Location: Outdoor Exhibition Centre / Brno / Czech Republic
Concert date: 21.07.2007
Attendance: 35000
Ticket price: 35,00€
Luck never sleeps. And that’s exactly what happened to me, the big lucky devil, when I was supposed to shoot our famous “Flintstones”, the Rolling Stones, for the first time, only to get wedged into a pile-up and stuck halfway to Belgrade. Well, Lady Luck paid me a visit a second time! Rockline got photo accreditation for Brno.
But life can’t be all roses, so after the crash the devil wiggled his little horns again and spawned a fresh batch of mischief, this time by knocking out my lower back. So this time my long adventure to Brno came with an unbearable stabbing pain in the back as company.
Photographer Miro (be sure to check out his blog “fotorocker“) and I set off for Brno around ten in the morning. Everything went superbly smoothly and without a single hitch, except for my moaning, which we eased by stopping for short breaks several times along the way. It’s funny how people fall into roles…the driver is assigned to drive, while the passenger can do, well, pretty much anything. Since Miro and I are both pretty open-minded, we decided to put my Czech to use this time, which I learned, brilliantly honed and polished during my last visit to the Czech Republic (the story from the miss pageant is famous – “on a two-week trip around Greece she was supposed to learn Greek”), when I soaked up Czech very successfully. Of course I suggested to Miro that he switch off “auntie” (the little gadget that had been showing us the way until then) and told him firmly: “Ne hledam mam navigaciye”!
Brno as a city was Sunday-sleepy, because, well, it was Sunday, so there was no trace of any crowds. More than that emptiness, what was sad was that on the whole way to Brno we spotted exactly one single poster advertising tonight’s big wedding with Rolling Stones in Brno.
We parked almost right at the concert entrance, since it took place at some kind of fairground (the size of Ljubljana’s BTC). We sorted out all the formalities of picking up our accreditations, and at my “lumbar” speed – because of the back pain I was literally “mincing” my steps – I drifted into a pleasant Greek restaurant (read: super tasty beer for 0,93€). Of course every pleasant minute passes too quickly, and before long the clock hit 19:30, when us photographers had our “strašny” assembly. There we signed some forms (what was that again?) saying we’d even give up our lives for the good of the nations if required, and got briefed in detail, step by step, on the actual process of photographing during the concert.
At every concert the Rolling Stones hand out 14 photo accreditations (the photographers get split into two groups of seven, and each horde is sent separately to the left and right side of the stage). Among all the instructions, one was especially interesting: while waiting for the signal (the start of the opening riff of Start Me Up), we had to keep our eyes on the crowd, since behind our backs there’d be a veritable cannonade and explosions of powerful pyrotechnics that would put even the eternal kingdom of heaven at risk of fire. A really lovely gesture and a considerate one by the organizer, making sure the Rolling Stones don’t accidentally burn off our retinas. But Czechs wouldn’t be Czechs if they weren’t Czechs. While waiting for that signal they were gawking like calves at a new gate, and when Keith’s famous guitar rang out and the concert erupted into the first riff of Start Me Up, the photographer in front of me pinned me down to a stifled shuffle, lugging, soul included, a total personal tonnage of a good 130kg, with a seriously reinforced, sprung “undercarriage” in the rear, which there was no way I could squeeze past. While the poor guy, in sweat-soaked shirts, wheezed and huffed his way up the steps, a real professional panic gripped me! What if the Rolling Stones get away from me? “Ale František, tak prosim te! Move that ass of yours already so we can shoot a photo or two today!” I bleat at him, but he doesn’t understand me. Still, he managed to get up the steps! And finally, so did I, all the way down to the front of the stage!
Here we are! Just a few meters away, eye to eye – me and Ron, me and Keith…uffff, insane… (hey, the pain’s gone – thanks Stones). The light is strong, very strong (white), Mick is going full steam, unbelievable energy. He floats, jumps, sings…I truly don’t know where all that energy comes from. And so for the first time I notice my hands are shaking…And that’s the end of the first song. They gently escort us to the second location, about 40 meters from the stage. I don’t even realize they’re already playing Let’s Spend the Night Together , when we shoot the rest of that song, three verses of the third one, and ennnnd!
Protocols are protocols and well…. the gear had to be carried out, which meant we’d miss quite a chunk of the legends’ set. Miro and I came racing back (no more pain, heh heh) just as they were sawing through Tambling Dice…I’m blown away! Wow, what a view (before it had been half-dark) and what a stage,… Mama, this is it, these are the Rolling Stones. Mick’s vocals commanding. And who isn’t commanding? Charlie? Keith? Maybe Ron? Ridiculous. Although Ron could have played a bit more. Instead he was busy tossing picks and apologizing to everyone he’d aimed a pick at who then failed to catch it.
They kick off with Miss You! And here comes a fresh surprise! The B-stage stops only some fifteen meters from me. Wow….Unlike the A-stage (that gigantic creature, visible with binoculars from the Moon), the sound at the B-stage was a bit worse – the band dropped “in”, while the Czechs dropped out! I have no idea what’s wrong with this crowd! Did years of Russian dictatorship leave deep scars whose wounds are healing terribly slowly? They can’t loosen up and party – come on!!! It’s not that hard!
The indestructible debauchee Mick keeps absolute control of the proceedings and carries on with his masterful game, when Ketih hits some familiar riff, open across all the strings…What’s that again? It sounded wildly rickety. Hey, I know this tune…shit, that’s Satisfaction! And yet Keith played it so peculiarly dismantled that not even Dead Kennnedies at their best could have punked up a version like that. Ron doesn’t follow Keith – unbelievable phlegm, still tossing picks and throwing himself a mini private party while egging on the crowd (the Czechs), while Charlie keeps thundering away with total commitment. During Honky Tonk Woman, big, taut, juicy red lips inflate on the main stage, stretching across the whole stage. A new almighty impression, no question! They were strung up one after another. A megalomaniac, unforgettable experience.
For me personally this was the best Rolling Stones show I’ve ever seen, though of course it owed a lot to, despite the devils’ mischievous finger-wagging, the happily unfolding circumstances and the resulting fact that this time I really had to grit my teeth and fight my way to the finish line. And the moral of the story? Never say never! Up until this show I’d claimed I would never go to hear or see the Rolling Stones again. And now? If only there’s a chance…at least once more, twice, three times…as long as they keep happily wheezing and delighting the crowds. Glory to the greats!
Setlist
1. Start Me Up
2. Let’s Spend The Night Together
3. Oh No Not You Again
4. All Down The Line
5. Love Is Strong
6. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
7. Midnight Rambler
8. I’ll Go Crazy
9. Tumbling Dice
10. You Got The Silver
11. I Wanna Hold You
12. Miss You (B-stage)
13. It’s Only Rock’n Roll (B-stage)
14. Satisfaction (B-stage)
15. Honky Tonk Women (from B to A-stage)
16. Sympathy For The Devil
17. Paint It Black
18. Jumping Jack Flash
—encore—
19. Brown Sugar
