Mick has thrown in these little non sequiturs throughout the whole of the STONES performing career, but I really noticed how the've overtaken EVERY SONG since the LICKS tour. He tries to make it a very rock n' roll thing to just scream out these "C'mon"s and "Here's We Go!"s just before going into the chorus or bridge of a song. However, I'm of the opinion that 99% of the reason he's doing this is that he doesn't have confidence that the rest of band is actually gonna remember the arrangement and Keith or Ronnie will just keep noodling the main riff while Jagger switches and then has to cover his tracks. Obviously the trained pros they hire to play know the arrangement like the back of their hands, so it's really Keith and Ronnie I'm thinking of that need the prompting in Jaggers mind. Some might say they rely on a loose arrangement of some of the riff rockers and that Mick is just conducting, but the arrangements have been pretty rigid since 1989, with the exception of possibly Midnight Rambler. I do find it very annoying to hear it through everything.Thoughts anyone?

that's to tell keith and ron when the chorus or break starts, he does that, when chuck can't do it by piano or can't signal them.

That's what I mean. The Stones aren't playing symphonies up there. It's verse/chorus/verse 90% of the time. I don't hear any other major act that needs the core members to be led like that.

i like it. but then, i've always liked witnessing a band at work.


"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith

They are old and can't remember where a chorus/verse starts/stops without Mick's help.

Don't forget the "oh yeah...that's right...OH Yeah" he did before he started singing BOB during the tour opener. Nonetheless, its working because the band sounds great. And why compare them with any other band. Don't you know that's not possible?!

It should really be understood just as it is said. "COM'ON " - guys lets switch for the chourus" etc.

it is really CONDUCTING, not undercover-signaling

I think just as Mick has taken over the band 100% in the studio and songwriting, he's having to do double the work at the shows due to the lack of focus of the rest of the core band. I'd rather that than no band at all, but it'd be the best if they were firing on all cylinders. For all the talk of the great guitars this tour, it's not really true. The awful truth is awful sad.

What planet are you from? The Stones are smoking on this tour. Read the vast majority of the reviews by diehard fans. Hershey? Albany? truly unforgettable shows w/ great sound and vocals.

true lone crap,this dude is off his rocker.

john scialfa

Yeah, they sound great on the tour. My only point is that it's sad that Mick feels he has to babysit the other senior members of the band onstage. It's distracting for the audience, or at least those that know how bands cue off eachother, to hear his constant cues disguised as adlibs.

I think it's a cool way of leading the band. We use it alot in our band. And when you think about the Stones playing the huge stages that they do, I think they might need it to get it right. At the club shows there where a lot of eye contact and nodding to each others, which is almost impossible on a big stage.

Maybe it only annoys YOU!

I think it's cool to hear it when any band leader calls out changes, etc, especially on some of the outtakes of the Stones' stuff where you can hear Mick calling out chord changes.

And remember, Mick is known to be a control freak. As Keith says, "Mick's the kind of guy who thinks he can dictate to life."

That is one reason the Stones are so appealing - they aren't some great musical virtuosos like Cream or Rush or something, they are loose and sometimes sloppy, playing by feel. It may not be note perfect but its got that ragged edge that rock 'n' roll needs.

ohnonotyouagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That is one reason the Stones are so appealing -
> they aren't some great musical virtuosos like
> Cream or Rush or something, they are loose and
> sometimes sloppy, playing by feel. It may not be
> note perfect but its got that ragged edge that
> rock 'n' roll needs.

Precisely !

Joker! You seriously think that the band Mick to tell them when a chorus is coming!!!! Unbelievable!!!

the Stones' stages are vast.
Mick is a jittery tyke, bless his face.
most frontmen need to feel ultraconfident that they've got the band with them.
this tour keyboards, horns & backup singers aren't blaring out a cushion of sound to bolster a jittery frontman's confidence.
do you have any idea how much is going on on a rock & roll stage at any given second? the cat is makin sure.

"unbelievable?" you bet it's unbelievable - it's the Rolling Stones. :E


"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith

his is what they have been doing for years!! it is not anoying at all................losen up a bit ...............just shows you that they are really playing there own instuments!!!

I don't mind it at all.

Your point that Keith and Ronnie will forget is bogus. Mick has messed up the lyrics or repeating a chours and it is Keith, Ronnie and Charlie who have to improvise. Just saw this in Durham with Start Me Up.

I really don't care.

"Everybody having a good time? I said, R U HAVING A GOOD TIME?!"
"Oh yeah... everything... evrything... everything gonna be alright!"
"Uh uh uh ... oh baby... "

Thanks for that.....

It doesn't bother me. And, of course, if ONE TIME Mick forgets the C'mon and Keith goes to the chorus while Ronnie goes to the bridge....there would be a 5 page thread on this board about it. Right?

This is really what rock'n roll is all about, sometimes it's a mess, but when it all comes together it hits you as a ton of steel. Let others be perfect, and let us keep the Stones as the true rockers on this planet. They make mistakes, and make the songs interesting, and make the best performance in rock history!

I think that most of the time it is just Jagger who THINKS that he has to remind the others (Keith and Ron) of the changes. If there is anything sad it's not some guys forgetting changes; it is sad that Jagger has become so domineering and forceful, so untrusting as to have to call out every change. He used to do that in 76 all the time. It annoyed us back then because they were all addressed to Billy Preston. Some cameraderie kind of thang...

I think one of the most majestic moments when Micks shouts a signal order is in the end of the almighty Ya-Ya's album, in the end of "Street Fighting Man": Keith hits his power chords up and down, Taylor plays the same lick again and again, Charlie and Bill just roll... and then Mick shouts something and the whole machine slows down... It sounds like cooling a thunder down.

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-10-12 12:27 by Doxa.