The Rolling Stones chartered a midnight special from Aberdeen Railway Station 40 years ago after struggling to keep track of time.
After a gap of 17 years Mick Jagger and the boys returned to Aberdeen’s Capitol which was one of four warm-up shows ahead of the band’s 1982 European Tour.
The £6.50 tickets sold out immediately but demand was so strong that desperate fans placed classified ads in the P&J offering to buy them for upwards of £100.
High security was in place for the concert on May 26 1982.
The Stones were back in town and pressmen from all over Britain flocked to the Capitol to see what was also the group’s first British gig in six years.
But the management insisted it was to be Scottish reporters only!
The Stones flew in to Aberdeen Airport at 6pm.
Model Jerry Hall got off the plane on singer Jagger’s arm before the band got on the tour bus and checked in to their hotel before heading to the Capitol.
Scottish new-wave band TV21 were the support although the Stones didn’t appear on stage until 10pm because they were watching the European Cup final!
Quite what Jerry Hall made of it all is anyone’s guess!
TV21 guitarist Ally Palmer fondly recalled his memories of the Capitol gig.
He said: “I will never forget rolling up to the Capitol on Union Street and walking in and hearing Mick Jagger doing a sound check – it was quite a moment.
“We never really got a chance to talk to the Stones much, but Mick Jagger did pop his head in our dressing room to say that we sounded good from the balcony, but that was the closest we got – apart from Jerry Hall walking in to our dressing room before realising she was in the wrong place.”
The 2,000 fans were made to wait for an hour after TV21 finished before the Stones finally appeared on stage at 10pm after Villa lifted the cup with a 1-0 win.
Jagger strutted on stage and opened the gig with Under My Thumb while the crowd leaped and shrieked and held up imploring arms.
The 38-year-old Jagger was at his brilliant best and the band raced through what now reads like a greatest hits set of songs from the 60s, 70s and 80s.
So taken by the reception they received, the band even performed a song they hadn’t played since they made their last visit to the Capitol in 1965 – Time Is On My Side.
The adoring audience was treated to Stones classics Beast of Burden, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Tumbling Dice, Miss You, Brown Sugar and Start Me Up.
While, they also produced the odd cover or two with tributes to The Temptations, The Miracles and Eddie Cochran.
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction was the encore before the Stones left the stage and rolled out of Aberdeen by rail in a £1,000 secret charter train.
Gordon Tulloch was there in 1982 and was sitting behind Fergie’s Aberdeen FC team who were given a cheer by Jagger after winning the Scottish Cup.
He said: “While Led Zeppelin, Genesis, and David Bowie played concerts in Aberdeen, I would suggest that this Stones gig was the most prestigious ever in the city.
“I lived in Aberdeen at the time, and still do, now in Torry.
“I happened to be passing the Capitol on a bus at the time the concert was announced!
“I saw a banner being unfurled in front of a camera crew from Grampian TV and managed to catch a glimpse of the words: ‘Rolling Stones live in concert’.
“I guessed that tickets would be on sale, and I got off the bus at the next stop, hurried to the box office, and was about sixth in the queue!
“Unfortunately, I had only enough cash on me to buy one ticket and there were no credit or debit cards then!
“The ticket price of £6.50 was double the norm of the time.”
Gordon became a fan of support band TV21 and regrets deciding not to watch them because he was also watching the European Cup final on TV!
He said: “I was not especially a Stones fan, but it was a fantastic concert, one of the best I ever saw. Classic song after classic song, superbly played, and Jagger irrepressible.
“I was in the row immediately behind the Aberdeen players. I can’t actually remember which ones were there, but I’m pretty sure the late Neale Cooper was one.
“At Jagger’s cue, a spotlight was shone on the players, and Jagger hailed them for their recent Scottish Cup final win against Rangers which I was also at.
“The punk explosion was supposed to have swept away ‘dinosaurs’ like the Stones.
“But they rolled on, regardless – starting in Aberdeen!”
Gordon broke it down further.
“I am now nearly 62 and went to many concerts in my youth.
“I was at many other concerts at the Capitol, such as U2, Simple Minds, Meatloaf, Rory Gallagher, The Jam, Boomtown Rats, The Cure, and Echo and the Bunnymen in 1983.
“I never saw the Stones again but to see them at the Capitol was hugely memorable.
“It’s a concert I’ll never forget.”
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