Holy Cow Keith is alive... Some of these clips were played a little sloppy but the energy and edginess is starting to pick up... Looking good for the East Coast.

Andrew T- great point.the last 17 songs of the set list I have heard a zillion times in concert. boring IMO and not much to get excited about.

This band never ceases to amaze me. Been watching them since 1975 -- somewhere around twenty shows.

Last night was simply incredible.

We had tickets in the pit. Got there at 4:30P, cued up outside and waited. We were lead in and then waited in the main level of Anaheim Pond another 20 minutes. Meanwhile grabbed a beer and now we're OK. Finally we are led into the Pit. Lots of room. SRO. We immediately set up camp on Keith's side three feet in front of the stage.

But wait a minute -- what's this? Charlie's still on stage adjusting his drums! We yell and wave to Charlie, he waves back. After he finishes he walks up to center stage and tosses one of his sticks to those lucky folks over there. Then he comes right over to our side, tosses a stick and I grab it! I immediately hand to my friend John who is a drummer. What a start! A GREAT OMEN!

Now we are waiting and chatting with like minded Stones fans. And Guess who is in front of us -- Mr. IORR himself!
HI BV. Great job with the site. Keep on Rockin' in the Free World Baby!

A few minutes before 9P someone gets a copy of the set list and we are READY.

Lights go down, the cheaper opening act (The Video Montage) starts and we are all focused on the stage. The Magic Door opens behind the drums and they come out and get ready. And then - BOOM! - It's on:

Get Off My Cloud: - The engine starts , the plane lifts into the sky and away we go. Keith is playing along holding back a little.

IORR (Homeage to Mr. IORR himself?) - Nice rock beat. Keith rips off the Chuck Berry Licks and we are cooking.

Paint It Black - Now we are talking. This thing is on fire. Keith delivers the intro, Charlie comes in with The Tom Toms and we are all back in the Dark Jungles of 1966, with no colors anymore.

Gimme Shelter is next. Keith starts the pearly guitar riff and Mick and Lisa deliver. Just a great song. Then, at the end, Keith walks over to our side and lofts his pick...my buddy Jeff grabs it and hands it to me. Heaven can only only await me now as I have a Keith Richards embossed Rolling Stones pick that he used on Gimme Shelter!

Rocks Off - Yeah! A New one from Exile and it is clear that we are ALL getting our Rocks off while we're sleeping.

Another new one to the set - Waiting on A Friend. Good Song. No special moments between the two friends the song is about though. No real Keith singing at this point. In LA on Opening night he had a microphone out there and was singing along in all the usual parts in great voice. Not tonight. At least not yet.

Now its Guest time - John Mayer, "Champagne and Reefer". Not expecting much on this but it really turns into a great jam with Keith being driven on by Mayer's fiery licks. This song delivered.

Emotional Rescue. Sorry, this song just does not do it for me. Oh well.

Doom & Gloom - Mick's newest and he brings out one of his telecasters with only 5 strings and you can tell who he learned this style from. But it rocks and the guitars tie in.

One More Shot. Interesting dichotomy. Mick clearly started the last one with his opening riff. Now Keith walks over to us, pauses a beat and then hits the opening 5 string assault on HIS new song. And again, this one moves and grooves and we are into it.

Honky Tonk. Keith starts the song the same way - just hitting those strings with no chording - the guitar is already tuned naturally to a G chord -- and then he hits the opening lick. We all sing the chorus as per the original record with the "Haw-haw-aw-aw-aw-aw-onky Tonk Women. Gimme, Gimme, Gimme The Honky Tonk Blues!" Keith hits the solo and is all over it and moves over to Ronnie's side of the stage. Great Version.

Somewhere before these last few songs there was a great moment between Mick and Keith. I can't remember which song it was..Sorry. But Mick was getting ready to take a run around the Lip. He turned and kind of jogged over to keith and touched him on the arm and nodded like "C'mon. Follow me." Keith looked up for a second and then took off after him and they raced around the lip, Keith following Mick. Just Two Little kids from Dartford Again. Sweet.

Band Intros. Yeah!

Keith - Before They Make Me Run - Singing EVERY WORD as LOUD as I can. Such a great personal song. Great soul and he sings and plays the whole thing.

Happy - Keith again and this thing kicks arse. Another great sing along.

Mick Taylor Time. Midnight Rambler. Long Killer version with Taylor weaving around Ronnie and Keith's riffs. Honey, It's not one of those shows!

Miss You. I'm sort of over this song at this point, but great bass solo and great Harp soloing from Mick J. As well as on Rambler. He is really good at the Licking Machine.

Start Me Up: Home Stretch Keith Chordage in G - Yah Mon. This could be the unofficial Zombie National Anthem: You Make A Dead Man Come!

Tumbling Dice: Ya Got to roll me and call me the Tumbling Dice. We have been ROLLING all night.

Brown Sugar: Interesting note on this song, which seems so classically Keith in its riff and chord structure, Mick Jagger came up with this song and the whole riff on guitar. There is actually footage of him jamming it out backstage during the 1969 tour.

