Good afternoon to all stones fans..

My name is Philippe and i have a question..
On the 07th of June, I went to the Pinkpop stones concert and I went with my son.. Luca (his name) is born on the 27th November 2008.
He was 5 1/2 years old..
My question is.. was my son the youngest fan to attend a rolling stones concert?
he really enjoyed it and i was very proud to attend my stones concert number 41 with him..

wanted to add a picture but i dont know how to do it

Have a great day !

Phi..

I have seen kids age one - 1 - at concerts, even infants just months old. They have not been at the Stones shows by their own will, and I don't think it is right to bring very young children to such events. We have discussed this before here on IORR. Some think it is ok, but I don't. The crowd might riot i.e. start moving in a bad way, it happens, and then the child is history. And a child does not have the energy or the free will to enjoy hours and hours of being in a large place with limited space, food, drinks and a lot of people and loud music. It sounds like a dream, like a purple dream, but in the end a child at least need to sit down, and to understand what will happen, and approve it personally, not after parental pressure but after going to a "smaller" show then a larger and so on. I have seen too many children at concerts being unhappy, it does not look good.

Bjornulf

Dear Bjornulf,

I just believe that if you have to take into consideration many things..
firstable very important to check the weather i have bought the tickets but if the weather was not good i wouldn t go.. then of course we know that the crowd in Holland has nothing to do with the one from Argentina..
I also bought a very good helmet to be sure that hearing out of control wouldn t be a problem..
we were not front of stage, it would have been crazy and dangerous..
and probably the most important Bjornulf is just the fact that my son loves the stones..

to take a kid to a concert it s a very special experience and I will do it again.. looking for 2 tickets for AC/DC for Paris anyway..

Any body who subjects a child so young to the loud music of a rock concert like the Stones or worse still like AC/DC has to be an absolute nutcase. Anybody who does not like the statement I have made I could not give a toss.

Well people have died in Roskilde Denmark at a "normal" festival, and I "rescued" my own son when he was with me at age seven many years ago in Sweden, going under when the crowd started to move a little bit out of control at an outdoor Springsteen show. I was young and stupid then. In Love Parade Germany 2010 many people got panic for some reason and 21 people died stepped to death.

If a child has got a seat and ear protection ad the mother AND father next seats at at a show where they have proper protection against crowd movements, security and a relaxed atmosphere it might be ok, but I would never take a small child to a big outdoor festival. What would you do if you lost the child going in or out?

Love Parade Disaster - Germany
[en.wikipedia.org]

Roskilde disaster - Denmark
[www.rollingstone.com]

Bjornulf

I kept my son born -92 in a very special place when I visited Stones in Gothenburg 1990...



Youngest?

2 1 2 0

I would not take a child younger than 10 to any show. If it's at least 10 and wants to go to the show with me then fine, but on certain conditions:
- must wear ear protection at all times
- no festival / general admission tickets, only seated sectors
- preferably an arena show but a stadium with decent access to toilets and catering would do (children can get hungry/thirsty/etc. very easily so quick access to these facilities is required).

And you must be prepeared that even if your kid was eager to go to the show they can quickly get bored and tired and you'll have to leave early.

Young kids at a festival or stadium in GA standing, is not a very good mix.

Seated, and the venue having good toilet and food and drink facilities nearby, would probably be O.K.

My son was in his mummy´s womb when we attended
Köln 1999.

yeah, I have to concur with this. just because the 5 year old is a 'fan' doesn't mean they have the decision making skills to know what's best for them.

You're the parent so it's your decision, but really, what benefit is it taking a 5 year old to go see AC/DC?

Even the outside possibility of putting them into any sort of danger should make this an easy decision. I once went to AC/DC show and my ears rang for 3 days. Not because of the band but because of the screaming of a group of teen girls in front of us. Totally unexpected, but that's exactly what happens, the unexpected.

I m very surprised with all your answers but i respect them of course.
the benefit of taking a 5 year old boy to see AC/DC?
if i go to Paris i would prefer my son to see Angus Young instead of Mickey Mouse

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Philippec74
I m very surprised with all your answers but i respect them of course.
the benefit of taking a 5 year old boy to see AC/DC?
if i go to Paris i would prefer my son to see Angus Young instead of Mickey Mouse

you're the parent and ultimately you know best. if something happened though, how could you live with yourself?

I tend to agree with Philippec74.

It is true that large venues can be dangerous. But it's also true that there is a way of doing things. Nobody said that you have to bring your child first line of the GA section in front of the PA speakers!!!

Besides that, there are thousands of other thing that are accepted as "normal" that are way more dangerous, at least from a statistical point of view. How many kids drown? Or are injured (or worse) in car accidents? Or because their parent lost control of the bicycle? And so on and on.

Children love music (at least, my two daughters do). And live music (all kinds of it) is what they enjoy the most.

