Stones reward tour latecomers

The Rolling Stones have gathered steam over the course of their current – and maybe last – tour.

By STEVE FRYER
The Orange County Register

If the Rolling Stones do tour again, and schedule local shows on their usual late summer/early autumn run through the United States – don't go.
Wait until after Christmas.
Just like on the Bridges to Babylon tour in 1997-98, and the Licks tour of 2002-03, the Stones are far better on this A Bigger Bang tour during the post-Christmas leg of it than they were in November – at least much-improved over the second night at the Hollywood Bowl, which some multi-show attendees said was better than that month's first concert at the Bowl and a gig at Angel Stadium a few days before.
Monday night's show at the Great Western Forum, the Stones' first performance in the grande dame of Southern California arenas since 1975, was a scorcher. This 20-song, two-hour show just might have been their best around here since '75.
Maybe these guys don't hit their stride until a tour's 60th show, which the Forum gig was. Perhaps all of the fun they had playing at halftime of the Super Bowl last month did something. Or did the hysteria of their South American performances a couple of weeks ago start them up?
"Jumping Jack Flash" came out of the gate loud and pumping Monday, and obviously something was happening when Mick Jagger crouched down next to Keith Richards to bump hips and exchange smiles, and then Jagger turned toward keyboardist Chuck Leavell, guitarist Ron Wood and drummer Charlie Watts and pumped his fist in a "yeah, let's go!" gesture.
Next came, in rapid order, "It's Only Rock and Roll," featuring a fierce lead from Richards, and a hyper "Oh No Not You Again" from "A Bigger Bang." Jagger mumbled something about the the show being "very fast-paced so far."
Then, for the first time in Southern California, they did "Sway," a fairly obscure number from 1971's "Sticky Fingers."
But the biggest surprise was next – "Far Away Eyes," played locally for the first time since the summer of '78 at Anaheim Stadium, off of "Some Girls." Jagger noted during the introduction that the Forum is used mostly as a church now, so the line about sending "10 dollars to The Church of the Sacred Bleeding Heart of Jesus located somewhere in Los Angeles, California" got a good laugh. (If the memory is correct, Jagger played piano on "Far Away Eyes" on those two hot July '78 afternoons in Anaheim; Monday night, he was on acoustic guitar.)
And a couple of songs later – a 12-minute dazzling display of "Midnight Rambler." Jagger played a wild harmonica solo, during which Richards stopped playing and leaned on Jagger's shoulder, smiling.
The set list included Richards' "A Bigger Bang" ballad "This Place Is Empty" – and the bathrooms immediately were not. It was perfectly placed in the middle of the set, a fine opportunity for the if-you-gotta-go-you-gotta-go crowd. It's an older Stones crowd these days, folks, and, you know, with aging comes annoying issues that have to be dealt with, even if it means journeying down to those subterranean Forum men's rooms that make one thankful for remembering to choose waterproof footwear.
During "Miss You," the Stones did the bit where a small section of the stage rises and moves to an area in the back of the arena for a short set that included "Rough Justice" and "Respectable," the latter with an additional guitar break for Richards fastened on to the end. Then it was back to the main stage for the usual run through the hits: "Honky Tonk Women;" "Sympathy For The Devil;" "Start Me Up;" and "Brown Sugar."
A Stones show is never boring, but that hits segment there gets close. But this was a special night.
"Start Me Up" was invigorated by a rugged guitar solo from Ron Wood, who usually takes a too-polite approach on that one. And "Brown Sugar" chugged along fine, lasting longer than even the typical always-lengthy live version of it because, despite Jagger's "Do we wrap it up now, Keith?" glances, Richards was not ready to let it go.
And there were the required encores: "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Satisfaction," the latter accompanied by a storm of streamers.
The Stones played so well, with Richards and Wood hotter than ever, Watts completely solid on the drums and the support crew were right on the money as always.
Jagger sounded great and maneuvered about with incredible energy and flexability for a man who will be 63 in July. He, as much as any celebrity, should write an exercise-and-nutrition book.
Good lord, Dr. Phil sells a bunch of those books, and he's eight years younger than Jagger and look at him. Let's see Dr. Phil do what Jagger does for only the first 15 minutes of a Stones show. Keep the cell phone handy, because someone is going to have to push three buttons: "9-1-1."
One must really search for anything to complain about such an entertaining show. Any quibbles always fall to the set list.
The choice here would be to say adios to "Miss You," "Sympathy For The Devil," and "Start Me Up."
A list of replacements would be long, and would start with some rarities that should fare well on stage: "Jigsaw Puzzle" and "Flight 505" are fine examples. And there are a few on "A Bigger Bang" that would be nice to hear. "It Won't Take Long" was played at the Hollywood Bowl, and it's the type of song that would really grow the more it's played, sort of like how "Don't Stop" unexpectedly morphed into a show highlight by the time the Stones came around, post-Christmas, to play Staples Center in February of '03.
Of course, the question about every Stones tour since '89 is: Could this be the last time? At the announcement of this tour, back in May in New York, that was asked. Drummer Charlie Watts quickly answered, "Yes!" It was his only comment at the press briefing, although Jagger quickly interjected that nobody knows for sure if this is it.
Watts gave another brief interview at Monday's show, during band introductions after "Gimme Shelter" ...
Jagger: "Charlie, would you like to say something?"
Jagger stuck the microphone in front of Watts' face ...
Watts: "No!"
Queens Of The Stone Age opened, with ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons making a guest appearance as he often does for the hard-rockin' outfit. Their slogging metal was not to the tastes of many in attendance, who probably did not mind then that they looked odd wearing those turquoise blue ear plugs.

Thanks. 3 friends of mine went and said it was the best show since the clubshows they've been to.

Sounds like they should have Video taped it for a DVD release. Another Box Set would be nice. One show from the USA - LA this time, the Rio Show, One from Asia/Australia/New Zealand and One from Europe.A good idea which means it probably won't happen....

Sounds like a great show. It's nice to see Far Away Eyes in the setlist.

my best hope/takeaway from the show isn't so much that they continue doing FAE and/or WAY more - but that they do pairings of ballads like this as a regular feature of the show. One ballad (i'm not counting KR's bathroom break tune - love the writer's reference here, btw) per show don't cut it pour moi....

at this point, anything they do that is the slightest bit different is like throwing fresh meat to a pack of starving dogs. let's hope we keep getting some choice cuts and not just scraps.

i like the mental visual I get from your metaphor, ONNYA...seems apt.

I wait for Miss You to go anywhere.

it was a great show and i am still recovering from lack of sleep and crazy travelling. one thing the article didn't get was mick's question to charlie - it was something more specific like "do you have anything to say about current affairs?" like mick wanted charlie to get political?

i actually liked queens of the stone age, for the most part. they were playing to no one - only about 15% of the people were in there listening.