Author: Bjornulf

The Cotton Bowl is an outdoor stadium in Dallas, Texas. It opened in 1930 as Fair Park Stadium, and it is part of a larger area called Fair Park. The Rolling Stones have been performing a total of seven times at Cotton Bowl, including the show on this tour, on Tuesday November 2, 2021. The previous shows were on July 6th 1975, October 31 and November 1 1981, November 10 and 11 1989, and November 18 1994. It was great to be part of a historic moment in a historic stadium here in Dallas 2021.

Following the six shows during 1975 to 1994, The Rolling Stones did not perform shows that often in Dallas during the next 27 years up to this year. They performed in Fort Worth in 1997, close to Dallas, then at the American Airlines Center in Dallas 2005, and AT&T stadium in Arlington near Dallas in 2015. For the other tours, Stones fans in Dallas had to go to Houston in 1998, 2003 and 2019, to San Antonio in 2002, then El Paso and Austin in 2006. Texas is a large state, it’s hard to visit every large city on every tour for The Rolling Stones.

I was booked for a total of four days stay downtown Dallas Texas, arriving from Tampa Florida on Oct 30, staying at Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Dallas. Everything should be close, and even if the Cotton Bowl was not really downtown, I could walk the 2.2 miles i.e. 3.5 km in 45 minutes. Also, there was a tram going to the stadium, so I should be fine with transportation.

The first three days were great. My hotel was great, large room, no service, but you get used to that during travel these days. Then the restaurant closed for two days during my stay, Sunday and Monday, so there goes the four stars of this hotel, if they ever had four stars, a hotel without a restaurant is just a place where you sleep. luckily they had breakfast.

I got sick from food during my travel from Tampa to Dallas. That do happen some times, last time 2016 in Mexico City. I went into alarm state immediately, I had been sick most of the time in Tampa as well, but the first days in Dallas were just terrible. So I was down to a basic meny of McDonalds Filet’o’Fish and lots of Coca Cola, nothing else, except for white toast for breakfast, and I went on medication I always carry with me just in case. On day three I was getting better. Then on day four – show day – it started to rain, and the temperature dropped from the previous three days pleasant +32 C i.e. 90F into 8 C or so i.e. 46 F. Still, I loved Dallas, every bit of the city, but it took me all four days to figure out where to go, where to find food, and how to get the best out of the stay.

As I looked out of the window of my hotel, I noticed there was a pool area two floors down. I was on level 7, the pool was on level 5. Also, I noticed there was no large buildings in front of my room, I had a great view of most of the area, including the “Giant Eyebowl”, and all the other buildings, including a scary high floors swimming pool hanging in the air on a building right across the area I was looking at. I did never see anyone swimming in that pool, and even if glass wall may be strong and bullet proof, I wonder how you may design a pool with a glass wall up on say floor 8 or 10, and expect someone to be able to enjoy swimming in it, certainly with no scare of heights or other technical worries.

I walked for hours every day, mainly looking for a place to eat safe food. I walked over to the JFK site, where the tragic shooting took place in 1963, a sad place to be, but I just had to be there. There were quite a few people walking around there, it was a quiet mood and time to think and wonder.

Then I gave up on that part of the city, and walked towards the other directions. They said the “Arts District” would be great. Not for me. Then I walked south, not much happening there. Enough walking, I had to do my work too. So I ended up going the 10 minutes or so each way to McDonalds on Commerce Street and S Griffin Street, went there two times per day for fish and Coca Cola, safe meal, not very healthy, but safe.

On show day Tuesday Nov 2 I took the tram out to Cotton Bowl, to check out how to walk back after the show. Then I realized how large the Fair Park area was. Also, I noticed there were lots of roads and a highway to cross under, I was the only person walking there, having my notes of directions, aiming at Commerce Street, which should take me safely back to Elm Street and my hotel through a walk of 45 minutes or so.

During my walk I passed by an area with lots of graffiti on buildings, the area was called Deep Ellum. There I found a favorite place called “Vidorra Cocina de Mexico“. Great large Mexican place, almost as good food as I got in Cancun during my stay there before tour start, and they had a roof, still outside, it was now raining a lot, but I was safe under the roof. So I stayed there for a great long meal, I even got Mexican Churros for dessert, a complete concert meal, I was ready for The Rolling Stones tonight!

This is what the Deep Ellum Tourist Information is saying: “The lively Deep Ellum entertainment district is known for its vibrant street murals, quirky art galleries and long-time concert venues for indie and blues. Brewpubs, cocktail bars and Tex-Mex eateries draw a boisterous crowd on weekends…” Well, it was a Tuesday, it was vibrant as much as I needed, and if I had stayed longer in Dallas, this is where I would go every day, but I had a flight out of Dallas next day.

