Like an MS Rolling Stone

Classic rock for MS’ers

I have been terribly remiss in keeping you, my dear friends, posted on important things going on. I have completely dropped the ball on filling in the details. For that, I greatly apologize.

I know you have all been on pins and needles, different pins and needles from the ones your MS usually puts you on, to hear how things went in June. Did I survive the Rolling Stones concert over one month ago?

Well, finally, here’s the scoop.

I did survive and it was absolutely amazing!

I attended the show with my Rolling Stones fairy godmother and another friend of ours. Three hot, classic rock chicks psyched for some great music hit the road. And incredibly, we found Keith Richards stranded by the side of the highway in need of a ride to his own show!

We picked him up and he was very grateful.

Wait, something doesn’t feel right. Oh, MS moment time.

That didn’t actually happen to my friends and me. It happened to some people I don’t even know but I saw it on the news. And the rock star was not Keith but Dave Matthews. Sometimes my MS brain confuses things here and there.

We did however get to meet Mick outside. I have proof-please see the photo below of my Rolling Stones fairy godmother and I posing with him.

I know what you are thinking. That is not Mick but just some guy in a Mick Jagger mask.

We thought that too. So we asked him and he assured us that yes, he was the real thing scoping out the before concert crowds. Exciting!

But here is the main point- multiple sclerosis is no match for the longevity and talent of the Rolling Stones! Not only did I survive but thrived through the concert!

I didn’t need the embarrassing ear plugs as the music was just pure classic and of incredible sound quality. Beautiful music to my super sensitive ears- total score.

I only needed one bathroom break and since our seats happened to be somewhat near the ladies room, I only missed one verse of Midnight Rambler which was broadcast from the restroom speakers anyway.

And, I was only mildly fatigued. My unusual energy didn’t come from any legal speed prescription from my neuro- my MS brain forgot to ask for a new RX.

Perhaps this energy came by osmosis from Mick to me.

How does he do it? Mick just doesn’t stop. He sang, danced and ran around more than my two year old nephew. And even my nephew needs a nap after two hours. Mick went for almost three.

It was a great night in the city of Boston with Mick even sporting a Bruins jersey to add even more perfection to the show.

Since I miraculously managed to enjoy the show without too much fatigue, I also wasn’t experiencing any brain fog. As such, I was able to discover something new about the Stones catalog.

I have mentioned before that Keith had an aunt who died from multiple sclerosis and so he is sympathetic to our plight.

What I didn’t realize before this June night was that so much of their catalog is written specifically for us MS’ers.

Thank you Keith!

Don’t believe me? Please allow me to offer these numerous examples just from the 22 song set list of the first Boston show.

Sway– “It’s just that demon life has got me in its sway”

You’ve got the Silver– I do. I do have the silver. Between the brace, the cane, the wheelchair and the medic alert bracelet, we MS’ers sure do have some silver.

Start Me Up– Who needs Provigil when you’ve got Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Charlie to get you going?

Jumping Jack Flash– the ultimate spasticity song if ever there was one!

You Can’t Always Get What You Want-Tell me about it. I would like one night where I don’t have to get up to pee 20 times. How about a night when I only have to get up ten or maybe just eight or nine times? That’s what I want. Is that too much to ask?

I’m Going Down– Please. If that is not an MS anthem then I don’t know what is….

One More Shot– As in, one more shot before I can start Tecfidera?  Yea!

Doom and Gloom– “Feeling kind of hurt. Sitting in the dirt. All I hear is doom and gloom.”

Before They Make Me Run-“….pills and powders, you can choose your medicine….” Keith predicted the end of injections back in the 70’s!

Midnight Rambler– A song describing an MS’ers brain on one of their middle of the night bathroom jaunts.

Sympathy for the Devil– the devil is a veiled disguise for the insidious illness known as multiple sclerosis. And it deserves no sympathy which is the point of the song. “Hope you guessed my name. But what’s puzzling you is the nature of my game…”

Get Off of My Cloud– An MS’er’s response when non-ms’ers say something that ticks us off! “Hey! You! Get off of my cloud! Don’t hang around cause two’s a crowd…”

Tumbling Dice– I didn’t fall exactly, I just took a tumble with one of my MS friends. “Baby there’s a fever in the funk house now. This low down bitchin’ got my poor feet a itchin’

Satisfaction– As in I can’t get no….”Cause I try and I try and I try and I try, try, try”

So there you have it. Over half of the Stones set list for just one of their many concerts are multiple sclerosis themed.

Don’t believe me? Think this is just a coincidence? Well, I have proof.

I asked Mick when he posed for the picture with us and he said it was true. And this Mick wouldn’t lie, would he?