26 Aug 2013
Established 1962: The Rolling Stones & Paula “Mort” Mortimer
START ME UP
My first date with the Rolling Stones was September 8, 1989; they were playing Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin during the Steel Wheels tour. My ticket cost was a measly $34.75! My friend Vicki and I traveled to Alpine Valley in the pouring rain; we had tickets in the last row of reserved seats under the roof. Everyone in the lawn seats was drenched, but they didn’t seem to mind.
The show was awesome!! I couldn’t believe I was actually with The Rolling Stones! Concert highlights included: “2000 Light Years From Home”, “Dead Flowers”, “Ruby Tuesday” and the huge inflatable Honky Tonk Women!
Bill Wyman was still with the band. I remember being amazed at how Mick, Keith and Ronnie could be all over the stage, Charlie was going wild at the drums and Bill just stood there.
When the show was over, we had to climb a rain-soaked grass hill where I slipped and fell face down in the mud! We were heading home in my friend’s clean, white Saab and I was covered in slime. She said “That’s OK, my dog gets muddy all the time and I still let him in.” Thank goodness for understanding friends. And dirty dogs.
OH NO NOT YOU AGAIN
We got back to town around 3:00 AM and I left again at noon to go right back to Alpine Valley! I had won tickets on WAPL radio as the right-numbered caller! So, my friend Sue and I boarded the WAPL Party Bus and headed right back to East Troy!
The hill was still a complete slippery mess from the rain the night before, but it was the only way to get to our seats. So people inched their way down to the reserved section by hanging onto each other.
Another way-cool show!! I couldn’t believe I was seeing the Stones two days in a row!!
YOU GOT THE SILVER
In November of 1989, radio station WAPL had another contest; they were going to draw one postcard from all of the entries they received. The winner would get two round-trip tickets to Detroit, two nights at the Hilton, and two seats at the Pontiac Silverdome for the Stones in Michigan!
Of course, I started writing. I sent in postcards every day, 10 at a time, 20 at a time. Friends and family told me it was a waste of time and money. I kept on. You can’t win if you don’t try.
The Friday after Thanksgiving, “Black Friday,” I was at my desk at work, radio on, fingers crossed. All of the postcards I had sent were cards I had made myself with a photo of park swings. The card read “Things Are Swinging In Chilton”.
When the DJ pulled the winning card he said, “Cute – Things Are Swinging In Chilton”! I screamed and my phone rang immediately! It was my friend Sue telling me her dishrag just flew across the kitchen when she heard my name called! It was “Silver Friday” now! The two of us had an amazing trip to Detroit to catch the Stones at the Silverdome on December 9, 1989!
TATTOO YOU
I had a Stones tongue tattooed on my right ankle in 1993. I was so excited! But my family was horrified with my plan. Except for my Mom, who said, “make sure you get it big enough. You don’t want to pay all that money for something that no one will be able to see.” Cool Mom!
I recall my boss saying “When you’re 90 years old you’re going to have a wrinkled old tongue on your leg.” I replied that when I’m 90, “EVERYTHING will be wrinkled so it really didn’t matter!” The next year, sadly, the tattoo artist drowned. Since art appreciates after the artist passes away, my right leg is now worth way more than any other part of me.
BLACK LIMOUSINE
Okay, truthfully it was a white limousine that transported my friend Sue and me to our next Stones Adventure during the Voodoo Lounge tour. This time we traveled to Camp Randall in Madison, Wisconsin on August 26, 1994. This was the first and only time I’ve heard “Memory Motel” live! So Awesome – another amazing show! Our tickets cost $50.00 each.
FAR AWAY EYES
My next Stones Adventure was October 6, 1997, once again in Madison, Wisconsin, at Camp Randall, and once again with my friend Sue. The Bridges To Babylon tour had arrived! We paid $60.00 for our tickets. The concert was incredible, but our seats were far away. I remember thinking that SOMEDAY I would be right near the stage!
MOTHER’S LITTLE HELPER
On November 22, 1997, I treated my 66 year old Mom to her first and only Rolling Stones concert – in Las Vegas! The Bridges To Babylon Tour had turned into Bridges To Vegas! This was my first (but not the last) time spending big bucks for a ticket, since I had to go through a Vegas Ticket Broker.
