Senior Herald writers remember seeing the 1973 show at Western Springs.
I felt pretty whacked out when I arrived in Auckland to see the Rolling Stones in 1973, but it wasn't because of the imbibing of any substances. My boyfriend and I had slogged up from Wellington on the old overnight train and, boy, it was uncomfortable. The seats were like planks and we didn't catch a wink.
Anyway, this was my first visit to the big smoke, and the first (and only) time I would see my true idols play live. Yes, I had been a teen Stones fan, like religious, since Mum gave me Aftermath one Christmas and I drove her nuts by playing it endlessly. Every album since, I was there all the way.
So it was a double-banger case of huge excitement. In Auckland! To see the Stones! Auckland seemed so sophisticated. We went to the Cook St Market; Exile on Main Street was blasting out through the place and there was a Stones-are-in-town thrill quivering in the air. Then we made our way to Western Springs in the hot afternoon sun. The Doobie Brothers' Listen to the Music was on the sound system, there were more people there than I'd ever seen in my life, and the air was thick with dope smoke. My boyfriend, a devotee of the buddha, went for a wander and came back looking even more red-eyed and annoying than usual.
Sadly, I can't recall much about the Stones playing at all. I think I can remember Mick Jagger -- a tiny man in the distance -- prancing around frenetically, that silly tongue logo and a sinking feeling that there was something a bit mechanical, a bit rote, about the playing.
Hearing Exile on Main Street played live should have been one of the most memorable music experiences of my life.
And so we trundled back to Wellington, and I left the Stones behind. I moved on to other bands -- but I still love playing Exile on Main Street from time to time. Linda Herrick
A mellow vibe and a prancing Mick set the scene for fans at the 1973 concert. Photo / File
The lure was an ad in the paper: a charter flight to see the Stones in Auckland. For a gang of mad fans in Christchurch it was all we needed.
A day in the big smoke, a show at Western Springs and jeez, the STONES! The aircraft was a four-engined Vickers Viscount. From memory, the deal was about $60 for the round trip, transfers and concert ticket included. Auckland turned on a warm sunny Sunday. We were buzzing as we loaded into a bus bound for ... well, none of us really cared, it was just to take us to the show. The venue was pulsing. We brought a guy up in a wheelchair. It was struggle to get him in -- this was pre-chair access days remember -- but somehow we hauled him up the slope above the stage. It was the Exile phase of the band. They might -- or might not -- have tidied up their act. We didn't care. We hoped not. Keith was supposed to be clean. Mick Taylor had come in for Brian Jones. The core though was right there -- Jagger, Richards, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman who, I seem to recall, barely cracked a smile all afternoon. I have a vivid memory of an announcement before the show asking whether anyone could help loan the band a Martin D-18. Who knows what happened to the Stones' instrument but someone came to the party because when Richards and Taylor played Sweet Virginia -- a lovely, slowed down ballad with Mick doing his southern thing -- they said thanks for the loan. I've always wondered whatever happened to that beautiful steel-string acoustic. Jagger wore a blue pantsuit and pranced round, Richards drove the show along. We flew home above the clouds. Andrew Stone
One of my best friends at primary school was in love with Mick Jagger: she filled scrapbooks with pictures cut from magazines (sort of like Pinterest, little ones), we mooned over posters in Jackie magazine and were bitter about Bianca. Two years of strawberry picking and serving icecream in Woolworths meant I could buy the horrendously priced tickets to the big show in 1973. My anxious dad had to approve the nice lads who were driving us up from Pukekohe, the planning to get there was military-precise. It was our first experience of Grownup Western Springs (getting lost as kids on the way to the zoo didn't count), so that meant a super-early start. It was an outrageously hot day, we forgot to bring food or water, the air was thick with clouds of ganja -- a nice mellow crowd, not ugly boozy. The Stones were pin-pricks on a distant stage; a teeny Mick danced and flung that scarf about, we nearly passed out in the heat. But oh, there was no Satisfaction. I sulked on the way home and switched my allegiance to Lou Reed. Catherine Smith
Image 1 of 14: Four of the Rolling Stones after they arrived in Christchurch. From left: Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Keith Richard and Brian Jones. 30 January 1965
The 1973 setlist
• Brown Sugar • Bitch • Rocks Off • Gimme Shelter • Happy • Tumbling Dice • Love in Vain • Sweet Virginia • You Can't Always Get What You Want • All Down the Line • Midnight Rambler • Rip This Joint • Jumpin' Jack Flash • Street Fighting Man
