It's Only Rock'n Roll
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It's Only Rock'n Roll |
Jumping Jack Flash, and the whole arena is up on their feet, and this continues all through the show. They kept rocking on steadily with Live With Me, Respectable and You Got Me Rocking. Unfortunately Undercover made way for Tumbling Dice - I guess we have now heard it thousands of times already. Also Moonlight Mile was lost in favour of Memory Motel - what a pity.
Then Sweet Virginia, which fits in nicely, and Some Girls, the first highlight of the evening. A real bluesy rock version with an outstanding excellent punk performance by Mick. After this song everybody knows that Sid Vicious and all other punkers never had, never would have and never will have any chance to ever come close to this master of excellence. Mick is playing a red telecaster in No Security design - yellow/black striped pickguard and yellow/black bindings!
Paint It Black, just great. Honky Tonk - an all times pleaser.
Finally after 30 years Keith does You Got The Silver, and yes he plays the slide guitar (acoustic) with Ronnie on pedal steel and Blondie on acoustic - it was well received by the crowd. Then Thief followed by Mick's cage performance during Out Of Control.
They walk to the little stage where we are seated - we've been lucky, seat 1 and 2 right in front of mr. rock'n'roll himself! A rocking version of Route 66 followed by Just My Imagination, after which Keith safely puts his pick in our hands.
The 2nd highlight of the evening - Midnight Rambler; this is real madness on the small stage!
Mick is working hard to keep "Saint of Me" alive at the end, but just like the two previous shows it just doesn't seem to work out in the U.S. as it did in South America and in Europe.
The rest is the routine finish we all know. Sympathy is the encore and the crowd is pleased. The boys were in good mood tonight, some jokes here and there, Mick working very hard and Keith moving a lot around the horseshoe stage. Tonight's concert proved that Mick is back in shape, and has no problems at all with his voice.
Start time: 9:20 End time : 11:25
The set list:
The singing was a little flawed, especially when Keith sang his parts on Memory Motel, but hey! this was the STONES!!! And they played great. I had a great view of Charlie as he turned his head to my side of the stage (his left) a lot and smiled to someone under the back part of the stage.
Ron was a little subdued, but he livened up enough. He spent a lot of the time just standing but playing wonderfully.
The 3 songs on the B stage seemed a bit fast.
As I listened to You Got The Silver and Brown Sugar I remembered my high school years and how incredible it was to buy Sticky Fingers on album and how it was the greatest piece of music I had heard so far.
Mick is still not completely over the bug since I noticed at least 3 boxes of Kleenex to Charlie's right and Mick had to go back to blow his nose a few times.
It was incredible to see them on the main stage and especially on the B stage even though it was further away. It proves what a great band they are and how they don't need the trappings of an arena show.
Mick's voice sounded strong, and he was as fiesty and showy as ever. I thought that Jumpin' Jack Flash was an energetic way to start the show. It was unfortunate that Undercover was replaced by Tumblin' Dice (I was so looking forward to hearing Undercover so I was slightly disappointed) but the two highlights of Some Girls and Midnight Rambler made up for it. Mick was wickedly vicious with the lyrics in Some Girls (a truly punk performance by the Mickster!) and Midnight Rambler (on the second stage) really drove the crowd wild. It's the quintessential Stones song, the perfect melding of violence and art - simply outstanding.
Out of Control was another one of Mick's best performances Tuesday night. The cage was a great effect.
Keith said "it took me 30 years to do that" when he finished singing You Got the Silver. I'm so glad he finally got around to singing that one for us because it's my all-time favorite Keith tune. Thief in the Night was great too.
It's Only Rock 'n Roll seemed to have a faster beat to it than in previous shows I've seen, it worked well. And I thought that Sympathy for the Devil was the perfect encore - all bathed in red light.
All I can say is what a band! They amaze me every time I see them live. Their energy, their starpower - no one else can match them. Especially Mick, rock god incarnate. :-)
Great show!