When I asked my Mom if she’d like to go she said, “well, I don’t think I’d be the OLDEST one there.” Was she ever right about that. We saw fans of all ages. It was awesome to have Mom sharing my Stones Adventure and so cool to see her dancing around, wearing my “Tongue Necklace”.
AIN’T TOO PROUD TO BEG
When the No Security tour was announced, I tried – for the first time – to get tickets by going to a grocery store, which had a Ticketmaster right on site. They had a lottery system, so when 10:00 a.m. rolled around, everyone received a number and those with the lowest number got first chance at tickets. I, of course, was in line quite early.
As I waited, I grabbed four random people and begged them to stand in line with me to try to get a low number. They were innocently entering the store to buy milk, eggs, and maybe even brown sugar, but I sidetracked them and had them wait with me! I ended up with a halfway decent number, so it was worth it!
My No Security concert, made possible by the grocery store, was February 19, 1999 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. Tickets were $125.00. Once again, my friend Sue was with me, along with two other friends, Chris and Joe. Neither one of them had ever seen the Stones before. As always, it was a blast!
YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT
February, 2000 – You Can’t Always Get What You Want – but you can if you bid high enough! When I found out that a local radio station, WAPL, was having a charity auction, including a guitar signed by Keith Richards – I had to have it!! I put in an opening bid and then it took off like crazy. As it got higher and higher I was so happy to have VISA on my side!
After hours of bidding and lots of nail biting, I was the proud owner of an Ivory and Black Squier Tele by Fender, signed by Keith Richards! It’s displayed in a custom-made wood and glass case. Although that $3,000 drained by savings account at the time, I’m so thrilled to have that awesome guitar on display with my rock memorabilia!
CASINO BOOGIE
On November 29, 2002, it was back to Las Vegas to celebrate my 40th Birthday with the Stones during The Forty Licks tour! Once again, I spent way too much for a ticket, and once again it was worth every penny! My friend Sue traveled with me. The concerts just kept getting better and better. Turning 40 wasn’t bad at all!
WILD HORSES
When A Bigger Bang tour came around, I decided I was FINALLY going to be up close and personal with the Stones! I went through a ticket broker and spent big bucks to get a Third Row seat (On Keith’s Side!) at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. The concert was Thursday, September 8, 2005.
On the Saturday before the show (September 3), I flipped off of a horse and broke my arm in four places. I was rushed to the ER, where I told anyone and everyone that I had a Stones Concert on Thursday and there was no way I was missing it. I told the X-ray people, the nurses, the doctors and anyone else who got in my way. I ended up in surgery on Tuesday. Once again, I told EVERYONE that I was going to a concert in two days.
Well, Sister Morphine, Vicodin, and a plaster cast that weighed a ton kept me from my concert. I missed my chance to be in the Third Row!! (On Keith’s Side!) I ended up giving my way-expensive ticket to my friend’s daughter. Instead of being in the Third Row (On Keith’s Side!) I was home in pain and tears. They say “Wild Horses Couldn’t Drag Me Away”, but they were wrong. Sad Sad Sad.
HAPPY
To treat myself after my broken arm made me miss my Stones in September, I signed up (along with my friend Sue) for a Fan Asylum trip to Chicago to see the Stones at the United Center on January 23, 2006. The trip was such a blast! We spent two nights at the Hard Rock in Chicago with a bunch of Stones fanatics.
The night of the concert, I drew seats in the Second Row!!! Couldn’t believe it! They were SO CLOSE! That’s the night I got a guitar pick and a wink from Keith as security pulled me away from the railing and back to my spot in the second row. That wink was worth the price of my whole trip – and then some! When Keith sat down next to Mick and started the chords to “As Tears Go By” I thought I would spontaneously combust! I had never been so close to the Stones before and I swore I would never be far away again!
