The Concert
THE CONCERTBeing a semi-hippie who just graduated from high school, I found the events of 1969 to be unforgettable. I was feeling all the pressures of the Vietnam War, protests, and peace marches. Love beads, marijuana, and funky rock and roll music were happening. There was a lot of controversy that fall over whether such a wildly famous group as the Rolling Stones should be allowed to perform on the CSU campus. The students were triumphant, though. Their protests and letters to the President of CSU were successful. The mesmerizing concert was to take place in Moby Gym.
Finally, Friday night arrived. My fiance Tom, who was a junior at CSU, escorted me. He was an upper middle class military brat with blond hair, blue eyes, and a ruddy complexion. We met during the annual CSU College Daze celebration, at a 3.2 dance club called the Green Onion. I was considered to be a ‘townie’ at the club because I was a non student, locale.
For the occasion, I wore an awe-inspiring outfit, which I sewed specially for the occasion. My outfit consisted of an olive green, crushed velvet bolero with matching hot pants, a gold satin poet’s blouse, and beige patent leather knee boots. My long, bleached blonde hair and trim, curvaceous, tanned figure went perfectly with the outfit.
Tom and I decided to get to the concert early, yet, the streets were crammed. We had to park four blocks from the concert, and we scurried through the crunchy fall leaves. The excitement induced a natural high that flowed through my entire existence. I felt like screaming my happiness to the world.
B.B. King and his well-known band opened, performing the blues. I had not heard B.B. King before and immediately decided that his music was groovy. BB made his guitar ‘Lucille’ talk in melodious messages. The rhythmic blues filled the auditorium. BB and his band received a standing ovation. The howl’s, far-outs, and out-of sights echoed throughout the arena. During the intermission, some of BB’s band members visited with the audience. Even though Tom and I sat in the third section up, one of BB’s band members sat down by me and started cracking jokes. My blood pressure rose and my flustered face let out nervous giggles. After he left, I thought about how neat it would be to tell my future children about tonight.
Then the Stones made their grand entrance and ran across the stage. They opened with my favorite song, “As Tears Go By”. That was one of the Stones grooviest songs ever. Mick Jagger was wearing his typical tight white pants, ruffled white shirt, and black Beetles boots with stacked heals. Mick was so thin that I thought he could hide behind one of the posts that held up the ceiling. As Mick sang, he darted and jumped all about the stage doing some provocatively sexy movements. Mick Jagger really knew how to capture the lady’s attention.
The entire evening was mesmerizing. Tom and I were hypnotized. Tom confessed that he had taken some mescaline and was tripping. Normally, his disclosing such a thing as taking drugs would have bothered me; however, I was on such a high from the concert that I did not think about that until some days after the event. Besides, a good deal of the night, I was so caught up in the music, I utterly forgot about Tom.
That night in 1969 helped me to cast my worries aside. I was able to thrust my thoughts away from the cruel War and our disturbed country. My peers and I most commonly existed in our self-made “All You Need is Love” society. As I picture that evening in 1969, I see an eighteen year old, with patent leather knee boots and a satin blouse. The girl in my vision has blond hair and a nonchalant smile on her face. Suddenly I am thrust back and find myself here, now, thirty-six years later, and the Rolling Stones are still going strong!
By Kf
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