I brought a mini umbrella in my back pocket just in case it was raining heavily after the show. The plan was to stack it under a tree or something near some entrance/exit, but it turned out nobody cared about my umbrella, so I had it in my pocket through the entrance, and kept it in my pocket through the show, never used it on the way back. Also, I had a cheap plastic poncho, I put it on shortly before the show start, just in case there would be heavy rain suddenly, as it is hard to figure out head, arm, front, back and all of that when many others are close by you tight in the pit. It rained a bit, but really, the poncho was not needed. Still, it was a rain show, with all the specials those shows bring out, like extra focus, hats, coats, jokes, comments and more.

After the show, I walked out in a random direction, then I did not see the skyline of downtown Dallas anywhere, so I knew I was lost. I curved 180 degrees around the very large Fair Park area, in between cars stuck in queues, looking for the downtown skyline, or the street with the tram, and after half an hour I found the tram. Some people queuing there, but not as many as expected. Then 15-20 minutes later the tram arrived, it was packed, but I arrived back to my hotel in 20 minutes, no need to walk back really. I was “home” by midnight, I can’t complain!

For show reports and pictures see the link below:

The Rolling Stones
Cotton Bowl
Dallas TX USA
Tuesday November 2, 2021

Florida seems to be popular for Rolling Stones touring these days. In 2019 they visited Florida two times out of their fifteen stops and seventeen shows, in Jacksonville and Miami. This time, during the 2021 tour, they were booked with a show in Tampa Florida, then they added an extra show in Miami, at the 7,000 capacity Hard Rock Live venue at the end of the tour. This is the story of the travel to the Rolling Stones show in Tampa Florida 2021.

The above picture is taken in the VIP Lounge of the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Florida approx two hours before show start. They had great screens with large display graphics, and Stones music was played. Due to Covid-19 I have to limit how many I meet up close and unmasked, also I use mask most of the time in the public, close to others, but some times you just have to meet some people. It was great to meet an old friend from Argentina, who visited me at home in Norway many years ago, also friends from San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, and other places in USA, also the Europeans on tour, not many so far, may be counted on one hand or so.

I arrived from six cold days in Minneapolis into much warmer Tampa Florida. Luckily a friend from Europe, who happened to be on the same flight as me into Tampa, hired a car at the airport, so I had super service of driving with him all the way to the door at my Clearwater hotel for three days out of four in the Tampa Bay area, at Sheraton Sand Key Hotel. It was a half hour drive across lots of water, and some bridges, to the west sandy beach side of Tampa Bay and Florida. The plan was to rest up at the resort for three days, but I did never stay on the beach or by the pool really. Busy busy busy, work, bad weather, water failure one day, and sick from food, it was really not what I planned.

Day number two of my stay in Clearwater, Wednesday October 27, was said to be the only day with nice weather, as there was bad weather coming in from the west on Thursday. So I headed for Clearwater downtown by the Trolley bus, and left it for walking early afternoon. I had just one mission, to post my postcards to my family back home. So I started walking, looking for one of the blue mailboxes from United States Postal Service. They were nowhere to be found, I did eventually find one mailbox 2-3 hours later, but meanwhile I found many other interesting places.

When walking by a building downtown Clearwater I noticed a display poster featuring The Rolling Stones dated 1965, by the local newspaper St. Petersburg Times, including a picture of The Rolling Stones (above), a facsimile from their issue dated Friday May 7, 1965, and a short summary regarding the story of Satisfaction, the song, and the Rolling Stones concert and stay in Clearwater, for the show on Thursday May 6, 1965.

So while I was looking for the mailbox, I walked around all streets and places of Clearwater, including the nearby Fort Harrison Hotel. It is no longer a hotel. When trying to walk in there, two persons with masks opened the locked door, told me I could not get in, but they could talk to me. I asked if this was a hotel, then they told me it was a “religious retreat”. I had noticed that the large building across the street was a Scientology building, so they were both part of that complex. Mick Jagger did actually mention the scientologs taking over the hotel The Rolling Stones stayed at in 1965, for the show in Clearwater, at the show in Tampa. Still, I am told that others, like Bill Wyman, claim they stayed across the bridge, in a now taken down hotel on Clearwater Beach. The story is saying Keith Richards woke up during the night having the riff of the song Satisfaction right there in Clearwater, that night after the show, it’s a great story, wherever they stayed.

Next stop for me was Jack Russel Stadium, just outside Clearwater downtown. More walking. It’s still there, a small 5,000 capacity baseball stadium, in a residential area. I walked around it, and could imagine the Stones show there 56 years ago. Everything seemed to be like back then in 1965, including the residential area, the stadium, the entire area. Most places they played 50-60 years ago are taken down or changed these days, this was like a museum place for me, great to be there. They sold 2,657 tickets at $2 each, and into the fifth song of the show, a few hundred of the fans stormed down from the seats to the field, and the show ended, according to the story That time the Rolling Stones almost wrecked Clearwater by Axios Tampa Bay. I could imagine the teenager fans back then milling around after the show, waiting for their parents to pick them up. The shows usually lasted for 25 minutes back then, with the show interrupted after four songs, or so I assume it was over in just 10-12 minutes. Those were the days of the early 60’s fans and Stones mania.

