice! He had the top hat and walking stick; he was lobbing around what appeared to be severed heads onstage; even the live python made an appearance. (There was also the incident with the big orange balloon, which I won't go into here. :) After Alice, Kanye West came on and did his thing. The rain was really sheeting in at this point, so we wandered away to grab a $7 beer and a slice of the worst "pizza" on the face of the earth. Here's a pic taken by Kim during a stroll; you can see we were one soggy audience... 6
A few images of the stage & crowd while waiting for the main event to start...
And finally people...The Rolling Stones! As always, the show got started with a bang. (Surprisingly, the boys opened with "Paint It Black" instead of "Start Me Up.")
Small image of a large crowd. 6
Images of the band on the crawl to the B-Stage, below. Charlie's drum-kit began to move during "Miss You;" the boys performed "Rough Justice," "Start Me Up," and "Honky Tonk Woman" in the driving rain before the platform began moving back towards the Main Stage (and to that monstrous inflatable tongue. :)
After the B-Stage section of the show... "Sympathy For The Devil." A definite high-point. 6
And finally...the finale. 6
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Setlist:
1) Paint It Black
2) It's Only Rock n' Roll (But I Like It)
3) Oh No, Not You Again
4) Let's Spend The Night Together
5) Monkey Man
6) Streets of Love
7) Bitch
8) Tumbling Dice
9) You Got The Silver (Keith on vocals)
10) Little T&A (Keith on vocals)
11) Miss You
12) Rough Justice
13) Start Me Up
14) Honky Tonk Woman
15) Sympathy For The Devil
16) Jumpin' Jack Flash
17) Brown Sugar
Encore:
18) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
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The concert was the largest music event the city of Halifax has ever hosted. It took more than 100 roadies about a week to assemble 78 tractor-trailer loads of equipment. But the massive preparation and huge crowds are always worth it; The Rolling Stones really offer the best concert/rock spectacle in the world today. It was amazing to watch the entire band perform unfazed in such terrible weather; wherever they go, they remain truly dedicated to putting on an astounding show.
Note: Because of the extreme weather conditions, it was a challenge to keep my camera dry and snap pictures at certain times without giving it a soakin.' If it hadn't been raining so freakin' hard the whole time, I'd have taken a hell of a lot more. But what can I tell ya? I did my best. :)
Another note: See Kim's description of her concert experience by clicking [ here ].
After we found our way back to the car through the soaking wet -- but extremely happy -- crowd, Scott did an excellent job of getting us back out to the highway. (It was actually surprisingly easy to make it in and out of Halifax for the concert.) I took over for the drive back to the hotel in Truro and man, did it feel nice to turn the heat on and get into some dry clothes. Here's a pic of the gang feeling mellow after the show.
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As Melissa mentioned in her last post, the next day we made it most of the way home without incident...the Intrepid performed admirably until the fuel pump quit in Barnaby, about 10 minutes from home! Strange how things work out; luck was definitely on our side. (Next time I'll rent a Magnum, Darcy. :) Here's another shot of everybody giggling away on the side of the road while waiting for Melissa's mom to arrive. 6
But it was a quick fix! Thanks to Bill for the assistance and to Robert for the garage time. After hanging out with Bill & Rob on Monday night and spending some time with Mom and the family on Tuesday, it was back to Ottawa on Wednesday morning. I stopped at the Station Wharf for a bridge shot on the way out...
...and I was back on the road by noon. 6
And there we are. The Stones in Halifax in '06! Truly "a bigger bang." A blast, folks! Hope to see everybody again soon.
"You can't always get what you want,
But if you try sometime, you might find
You can get what you need."
Later!
Brian
posted by Brian at 10/02/2006 01:02:00 a.m.
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