02 August 2008

Unbelievable

Sit back, my children, and hear a tale of a time long forgotten, a time so far in the past that parts of my story may seem unbelievable to you, but I assure you that every word is true.

In the autumn of 1981, my friends and I went to see the Rolling Stones play the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. We left when the movie theater where we worked closed at midnight and went to "camp out" on the lawn because there were no assigned seats and we wanted to be there early before the crowds the next day. This was gonna be huge, with 100,000 people or so.

After a night of no sleep because the dudes next to us kept playing frisbee and stepping on our heads as well as blasting a continuous loop of Yes on a cassette tape out of a first-generation boom box, we staggered into the stadium at about 10 o'clock in the morning.

We tried to doze in our seats as people around us smoked vast quantities of pot, but we were too excited to sleep very much.

We weren't just looking forward to the Rolling Stones. There were three other acts in an all-day stadium blowout: the J. Geils Band, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, and some other guy we had never heard of.

About 2 pm, the first act took the stage. As die-hard rock and rollers, we couldn't believe our eyes. This tiny little man wearing satin panties and a cape - and nothing else - came out.

He began to perform. It was music unlike anything we had ever heard before. We didn't know WHAT it was, but it sure as hell was NOT rock and roll.

He sang a couple songs and people booed and the crowd began roiling restlessly and unhappily. Then he busted it out. The tiny little mostly-naked man began to defiantly sing a song whose main lyric was "I'll jack you off."

"Faggot!!" people screamed. They threw anything they could get their hands on - bottles, rocks, and, I remember, frisbees full of dirt.

It was over as suddenly as it had started. The little man left the stage and the crowd cheered, happy to have run him off, not thinking that he was perhaps only scheduled to play a four-song set.

Everyone was saying "Can you believe that guy? What a loser! What were the Rolling Stones THINKING having that guy open for them" and talking about how hard J. Geils was going to rock, moving on and trying to forget the performance by the little man in the panties, a man who called himself "Prince."

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL! Awesome!

I went to a Nine Inch Nails show years ago and the opener was Marilyn Manson before anyone knew who he was. He also got booed off the stage, people (in Oklahoma, mind you) yelling thing about him being a Satanist. He wasn't a happy camper, that crazy guy.

I later accidentally burned him with my cigarette when he walked in front of me. I wonder if that's why he has that crazy eye? Hmmm. I may have changed history, people!

Anonymous said...

Dude. That was me. Apparently, I'm just C now. Hmm.

Major Bedhead said...

Hysterical.

And did you like him? Or were you booing with the rest of the seething masses?

Kizz said...

What a great story. You're a part of history!

SUEB0B said...

Major B - I can't remember my reaction besides "I can't believe this guy." I also can't remember him having any instruments or people with him on stage, which must be wrong, but in my mind it is just this little figure out there facing a wall of angry rock and roll fans.

Glennis said...

Wow, what a great story!! rock and roll history!

Sister Wolf said...

I used to play his record "Dirty Mind" at my sister's house. Her teenage son would become agitated and scream "That guy's a FAG!!!!"

God bless the Little Prince.

Anonymous said...

My mind is boggled. Who could have thought that Prince would even be remotely appropriate as an opener? Wow.

I am also extremely jealous that you saw Dirty Mind era Prince live.

Suzanne said...

the tiny man in panties and a cape was all I needed to read to know it was Prince. Ah, Prince.

Julie Marsh said...

That is a great story!

Anonymous said...

Prince! I do love me some Prince.

J said...

OUCH.

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