On show day I checked out of the Clearwater San Key hotel and moved over to the hotel “Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Tampa RJ Stadium”. It is such a hazzle to change hotels, stressful, in and out, two times per city, so I don’t do it every city, but this time it was all worth it. The distance to the stadium was may be 10-15 minutes walking. The airport was just nearby. Everything was there, even McDonalds, a 30 minutes walk each way, and many other places to eat, so I could have stayed there all four days, but then I would never had seen Clearwater and that area, so some times you have to do some extra work to experience a bit.

Show day afternoon, a meal nearby, safe food, lots of water and ice tea, and preparing for the show, then walking the 15 minutes over to the stadium shortly before 6pm. I was still unpacked in my new hotel, hardly any updates on the IORR web site done during the day, my PC and luggage was still unpacked when I returned after the show. I worked into the night, published some pictures from the show, slept four – 4 – hours that night, and went to the airport next morning at 9am, for the noon flight to Dallas. Busy days!

For show reports and pictures see the link below:

The Rolling Stones
Raymond James Stadium
Tampa, FL, USA
Friday October 29, 2021

After ten days in sunny California, the tour moved on, and next stop was Minneapolis in the state of Minnesota. I was booked for six days in Minneapolis, and already as I walked out of the airport, I regret not staying a couple of more days in much warmer Los Angeles. Still, I need to be where the next show is, general strategy. In case of strikes, bad weather, storms or any other problems, I like to be close by where the next show is, early on.

I was booked for six days at Holiday Inn Express & Suites Minneapolis Downtown, same hotel as I stayed at six years ago in Minneapolis, when the Stones were here last time. Some times it is great to have an on site guest laundry in the hotel, I travel light, with just 8 kg i.e. 18 pound total in my carry-on, that’s all, so self service laundry is a great bonus in any hotel. Also, next door was the five star Ivy Hotel, they do offer all the services I need like a lobby bar, and meeting friends on tour who stay there.

It cost me one dollar to get from the airport to the Minneapolis city center, then a quick ten minutes stroll across a few blocks to my hotel. That was the only time I used public transportation in Minneapolis, except for the return travel to the airport six days later. The blue train seemed to be great and efficient, also the bus systems, in case I needed them, but I walked most of the time.

First on the agenda was finding a place to eat, for lunch and dinner. Downtown Minneapolis was completely empty. Hotels were operating on very limited lunch menus, and their restaurants opened eiter 5pm or 6pm late afternoon. By then I had been starving since lunch hours, so I went to the store and got some bread, bananas and food to keep in the hotel room fridge. It saved my day quite a few times.

Brit’s Pub was a safe haven, I went there several times for Fish’n’Ships, as they were open all day. Some times they were completely packed – I was offered to sit at the bar, but I am still concerned about covid-19, so then I went to my room and checked for sea food places in the area. I found a place called Stella’s Fish Cafe, it was in Uptown, so I got a car to get me up there, quick ten minutes ride that cost me ten dollar, not bad. Stella’s would be my favorite place, returning there later on also.

Uptown was the place to be. Right nearby Stella’s there was a building named “Sons Of Norway”, with plenty of Norway flags. I later found out it was an insurance company, with roots from Norway, and they did have a lot of Norway stuff on display at their floor level, enough to get me home sick.

I spend all day out in Uptown, also walking to the nearby lakes. I have been missing the fall colors back home, that is the greatest part of living in Norway, the four totally separate seasons. Cold winter, great spring with all the green leaves coming out, summer often warm, and then the fall colors, red, orange, yellow, all sorts, all over. So far I had not seen any fall colors on my US travel, but as I arrived into Minneapolis, there were colors. Not as bright as back home, but enough to get the fall feeling.

Norway was a poor country some 100+ years ago. There were fishermen and farmers, but farms were small and families were large. Many left for the new large countries in west – North America – USA mostly, but also Canada. My own grandfather on my mother’s side went to North America during his young age, but he returned home to Norway, otherwise I would probably have been living in Canada or Minnesota myself… Anyway, Minnesota was one of the main hubs of immigration from Norway to USA, Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 million Norwegian Americans, according to the most recent U.S. census, most live in the Upper Midwest, according to the Wikipedia article Norwegian Americans. So I felt sort of at home in Minneapolis, especially when I took a walk over to Norway House, where they had lots of Norway culture and pictures on display, well worth a visit for anyone!

Minnesota Wild is the hockey team of Minnesota. They play their home games in Xcel Energy Center, St Paul, twin city of Minneapolis, just a quick 20 minutes drive from Minneapolis. The two cities are located on each of their sides of the Mississippi River. After having seen “my” team Minnesota Wild in Los Angeles last week, I had to see them one more time, on home ground. The day before the Stones show – Saturday October 23 – I went the 20 minutes ride to St Paul, and spent the afternoon there, visiting the great St Paul Cathedral, walking by the Missisippi River, and of course watching the game, where Minnesota Wild won in overtime vs Anaheim. Lots of smiles as we walked out of the venue. People invited me out for drinks and beers, but I had a show to go to next day, so I went “home” to rest ahead of concert day.

