Out of Time [Brian Jones]

A Song For Jeffrey

*
I'd take you along with me,
but you would not go so far.
Don't see what I do not want to see,
you don't hear what I don't say.
Won't be what I don't want to be,
I continue in my way.

*

The circus people walked in and then the musicians. They had all dressed up, like they too were part of the circus and played instruments. Mick was supposed to be the ringmaster I guess. The disguises of the others I couldn't really recognise. Keith and Bill looked a bit odd, but nearly normal in comparison with the others. Brian wore something like a long dress with stars and moons all over and played a flute. He reminded me of a magician or something alike, which strangely fitted him. Charlie definitely wore the best costume, even if had no idea what he was supposed to represent and he looked like he wished he was rather everywhere else than here. John Lennon and Pete Townshend, I would have put down as clowns or something similar. John's girlfriend wore a long black dress with hat. A witch I suppose? The others I couldn't really see very well or didn't recognise. There were simply too many people.

"You've heard of Oxford Circus, you've heard of Piccadilly Circus and this is the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, and we've got sights and sounds and marvels to delight your eyes and ears and you'll be able to hear the very first one of those in a few moments." Mick announced. He definitely was supposed to be the ringmaster then and it made sense in the way. I mean out of the Stones he probably was the most known and as the singer, it made the most sense to have him announcing.

After they cleared the stage again, there was a small break, in which everything was prepared for the first act Jethro Tull. I hadn't really heard of them before and was unsure what to expect. Mary didn't know them either, but she thought they must be good if they were playing here and she was right. They were definitely not bad, especially their use of a flute gave them some unique sound. They definitely seemed worth to check out later, buy a record or maybe I could simply ask Brian. I hadn't really looked through his record collection, but he owned quite a few. However that probably was no surprise, he was a musician, even if I hadn't seen much of it yet. It was odd that it hadn't crossed my mind before, but since I had moved in with him I hadn't seen him touch an instrument. I thought he was supposed to play quite a few, at least if Mary was to be believed and I wondered if I just hadn't seen him play or if there was something more behind it... It couldn't be the music, he could talk for ages about that, no matter if you really listened to him or not, so what was it then? It couldn't be the Stones, could it? I knew they had some problems, but could they be that bad that Brian was even loosing interest in music? It seemed so hard to picture, especially since it was one of the few things he really seemed passionate about...  We probably needed to talk about this, but I doubt he would want to or even listen to a word I said.

There was again a small break after their show and the next act got ready, the Who. Their show was brilliant, even Mary had to admit it and she didn't really like them as much as I did. We had seen them a few times in concert and every time had been great, but now they seemed even better, maybe it was the location or something. We had front row seat and didn't need to fight through a row of people to see the stage. I didn't get any visions and could fully enjoy the music for once. Meeting the Stones had brought a lot of changes and difficulties, but also a handful of good things had happened since then and this definitely fit into the last category.

Another break, another act and so on. A few things had used more takes than others and even though the show was really good, it was getting late and I started to feel a tad tired, but I could hardly leave and I doubt Mary nor Brian would just let me anyway. I had no other choice than to stay, but at least having seats made it better. Nobody was touching me besides Mary from now and then and that was tolerable.