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The Rolling Stones Fan Club of Europe
It's Only Rock'n Roll

The Rolling Stones
Madison Square Garden
New York, Jan. 14 - 17, 1998

The rumour about the Rolling Stones wanting to play the Madison Square Garden had been hot for a long time. In fact I first heard it when they planned the Far East and South America pt. 3 of the 94/95 (and planned for 96) Voodoo Lounge tour. But it never happened. Then again it was a strong rumour in the summer of 1997, when the new album Bridges to Babylon was being finished.

The Madison Square Garden had all the magic you found in the smaller clubs in Europe 1995 - Paradiso, Olympia, Brixton... The Stones had recorded their legendary live album Get Yer Ya Yas Out there, and they had been playing there several times over the years, since 1969. But not for many, many years. MSG, located in the heart of Manhattan, New York City, had all the magic a Stones fan cound dream about. The club feel, the history, and the home ground feel - like Keith said: It's good to be home! So it was almost like Wembley!

The fans were coming in from all over USA, and even from more remote places like Europe, Asia and South America. On one of the photos on this page you will see (l-r) Nat (USA), Marcello (Argentina), Sonoko (Japan) and Stephen (Sweden). The bars in NY City were packed, and the Stones music replaced the usual boaring hit list bar music. The Stones had struggled their way through Mick's illness and bad weather, being forced to cancel three shows the week before. They were all ready, like a winning team coming home after a struggle.

The first night started off a bit rusty. May be they needed to tune the PA to the crowd. May be Mick and the boys were too nervous. But even the first night rocked like never before. The set lists were just amazing. The 2nd night was lift off time, like being in Houston, seing a space rocket taking off, except this was the Stones! By the 3rd night it was all under control, even if Out Of Control was one of their winners. Many fans paid $300 for a ticket, face value, and some fans did it each and every night. And some paid even more, to get into the Babylon VIP areas. It was $6 Millions pay day time for the Stones, and it was a big party time for everyone.

After MSG it won't be the same. It will be before and after MSG. The 50,000 fans who were lucky to see these shows are still in Stonesland for a while. And while the Stones move on to Hawaii, Vancouver, Portland, San Diego, Mexico, Houston, Las Vegas, Japan, South America and Europe, there will be a lot more shows of the MSG kind in the magic year of 1998, we all hope...

MSG-1 - Jan. 14 MSG-2 - Jan. 16 MSG-3 - Jan. 17
  1. Satisfaction
  2. Let's Spend The Night Together
  3. Flip The Switch
  4. Gimme Shelter
  5. Low Down
  6. Saint Of Me
  7. Bitch
  8. Out Of Control
  9. Memory Motel (web choice)
  10. Miss You
    -- Introductions --
  11. How Can I Stop (Keith)
  12. Wanna Hold You (Keith)
  13. It's Only Rock'n Roll (center stage)
  14. Little Red Rooster (center stage)
  15. Like a Rolling Stone (center stage)
  16. Sympathy For The Devil
  17. Tumbling Dice
  18. Honky Tonk Women
  19. Start Me Up
  20. Jumping Jack Flash
  21. You Can't Always Get What You Want (encore)
  22. Brown Sugar (encore)
  1. Satisfaction
  2. Let's Spend The Night Together
  3. Flip The Switch
  4. Gimme Shelter
  5. Respectable
  6. Already Over Me
  7. Bitch
  8. Saint Of Me
  9. Out Of Control
  10. Miss You
    -- Introductions --
  11. All About You (Keith)
  12. You Don't Have To Mean It(Keith)
  13. Little Queenie (center stage)
  14. Let It Bleed (center stage)
  15. Like a Rolling Stone (center stage)
  16. Sympathy For The Devil
  17. Tumbling Dice
  18. Honky Tonk Women
  19. Start Me Up
  20. Jumping Jack Flash
  21. You Can't Always Get What You Want (encore)
  22. Brown Sugar (encore)
  1. Satisfaction
  2. Let's Spend The Night Together
  3. Flip The Switch
  4. Gimme Shelter
  5. When The Whip Comes Down
  6. Might As Well Get Juiced
  7. All Down The Line
  8. Saint Of Me
  9. Out Of Control
  10. Miss You
    -- Introductions --
  11. Thief In The Night (Keith)
  12. You Don't Have To Mean It (Keith)
  13. Little Queenie (center stage)
  14. I Just Wanna Make Love To You (center stage)
  15. Like a Rolling Stone (center stage)
  16. Sympathy For The Devil
  17. Tumbling Dice
  18. Honky Tonk Women
  19. Start Me Up
  20. Jumping Jack Flash
  21. You Can't Always Get What You Want (encore)
  22. Brown Sugar (encore)

Read all the reports from the concerts at Madison Square Garden:

All photos by Bj�rnulf Vik © The Rolling Stones Fan Club Of Europe 1998. See IORR 32 for the greatest reports and photos from the MSG concerts!

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