Since the downtown Minneapolis area was completely empty, hardly any restaurants open daytime, I walked a lot from downtown and into east, west, north and south, at various times. There were good areas and not so good areas. One time I walked for 20-30 minutes to find a McDonalds restaurant. That area was not any good at all, so I had to walk another way back. Two times I went to Uptown, then I walked back to the downtown every time, along Hennepin Ave, a great long walk of an hour.

Show day, the hotels are filling up, the breakfast area is full, also next day, then the day after that everything is back to normal, very few guests at the hotel, except for me and a few others, same with the streets and a lot of the area around. Too bad covid-19 and other reasons have made so many changes of the downtown area of Minneapolis, now downtown is mostly hotels, banks, offices, while many seems to have moved out some places.

Walking to the Stones show at US Bank Stadium took some 20 minutes. It was so cold, I do only have light dressing, but I survived. It was all worth it – they performed another great show, with songs including “Monkey Man” and “Fool To Cry”.

For show reports and pictures see the link below:

The Rolling Stones
US Bank Stadium
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Sunday October 24, 2021

The Rolling Stones were booked for one show in Los Angeles California at the brand new US $5 billion cost SoFi Stadium, just 4 miles i.e. 6 km off Los Angeles International Airport LAX, on Sunday October 17. The show sold out fast. Then the Jazz Fest in New Orleans was cancelled in August, including The Rolling Stones show booked there for Oct 13. The free time slot made it possible to add another show in Los Angeles at the SoFi Stadium for Thursday October 14.

I left Nashville TN the day after the show there, on Sunday October 10. The flight was direct, with a duration of 4.5 hours. The plan was to stay ten days at a hotel on Los Angeles Airport LAX airport, at the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel. In order to have the flexibility of changing booking, in case I did not like it there, I had three separate reservations, total of ten days. The ten days stay in Los Angeles had taken so much planning time during the past weeks. I wanted to stay in Palm Springs, where I liked it during Desert Trip in 2016, and I wanted to stay in Santa Monica, where the pier and many restaurants makes life easy and pleasant. The only problem was the fact that the two shows on Oct 14 and 17 were right next to LAX Airport. Also, high prices and transportation cost made it easy to settle with ten days at LAX. But was it possible to enjoy it out there?

I picked Sheraton Gateway LAX hotel because it was cheap, and because Sheraton use to be a great four star hotel. Also, it looked great on the pictures. Once I arrived there, after less than 24 hours, I regret staying there. The service was bad, the hotel, lobby, elevators, bar, every place was packed with budget travelers, half of them had no masks. Luggage in, luggage out, always full elevators, and was on floor ten, so I was in the elevator many times during the day. Finally, the restaurant was closed, due to covid-19, they just served through a reduced bar menu. It was more like a two star service.

There are many large four star hotels right next to each other in between two of the landing paths at LAX. I spent the next day walking to Hyatt and Hilton and Marriott and other hotels there, checked their restaurants, mask use by staff and clients, how busy these hotels were, and where I would like to move to. It took another day until I decided to move to the Los Angeles Airport Marriott, just 2-3 blocks away from the Sheraton. The Marriott had an atrium style poolside area, with low five floors buildings on three sides of the pool, then the main tall building on the fourth side of the pool. This way they could keep the noise from the airport and the incoming landing paths away from most of the rooms under the 5th floor level. I booked a room with a balcony on the 4th floor, again with multiple bookings, and ended up staying there for 8 days out of my total of 10 days at LAX.

Covid-19 has been used as an excuse to reduce service at all levels. I have not had any service in any of my hotel rooms during any of my stays since I arrived into USA early September. Not that I want it, but some times it might be nice with a minimum of service. Restaurants are closed. Bar menus are very limited, almost nothing I can order, due to my dietary requirements. Many times I have to go to McDonalds to get one or two of my $5 Filet’o’Fish. That happened quite a lot also at LAX. It took around 20 minutes walk each way, a project of nearly an hour, then I found another McDonalds slightly closer, so I was down to 15 minutes walking each way. The walk was with incoming airplanes right above my head, and tired homeless people sitting, sleeping or camping on the sidewalk. The grocery store was within 45 minutes walk, it took 1.5 hours of walking to get grocery.

IORR keeps me busy every day, I spend half the day or more editing pages, moderating the forum threads, general administration, updating tour reports, pictures scaling, publishing and so on. Then I have my usual work to do. Finally there is always another flight to book, or a hotel to book or change, I am my own travel agent, and a travel of three months with 33 hotel bookings and a lot of flights, do take time to organize every day. In addition to my current and past 33 room bookings, I have 23 rooms booked and then cancelled, so in total I have or have had 56 separate reservations for this three months plus travel. During the last days of my Los Angeles stay, I managed to book my final reservations of rooms and flights to/from Tampa, Miami, as well as the third version of my flight back home on Wednesday November 24. Now I really hope I can keep all these bookings, and that the remaining places I will be staying will work ok.

The two shows at the SoFi Stadium were great as expected. The reports are linked up at the end of these pages, ahead of the pictures.

