Why didn't I go to the Stones?
It was a bit of a struggle inside me. I wanted it and I resisted it at the same time. The fact that I thought for sure I would go at first was logical. The Rolling Stones were the band I grew up with as a person and as a musician. In the sixties, I listened to their early records on a mono turntable, or on the Luxembourg station. And when I bought my first vinyl at the Wenceslas Square stock exchange in 1971, the then absolute novelty "Sticky Fingers", it was a defining moment. In a way, I had grown up. I experienced the death of Brian Jones as a personal tragedy, and for many years I couldn't quite come to terms with that fact. I knew all about Keith, Mick, Bill and Charlie, and I followed closely the "selection" for second guitarist (after Jones' death), which was won by Mick Taylor. I knew every song, could play most of them, and devoured information from all available media. I had been to several Stone concerts, including the groundbreaking one in 1990. But the last one I attended, watching the band members' performances through binoculars, put me in a different mood. I saw a perfectly orchestrated spectacle, performed by a bunch of billionaires who pretend to represent their generation, but are miles away from it. I stopped seeing in the Rolling Stones what had attracted me to them for years. The rebelliousness, the innovation, the individuality, the inspiration and the symbol of free-thinking. All that's left is a well-running musical machine, but with almost nothing left of what used to add value to the blues and rock 'n' roll riffs. I decided I would never go to see the Stones again to preserve the good memories. Maybe I should have gone this time, taken a chance and see if I was right, but it wasn't a good date. I was coming back from vacation that day and I didn't know exactly what to expect in Prague. But in truth, that wasn't the main thing. Two other reasons were important. The ticket cost five thousand crowns (almost €200 or £165) and the ban on bringing any objects into the auditorium. And I just don't go to concerts without binoculars. Not even when the greatest band of all time is playing.
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