MADRID 1982: LA PRIMERA VEGADA QUE VAIG VEURE A SES SATÀNIQUES MAJESTATS

Era l’any 1982 quan es va programar un concert dels Rolling Stones a l’estadi de Sarrià a Barcelona. Evidentment vam còrrer a comprar les entrades, tot i el problema que suposaven per mi dues mil pessetes de les de llavors a la meva edat. Ja portava uns quants concerts a sobre en aquells temps, però em quedava pendent un gran concert, un concert d’alguna de les bandes històriques, i els Stones era el màxim al que podies aspirar en aquell moment. Només quedava esperar el gran dia, quan de sobte, a poques setmanes de l’esdeveniment, surt la pèssima notícia: la promotora Gay And Company i l’Espanyol trenquen l’acord i no hi haurà concert a Sarrià. En el seu lloc es farà un segon concert a Madrid en la mateixa data. Teniem dues opcions: o ens retornaven els diners, o ens canviaven l’entrada per una de Madrid. S’havia de decidir ràpid, i jo, tot i ser menor d’edat vaig dir a casa: han suspès Barcelona i es fa a Madrid, jo hi vaig! Dit i fet, el meu amic Pep es va fer càrrec de mi i el 8 de juliol cap a Madrid que tocaven el 9. 

Aquell vespre havíem de sortir de Plaça Catalunya en autocar, però es jugava la semifinal del mundial de futbol entre França i Alemania i vam marxar amb quasi dues hores de retard per la prorroga i els penals, i, per la negativa dels xòfers a marxar abans no acabes el partit. Prop de mitjanit una comitiva de 32 autocars marxàvem a Madrid, destinació Estadio Vicente Calderón on vam arribar al voltant de les deu del matí. 

El dia es va fer etern fins a les sis de la tarda que obrien les portes de l’estadi. Recordo que al costat mateix hi havia la fàbrica de la Mahou i que molts hi anàven a buscar provisions. També que vam anar a dinar al centre, però cap a les cinc ja tornàvem a ser allà. Després va sorgir un problema afegit, nosaltres teniem entrades de grada (verda) i tots els que m’acompanyaven volien anar a gespa (entrada marró). Jo no podia dir res perquè era una criatura al costat de tots ells. 

Vam entrar, i un cop dins vam voltar per l’interior de l’estadi. Havíem d’entrar a la gespa com fos. En arribar a un dels córners van veure la solució: era una porta molt ample on només hi havia un porter. La proposta: entrar tots correns. “La mare que’m va parir, estan sonats aquests pagesos”, vaig pensar. Dit i fet! Quarts de set, quedaven tres hores pel concert i ja erem dins. Però va sorgir un nou problema: erem a la gespa amb entrades de grada. Després de carregar tantes provisions a can Mahou, evidentment s’havia d’evacuar i els lavabos eren fora. Però tot problema té una solució, i vam trobar un noi amb entrada marró que ens la va cedir per poder anar a pixar per torns.

A dos quarts de deu en punt sona la intro del “Take the A train” de Duke Ellington i tot seguit “Under my thumb” com en el disc “Still life” de la gira americana que havia sortit poques dates abans. En aquells dies no havia mòbils ni res semblant, jo portava una llibreta petita on apuntava cada cançó que tocaven per fer-me després un cassette amb el repertori. Després de l’última cançó, “Satisfaction” vaig pensar que ja em podia morir perquè havia tocat el cel, però havia de tornar a Lloret per poder-ho explicar. Marxant cap a l’autocar vaig veure una entrada al terra i per aquelles casualitats de la vida era marró i del concert anterior, pleno!

Posteriorment els vaig veure dues vegades més a l’estadi olímpic de Barcelona, el 1990 durant la Urban Jungle Tour, i el 2003 en el Licks Tour. Van ser dos grans concerts, però lluny del que va significar tot el que va envoltar el concert de 1982, per a un noi de 17 anys que encara no havia tingut cap experiència del nivell de l’aventura que va ser dir als pares: “els Stones toquen a Madrid i jo hi vaig”. 

THE FIRST TIME I SAW THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES

It was 1982 when a Rolling Stones concert was scheduled at the Sarrià stadium in Barcelona. Obviously we rushed to buy the tickets, despite the problem that two thousand pesetas meant for me at that time at my age. I already had a few concerts under my belt then, but I was still waiting for a big concert, a concert by one of the historical bands, and the Stones was the most you could aspire to at that time.

We only need to wait for the big day, when suddenly, a few weeks before the event, the terrible news came out: the promoter Gay And Company and R.C.D. Espanyol (the owners of the stadium and a damn football rival) broke the agreement and there would be no concert in Sarrià. Instead, a second concert will be held in Madrid on the same date. We had two options: either they would refund our money, or they would exchange our ticket for one from Madrid. It had to be decided quickly, and I, despite being a minor, said at home: they have suspended Barcelona and it is being held in Madrid, I am going there! All said and done, my friend Pep took care of me and on the 8th of July we headed to Madrid, which played on the 9th.

That evening we were supposed to leave Plaça Catalunya in Barcelona by coach, but the semi-final of the World Cup between France and Germany was being played and we left almost two hours late due to overtime and penalties, and the refusal of the drivers to leave until the game is over. Around midnight, a group of 32 coaches left for Madrid, destination Estadio Vicente Calderón where we arrived around 10 A.M.

The day became eternal until 6 P.M. when the stadium doors opened. I remember that right next to the stadium it was the Beer Mahou factory and that many people went there to get supplies. We also went to lunch in the city center, but by five o'clock we were back there. Then an added problem arose, we had bleacher tickets (green) and everyone who accompanied me wanted to go to the grass (brown ticket). I couldn't say anything because I was a child next to all of them. We entered, once inside we walked around the stadium to find our seats, but everyone was thinking that we had to go to the grass no matter what. When we saw that the solution was in one of the corners: it was a very wide door where there was only one doorman. The proposal: enter all at once running. Said and done, we’re in!

6:15 P.M., almost three hours left for the concert and we were already inside, but a new problem arose: we were on the turf with bleachers tickets. After loading so many provisions of beer in Mahou factory, it was obvious that he had to evacuate and the toilets were outside. But every problem has a solution, and we found a guy with a brown ticket who gave it to us so we could take turns peeing.

At 9:30P.M., the intro to Duke Ellington's "Take the A train" plays, followed immediately by "Under my thumb" as in the "Still life" album from the American tour that had been released a few dates earlier. In those days there were no mobile phones or anything like that, I carried a small notebook where I wrote down every song they played to later make a cassette with the repertoire. After the last song, "Satisfaction", I thought I could die because I had touched heaven, but I had to go back to Lloret to be able to explain it. Walking towards the bus I saw a ticket on the floor and by those coincidences of life it was brown and from the previous concert, the day ends in the best way, now I have the tickets for both days and both colors in my collection.

Later I saw them twice more at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, ​​in 1990 during the Urban Jungle Tour, and in 2003 during the Licks Tour. They were two great concerts, but far from the excitement surrounding the 1982 concert for a 17-year-old boy who had not yet experienced the level of what it meant to tell his parents: "The Stones are playing in Madrid and I'm going."