No, Mick Jagger was not at Tick Tock Diner (Opinion)

Mick Jagger had to have a good laugh if he read the news the morning after his first Met Life concert Thursday night. Everyone talking about how cool it was that The Rolling Stones all showed up at the famous eatery in Clifton for some morning greasy spoon. It even had me hooked for a second.

The problem — as Jay Lustig first argued last week on NJArts.net — is it's almost certain this didn't actually happen.

First of all, not a single person recognized the most famous rock and roll band in the world? A band that's been around since the 60s? Even if it was all old people milling about that diner at that time of morning, think about it. If you're 75 now you were in your mid-20's when Mick and the boys were cranking out some of their best music. And they've never gone away. At least someone would have recognized them.

Even the waitress who claims she waited on them was, I believed, convinced she saw them only after the fact. According to NJ.com, she says she had no idea who they were but thinks she recognized them only when they were leaving. Yeah, massive media coverage swearing an event happened can conflate perceptions after the fact.

And the fact is, Mick Jagger has a habit of doing this — mentioning local places from stage and joking that he was there before the show. It's part of his schtick.

As Lustig also pointed out in his NJArts.net piece, on July 23 in Philadelphia, at the same point in the show, Jagger talked about getting a hoagie at Wawa.

What exactly did he say at Met Life?

"It's great to be here in New Jersey. We're really loving it here. We've been here for a few days. I mean, it's the health food capital of the USA, right? So we went to the Tick Tock Diner for Taylor ham, egg and cheese! WIth disco fries! The sloppy joe to go! Delicious!"

He was JOKING folks. He does this.

In fact at the second show, he joked about getting "pork roll at my usual booth at the Tick Tock Diner," the Asbury Park Press reports.

He was probably having a good private laugh that everyone believed it after the first show. Also, consider the health regimen Mick Jagger has been under for many years. According to this post by Jaquo.com, he mainly eats whole grains, chicken, rice, beans, fish and lots of avocado. And he works out like a fiend. He runs daily, works out a gym, cycles and swims. Does this really sound like the guy who would be loading up on pork roll and disco fried then a sloppy joe? It does not fit. It does not add up. He was joking.

If after all this you still think Mick and the boys visited the Tick Tock Diner while they were here then I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.

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