In-between the shows, I went to Beverly Hills two times, to visit the Four Seasons Stones hotel, then one time to Santa Monica with the beach and the pier, a visit to friends in the Hollywood area, also downtown Los Angeles, including Main St (famous from Exile on Main St), Skid Row, and a hockey game at Staples Center. Mats Zuccarello, our own #36 ice hockey forward player, who once was on my own team Frisk Asker Norway, before he made success in Sweden, and later NHL with New York Rangers. Now he is playing for Minnesota Wild, there was a game vs Los Angeles Kings, and “my” team Minnesota Wild won 3-2. As I now move on to Minneapolis, I will see the Minnesota team more, as they do have games at their home arena in St Paul, twin city of Minneapolis, the coming week-end, ahead of the Stones show on Sunday.

After Stones show number two I had two more days at my LAX hotel. At that point I was completely dead meat. I was so tired. Lots and lots of IORR work. Show updates. Pictures. Reports. Moderation. Flights and hotels booked and changed. Little sleep, going to bed 2am in the morning, waking up at 7am. Lots of walking, the shows and the excitement and energy given and taken there, and all the chasing for food I could eat. So the last two days I could finally rest and do nothing. Los Angeles was great. Thank you for your wine, California. Will I ever see The Rolling Stones again on the US West Coast? May be, I don’t know. Only time will tell.

For show reports and pictures see the links below:

The Rolling Stones
SoFi Stadium
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Thursday October 14, 2021

The Rolling Stones
SoFi Stadium
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Sunday October 17, 2021

Just like Pittsburgh PA, Nasville TN was also visited during the 2015 Zip Code Tour by The Rolling Stones. The stadium was called LP Field in 2015, but shortly after The Rolling Stones performed there that year, they changed name into Nissan Stadium, in a 20-years deal with Japanese car maker Nissan, having their North America head quarters just south of Nashville in Franklin TN.

Nashville is the most expensive city of the 2021 tour on my travel budget. Hotel prices were four times and up vs. normal prices, in the range of $600 – $1200 per night during the days of the Stones show. I was staying five days in Nashville, so in order to survive economically, I booked three nights six miles outside the city center first, then I had two nights in the center, with walking distance to the show.

I stayed at a hotel right next to the intersection of Charlotte Avenue and White Bridge Pike. Highway 40 was passing by, so I was quite central, transportation wise. Bus number 50 took me all the way into the city center in 20 minutes, all along Charlotte Avenue. There were many 2-star hotels in the six miles range from the center. I just picked a hotel with great ratings, free breakfast, and with many restaurants nearby.

As I checked into my hotel, and was all settled in, it was already 9pm. The flight from Pittsburgh with Southwest took one and a half hour, but as it did not arrive into Nashville until shortly before 8pm, I was late for getting any meals. I asked at the reception where to find any restaurants. “Just follow the lights”, she said, meaning any place along Charlotte Avenue. I had already cheated a bit, by checking out Google Maps, so I headed for Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant. I was there around 9:15pm, it was all dark, same with all other restaurants in the area. Closed. So I walked a bit in the direction of the city, and eventually I found a Burger King. They had Drive Through only, she asked me just to order like I was in a car, funny thing was there were quite a few small coins on the ground, I did not pick them up, but I am sure I was the first person in a long time walking by that window there for “walk through” shopping a Big Fish Burger. During the next days, and even during my Nashville city center stay, I had all my meals at the excellent family restaurant Las Palmas, on 5821 Charlotte Pike, Nashville, highly recommended, best restaurant so far of the tour.

During my stay outside the city center I took bus number 50 to the Centennial Park. It was half way to the city, a short 10 minutes ride along Charlotte Avenue. Great park, great flowers, even at this late time of the year, a nice lake, and great place to relax, from all the traffic noise and party time noise in Nashville city center.

The day before the show I took the bus down to my city center hotel. Nashville has certainly changed a lot since I was here last time in 2015. There were party buses and tractors everywhere, mostly with girls in their 20’s drinking, but also party people at all ages, in general, mainly younger under 40, drinking, singing, from early morning, to way past midnight. I escaped back to my Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant for proper meals both the day before the show, on show day, and the day after, on my way to the airport.

Show time. A short walk across the bridge, then I was at the stadium. Once again, The Rolling Stones did a great show!

For show reports and pictures see the links below:

The Rolling Stones
Nissan Stadium
Nashville, TN, USA
Saturday October 9, 2021

The Rolling Stones performed at Heinz Stadium in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania on their Zip Code Tour in USA 2015. Then six years later they are back to the same stadium, same city. With fans coming in from Ohio, Philadelphia, and many other areas of the East Coast, this was bound to be a great show. The following are tour and travel memories from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania October 2021.

I was arriving from the previous tour stop in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was a short direct flight with American Airlines, one and a half hour. Then an Uber ride from the airport to my hotel near Heinz Stadium. As we got closer to my hotel, traffic got slower and slower. We were stuck for an extra fifteen minutes. There was a baseball game starting at the baseball stadium right next to my hotel. I left the car and walked the remaining blocks from the bridge to my hotel.

