Still not over the high from Bon Jovi the previous night, I was excited to see out the weekend back at Hyde Park with the Stones.
Walking around BST is always a great experience. Everyone is always relaxed and happy, and on this occasion, drunk enough to take part in the Brazilian carnival which wove its way past the DJs and funfair rides.
The evening came and the crowd started to assemble. On strolled the Stones and, once settled, exploded into Start Me Up. All the hits followed – Paint It Black, Honky Tonk Women, Brown Sugar. Mick Taylor joined the band for Midnight Rambler, among others. The band still sound really tight, and it almost made you forget the bitterness at not being able to attend the free version of this exact experience in 1965.
The Stones don’t have anything left to prove. Jagger went to introduce everyone, only to see that they’d all disappeared – eventually, he located the others and had to pull Ronnie out from behind the amps because he and Keith had gone to have a smoke. The camaraderie seemed very much alive, and the finale was accompanied by a massive confetti explosion, a piece of which I’ve still got as a souvenir.
