The Stones' Limousine and the Night I Drove Down Route 75 - After the Frenzy of 40,000 People, Mick and the Others Were Driving Ahead of Me

August 31, 2005, the day had finally arrived.

In my hand, I held a ticket for The Rolling Stones on stage at Comerica Park.

The Stones rarely come to Japan, and whether you can get a ticket is a matter of luck. In America, you can make it happen with just a click online. It felt like a dream.

I parked my car in a Greektown parking lot and headed toward the stadium through the casino. Downtown Detroit usually has poor security and few pedestrians, but as expected on the day of an event, there were many people out and the sun was still high.

I didn't feel much danger even walking alone.

However, perhaps because I was too excited, my stomach started to feel bloated. My breathing became shallow, and I wasn't feeling my best.

By the time I arrived at the venue, the opening act, Maroon 5, had already finished. It was a shame, but the main event was yet to come. The Stones were going to appear. Live. In reality.

The day I spent with the Stones

As expected for a concert at a baseball stadium, the stage was far away. Still, I was lucky enough to secure a view from the front.

Regardless, just the fact that I could see the Stones "in the flesh" made my heart race.

Then, the venue went dark. With the intro of "Start Me Up," that legendary band appeared.

…Yeah, they were small. And the sound was too loud to hear the details.

Even so, without a doubt—Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were right there in the same space. The moment I realized that, I caught my breath.

The second song, "You Got Me Rocking," was a relatively new track, but it was a welcome selection for someone like me who had been listening to them in real-time.

The stage was divided into the first and second halves, and the excitement reached its peak toward the latter half.

"Satisfaction," "Honky Tonk Women," "Sympathy for the Devil," "Jumpin' Jack Flash"—they kept hitting us with one after another, as if to say, "How about this?"

However, at the same time, my physical condition was reaching its limit. I didn't have the courage to use the restrooms covered in beer and filth, so I decided to give up on the encore.

I left my seat just as "Brown Sugar," the last song of the main set, ended.

The night I drove alongside the limousine

Comerica Park has a capacity of about 40,000.
The vast majority of them were fans who had rushed in from the suburbs, and the highways leading out of the city were soon stuck in traffic.

In the midst of that, I headed back to Greektown a step ahead and got into my car.

And then—the moment I merged onto the southbound Route 75.
By some coincidence, several limousines carrying the members of the Stones, who I assumed had just finished their encore, appeared right in front of me.

Accompanied by a few cars that looked like security, they flowed directly out of the stadium.

I watched from far behind as they traveled from downtown Detroit to Birmingham in the suburbs.
I couldn't see inside the limousines, but leaving behind the tens of thousands of fans still stuck in traffic at the stadium,
I alone—
was in the position closest to the "Stones after the concert."

That modest sense of superiority had, before I knew it, made me forget even my stomach troubles.