Today's society is a strange one.

Lots of parents divorce when their children are still very young, or never spend time with them, feed them with shit food, let them stay hours in front to the TV, don't care for their education, have nannies even when they could take care of them personally etc.

Everything is allowed.

But, but God forbid, if for once you forget to put the seat belts or if you take your kid out sailing or to see the stones you get crucified with no trial.

C

I had my then 11 year old daughter in Hyde Park. A fight broke loose two rows in front of us, and we couldn't go anywhere. Had it escalated it could have been a very traumatic experience for her - it was anyway.

To bring even smaller children to gigs like these would be totally out of the question for me. This gig was borderline unresponsable, in retrospect.

What if something happens?...

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liddas
I tend to agree with Philippec74.

It is true that large venues can be dangerous. But it's also true that there is a way of doing things. Nobody said that you have to bring your child first line of the GA section in front of the PA speakers!!!

Besides that, there are thousands of other thing that are accepted as "normal" that are way more dangerous, at least from a statistical point of view. How many kids drown? Or are injured (or worse) in car accidents? Or because their parent lost control of the bicycle? And so on and on.

Children love music (at least, my two daughters do). And live music (all kinds of it) is what they enjoy the most.

Today's society is a strange one.

Lots of parents divorce when their children are still very young, or never spend time with them, feed them with shit food, let them stay hours in front to the TV, don't care for their education, have nannies even when they could take care of them personally etc.

Everything is allowed.

But, but God forbid, if for once you forget to put the seat belts or if you take your kid out sailing or to see the stones you get crucified with no trial.

C

you make some good points but ultimately it is a risk management issue. Personally, I think taking a 5 year old to see the stones or AC/DC is completely unnecessary in the first place, however if you factor in other potential issues, fights, people smoking pot, swearing, the massive amount of decibels, potential to get lost, they get tired/bored and want to go home...I don't see the point.

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Philippec74
if i go to Paris i would prefer my son to see Angus Young instead of Mickey Mouse

And what would your son prefer?

Marlon was at many Stones shows as a young kid, exposed to lots of loud rock and hard drugs, he seemed to turn out allright.

I think it's a personal choice to expose your kids to concerts and as long as they have hearing protection for loud venues/shows, no worries. It's certainly no more dangerous than driving in a vehicle, eating a McDonalds kiddie meal or a thousand other activities.

What I don't like is the way people and society tries to dictate what is right and wrong for activities that really boil down to personal choice. It's so easy to get emotional about children and what we perceive as improper parenting.

I hope the lawyers don't start getting involved and we start seeing things like "no children under the age of.." on concert tickets and promos. Some of my best and earliest childhood memories are at music festivals and concerts with my parents. Of course one could argue this was responsible for my future nefarious ways....

peace

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Naturalust
Marlon was at many Stones shows as a young kid, exposed to lots of loud rock and hard drugs, he seemed to turn out allright.

I think it's a personal choice to expose your kids to concerts and as long as they have hearing protection for loud venues/shows, no worries. It's certainly no more dangerous than driving in a vehicle, eating a McDonalds kiddie meal or a thousand other activities.

What I don't like is the way people and society tries to dictate what is right and wrong for activities that really boil down to personal choice. It's so easy to get emotional about children and what we perceive as improper parenting.

I hope the lawyers don't start getting involved and we start seeing things like "no children under the age of.." on concert tickets and promos. Some of my best and earliest childhood memories are at music festivals and concerts with my parents. Of course one could argue this was responsible for my future nefarious ways....

peace

Fully agree! I have two Tickets for AC/DC for my 7 year old son and me, seated for sure, ear protection, etc. He's been several times with me at huge Soccer-Events ... We live in Dortmund, everyone goes to see BVB, regulary, even Bayern-Fans like his dad, tons of kids at Signal-Iduna-Park ... You really can't compare festivals or the tragic event in Duisburg with an arena- or stadion-show ...

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TooTough
My son was in his mummy´s womb when we attended Köln 1999.

We've got a winner

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

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Naturalust
Marlon was at many Stones shows as a young kid, exposed to lots of loud rock and hard drugs, he seemed to turn out allright.

I think it's a personal choice to expose your kids to concerts and as long as they have hearing protection for loud venues/shows, no worries. It's certainly no more dangerous than driving in a vehicle, eating a McDonalds kiddie meal or a thousand other activities.

What I don't like is the way people and society tries to dictate what is right and wrong for activities that really boil down to personal choice. It's so easy to get emotional about children and what we perceive as improper parenting.

I hope the lawyers don't start getting involved and we start seeing things like "no children under the age of.." on concert tickets and promos. Some of my best and earliest childhood memories are at music festivals and concerts with my parents. Of course one could argue this was responsible for my future nefarious ways....

peace

And I guess Philippec74 didn't sat on front row but took a place in the open field with not many people around.........................

