I was there and gotta tell the two shows I saw, plus SNL stunk. The boots in particular the one from the Capitol validate it. In my view 1978 and 1975 were their worst tours ever. 1981 was great as was SW, VL, most of B2B. I still think 1972 was the highlight, followed by 1981 and SW. Oh and don't forget 1969.

I dunno, I was at Buffalo 78 and they really
rocked. The Handsome Girls box set does too.
SNL sucked, and as always the Stones have
off and on nights, but no, it's one
of my favourite tours!

Myabe you were lucky, but I will tell you Philly was the worst show by any band I ever attended and the Capitol Theater wasn't far behind it. I just think live 1975 and 1978 they had slipped. 1981 was a real rebirth and SW was the equal of the Taylor years.

Harry, there are way too many alleged Stones fans who define their fandom by a 5-year interlude. They are not Stones fans---they are Mick Taylor fans. That's fine--MT was (and is) good, but I don't see the sense of obsessively focusing on this five-year period. It ended in 1974. MT quit the band--he wasn't forced out. It was HIS decision to leave the Stones. We have the records, we have the boots--what more do you want?

As for the 78 boots--I love 'em, and I won't apologize for it. This is a BAND, not just a showpiece for a lead guitarist--again, this reverence for MT displays who are Stones fans and who aren't.

like hell 1975 to 1978. I didn't just focus on the Taylor years, but they were a high point Charlie says so too. I like some of the Wood years, but the man has had more bad nights than good and by the way its you Woody fans that are obsessed with defending him. Taylor's years need no defense.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-02-02 03:11 by harrybigsack.

I like Taylor best but am open minded about
Ronnie, and indeed, as bassplayer sez,
the Stones are a band, I enjoy all
their incarnations.

Taylor still puts on an excellent show but
hasn't progressed much in years and years
with his playing, song selection etc.

Personally I wish he'd stuck with the Stones,
I don't think anyone was better off with him
leaving, but then again, we really don't
know what would have happened next if he
he had stayed. He left with the myth of
excellence intact!

Myths are okay, they sustain us, our ideas of
how things should be, but don't necessarily
reflect how things really are or could be.
We should proceed with caution in
mythologizing MT, he's only
human too!!!

well per the post title...the 78 tour...as the cliched line goes..." it was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

If Philly was bad, the Cleveland show had to be at least that bad. It was the absolute worst show ever put on by any professional band that i have seen at any point in my life, and I know several who were there agree. My boot shows my memories of how much they sucked is correct.

The worst shows I've heard is Blind Date Revisited 79 and The second Philly-81 show. They are even worse...

I don't think the 1978 tour was much kop though it did have a certain rawness and stripped down punky attitude that was cool but I wouldn't say the '81 tour was a rebirth: messy, clunky performances and poor arrangements + Jagger's ridiculous sportswear. For me '89 was the real rebirth despite Chuck at the helm.

Saw Philly and Cleveland in 78, and both were pretty bad shows. Have an old vinyl boot of Cleveland which confirms my memory. I'd have to pick Philly as the worse of the two, Kahoosier, although the bad weather might be influencing my opinion. I got sick as a dog from standing in that rain all day!

In those days everything was general admission seating, which made the whole experience a little less "entertaining". Not only could you get squashed, your vantage point would regularly get changed by 5-20 meters, depending on how the crowd was "flowing". Also, the Cleveland show was right before the 4th of July, so the M-80s were going-off by the dozens.

I do like the Memphis and Passaic boots though. Seems like 78 was just a wildly erratic tour, quality-wise. Loved that pink cap Mick wore!

karl

'Don’t forget, if you’re on your bike, wear white'

I thought the whole "back to basics" theme of the tour was absolutely right for the time, and despite Rolling Stone taking them to the cleaners, it received rave reviews from the normally critical UK music press. They loved them. No postering or arsing about. Just rock and roll. The ancient art of weaving was indeed at its best on that tour, as were Jagger's vocals, after his dreadful warbling on the 75/76 jaunts.

In my opinion, The Passaic, New Jersey boot does better justice than Handsome Girls.

I wish they could have brought it to Europe.

Yep I'm with LOGIE - Passaic is one of their better shows from the 'scaled-back' 1978 Tour.

Esky

I grew up on midnight showings of Gimme Shelter and Ladies and Gentlemen the Rolling Stones. When I saw the 78 tour in New Orleans I expected to see a reworking of the 69 and 72 tour. I did not! I saw a much funnier and clown styled Jagger. Even though the dancing and prancing was very different, it was still the greatest show on Earth. I loved the new material from Some Girls...so that wasn't a drag. I just love that tour.....maybe, as in a first love, I see it through rose colored glasses, but I can remember the rush I felt when they hit the stage. I am sorry about the Philly and Cleveland stadium shows, but they tore it up that night in New Orleans. It was rock and roll at its finest.

<Passaic is one of their better shows from the 'scaled-back' 1978 Tour>

Is there something I'm missing here? I have the "Out On Bail" (silver pressed SP) boot. This is the Passaic show, right? The sound is thin and awful - that's OK, but IMHO the performance is not even near that of Lexington, Fort Worth, Detroit, Memphis, Washington and other boots I have.

