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I’m not sure why it took me 38 years to see the Rolling Stones for a second time, but I’m so happy we made the four-hour road trip over to Jacksonville to see them on their No Filter Tour. Great show, great energy, great crowds – just one of those delightful concert experiences. 

I guess because it’s been so long that it struck me how much times have changed…

…from the way you got the ticket (camping out overnight in line at Tampa Stadium vs. buying them online), the ticket itself (cool artwork paper stubs vs. a screenshot read by a scanner), the fan photography (110 Instamatic cameras vs. cell phone videos), and the media (print newspaper reviews vs. today’s social media).

And of course – age, and the nostalgia that goes with it. You can do the math, but I was 16-years old in 1981 when the Stones toured for their Tattoo You album and Start Me Up was all over rock radio. Of all the incredible generations and evolutions of the Rolling Stones’ music, Start Me Up is so patently representative of the 1980s and brings me right back to being 16: 

Love the day when we will never stop, never stop

Yet Start Me Up is so unrepresentative of the Rolling Stones of a decade earlier, or the decade before that. This divergence epitomizes what makes them legendary – their perilous yet successful transition from ’60s to ’70s to ’80s music, and all the way to a sold out tour in 2019. Music that is both time-less and time-full, resonating some type of vibrational interaction that elates, that makes sense to the young and the old, and makes for that incredible concert thing.  

I’ve managed to save some fun stuff from my first Stones’ show back in 1981: the best-ever concert ticket stubs, the 110-camera roll of film, the newspaper review. And of course the other night I was able to capture a few snippets of another thoroughly enjoyable Stones’ concert with modern day technology. 

For a really good read and fantastic photos of that 1981 Rolling Stones weekend, check out this article on the Van Halen News Desk. Also, for some great up-close and personal photos of last weekend’s show, as well as some fun fan stories, check out Jacksonville’s The Florida Times-Union. For set lists and tour dates (for either tour, or almost any tour for that matter), check out setlist.fm.

Good times, good times – then and now, no matter the vast differences.

Enjoy the travel back and forth in time below. 

I’m pretty sure we camped out overnight in line at Tampa Stadium to buy these tickets. It was great fun. I may be confusing this with camping out for The Who tickets, but line-camping for tickets was a pastime then; that’s how you got tickets before they sold out. This was near the end of the paper ticket era, pre-computerized, and there was a limited amount of paper tickets at each venue. 

I remember going with two of my best girlfriends over to Orlando (about two hours away) for both shows, and camping out in my friend’s brown Dodge Charger in the parking lot of the Tangerine Bowl, partying, taking turns sleeping in the car and on the hood, like everyone around us. I notice the ticket stub says “No overnight camping” and “No cameras.” Apparently they didn’t really enforce either. 

And finally a few video snippets…I can’t tear myself away from a show to record an entire song but I hope you can catch a brief glimpse of the great vibe with these clips…good times, good times ;o).