__________________________

Rock music of this nature is best discovered on one's own, when you've reached adolescence and can more fully appreciate the more sensual nuances of the music and lyrics. Treating a Stones concert like a day at the Walt Disney theme park just doesn't seem right. There are plenty of other, more appropriate things a parent can share with their child, and the whole point of sharing is for mutual enjoyment, no?

The last few times I saw the Stones there was no problem with the volume at all. This is the "future" and I have to assume that they check the sound pressure levels with meters throughout the venue when they set up. You may have noticed that they have the mids and highs on separate speakers spread throughout the venue to ensure that the vast majority of people hear direct sound and not reflected sound.

It was just plain stoopid for rock bands to crank the sound up so loud that it went into the threshold of discomfort and even into the threshold of pain.

The psychology and physiology of how you hear sound means your body adapts anyway.

Thank God the era of "Look at My Big Dick" sound is over. At least for the Stones and I assume for all other major touring shows.

Geez some of you people are bloody rude and up yourselves. A simple post about something sweet is pounced on by those that apparently know better and have no issue obviously believing what they think needs telling.

Hello Philippec74 - I took my seven and a half year old daughter to the recent second Perth concert. (For all the parent police out there I got tickets in the non drinking section, made her wear ear plugs and then over that ear muffs but was a very naughty Daddy as she didn't get home to bed until midnite......as a Perth native and knowing the crowds here as well as I do was no chance of a "riot"....hope I passed the audition), back to you Phi, we had an absolute ball. She knew most of the songs and was merrily singing along and clapping and "yaying" having the time of her life. I couldn't help but laugh at myself at thinking I haven't tried to brainwash her and yet there we were

I'm with you Phi - it's a very special experience and if you can share a common bond through the joy of music with your little one - then you are a very fortunate lad - as am I.

ps - and for the record parent police I took my daughter to California Disney after she'd just turned five and she loved that too. As did I because of being there with her. It's surely up to the parent (in this case Phi) to be aware of what their child may or may not like and not for any of you to speculate and then cast an uninformed opinions.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-01-29 06:43 by OzHeavyThrobber.

Kyle I have always enjoyed reading your posts especially during our recent tour.Every post here agrees with you and Phillipe(sorry if it looked liked my post was directed at you Phillipe, but in your post you stated your child had ear protection)but I was generalising. As you know a childs eardrums are more delicate than an adults, this is why you afforded your childs needs and protection. The possibility of a riot(how many years since a Stones riot) at the Perth arena is non existant, but as I said I was generalising. Some parents have no brains and we know why. It is great that a child and parent can enjoy a concert together if they want, its real joy. My first children were weaned so to speak on Beggars and Let It Bleed, they are in their late forties now and are still fans. I was refering to hearing loss and not a late night getting home lol.

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MileHigh
The last few times I saw the Stones there was no problem with the volume at all. This is the "future" and I have to assume that they check the sound pressure levels with meters throughout the venue when they set up. You may have noticed that they have the mids and highs on separate speakers spread throughout the venue to ensure that the vast majority of people hear direct sound and not reflected sound.

It was just plain stoopid for rock bands to crank the sound up so loud that it went into the threshold of discomfort and even into the threshold of pain.

The psychology and physiology of how you hear sound means your body adapts anyway.

Thank God the era of "Look at My Big Dick" sound is over. At least for the Stones and I assume for all other major touring shows.

The volume was very different indoors. In Oslo they were incredibly loud. I've never heard them that loud. In HP and in Roskilde you could speak to eachother while the music played...

I believe he would prefer Mickey mouse

Who?

I was 7 years old at my first concert. It was at Hockenheimring on the Voodoo Lounge tour. We were way in the back and I stood on a block of styrofoam. I remember this concert very well and I enjoyed 25 more Stones concerts since then. Of course something could happen at a big concert but it is dangerous to sit in a car too. It is even dangerous to walk outside or going down a stairway.

Hockenheim95 has also mentionned something very important.. luca and me were standing way in the back.. the last 3 songs we were close to the exit..
My son was waiting for Satisfaction and the fire works.
I will try to put a video asap and you will all see that a 5 years old boy has enjoyed 2 hours with the greatest rock and roll band in the world !

I apologise Kevin. I meant no offense or disrespect but can see my last post clearly reads that way. My daughter is the one now asking when the Stones are next on tour and "even if it's in New York and costs $5000 it would be worth it Daddy!" according to her hahaha
Be more like 15k after flights, accommodation and tickets, and hiring a hit man of course to get me tickets from an unsuspecting Stones ticket carrier...

You have very well balanced children for them to have been fans from the cradle through to their 40s - your performance as a parent is clearly a stellar one - I have much to live up to to follow in your footsteps