At check-in, for the first time on this tour, the staff had no mask. I asked, and she said the city had just decided to get rid of the masks. Ok. People around me were still using masks, inside the hotel building, but outside, and all over, no masks. This was very different from Boston, St. Louis and Charlotte.

I was in Pittsburgh for just three days. My first task was to find a place to eat. Since I can only eat say 2% to 5% of anything on any menu, I headed over the bridge, passed by dozens of places, restaurants, all packed with no mask people, and it did not seem like they had anything I could use. So back over the bridge, I just stumbled across a sports bar called SO HO. It was right next to my hotel, it had lots of space, great service, and more than just one item on the menu I could survive on, without getting a terrible allergic reaction. So I had all my meals at SO HO, and I loved the place, wish there could be more places like that on tour.

Pittsburgh is a city you can easily walk in a few hours. I had a bike last time I visited in 2015, so this time I just wanted to walk the city. One of my goals were to ride the Duquesne Incline, an old steep train ride up the hill next to Monongahela River. To get there, I first had to cross the Allegheny River. Two long bridges crossed, and the steep old train ride, I had an excellent overview of Pittsburgh, as well as Heinz Stadium.

My hotel room was right next to the highway, with multiple lanes just outside my window. Even if I am a heavy sleeper, I could hear the cars and trucks all night, the hotel wasn’t really build at five star quality, it was like having the cars almost into my room at times. Not a pleasant place to stay for relaxing.

Show day, pre-show meal at So Ho at 2pm, then eventually walking the 20 minutes or so over to the stadium. The show, simply amazing. This is just a bit of what I wrote in my report from the show:

… Then the highlight of the show, the last song before the encore moment. Jumping Jack Flash. A great show, some of the greatest, are often those when Keith is peaking, above even the normal high, and tonight was one of those. JJF lasted just about five minutes or so, not as long as it would have been if it was closing the show, but those five minutes were true goose bump time. Those moments you search for when you have seen them many times, you take them for granted, and you don’t know when or where they will peak, but sure it happens, right tonight in Pittsburgh. …

For show reports and pictures see the links below:

The Rolling Stones
Heinz Field
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Monday October 4, 2021

This was the second stadium show of the No Filter USA Tour 2021. I am told they have one set of trucks only for this tour, I counted 23 or so trucks in St. Louis, the trucking time from St. Louis MO to Charlotte NC is eleven hours, through Nashville TN (to be visited soon on this tour), while some fans on tour, including myself, used the 1:30pm departure Southwest flight taking just under two hours non-stop.

When I first saw The Rolling Stones live in Charlotte, back in 1997, at Ericsson Stadium, now called Bank of America Stadium, I loved it so much I declared Charlotte one of those cities I just had to return to on every tour. Since then I have been returning to North Carolina on every tour, also, when they played Raleigh North Carolina in 2015, I made it through Charlotte, visiting Grandfather Mountain in the Appalachian Mountains.

Unlike the show in 1999, when the show was at Charlotte Coliseum, way outside the center, this time we were once again to see The Rolling Stones in the Charlotte city center, at Bank of America Stadium, so I booked a hotel right in the center, with 20 minutes walking to the stadium. I was four days in Charlotte. As the show got closer, the city was filling up with fans.

I took the bus from the airport to my hotel. I was the only “tourist” on that bus. You get to see the locals, while I understand most others do arrive by car. As I arrived into the bus station, I did recognize the Burger King and that station, where I have been on past tours, taking the bus, and getting my Big Fish sandwiches.

The Rolling Stones show in Charlotte was with all the energy we got in St. Louis MO, but without the goose bumps and sadness from missing Charlie Watts. For reports and pictures from the show see the links below.

The day after the show Mick Jagger posted a picture on social media where he was having a beer at the nearby “Thirsty Beaver Saloon”. So as a faithful Stones fan, I set off to walk over there. It was a walk of 1.5 miles (2.5 km), and it took me 35 minutes walking each way. As I arrived, I walked in there, and asked for the same beer as Mick had. Then the girl at the bar said: “We are not sure, but we think it is this one”… Then she took one of the many bottles she had in the cooler – “Coors Edge – Non-Alcoholic Beer”. I took my pictures, a selfie or two, and left. Meanwhile, two other fans arrived with the same mission, to pilgrim Mick’s bar, and to make pictures.

There are “live threads” where fans may talk about the shows online on IORR.org. Then there are other topics, like about songs – “Brown Sugar Track Talk” and so on. During the St. Louis show, there were some comments about “Brown Sugar” missing, but most fans expected it to re-appear in Charlotte. It did not.

