did this concert kick ass or was it just the beer

this concert and i have seen alot of stones concerts since 78 and they played great last night. clean and great setlist.
ronnie was on top with his solos and high in the mix.
was 4 feet from the b stage and wow it was worth every penny.

What a GREAT SHOW...amazing set-list, and the sound was so clear....way to go boys.....AWESOME

And "Far Away Eyes"... Very good idea!

Ronnie did me proud....once again...beat it, I dare you!!!

Micke's performance on Streets Of Love finally sold me on that song. He owns it.

Last night's show was hands down the most enjoyable, and probably the best, Stones show of the 20 I have seen over the past 34 years (including all 5 NY shows since last September).

First off I kept asking myself is this even the same band? I have never heard Keith and Ronnie so dead on and tight. Never! The sloppy and sometimes crappy guitar playing that I complained about at various times over the past few tours was GONE. Get a bootleg of the show and listen for yourself. You will hear the band in top form.

How good was it? Even Tumbling Dice, Honky Tonk Women and Satifaction (three war horses that I have started to DREAD) sounded reinvigorated and rocked. I'm not kidding. Honky Tonk and Satisfaction in particular were upped in tempo and they really took off. And Just My Imagination, which is not my favorite cover, won me over and was among my favorite songs of the night.

What a wonderful surprise the whole evening was. The setlist was inspired and featured EIGHT (count 'em eight) songs that they didn't play at any of the 5 NY shows over the past year.

And let me, a big -- BIG -- Mick Taylor fan, give the man his due and sing the praises of Ronnie Wood. I LOVE his playing with the Faces, and I've always felt like he sold his soul when he joined the Stones (life security and stadium tours in return for clowning and taking a creative back seat), but last night he was so focused and great. From his pedal steel playing on Far Away Eyes, to his beautiful finger-picking and slide on You Got The Silver, to his unleashed and on fire solos on Tumbling Dice, Rough Justice and others, he really redeemed himself in my eyes.

And finally Keith....because I've loved and been inspired by his playing so much (I coped so much from him), I've really been very hard on him when he downright sucks. And he has had some very off nights, but last night wasn't one of them. And his guitar was mixed up very loud in the mix at times and it was like a religious experience having the chords and notes just ringing and growling away.

I don't know what happned to this band over the past few months -- soul searching, interventions, serious practicing, whatever. But they should do it more often. I think the change in ethic showed most glaringly in Keith's set, where he focused on singing the songs rather than playing and let the and kept the music tight. It was the first Keith set in 10 years that I didn't use as a bathroom break.

And don't think I've fotgotten about Mick and Charlie, they were brilliant. But over the past 10 years, I've found them to always really carry the show, and that Keith and Ronnie were always the question marks from show to show and song to song. So that's why I focused on them in this review.

All in all a great night. Get a copy of the show and hear for yourself. I'm sure it wasn't 100% perfect (and I've stated my issues with the band enough in the past), but for the Stones it was an amazing night I wish everyone could have enjoyed.

I cannot believe some people are writing them off -- including me at times. These boys can still kick major ass. God love 'em.

Russ

russr, over the past few months this band gave us great concerts, in Europe...