Why is this show ranked so highly amongst many fans here? Do I have the wrong show, or is it the energy, rawness etc. that is so special?

I have listened to it again and again after exstatic reviews here on IORR, but I just don't seem to get it...

Fill me in on why this show is better than the other (IMHO) brilliant 78-shows

Good lord, I'll take ANY '78 show over the "over the top" and exaggerated to the max Steel Wheels excursion. Not that those later shows weren't enjoyable and fun but when I watch "At The Max" or other video of that period...yikes!...Come on. There was no meat on the bones in my opinion. A lot of flash. Voodoo Lounge corrected the errs of their ways to some degree.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-02-02 17:16 by Half Nanker.

Passaic, New Jersey was called "Garden State 78".

Out on Bail is a different gig.

<Passaic, New Jersey was called "Garden State 78". Out on Bail is a different gig.>


Nope, checked it - same show (or maybe they did two shows that day?)

"Out On Bail": Live at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ 06.14.1978

"Garden State": Live at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ 06.14.1978

Thanks for that DandelionPowderman, though I'm still very much confused!

I have both of these boots but they sound radically different.

Having just read a report of the gig from NME however, it says that they played there for one night only, and did not play "Hound Dog" which oddly, appears on "Out on Bail". I'm sure Out on Bail must be from somewhere else. But where?

What is of interest, looking through my cuttings of that tour, is that Roy Carr of the NME reported shortly after the gig, that the Stones had been "beaten to it by the bootleggers" before having a chance to properly mix a recording of one of their gigs. He didn't state which one or explain as to why. As "Garden State" sounds like a very raw soundboard recording with everything in the correct running order, I would suspect that this is it. Am I wrong in assuming that "Out on Bail" might therefore have some tracks from that concert re-mixed and placed alongside others from other shows? Somebody help!

As an anecdote, a further report from Roy Carr published a few months later, claimed that "a very well-known British band" having been disappointed with a live album released the previous year, had given the bootleggers a concert to put out that was to help repair the damage. Assuming that the Stones were that band, I wonder whether "Out on Bail" was that album.

FROM A PREVIOUS POST BY SMOKEY:

Passaic, NJ 6/14/78; 90 min; 9.0 s; "Garden State 78"/others
Excellent stereo soundboard recording; probably the most well known boot of
the tour. ***Legend has it the tape was stolen from the soundboard before the
show ended which explains why the end is missing.*** Good performance except the
incomplete encore "Street Fighting Man" sounds completely unrehearsed; it's
terrible. Original LPs sound better than any CD release; in fact The Swingin'
Pig "Out on Bail" and Scorpio's "Capital Connection" both appear to be dubbed
from vinyl.

Thanks for that KSIE. That is very helpful, though alas not entirely conclusive.

The original Smilin' Dork Garden State vinyl cuts sound like different performances than those from Out on Bail.

It was the best of tours. It was the worst of tours.

<"Hound Dog">

Hound dog is not on Out on Bail.

Out on Bail & Garden State are the same.

But IMO - Passaic is a good show - not their best (obviously), but after some very sloppy shows early in the Tour this show shows them getting back to their best!

Esky

The 78 tour kicked major ass, IMO. It has always been and will always be my favorite. I like my rock 'n roll raw and unpredictable, and that's exactly what was delivered on this tour. Incredibly, they were sloppy and tight at the same time, an amazing and magic combination, especially as heard on the spectacular Handsome Girls and Garden State boots. 78 was Woodie's best work by far, and he and Keith reached a level of interaction that hasn't come close to being matched since. And hearing Stu and Mac on keyboards simply underscores how awful Chuck really is. I could go on and on, but it simply boils down to a matter of taste and preference. And incidentally, yes, they did kinda suck on SNL, but I freaking love it anyway!

By the way, Dandelion, Out on Bail was the Memphis show.

-- Keep on rollin'. Keep on. Keep on. Keep on. --

Bluespeyer, thanks for putting me out of my misery!!

There must be a few boot names the same as my "Out On Bail" = Passiac !

Confused.

Esky

The Swingin' Pig "Out On Bail" is indeed the Capital Theater show in Passaic.

I agree with Kahoosier...Philly was bad...Cleveland was an abomination. As for the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, there was one show only...all the boots of this night kind of stink...Live at the Capitol Theatre was my "mecca" of live Stones concerts going back to 1966 that I had the great fortune of attending, it was simply amazing.

<By the way, Dandelion, Out on Bail was the Memphis show.>







Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2005-02-04 10:14 by DandelionPowderman.

Dandelion, can't see the photo you posted. What is it? My Out on Bail CD was released by Mighty Diamonds records. The sound is perfect. It includes Hound Dog, among the others. Three of the tunes -- Faraway Eyes, Sweet Little 16, and Lies -- were recorded in Passaic, but the other 13 were from Memphis, which is why they did Hound Dog in the first place (a tribute to Elvis). Maybe mine is just another boot with the Out on Bail name slapped on it, but I can't imagine any sounding better.

-- Keep on rollin'. Keep on. Keep on. Keep on. --