Well not literally, people were getting busted all around me for marijuana as well as tobacco. The gestapo tactics at McNichols Arena this evening I find to be quite shocking.
Metaphorically, there's nothing like getting "stoned" a mile high.......few things in life surpass your wildest expectations...A Rolling Stones show is one of those rare events. Catching the Boyz in the intimacy of the McNichols Arena after being dwarfed in stadium shows this past decade was surely a treat for this hardcore stonesbabe.
The crowd was eclectic....I counted 4, possibly 5 generations of folks gathered for the sold out event.
I laughed at my first impression of the stage. It looked quite phallic with that catwalk jutting out from the main stage out to the smaller stage 2/3 of the way back.This mini stage even had the "proper" shape of such a tip..oh, the irony.....From my $150 seat, on the left side of the stage, I could see everything from a close proximity....I could just about read the plexiglass of tunes with the help of my binoculars that surround Charlie. Body guards lined the front of the stage as well as the runway to the smaller set.
The main stage was circular about 8 feet high and about 15 feet from the front row of floor seats. It had a "Stanley Kubrick" starkness about it.....bare except for Charlie's drums, and the keyboards. A black and yellow striped catwalk surrounded the sides and back of the stage, slightly raised up, giving mick plenty of room to cajole and prance about the perimeter of the stage as well. All the sound equipment was high above the stage and of course there were video screens.
Brian Adams and his 3 piece band took the stage promptly at 8 and played a tight almost impressive 45 minute set.......the sound was excellent....the main event was near.
about 9:15 the screens showed images of the Boyz making their way through the catacombs backstage---I was laughing at loud....this was reminiscent of that scene in Rob Reiner's film "Spinal Tap.....
Breathless with anticipation, I finally hear the rambunctious chords of Jumping Jack Flash...it was finally here...the stones in MY town in this "cozy" arena. Mick's wearing a black leather jacket, white guinea t-shirt and black pants. He looks fantantic, rested, mischievous. He was all night long with those naughty boyish antics...and the muscle tone of his arms and abs...to DIE for....most important however....his voice sounded GREAT. I immediately immerse myself into my "dancing with Mick" fantasy....
Keith was sauntering about, in a silk pink and white muted check jacket...he was sporting feathers in his hair and an armband that also appeared to be adorned the same. When he finally took his jacket off, you could see he had the "matador" thing going...a red scarf as a belt....what a howl.
Charlie was chipping away in his plexiglass box...dark gray shirt for him, very smart in black pants...snorting and banging snorting and banging...
Then there was Ronnie....he appeared to to have a bad cold...but that didn't seem to curtail his guitar playing abilities, nor his incessent smoking.
After a howling JUMPING JACK FLASH, Mick congratulated Denver on their Superbowl win and suddenly the raunchy chords of LIVE WITH ME flooded the arena.Then, Mick..picked up his guitar and launched into a rather mellow rendition of RESPECTABLE. Keith was on his knees during YOU GOT ME ROCKING....we got stuck with MEMORY MOTEL...but my disappointed was quickly dissipated as I became entranced with Mick's heartfelt passion as he crooned away that melodramatic tune. I have to add that it was a pleasure to hear Keith, sans David Matthews, sing his bit.
Mick again grabbed his guitar and this time his harmonica and he began to wail out the opening notes of SWEET VIRGINIA.,ever sooo sweetly....then he did a Mr. Hyde, still with guitar, and venomously spit out a nineties version of SOME GIRLS...oh Mick, yes, this is YOUR life. Then onto the electrifying weave of the opening chords of PAINT IT BLACK...what a rush! The adrenline is flowing freely now!!
