My vote has to go for Paradiso May 26, 1995. I've watched various videos of this concert over the years and I believe this was their musical peak. Each member was solidly on their game musically. In combination with an outstanding set list (May 27th set list was great too) in a 900 seat theater makes for the best ever IMO. The climax of the evening had to be perhaps the best version of Gimme Shelter EVER. (I might go as far as saying this version of Gimme Shelter, is the best live performance of any Stones song ever.) I know many will select a concert from the Taylor, or certainly Wyman era, but for me, this was the pinnacle. The creme de la creme. The best Rolling Stones concert ever.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-10-20 18:52 by jazzbass.

You are very much correct.

Better than the hey day ?

Don't be daft

Best single Rolling Stones concert.....any of the June 28th-July 15th shows of 1972. After that: Fort Collins 1975 which also has the best ever Gimme SHelter - after London 1973 at least.
The Lisa Fisher Gimme SHelter's doesn't really do it for me.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-10-20 19:25 by Erik_Snow.

That can only be judged by one you personally attended. For me it was No Security, Anaheim, 1999, despite the crappy bass. I caught a night when Keith, and most importantly, Charlie, were both on fire. So, that was the best single Rolling Stones concert, ever.

Probably one of the early London club/pub gigs.

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24FPS
That can only be judged by one you personally attended.

No I disagree, there's many factors involved in how you enjoy a concert you are attending in person. Just like official records....one doesn't need to be there while it's being recorded to make a judgement. If one were there, one's opinion would be biased, based on so many things

Paris, 11 th April 1967 late show.

Nice call on the Paradiso gig. They were on fire.

For those who think another show was the best, please explain why.

afternoon show, MSG 1972

1) In STP Bianca backstage relates how they literally thought MSG was going to
collapse, it was shaking so hard

2) Mick literally had 20,000 of us jumping up and down in time, hence the
shaking. The walls of people jumping in time made MSG look like a womb
convulsing in orgasm.

3) I have seen at least a dozen intense shows 1965-2002, but none one-
tenth as intense as this. I literally thought I had been placed at the
center of the universe and that the idea of time was nonsense *

4) the guy I rode in with, Jimmy Mac, was convinced he had witnessed pure evil,
a @#$%& rally, and never recovered. he committed suicide about a year later.

5) this is also the show Woody Allen walked out on because he thought
it was frightening mass hysteria insanity.

6) the crowd stomped and screamed for an encore for a full half hour. the
lights had come up long ago, the janitors were out sweeping up the stage,
but still we stomped and cheered. No encore of course. and yet nobody minded
in the least screaming in vain for half an hour. because it just felt right
to scream for half an hour after THAT particular show.

7) throw in the band and taylor at their absolute peak, and I'm afraid this
thread can now only be about the second best rolling stones concert ever.

8) i was tripping for weeks after this show. or maybe it was months.

9) or maybe it was forever

*slight chance the mescaline may have influenced my thinking



Edited 9 time(s). Last edit at 2012-10-21 02:56 by superrevvy.

....never married so they're all good ...



ROCKMAN

Soldier Field, September 25, 1997

But I was there, so I'm biased.

Voodoo Lounge Oakland on Halloween. My second RS concert after the Happy Birthday Mick! Day On The Green at Oakland 1978. I became a fan when Last Time/Play With Fire was released but didn't start going to concerts until the Day On The Greens.

Well, Jazzbass, the Paradiso gig in '95 sounds quite wonderful.

However,there were MANY concerts in 1969-1972 that were FANTASTIC!
With Bill. With Mick T. With Keith playing guitar. Minus Chuck, Lisa etc.

Less clutter on stage...less showy effects. Complete emphasis on the members of The Rolling Stones. NO stadiums. We could SEE them.

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superrevvy

6) the crowd stomped and screamed for an encore for a full half hour. the
lights had come up long ago, the janitors were out sweeping up the stage,
but still we stomped and cheered. No encore of course. and yet nobody minded
in the least screaming in vain for half an hour. because it just felt right
to scream for half an hour after THAT particular show.

A friend of mine said the crowd cheered for about 20 minutes after the end of the '72 Hollywood Palladium show.

I think there was an intangible factor of the Stones as a cultural force during their '69-'72 shows that was present and unavoidable during the shows of those years (in addition to them being at a peak as musicians/performers). The press coverage treats them as not only popular, but important. Years later an audience that never knew a world without the Rolling Stones could not relate to them in the same way, or have a first-hand reaction to them as Agents of Change.


All of your comments are interesting, and your description of the crowd was amazing. Great post.

I've heard many early Taylor era live versions of Gimme Shelter. One that particularly strikes me is another Amsterdam show. 1974 maybe? However, for me, I've preferred when they attempted to make the live version similar to the studio version, i.e., w/ a female vocalist adding back up and of course the iconic solo "Rape, murder..."

Anyone know if they've ever performed the song live with Merry Clayton?

Ironically, I feel the opposite about SFTD. With that song, I much prefer the version as heard on Ya Yas.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-10-21 18:07 by jazzbass.

Superhevy, very well done post. Exhilarating to read. Fell like Gobbles recounting a Teutonic blood letting. Well done, but is that true about your friend committing suicide!?

Altamont show - despite all the terrible things going on. musically their most overlooked & underrated concert!

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whitem8
Superhevy, very well done post. Exhilarating to read. Fell like Gobbles recounting a Teutonic blood letting. Well done, but is that true about your friend committing suicide!?

Thanks whitem8 (and loog droog). Yes, all true. Not that i'm blaming the Stones
show for the path my friend Jimmy went down...

20 of us managed to get tickets. Two million postcards were sent in with 20,000
winners able to buy four tickets each. All together we only sent in about 80
postcards, so that we had five winners was quite the lucky outcome, and all for
the same one of the four shows!

