NEW ORLEANS – When the Rolling Stones brought their Voodoo Lounge tour to New Orleans in 1994, a couple of shy 12-year-olds were in the audience, and they were on their first date.

Twenty-five years later, when the Stones returned to New Orleans, the same two people, now close friends, were in attendance.

Jonathan Pretus and Leslie Becker probably enjoyed the show a lot more the second time around, as adolescent nerves had been replaced by decades of friendship.

“Our courtship was short-lived, as it is at 12 years old, but our friendship continues,” Pretus wrote on Facebook. “So when she returned the favor and invited me 25 years later, well, of course.”

Becker, whose mother is an entertainment lawyer who represents Pretus’ band The Breton Sound, scored VIP tickets when the Stones brought their much delayed No Filter to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on July 15.

For Becker, inviting Pretus was a no-brainer.

Especially after Mick Jagger’s health issues caused the legendary rockers to cancel their highly anticipated scheduled appearance at the 50th anniversary of Jazz Fest.

Before that Jazz Fest show was canceled, Becker and Pretus posed together for a picture with a relic from their first date – a Voodoo Lounge concert t-shirt.

“The Rolling Stones may not have played today at Jazz Fest but I am glad I have a friendship that is still gold,” Becker wrote at the time.

After 25 years, these two friends have forged a golden connection through the greatest rock n roll band still out there.