Episode 52 - Purple Raining Beer Cans

It was October 1981. I'd been living in SoCal about a month. Some friends and I drove out from Palm Springs to see the Rolling Stones in concert at The L.A. Coliseum. I don't remember all the opening acts or the order in which they played but Prince was one of them; he may have been the first band up. 

We were sitting pretty far from the stage so it was a little hard to make out all the details but Prince walked out with his band, carrying his guitar and wearing a black leather trench coat with what appeared to be nothing on underneath except for ladies lingerie. 

Remember this was a Stones concert. 

The Rolling Stones.

In 1981.

A guy was wearing lingerie.

Now, I applaud the Stones for recognizing great talent and giving a newcomer a shot, but, unfortunately for Prince and his band, the audience members at that time, at least those who found themselves within beer-can-throwing distance from the stage, weren't quite as enthusiastic as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were about having some skinny 23-year-old dude dancing around in ladies lingerie, no matter how talented a musician he might be. 

As they began to play, Prince and his band were forced to stand about 30 feet or so from the front of the stage to avoid being hit by the beer cans, half-full styrofoam cups, and assorted other food stuffs and objects that came flying at them from the drunks in the front of the crowd. After playing about 2-1/2, maybe three songs while dodging projectiles, Prince said into the mic, 'Fuck it', or 'Fuck you', or 'Fuck something' and walked off the stage with his band. 

I remember a stage hand or security guard or someone yelling into the mic something to the effect of, 'Why don't you come up here on stage and see what it's like?' Well, sure enough, some drunken idiot accepted the challenge, pushed his way through the crowd, climbed over the security wall, and pulled himself up onto the stage. Upon his arrival, he thrust his arms into the air and did a little victory dance, like he thought he was Rocky Balboa and he had just reached the top of the stairs. Unfortunately for this dumb-ass, the security guards appeared to be not so much fans of Rocky and boxing as they were fans of Hulk Hogan and Pro Wrestling. A very large member of the security staff promptly relieved the guy of his 'Rocky moment' by applying what can be described as 'part bear hug, part half-nelson' and threw the idiot in a very un-Rocky-like fashion down the stairs that led to the side of the stage. From the contorted heap in which he landed, with his limbs pointing in all kinds of directions, this brave 'warrior for the preservation of masculinity' was picked up off the floor by two more large members of the security staff who enthusiastically 'assisted' him onto his feet and behind a wall out of view, where he presumably was blackened and blue-ened a little bit more before being either handed over to the cops or maybe he was escorted (meaning thrown, literally) outside the Coliseum where his ability to view the Stones in concert would be seriously compromised. 

Being products of the '70's and hailing from Small-Town Pacific Northwest, where some of us might have heard of Prince, but didn't give two shits about him at the time, we all sort of sneered at the 'weirdo in the lingerie' and chuckled about him being 'booed off stage'. I can't speak for my friends, but a few years later, when Purple Rain was released, I, along with millions of others, realized Prince for the incredible talent that he was.  I've been a fan ever since.

Remembering the Stones concert in '81, I've always regretted that we were robbed of an opportunity to witness greatness and possibly a little bit of history (we will never know what he had planned for us and what we missed out on) by a bunch of idiots who were so blinded by bigotry and intolerance they were unable to recognize and unwilling even to give a chance to a genius who simply wanted to stand in front of them and give them the gift of music. It seems often to be the case, though, does it not, when a new genius first emerges, that they are laughed at, dismissed, and even attacked by the ignorant. 

Someone famous once said, 'The fool on the hill sees the sun going down and the eyes in his head see the world spinning round.' It is the genius, the one who truly understands, that is regarded as an idiot by the masses who don't. 

Rest In Peace, Prince. Despite a few potholes and some fools along your path, your genius was eventually recognized and you made the world a better, more beautiful place.

4/21/2016

Day after day
Alone on a hill
The man with the foolish grin
Is keeping perfectly still
But nobody wants to know him
They can see that he's just a fool
And he never gives an answer

But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round

Well on the way
Head in a cloud
The man of a thousand voices
Talking perfectly loud

But nobody ever hears him
Or the sounds he appears to make
And he never seems to notice

But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round

And nobody seems to like him
They can tell what he wants to do
And he never shows his feelings

But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round

He never listens to them
He knows that they're the fools
They don't like him

The fool on the hill

Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning round

JL, PM