That night at a party in town we were mostly all there and everyone of us was
still buzzed to the max over the show, just having to look into each others
eyes for a moment to start laughing giddily at what we had experienced together.
Something way beyond anything ever. But not Jimmy. He was completely withdrawn.
Was he already getting to be kind of a paranoid guy before the show? I can't
honestly remember one way or the other. After the show is just when I noticed
it. Him saying crazier and crazier and more depressing stuff. I hung in there
longer with him than any of our other friends but eventually I decided I had
to keep my distance too. Shortly before the end I remember him hitting his
father with a piece of pipe and getting arrested and then being sent away
somewhere and then came the final bad news over the phone to me while I was
away at university.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-10-21 18:32 by superrevvy.

Long Droog, thanks for your post. You summed up those times perfectly.

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24FPS
That can only be judged by one you personally attended. For me it was No Security, Anaheim, 1999, despite the crappy bass. I caught a night when Keith, and most importantly, Charlie, were both on fire. So, that was the best single Rolling Stones concert, ever.

Disagree 100%. You can be at what was a musically mediocre show and still have come away from it really enjoying yourself. Madrid 2007 was an example. Keith was all over the place but it was actually a really terrific night, with a fantastic, youthful, vibrant audience and the Stones really seemed to be enjoying themselves. I enjoyed it more than many Stones shows I've seen where the band played really well.

I know a good (or bad) show from listening to it on a recording. And it doesnt even have to be in great sound either. Erik mentions that run of a couple of weeks in 1972 and its a good call - I'd highlight the early July 1972 run of shows in Charlotte, Akron etc.

1973 had shows that were every bit as good and maybe better. The Brussels ones are the obvious ones, but the London 8th September show that surfaced in really good quality a couple of years back is absolutely up there as one of the greatest performances I've ever heard.

Paradiso is a good call for the recent era. That Buenos Aires gig on the BTB tour (30th March 1998) is maybe the best stadium show, even if the sound mix isnt quite what it could have been.

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Gazza

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24FPS
That can only be judged by one you personally attended. For me it was No Security, Anaheim, 1999, despite the crappy bass. I caught a night when Keith, and most importantly, Charlie, were both on fire. So, that was the best single Rolling Stones concert, ever.

Disagree 100%. You can be at what was a musically mediocre show and still have come away from it really enjoying yourself. Madrid 2007 was an example. Keith was all over the place but it was actually a really terrific night, with a fantastic, youthful, vibrant audience and the Stones really seemed to be enjoying themselves. I enjoyed it more than many Stones shows I've seen where the band played really well.

I know a good (or bad) show from listening to it on a recording. And it doesnt even have to be in great sound either. Erik mentions that run of a couple of weeks in 1972 and its a good call - I'd highlight the early July 1972 run of shows in Charlotte, Akron etc.

1973 had shows that were every bit as good and maybe better. The Brussels ones are the obvious ones, but the London 8th September show that surfaced in really good quality a couple of years back is absolutely up there as one of the greatest performances I've ever heard.

Paradiso is a good call for the recent era. That Buenos Aires gig on the BTB tour (30th March 1998) is maybe the best stadium show, even if the sound mix isnt quite what it could have been.

Believe me, I'm not trying to get into a pissing match, just my own personal opinion. I've been at concerts I thought were great, heard them later and shook my head, wondering if it was the same concert. You might hear a recording that makes a concert sound good that was terrible in the venue. I simply choose Anaheim '99 because it was the best show I ever saw and heard from the Stones. The crowd was incredible and so was the group. I love Brussels but maybe someone who was there thought it stunk. It's so subjective.

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24PS
Believe me, I'm not trying to get into a pissing match, just my own personal opinion. I've been at concerts I thought were great, heard them later and shook my head, wondering if it was the same concert. You might hear a recording that makes a concert sound good that was terrible in the venue. I simply choose Anaheim '99 because it was the best show I ever saw and heard from the Stones. The crowd was incredible and so was the group. I love Brussels but maybe someone who was there thought it stunk. It's so subjective.

Never took it that way, mate. I've had little motivation myself to revisit recent shows I've been at on CD or bit torrents (even though ive downloaded them all), even though when 'in the moment' at the gigs in question I've enjoyed them and had a good time.

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24FPS
I've been at concerts I thought were great, heard them later and shook my head, wondering if it was the same concert. You might hear a recording that makes a concert sound good that was terrible in the venue.

But that goes to show that you can't make good judgements about a concert you attended; which is the opposite of what you said earlier
Your opinion about Anaheim 99 being the best concert is in other words "your best concert experience" not "best Rolling Stones concert". Not to be picky, but...

I remember a stadium show in Philly '94. Poured down driving rain like a monsoon for the entire show. Keith stepped to the mic for his songs... looks to the heavens and says, "Is this the best you can do?" Of course the crowd went wild.

I'm not sure if it was a particularly well done show musically or not. I've never heard a recoding of the night. It probably wasn't. But for me, with just the right buzz going, the right group of friends and mother nature's torrent putting the whole crowd into a "Were all in this together" mood made it one of the best concert experiences I've ever had. But I wouldn't consider it one of their best concerts ever.

Wembley Arena 29 August 2003, it all came together

The first I've seen

HMN

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charlie62
Wembley Arena 29 August 2003, it all came together

That was certainly the best one I've seen.

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Amused
Altamont show - despite all the terrible things going on. musically their most overlooked & underrated concert!

Yeah, they had to awake from their normal tour stupor. The fright made them play better . .
I think 72 had some of the best Stones shows ever. NY among them. Still the 95 club gigs and especially Paradiso were highlites as well - if you're only open for it.