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

They did a quick rehearsal on the center stage, of Let It Bleed and Little Queenie. Then the doors opened at Soldier Field, and 50,000 fans were ready to rock'n roll.

The warmup band was soon forgotten. Terrible faith, really, to warm up for the Rolling Stones. Nobody really cares... At 9:20 pm in the evening the new intro poured out of the PA system at maximum volume. Odd lion screams, rare sounds, metallic sounds, and then a big bang -they are on!

On the stage, on his own, is the maestro of rock'n roll, Mr. Keith Rickards himself. He is hammering out his famous riffs of Satisfaction. The crowd is cold, but they are getting warmed up by Keith.

.... the rest of the show will remain a fantasy for you all... Half way through the set they left the main stage, and walked a narrow 2 - 3 feet high bridge into the center stage. The 5 in the band plus Chuck and the guitar tuner Pierre stayed out there, and it all got a lot more intimate for 3 songs.

This is the set list:

1. Satisfaction
2. It's Only Rock'n Roll
3. Bitch
4. Let's Spend The Night Together
5. Rock And A Hard Place
6. Ruby Tuesday
7. Anybody Seen My Baby
8. 19th Nervous Breakdown
9. Out Of Control
10. Under My Thumb
11. Miss You
    -- Introductions --
12. All About You (Keith)
13. I Wanna Hold You (Keith)
14. Little Queenie (center stage)
15. Let It Bleed (center stage)
16. The Last Time (center stage)
17. Sympathy For The Devil
18. Tumbling Dice
19. Honky Tonk Women
20. You Got Me Rocking
21. Start Me Up
22. Jumping Jack Flash
23. You Can't Always Get What You Want (encore)
24. Brown Sugar (encore)

The whole set took 2 hours and 15 minutes. 24 songs. More details and a real report to follow tomorrow...

Read all about the 1997 tour in the It's Only Rock'n Roll magazine issue IORR 30 out Oct. 15, 1997.

It's Only Rock'n Roll 1997 - © The Rolling Stones Fan Club Of Europe