Here's a link to some photo's from the 1981 warm up gig in Worcester.

[www.wbur.org]

Those were the days. Great pics. Thanks for sharing

great stuff, anyone know the set for this show?

I knew a guy who got real lucky and got in. The show was announced on the radio as a "must-see appearance by the Cockroaches" and this guy knew it was an alias for Stones and camped outside the club, was one of the first 100 in line and got in.
I remember him telling me a few days later it was incredible and he was 10 ft away from the band.

[www.studiowner.com]

[www.luckydogmusic.com]

melillo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> great stuff, anyone know the set for this show?


[rocksoff.org]

The definite and complete setlist remains elusive but some details have emerged down the years of what was played.

wonder what that version of sympathy was like!!!!!!

melillo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wonder what that version of sympathy was
> like!!!!!!

me too!!! most probably no computer percussion loops back then! I guess it sounded like the 1975 version with their 1981 sound, most probably with both guitars playing constantly and mixed loud right in yer face!!!

oh yeah!!!!!! the way it should be, damn i wish there was a tape of this gig

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> melillo Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > great stuff, anyone know the set for this show?
>
>
> [rocksoff.org]
>
> The definite and complete setlist remains elusive
> but some details have emerged down the years of
> what was played.
I remember the guy who went telling me they played YCAGWYW, which isn't listed on the setlist and I don't know what number song it was, but I remember him telling me it was a highlight.

the Sir Morgan's Cove 1981 setlist is a real mystery. I remember that at the time, within a couple of weeks after the show it made the rounds that the Stones did Everybody Needs Somebody To Love as show opener which was a real big sensation back then. but I also wondered why the complete setlist remained a mystery. I always thought that at least a handful of America's high-profile Stones fans were at the show, and I always thought, hell, at least one of them must have written down what went on that night. I also cannot understand why only a part of the setlist became available but not the complete one. or is the known setlist the complete one and we just wonder that there must have been more songs because the actual shows were much longer back then? but then, that was the case with nearly all pre-tour surprise gigs - they were usually shorter than a normal show.

I was outside but memory fails me to the set list . We couldn't hear much anyway . There were many more fans outside than in .

I doubt it was a very good show though, judging on the first Philly shows later on. I would have loved to see them at the 100 Club a year later.

Mathijs

Fantastic photos

NumberOneStonesFan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I knew a guy who got real lucky and got in. The
> show was announced on the radio as a "must-see
> appearance by the Cockroaches" and this guy knew
> it was an alias for Stones and camped outside the
> club, was one of the first 100 in line and got
> in.
> I remember him telling me a few days later it was
> incredible and he was 10 ft away from the band.
>
> [www.studiowner.com]
> &pagnum=3001
>
> [www.luckydogmusic.com]


A lot of the tickets were given out by a local radio station (WAAF). One thing they were doing were riding around town and if they spotted a car with a WAAF bumper sticker or a person with a tee shirt they gave them tickets. Talk about right place right time.

virgil Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A lot of the tickets were given out by a local
> radio station (WAAF). One thing they were doing
> were riding around town and if they spotted a car
> with a WAAF bumper sticker or a person with a tee
> shirt they gave them tickets. Talk about right
> place right time.

Yeah,I remember hearing about that.
At the time, I lived in a New England village called "Melrose" which is appx 60 miles (an hour away) from Worcester.
The man on the radio told me (and everyone listening) that "The Cockroaches" were playing Sir Morgan's Cove and it was a concert not to be missed, even though it was on a Monday night and not a weekend club show.
We all knew the Stones were rehearsing in the general area and word spread the Cockroaches were indeed the Stones but I can't remember why I didn't find my way out there. It's my biggest Rolling Stones regret. Not that I would have been able to get in the club, but it would have been nice to have said I try try tried.

I did go to the Hartford shows soon after.

The one guy I knew who went said it was the greatest show he ever saw.
He said it was incredible being 10 ft away from the band in the tiny intimate venue. I remember him telling me they stopped and restarted a couple of songs as it was a rehearsal show and that they asked the audience for song requests.
The show was spontaneously announced if I remember correctly, there wasn't alot of time from the show announcement to the actual performance. I think I heard the initial radio announcement the morning of the show.

I also remember the city of Boston offering to pay the Stones to do a "free" show at Boston City Hall plaza. Mick declined on behalf of the Stones as there were understandable security concerns with performing live outdoors in a city with many tall building surrounding City Hall and John Lennon's murder the previous year.
It was an enjoyable rumor that lasted about a week...I wonder how many fans would have shown up for that free show had it happened?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-01-02 00:23 by NumberOneStonesFan.

NumberOneStonesFan Wrote:
it was a rehearsal show and that they
> asked the audience for song requests.

Perhaps a reason for lack of a setlist?

Edith Grove Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NumberOneStonesFan Wrote:
> it was a rehearsal show and that they
> > asked the audience for song requests.
>
> Perhaps a reason for lack of a setlist?

Yeah who knows? They probably had a setlist but were open to improv due to the circumstances.
I think the context of 'setlist' in this thread is not the intended setlist, but an archive of the setlist that actually occurred that night.

I'm almost tempted to go find my High School year book, look up the guy's name, search for him on the 'net and have him post his memories of the show here.

I do vividly remember running into him on Main St Melrose, MA soon after the show and he had the biggest grin on his face. I was in complete awe of him telling me about that gig.
The conversation may have begun with me saying, "Hey man, did you get tickets to the Stones shows in Hartford?"
Then he grinned and told me about the club gig.

NumberOneStonesFan Wrote:

> I'm almost tempted to go find my High School year
> book, look up the guy's name, search for him on
> the 'net and have him post his memories of the
> show here.

It would be great to have someone who was actually
there post his review here, if he could remember
enough details.

If I was the lucky bastard, I probably would have been
too excited to even think about bringing a pen & pad
to the show. Not sure I would even want to. I think
I would rather savor every moment and not be distracted
for even a few seconds by recording a setlist.