popular thinking

ROLLING STONES OPENING NIGHT AT FENWAY PARK: I'm speechless. Not sure how much of that is due to the fact that Mick, Keith, Ronnie, Charlie and Co. put on such a great show, and how much is because I saw a young woman fall from the rafters in front of me.

Let's start with the breaking news portion first.

The young woman appeared to be in her 20s (initial police accounts had her as either 20 or 22, from Connecticut), with chest-length dark hair, a yellow T-shirt and blue jeans. Jen and I were sitting in section 2, in the right field grandstands. We first spotted her hanging above Section 4 at 9:46 p.m., as the Stones were rocking "Honky Tonk Women," but other eyewitnesses placed her at least as far back as Section 7. Mystery girl was crawling her way across the underbelly of the right field roof, slowly but surely, until she reached the end of the rafters above Section 1. If you're looking from home plate out, that is where the right-field grandstands end. There is a ramp separating the grandstands from the bleachers. OK. So once mystery girl reached the end of the rafters, she took a seated position and watched the show, which included the somehow apt "Out of Control." The girl seemed more in control at this point (earlier she had moments that made fans nervous), was kicking her legs to the beat and even clapped along with everyone else at the end of the song. The Stones then played "Sympathy for the Devil." Toward the end of the next song, "Jumpin' Jack Flash," mystery girl, for reasons unknown, began crawling up to the edge of the rafters (underneath where retired No. 1 is visible from the rest of the park), lost her footing, dangled for several seconds, then fell about 30 feet into the seats. The time: 10:11 p.m. So she had been crawling around the roof for at least a half-hour and possibly longer than 45 minutes according to other eyewitnesses. Boston police officers had spotted her about the time I had, and had at least one flashlight on her. Cops stood in the aisles on either side of my section and cleared out fans below mystery girl. When she fell, she landed on the red seats of Right Field Box 87, apparently across rows LL and MM -- but only about a foot away from a much farther fall outside of the seats onto the concrete ramp. Cops and EMTs immediately surged to the scene. They had a backboard at the ready, but apparently not anything in place to provide a softer landing, and had mystery girl headed out on the backboard within four minutes. The cops disappeared for another 14 minutes while Fenway Park security was left to rope off the scene. The Stones, meanwhile, were oblivious to the entire incident -- which if the girl died, would provide an eerie reminder of Altamont. Initial reports had her suffering only a few broken bones, but still. Still to be determined: Why the girl climbed the rafters, where she began her ascent, whether she was with anyone else at the concert, and if so, whether they coerced her into the stunt, and whether drugs and alcohol factored into it. I'll have more when I know more.

Now for the concert.

It even began auspiciously, as the lights went down at 8:21 p.m. on 8/21. We're not even going to bother with the Black Eyed Peas, because we didn't see Fergie pee her pants this time -- and she's still ca-ray-zee, no matter what her boy Josh DuMarkHamill has to say about it. The set list with appropriate comments followed thusly...

1. Start Me Up (cliche opener, but still)
2. You Got Me Rocking
3. Shattered
4. Tumbling Dice
5. Rough Justice (new)
6. Back of My Hand (new, old-school blues)
7. Beast of Burden
8. She's So Cold (Mick claimed this was a very rare selection: "I don't think we've ever done this one live on stage, except maybe once")
9. Heartbreaker
10. Night Time is the Right Time (Ray Charles tribute)
11. The Worst (Keith Richards vocal)
12. Infamy (new, Keith Richards vocal)
13. Miss You (small stage rolls out from centerfield to second base)
14. Oh No, Not You Again (new)
15. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
16. Honky Tonk Women
17. Out of Control (back to mainstage)
18. Sympathy for the Devil (fire shot out from top of elaborate stage)
19. Jumpin' Jack Flash
20. Brown Sugar
Encore 21. You Can't Always Get What You Want
Encore 22. It's Only Rock N Roll (But I Like It)
Ended at 10:36 p.m. with fireworks shot out from behind stage in centerfield bleachers.

NOTE: If I missed a song somewhere in between Jumpin' Jack Flash, Brown Sugar and the encore, it's because a woman fell from the rafters right in front of me. Did I mention that yet?