SHE’S SO COLD
On Wednesday, October 11, 2006, I headed to Chicago once again – this time with my friend Pat. She had never seen the Stones and it was about time! Once again, I got tickets from a broker (Yikes!), Third Row (On Keith’s Side!) for Soldier Field Stadium, an outdoor venue near Lake Michigan. It rained all day and at concert time the wind chill was so fierce it made it feel like 19 degrees (Fahrenheit)!
I didn’t know what to wear – all of my cool tongue shirts would be covered up by heavy winter jackets. So, I sewed a tongue patch on my Tommy Hilfiger jacket and turned it into a Stones jacket!
Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ronnie were wrapped up in layers with hats, scarves and open-finger gloves. The four on-stage heaters didn’t seem to help. Mick joked that the band were “freezing their butts off.” Yeah, like the rest of us 26,000 fans (Soldier Field holds 50,000; ticket sales were not as brisk as the weather that night.)
My friend made “Stones Antlers” for us to wear, headbands with reflective “STONES” on the top. They were such a hit – we had so many people asking where they could buy them. They also wanted their photos taken with us! Too funny!
As frozen as we were, once the show started I never felt cold all night! This was the first time I heard Keith perform “You Got The Silver” live. WOW!! So very cool! And they played “She Was Hot” with Mick emoting the line about the “cold Chicago night.” So very appropriate!
Even though we started in the third row, we made it to the railing and the front row!! I Made It To The Front Row!!! Of course the concert was incredible.
THE LAST TIME
So far it’s the last time, but I sure hope it’s not the last time forever. When the 50 & Counting Tour was announced, I decided to get the very best tickets available. Since the Stones and I were established in the same year, 1962, I figured it was meant to be.
My belated birthday present to myself was a ticket in the Tongue Pit at the United Center in Chicago on June 3, 2013. I have never spent so much money on a ticket in my life. I won’t disclose what the tickets cost, but if you lined up hundred dollar bills, well, they would be just short of a Moonlight Mile! I carried a sign that said “Worth Every Paycheck It Took To Get Here!” It Was!!
My friend Pat made a “Stones Snack Chamber” for the trip down to Chicago: Jell-O tongue lips, chocolate chip cookies (shaped like lips) and sugar cookies, all embossed with “50 & Counting”! When we arrived at the United Center, we picked the back corner of the Tongue Pit, right against the wall. We had an absolute blast even before the concert started.
We were wearing “Tongue Tiaras” that Pat designed. People from Japan, China, India (and yes, even the United States), wanted their photos taken with us! I guess we looked like fun!
In fact, that’s the reason I’m telling my story now. One of the people who approached us was Marilou Regan. She said we were “compelling and adorable” and she handed us each a copy of her fanzine, “Love You Live,” and asked me to contribute! I’ve never been referred to as “Compelling and Adorable”. I was honored to be chosen to be included in her next publication and on her website!
Once the concert started I was almost in Stones Shock! When Keith, Mick and Ronnie came around the edge of the Pit, they were only like five feet away!!! I reached and reached, hoping to get a hand touch or a pick, but to no avail. At least I was breathing the same air as they were!
As Mick came around the Pit, at one point he looked, turned back and did a double-take and smiled. Guess he noticed the “Tongue Tiaras”!! The guy behind me poked my shoulder and yelled “He was looking right at YOU”! How Cool is that?! I just couldn’t believe it. I also couldn’t believe I was actually in the Tongue Pit!
When Mick started singing “Emotional Rescue” and I heard the words “You’re just a poor girl in a rich man’s house” I squealed!! YES – That’s EXACTLY what I was – A Poor Girl In A Rich Man’s House! Once again, Keith did “You Got The Silver”! LOVE that song (Of course I love them all). Then he went right into “Before They Make Me Run”! As if that didn’t give me enough goose bumps, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” was performed with a choir – so very amazing!
I was dancing and screaming and singing and grinning – pure joy!! I had so much fun with so many new friends that night! It was an absolutely perfect show and the best birthday present ever! (Happy Birthday To Me!)
I really, really hope I am lucky enough to see the Stones again someday. If not in the front row, then at my FRONT DOOR!! (Hint Hint Ha Ha!) And we can all raise a glass to 1962 ….and counting…..
