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

Winnipeg
Tuesday Sept. 30, 1997

Why is it so that so many concert reviews are so short? I'll tell you why - the fans are still in Stonesland, and it's kinda wrong to do long and detailed reviews when the concert is fresh in mind... Then what you care most about is keeping the memories, and may be get back to the stuff you usually do, like work, family and all that stuff.

Well, thanks to Cathy for supplying the following review. Please, everyone, once you are back from Stonesland, please write down a piece on your memories, so that fellow Stones fans can read about it all!

Review by Cathy Garski, Winnipeg

Things were touch and go on Monday when they were setting up the stage. The weather here was horrid - gale-force winds, a bit of rain, and temperatures under 10 degrees Celsius made it really miserable and difficult for the set-up crew, and I understand they actually had to stop work for an hour or so on a couple of occasions because of the wind. When the band arrived on Monday night, the temperature was probably close to zero!! But by Tuesday afternoon it DID warm up quite a bit, the wind died down, they got the stage finished, and everything went off without a hitch!!

I can't think of enough superlatives to describe the show! It was incredible, awesome, phenomenal, over the top! Our seats were outstanding - row five on the floor just to the right of center stage. I swear Mick and I made eye contact at least twice. How totally amazing it was to see them so close up - unforgettable!!!

I know there are a couple of songs that have been different in the three shows before ours. We got to hear...get this...Fool To Cry, in the Ruby Tuesday spot (song #6), and Crazy Mama was the second song performed on the satellite stage, instead of Let It Bleed. The CyberVote winner was my absolute favorite Stones song, Gimme Shelter...I was SO thrilled to hear them play it live, and Lisa Fischer's voice...WOW! All the rest of the songs were the same as the first Chicago show.

AND...we got to see the much-anticipated propane cannons - which shot huge flames about 50 feet into the air during Jumpin' Jack Flash. Apparently we were the first stop on the tour that the cannons were used (I expect you can confirm that). They were fantastic (and very warm on a chilly Winnipeg fall evening!). PS. They also did that in Ohio. I closed my eyes, because I was close, and "felt" they would blow it on the JJF startup, and they did! Bjornulf

Finally, I have a request...perhaps somebody can help. At the very end of the show, after Brown Sugar and before the final fireworks went off, over the PA system they played this really great, mellow, ethereal-sounding music. Standing there in the fifth row on an emotional high, I loved this piece of music and would really like to find out what it's called and who performs it so I can look for it at the record store. I'm assuming they use the same piece after each show, so maybe someone out there knows what it is. I'd sure appreciate to know...

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. Fool To Cry
  7. Anybody Seen My Baby
  8. 19th Nervous Breakdown
  9. Out Of Control
  10. Gimme Shelter
  11. Miss You
    -- Introductions --
  12. All About You (Keith)
  13. I Wanna Hold You (Keith)
  14. Little Queenie (center stage)
  15. Crazy Mama (center stage)
  16. The Last Time (center stage)
  17. Sympathy For The Devil
  18. Tumbling Dice
  19. You Got Me Rocking
  20. Honky Tonk Women
  21. Start Me Up
  22. Jumping Jack Flash
  23. You Can't Always Get What You Want (encore)
  24. Brown Sugar (encore)

Review by Juha Kakkuri, Finland

After Chicago and Columbus it was time for Winnipeg, Manitoba where my first canadian Stones concert turned out to be a great experience despite the cold (+7c) weather. The show took place at the Winnipeg stadium in front of 40.000 people. There was a few thousand tickets left, but they were not for good seats. The stadium is usually used for football, but it looks like an english soccer stadium. Also the crowd looked very european.The audience was on a good mood from the beginning, so I knew that this one was going to be a fun show.

The Stones kicked off the show with the usual numbers; "Satisfaction", "IORR", "Bitch","Let�s Spend..."and "Rock And A Hard Place".At this pint it was clear that also the Stones,especially Mick, were on a good mood too.Mick thanked the "winterpegians" and told that the night was not as cold he had expected.Well, he had all the lights to warm him up...

At this point it was time for the first surprise of the show, the "Bridges To Babylon" premiere for "Fool To Cry".Mick sang the song mainly behind his piano wearing a long white coat.In the end of the song Mick was in fornt of the stage dancing. The song was one of the highlights of the show.The next number was "Anybody Seen..." which was ok, but not as goood as the album version.Naturally the crowd went wild when Winnipeg was mentioned in the rap section.The next two numbers "19th..." and "Out Of Control" were pure magic.Then it was time for the fans� choise from the internet which was as in Columbus "Gimmie Shelter".

Despite the fact that the video for "Miss You" heavily censored it was one of the highlights if the show. Mick asked the crowd to sing along with their "lusty singing and prairie voices".After the song Mick said that the singing was so loud that it could have been heard in Edmonton.The word "Edmonton" turned the crowd in to massive booing. Mick replied and said that he did not want to say anything wrong; "I only said Edmonton.We play there next and there are seats available in our jet.Does anybody want to join us?".

After the intoductions(Mick forgot to introduce Bobby Keys and apologized many times) it was Keith�s turn. After intoducing Mick "he knows now which city not to mention" he sang "All About You" and "Wanna Hold You". Great verions.

At the center stage the Stone played "Little Queenie" and "The Last Time" as usual, but "Let It Bleed" was substituted with "Crazy Mama",the second "Black And Blue special" of the night ("Fool To Cry" was the first one).

The last part of the show contained the same songs in the same order as in the previous shows, except You Got me Rocking was played before Honky Tonk Women (like in Ohio), while in Chicago YGMR was played after HTW. Good versions and more propaine for pyrotechincs than in the first three shows.

The Winnipeg show was the best of four I saw (in the first leg) of my "Bridges To Babylon tour"; cold night, hot crowd and a relaxed, great band. The shows seem to keep gettin better and better.I wish I had gone to Edmonton...

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

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