While I had been at the show in Charlotte, and while I had been enjoying the last bits of the city of Charlotte, including my “Coors Edge” at the Thirsty Beaver Saloon, there was a “Brown Sugar war” online at the IORR forum pages. I was happily unaware of the mess until I arrived back to my hotel room i.e. my “office” late afternoon the day after the show, on October 1. From then on, until the early hours, way after 2am in the morning, I was working on getting rid of hundreds of hostile, angry, offending and racist posts related to Brown Sugar. Why did they not play it? Why should they care about Black Lives Matter? Why should they have any moral standards at all? Wasn’t this the band who gave us “Street Fighting Man”, “Under My Thumb”, and other not so nice songs lyrics wise? The comments were spinning way out of any proportions, and I just had to sort it out, before it took completely over, scaring normal fans not really into all these politics and anger.

I had to implement a complete ban of any mention of the song “Brown Sugar” on IORR.org, in order to survive the editorial part for the next few days. Life is too short, and I do not want to get involved in politics, BLM, song selections, lyrics, and all those special words used by those who still think Mick Jagger should be able to say and sing about anything he likes on stage.

“Brown Sugar” has been the backbone of most Rolling Stones shows since they released the song on the “Sticky Fingers” album in 1971 i.e. fifty years ago. There have been no official comment from the band about set lists or why they do not play this song, or other songs, but it seemed like most fans had their own opinion those 24 or so hours I walked around in Charlotte not knowing almost WW III fan wise was going on in the IORR forum pages.

I had to make a separate statement, about “Brown Sugar”, it was read more than 3,000 times before I took it away a day or so later, as I had arrived into the next city Pittsburgh. This was my statement:

Brown Sugar related posts will be deleted – posting access to be deleted as well

I was contacted by fans who felt unsafe. Many people who post their opinion does not think – or care – about others. They may be macho, they think Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones are timeless, eternal and far above any moral or social standards. Luckily the above post worked. For a while I thought seriously about shutting down the IORR forums completely, but the fans got the message, so IORR is still online with all the discussions about songs, set lists, guitar riffs, new songs, old songs, all the passion is there still.

For show reports and pictures see the links below:

The Rolling Stones
Bank of America Stadium
Charlotte NC USA
Thursday September 30, 2021

The rescheduled Rolling Stones No Filter Tour USA 2021 was announced July 22, to start officially with a stadium show in St. Louis Missouri on September 26. I arrived from the rehearsals in Boston into St. Louis September 21, and spend a week in St. Louis. These are some memories from the week with The Rolling Stones in St. Louis.

Usually The Rolling Stones do two days of soundcheck and production rehearsals at the first venue of a new tour. I was ready to be there and listen to the songs outside. Unfortunately the Dome in St. Louis is completely closed, with multiple layers of brick and concrete. I was outside at the band entrance, and luckily both Mick and Ronnie was passing by with their car windows down as they arrived those days I was there, but that was all I heard and saw of them before the actual tour start.

While waiting for the tour start I spent time walking around in St. Louis. I lived right next to the Dome, and I was told that was an unsafe area. Sure it was unsafe late hours, like 10pm or so, but I spent most of my walking day time, before it got dark. I had three things on my list here: 1. The Rolling Stones. 2. Budweiser Tour with fresh beer tasting. 3. To see Mississippi River close up.

My one week public transportation pass took me around from and back to the airport, to the Budweiser Brewery, and other places, like The Rolling Stones hotel slightly outside the downtown. My first stop was Budweiser. Every time I go to St. Louis I have to go to their head office right here in St. Louis, where they have their Clydesdale horses, and where you actually may see the production lines with bottles, cans, and at the end of the tour, you get a fresh beer in a bottle, plus a tasking glass of daily fresh brewed beer. Nothing is like tasking day fresh beer, when it comes to beer!

Mississippi River will be on my tour map not just here in St. Louis, but also later on, when The Rolling Stones arrive into Minneapolis in Minnesota. The large rivers used to be the backbone of many cities across the world, so also Missisippi River. I just love to see those great rivers, the bridges, and all I can do is imagine what is was like in the old days, when ships were going up and down the river with all sorts of essential transportation. These days a lot of this is done by trucks I guess.

With the tourist bit done, the main reason for my visit into St. Louis was arriving. Show day Sunday September 26, 2021. The following is the first part of my report from that show. The rest of my and other reports may be seen in the link below.

The show tonight was an emotional roller coaster ride for me. After 35 days away from home, with the goal to see The Rolling Stones live on tour tonight, the day was finally here. So long wait, so many emotions. As I walked to the Dome in St. Louis, a short five minutes walk from my hotel just across 9th Street to the Entrance D on Cole street, my stomack was in big pain, I was hit by a sudden nervous pain I have never experienced before. Then once inside, I met with friends in the VIP lounge, and my pain was gratually going away.

At 7pm I went down to the pit area, Pit 1 i.e. Ronnie side, the place was half empty, but it would fill up during the next hour or so. More friends to meet, the pain was not there anymore. Then at 8:46, the lights went ot, and drums started to sound all over the stadium. It was Charlie drumming, soft, hard, gentle, great pace, just like having Charlie in the venue. Various images of Charlie were on display on the large screens. My emotional roller coaster ride had started, and it would last throughout the show, all the way back to my hotel. The Charlie intro lasted for two minutes. A great tribute, but so sad.

