(Copied from the Philly 21 thread, but I loved the show so much I wanted to post separately. Sorry if its seen as clutter and deleted soon.)

Ok, there's so much to say, and I won't remember it all, but here's everything I can spit out.

I got my $85 tickets. Section 216, nearly the back of the stage on Keith's side. Luckily, its an arena so you really aren't ever THAT far away, and I had a screen right in front of me. But I went with my dad and he was thrilled so I was more happy he wasn't upset which made me less upset. The upside was we got a great top view of the whole stage (minus a hanging speaker which conveniently blocked when someone stood at the center mic).

I've been following this tour and was afraid because I knew the moves it would get old. It did not and it was so much more than I could imagine. I know what some mean about Cloud being an odd opener, but they played it great and its a deep cut so I give them a pass. Also, its one of my favorites so its great to open with me saying "wow, I can't believe I'm seeing this!" as opposed to "Cool, Start Me Up again."

Holy f*&$ was Keith on tonight!!!! It was so immediately evident during Its Only Rock And Roll that I nearly started to cry. The second he started playing some licks, the people in my section had their mouths either wide open in disbelief or applauding widely. He was so friggen awesome which was so amazing to see. I've never thought he was "bad" in the last 20 years as some have, but he was noticeably better tonight. No sloppiness and friggen loving being there. I swear I'm not just saying this. His guitar was clear and upfront, he was shredding and moving around a ton. It was a new Keith. He seemed to be a little less tight starting after Start Me Up but he held through admirably, and there was no way he could destroy the awesomeness of his first half.

The rest of the band: Mick is incredible. I feel bad saying a paragraph about Keith then just a sentence about Mick, but its all you need. The guy is a superhuman and he hasn't lost a thing. He is still one of the greatest, most entertaining frontmen in rock and its a gift to be in the same room as him. Its more that I expect it from him and am more hesitant with Keith, but even with my expectations Mick blows me away every time. I could literally say the same about Charlie. The fact that he isn't dead after that 2 and a half hour setlist at 72 is ridiculous. He's a god. And Ronnie oh Ronnie. He killed as well. It was so amazing to see this band in such amazing shape. Keith was on which I think encouraged Ronnie to play better. His lifting his shirt during his band introduction was priceless! If anyone doubts Ronnie, you should watch some videos of this tour. He's perfect for them in that he nails most of his lead work, has so much fun running around up there, and gets along with everyone. Sorry, but there's a reason Ronnie is in the band and seeing him and Taylor up there, he was a perfect replacement. Thats not something new I thought of tonight, but seeing the two of them up there cemented it for me. They needed someone that played great guitar and moved around more than Taylor and they got that in Ronnie, with the added bonus that I don't think the man is ever unhappy, which helps the general morale of the band.

Now Mick Taylor. It was incredible. I mentioned to my dad "you know they usually do the song request by now..." after Doom and Gloom, and I knew they couldn't forget it as they broadcast it for an hour before the show. People knew and they couldn't just skip it. I really really was hoping for Moonlight Mile. It just could have been so awesome, especially with Taylor. But they got to the request and Can't You Hear Me Knockin comes. After a second or two of "ok, this is definitely a lowball after they gave MM as an option", I was up in a second. I saw Taylor come out and he just friggen wailed. Sounded great, played an excellent extended solo at the end of Knockin, and then came back out and killed it again with Rambler. I've seen alot of videos of Rambler this tour. Either being there was so much different, or this was an incredible version. I saw Keith mouth to Charlie during it "keep this beat going forever" towards the end of the song. It was so immediately evident that the show could go anywhere as opposed to have Stones shows have been in the past that it was almost unbelievable it was happening. Sorry, I've been fine with the Stones for 20 years, but this was different. They play differently when Taylor is onstage and its a crime he's not up there more. They all seem to have a blast and he adds a new energy that everyone in the audience felt. The crowd went nuts for Taylor which was good to hear. My dad, who has followed the Stones since the 60s, is hardcore, but for some reason doesn't know about the Taylor lore. He knows he was in the band, but he never actually researched what his contributions were or how amazing of a guitarist he is. The first thing he said after the show was "he was awesome. I can't believe he played so little". That means alot, as he saw Taylor essentially as how a casual fan would since he doesn't know exactly what or who the guy was and he was blown away. The Stones were plain dumb not to use him more and watching a show its hard to argue otherwise.

Other highlights: I believe it was Its Only Rock And Roll. Mick using the mic stand and dragging it around. Just classic frontman stuff but seeing Jagger do it was ungodly. The opening 6 songs were fantastic. Paint It Black and Gimme Shelter were long but really awesome. They played them so well and Lisa destroyed Shelter. Why they wasted time with guests last year is so dumb. I'll admit, I wanted something other than Whip (Rocks Off, Bitch, Sway), but they played it really well and its a great rocker so it was hard to argue with. It seemed like they didn't want to end it either which was cool. Same goes for Happy. Keith was awesome on his solo section, but he just kept going back to the chorus of Happy at the end and it was one of the longest versions I've seen recently. It was awesome. Mick Taylor coming out for Rambler, playing a little lick, and motioning to turn his amp up. Then two seconds later, he plays another lick and the volume is so loud and awesome. It was perfect. Start Me Up was also particularly strong, and You Can't Always Get What You Want is a dream to see with the choir.

Very few, if any, low points. Emotional Rescue seemed like a bit of a trainwreck. I was looking forward to hearing it, but Mick was totally out of key singing the falsetto and the song just kind of dragged. I thought it would be fun to see, but having that and Miss You in the set is kind of pointless. I don't have a problem with either of the new songs, but both felt painfully unnecessary in the show, especially following Emotional Rescue. The only time I feel they lost the crowd and just killed a great early momentum. Brown Sugar had mic problems with Mick, which didn't ruin the song but was just weird to see. More of a note than a low. Other note: I never understood why Tumbling Dice needs to be an every nighter. Just seems to not get an amazing response and isn't anything special live. Also, Sympathy (while played well) felt unneeded and the set could have ended with Sugar (or, in a dream, they could have replaced Sympathy with Street Fighting Man and ended the main set like that). For some reason, those two songs, along with Miss You, felt unneeded hearing the "greatest hits" portion of the set and could easily not be played every night and the audience would be fine.

Thats about all I can think now. One of the greatest shows I've seen and I've seen a lot. I'm so happy my dad and I had such a great time. He didn't want to go, and he couldn't stop talking about how awesome it was on the way home. That was really nice to hear and made me happy I made the right decision. This tour was awesome and I hope to get a bootleg of this show.

Agreed!!!! The Stones showed up big last night!!!