HONKEY TONK WOMAN provided the backdrop for the now expected Mick/Lisa stage antics..needless to say, their bumping and grinding really got the crowd going. Mick did the intros then it was Keith's turn to take center stage. The bluesy riffs of the slide guitars in YOU GOT THE SILVER were not disappointing, not one little bit. Ronnie had his guitar placed strings up on a guitar stand, playing his instrument almost like a zephyr.... Keith commented he hadn't played that tune in about 30 years....then Woody's daughter joined the backup singers for a very "cool" THIEF IN THE NIGHT . I'm starting to feel relaxed in the catatonic beat.....
Then a cage is lowered onto the stage, the opening chords of OUT OF CONTROL bolted me out of my Keith reverie....and up from a trap door in the floor pops Mick-- into the cage. The tune takes on a cool, jazzy feel as Mick, now dressed in a red guinea-t with a light chocolate brown shirt over, slinks around like a caged animal....again I had to laugh out loud as he bent the bars and broke out of the cage....this gets the prize for the "cheesiest moment", hands down.
The Boyz take the catwalk while a jazzy bit is played to the small stage about 2/3 of the way to the back of the arena...the sound is a bit garbled at first, but that's quickly remedied. It's starting to feel smokey bar roomsy as they bang out ROUTE 66 and (JUST MY) IMAGINATION...I notice Keith is topless under this filmy leopard shirt he now has on..nice pecs Keith...again Mick grabs the guitar and a harmonica and they start a bluesy MIDNIGHT RAMBLER which by the end of the tune was rocking heavily.
Charlie throws his guitar sticks into the crowd, the Boyz head back to the main stage and I can hear the opening chords of SAINT OF ME......really rocking, really clean....Mick had the crowd sing "oh yeah, oh, you'll never make a saint of me"..in a rock anthem chant and at the end of the tune passionately declares in acapella..."no, no, they'll NEVER make a saint of ME...." and i'm yelling to him....no kidding, Mick!
I was surprised that the horn section didn't participate in the ever popular ITS ONLY ROCK AND ROLL. Mick however was dancing and jumping all over the stage, so spastic that at one point he actually WIPED OUT on the stage as as he was singing, "I like it..." Stunned but without missing a beat, he got up and continued on like nothing happened....They stampeded into START ME UP and then a very rocking BROWN SUGAR. Our encore consisted of a very funky SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL. and the whole house rocked right through the final curtain call.
Mick seemed very excited during Some Girls. Understandably. I just hope all the white girls aren't mad at him for changing the lyrics. Paint it Black was easily one of the highlights. What a performance. The sound was incredible. The floor was shaking. I couldn't believe it. Keith did Thief in the Night along with You Got the Silver. He was hot tonight. "Hey Baby - What's in your eyes." Again - BLOWN AWAY!!! I was one of the few still standing during Keith but he was incredible. He does it how he wants to do it and that is perfectly alright with this Stones fan.
I was quite surprised at how weak Out of Control went in comparison with the Bridges tour. I thought it was one of the very hottest songs last tour and it seemed stopped or something and yet the song was perfect. The cage may slow it down. I don't know.
The small stage was magical. We sat even with it 8 rows up from the floor. Route 66 was fantastic and Just My Imagination was superb but I have never in my life seen a jam session like I saw when Jagger with harmonica in hand together with Richards crouched over with guitar in hand and Ronnie standing over the two of them jamming hard getting ready to complete the song. I would have to listen close but I think I liked it better than the YA YA's version. Extreme statement that it is I really question that. It was the pinnacle for me so far. What a show!!! Everyone was moving and jamming. Ronnie was great and quite the comedian. Keith was on a mission or so it seemed.
I saw some magic in Denver last night. I took time to look around a few times. All fans were on their feet rocking and rolling. My eleven year old girl was sore today from dancing so much. It was her fourth Stones show. The last but certainly not least amazing event. Both media critics gave favorable reviews. How about that!!!
Read all about the "No Security" and "Bridges To Babylon" tours of 1999 in the It's Only Rock'n Roll magazines. New issue IORR 35 out Jan 20, 1999.
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It's Only Rock'n Roll 1999 -
© The Rolling Stones Fan Club Of Europe |