Wrinkles and Leather Pants?

In most circumstances, sixty-plus year-old men publicly bemoaning their lack of "girly action" would be socially frowned upon, if not met with legal action. Last night, instead, this situation was met with unbridled applause from over 30, 000 Kiwis, for they had paid good money to hear these very sentiments from these very men. Dave and I were there, and what a great time it was... I now much better understand why The Stones are still as big as they are.

We only decided to go yesterday, as the impending event only really grabbed our attention then. Both of us work within earshot of the stadium, so the workday that day included much testing noise and window rattling, and workmates pretending not to notice it. We figured we would grab dinner wherever we could, then head back in time to see if we could get our hands on any cheap-ish tix. Every restaurant in a 3-mile radius was positively packed, but luckily Dave thought to try this hidden gem of a restaurant, the Katipo Cafe, which we frequent for Sunday breakfasts. Sure enough, it was open and still had some room, the latter probably being due to its' being largely invisible from the streetfront.

The meal was fabulous, but there was a sinister (and delicious) twist -- their french-fry dipping sauce bears an uncanny resemblance to the patented, ultra-secret Helgason-Caesar salad recipe. I might have berated them for stealing the family recipe, if I could have possibly kept my mouth fry-and-dip-free for long enough to do so. ;-)

We then secured some tickets to the show. While they were higher on our price scale than what could be called "cheap", the seats were killer. Or, more specifically, the tickets allowed us access to a section of the floor that made sneakily slinking to better and better spots a rather simple matter. Stealth was still required, though, since security was tirelessly ensuring that anyone being where they shouldnt were quickly replaced to their former spots, or at least farther away. But Dave and I went uncaught, as no one ever suspects the Canadians.

We arrived during the opening act, which was Calgary's own Nickelback. They played very well, and more importantly, displayed a grateful humility that, aside from cementing their status as Canadians, endeared them to the crowd even further. The audience remained reserved, however, until The Stones arrived -- after that, it was madness all around.

They went through the hits, mostly, and the highlight of the show (for us) was when a section of the stage travelled way out into the audience, giving the rest of us on the floor a close view (30 feet away, I'd guess) of the band for a song or three. Very cool. Other than that, there were videoscreens and pyrotechnics galore, and the encore (featuring the essentials, "You Can't Always Get What You Want", "Painted Black", and then "Satisfaction" as the finale) was ended with a fabulous fireworks show.

All in all, very much worth the price of admission -- The Rolling Stones rock!