There are glitches, there are stumbles you wouldn't expect from a band of this caliber, and why can't Mick remember the words to She's So Cold? (I suspect he doesn't like the song very much). Nevertheless the Stones, based on the shows I saw, & clips I've heard & seen since, are more vital this tour than they've been in quite some time. First, they're less 'canned' (think of '89), & less dependent on Chuck - his prominence in the mix, which I & many others complained about last tour, is a non issue. All the backup people are in the b.g. except for nice showcase spots like Bernard & Tim on "Worst" or Lisa on "Night Time". Ron is more focused, almost certainly more sober, than he's been in a long time. The band sounds big and dirty and sometimes they mesh beautifully, sometimes they mess up. Keith may have lost some agility, but the guitarists are a barbed, edgy, constant presence, Mick is as fine (vocally & frontman-wise) as on any tour of the past 30-plus years, Charlie is as Charlie always has been. The screwups are more naked. But they muster up tremendous and infectious energy & joy. And I could carp about the setlist - 4 ABB songs is fine in August, but post-release they should be doing 5 or 6, and I'd rotate/eliminate a couple warhorses - but at most shows around half the first 15 or 16 songs (90 minutes)are from the 90s or 00s. They were better than the much anticipated White Stripes show, who played an hour, max, and are very fine but lack something the Stones still possess.

You've witnessed the shows so I fully trust your opinions johnr



ROCKMAN