For show reports and pictures see the links below:

The Rolling Stones
The Dome at America’s Center
St. Louis MO USA
Sunday September 26, 2021

Pictures from St. Louis September 2021

The Rolling Stones spend some five weeks in Boston MA USA rehearsing for their No Filter US 2021 tour. They rehearsed some 80-90 songs. I had the great pleasure of being in Boston for two weeks, and got to hear around sixty songs rehearsed. The following is some memories from the Boston 2021 rehearsals.

The rescheduled Rolling Stones tour in USA 2021 was announced July 22. One month later I was in Cancun Mexico, on hold, waiting for 16 days in order to get approval for US entry. See separate report about my Travel to USA for The Rolling Stones Tour 2021. What makes a grown up father and grandfather leave the family for three months, challenging COVID-19, with travel to places where there is ten times more COVID-19 as compared to my home country Norway? The answer is simple, like it has been for the past fifty years for me: The love of The Rolling Stones and their music.

I just love to see and hear The Rolling Stones live performances. And over the years, the same applies for their rehearsals. I have been invited into their rehearsals studio three times over the years. I do never expect anything, I take what they give me, I never ask, I am just Mr Nice Guy, never stalking, just listening, enjoying hearing Memory Motel and Fool To Cry and Connection and Ruby Tuesday and Worried About You again and again and again. They might not play any of these songs during the tour, but I have been enjoying them all still. Even this year in Boston 2021!

The sixteen days in Cancun Mexico were painful. With the sadness of the passing of our dear Charlie Watts, I tried to get home, just gave up on the tour, sitting for hours on the phone line, trying in vain to book a return flight. Then my closest back home told me to sleep on it, give it another day. So I did not go home. I lost two weeks of Boston rehearsals due to the mandatory “outside Shengen/EU” stay in Mexico, but I made it, I was there, right at the studio, listening to the band, waving at Mick, Keith, Ronnie arriving and going home. Sad moments when the 4th car with Charlie did never arrive, I miss Charlie so much, and those moments at the studio, when he did not appear, did not return after rehearsals, did not hit the drums, so painful.

They said there was no point in going to Boston for the rehearsals. You see nothing. You hear nothing. True. And not true. I have been to more than one hundred rehearsals. It has been a habit, or a life style. I just want “more Stones”. There is always a door or a wall or a side entrance or a window or a corner nearby when you may see them, hear them, or both. Soon after I arrived, the crew and the band members gave me a warm welcome. They know me from many rehearsals. They know I will never jump in front of any of the cars, push an album up into the side window for a signature, or try to sneak into a side door, or flash a camera or my mobile phone up on the side window of any of the cars. May be that is why Mick, Keith and Ronnie quite a few times did roll down the window, often when I was alone, said hi to me, up close, smiled, and waved. I felt happy and privileged. I am Mr Nice Guy, it helps a lot with the trust. So they gave me approval for listening as close as possible, right next to the door to the parking, on the premises. I did always have my mask on, whenever someone passed by less than five feet. Covid-19 days, respect, I have to protect the band, the crew, the tour, and myself.

Sixty songs. That’s a great deal of songs. All the big ones of course, including Street Fighting Man, one of my favorites, It’s Only Rock’n’Roll, Paint It Black, and on and on. Midnight Rambler without Charlie Watts, but with the new drummer Steve Jordan. It sounded great from outside. Sure it’s not Charlie, but I want The Rolling Stones to live on, in the spirit of Charlie. The new guy do have a Gretch drum kit, not really exactly like the light brown one Charlie had, but still, Steve Jordan is loyal to the sound and the songs, I will give him a chance. And during my two weeks at the studio, Steve Jordan smiled, behind his mask, saluted me as I was there as they arrived and departed every day.

Wednesday Sept 8 was a favorite of mine. They did Moonlight Mile two takes, then She’s A Rainbow, Worried About You, and later on Sway. How often do you get such a set of songs during an hour or so the same night? I was in Stones paradise.

Play With Fire. So great. They did it many times at the rehearsals in London 2019. It is rarely performed live. Ghost Town. Trouble’s a Coming. Living In The Heart Of Love. And one or two other songs I did not recognize, because it is hard to hear the lyrics through rain, traffic, bird singing, wind and talking from people in the streets.

Far Away Eyes. Monkey Man. Sweet Virginia. Let It Bleed. No Expectations. And one more time Memory Motel. I get Memory Motel every week! Sure I am in Boston, “… back up to Boston”, but this is not for the private show, it is for themselves, and hopefully, please please please, play Memory Motel also live at the shows on this US Tour 2021.

As I write this, it is Saturday evening September 25. I am tired, after having been away from home and my family for more than a month. I miss my family. I miss Charlie. I miss my friends. But tomorrow September 26, I will finally get to see The Rolling Stones right on stage, live, right here in St Louis, Missouri, USA. And more friends, most of them from USA, but a few also from England, The Netherlands, and Argentina. It has been a long wait, but now I am ready!