While some rock fans would’ve died to witness The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds release show in New York on Friday, October 20, music producer Tony Visconti didn’t think they were worth the wait.
In case you missed it, Visconti, best known for his work with David Bowie, shared his frustrations in a post on Facebook, revealing he waited so long for The Stones to take the stage, he simply left.
“Got tickets for the ‘private’ or ‘secret’ Rolling Stones show at Racket. Ticket said doors open at 8 pm. Stood outside in the cold windy night until 8:40,” he wrote. “Got inside and waited and waited, standing room only. The DJ was deafening, on top of that people came up to me and were screaming in my ears, attempting a conversation.”
He then noted, “I looked at my date who told me if I wanted to leave she would go with me. It was 9:30 now and the DJ was cranking it even louder. I thought, f*** it, I saw the Stones so many times back in the day with a better line up, even one gig with Brian Jones and Bill Wyman.”
Visconti says security guards warned him he wouldn’t be able to go back inside once he left, to which he replied, “thank God.”
He concluded, “Went back home, turned on Roku and watched Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein. Now that was good!”
Meanwhile, that very loud DJ turned out to be Questlove, who commented about Visconti’s post. “Dog, the fact that I offended Tony Visconti in such a rock & roll fashion is prolly one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received in my 40 years as a professional musician,” he wrote.
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