Sympathy: The less guitar driven version they have been playing of late where the rhythm is driven by the piano and bass. Keith is laying back behind Charlie's riser having a smoke waiting for the first "Please to Meet You" and then he jumps out, hits that chord and starts playing lead. He is on it and it is solid and he drives the tail end of the song. Nice leads played with great passion by Keef.

End of concert.

Great moment between Keith and Charlie. As the crowd is roaring, Keith walks over to the drum riser and offers a hand to Charlie to stand down. He takes it - Measure Twice - Cut Once!

Encores;

YCAGWYW: This is great with the USC Choir backing them up. I would have to say they were better than the UCLA choir...but I am a Trojan Alumnus! This song just sounds great. French horn, Keith's opening guitar intro. Everything about it Just Great.

JJF: Keith starts it and looks down at us with that look - the same one he had when that Knucklehead tried to run on stage in '81 and he pulled his guitar off his shoulder and clobbered him -- Just Pure Menace. But all directed at that riff. A nice way to channel it, baby.

Satisfaction: Mick Taylor joins in but his guitar is not in the mix. When he plays a solo and he walks over to Keith and says "I can't hear me at all". But no matter the riff is the thing and the riff is all Keith. And We can't Get NO!

[www.flickr.com]

thank you for not submitting a long review

Outstanding review. Keith Richards pic-how cool is that?

great review.

keith is the pearly king.

thanks for the review. Great writing.
Thanks

Jeroen

Really enjoyed reading this brother! Thrilled you got to have that experience!

Quote
wopperla
But wait a minute -- what's this? Charlie's still on stage adjusting his drums! We yell and wave to Charlie, he waves back. After he finishes he walks up to center stage and tosses one of his sticks to those lucky folks over there. Then he comes right over to our side, tosses a stick and I grab it! I immediately hand to my friend John who is a drummer. What a start! A GREAT OMEN!

Man, I love Charlie. Great moment and thanks for sharing it.

Excellent, sounds like you had an amazing night, what could be better, Charlie's stick, Keith's pick, in the pit and the Stones on top form. Great review!

Really good review.
You sound as if you and your fellow fans had a great time.
Thanks so much for sharing it.

Great review, thanks for posting.

Beautiful stuff, wotterla!

- Doxa

Great review. Thanks. Always good to read that someone had a great time.

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

Nice - a review conveying joy and enthusiasm in abundance.

... if slightly out of touch with reality! ><

Reality is here btw... [www.iorr.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-05-18 18:31 by dcba.

The Orange County Register's review (they only just posted it on the internet today):

ROLLING STONES RETAIN YOUTHFUL VIGOR IN O.C.

ANAHEIM – Picture that instant when the Honda Center lights go dark, the crowd roars, and slipping from the shadows the Rolling Stones arrive on stage. It's electric, a jolt, but for a moment, just a second or two, you have to wonder what you're going to get with a band, even one as legendary as the Stones, on the road to mark 50 years of music.

Turns out there's no need to worry. For by the time singer Mick Jagger gets to the first "Hey! You!" of the opener "Get Off of My Cloud," you're singing along and thinking that despite how old they might look – and they are well-weathered – they mostly play like the bright young English lads they were way back when, and they still sound very good indeed.

There's been plenty written about how pricey the tickets for this 50 & Counting tour are and that's certainly true. But despite the cost, you'd be hard-pressed to find many in the all-but-sold-out Honda Center who weren't thrilled to have been there Wednesday for these 22 songs in a show that ran nearly 2 1/2 hours.

That opening song found the four core Stones – Jagger, guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, and drummer Charlie Watts – blazing through at a fast and precise clip. Fans who have seen them often in these latter years of the band's career tend to say the group seems tighter now than it did during their wilder days of the past, and that certainly felt true on Wednesday.

It's a show and a tour built around their hits, with all but two songs coming from albums released in 1981 or earlier. And so after the mid-'70s tune "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll," which saw Jagger strutting to the sides of the stage to fire up the fans in the furthest reaches of the stadium, it was back to the '60s for "Paint It Black," its original opening sitar riff played here on guitar.

Even though – or perhaps especially because – many of these songs long ago became staples of their live shows, it's remarkable how fresh they can feel in concert. You might imagine a song such as "Gimme Shelter" would be drained of the haunting menace with which it arrived on 1969's "Let It Bleed," but at Honda Center that brooding opening guitar riff from Richards built and built until Jagger came in, eventually joined by vocalist Lisa Fischer to wail away powerfully on the "It's just a shot away!" choruses.

Highlights during the first half of the set included the first appearance so far this tour of "Waiting on a Friend," which featured lovely contributions from keyboard player Chuck Leavell and tenor sax player Bobby Keys, both longtime touring members of the band. Another came with the arrival of this stop's celebrity guest appearance: John Mayer, who came out to sing and trade blues licks with Richards and Wood on "Champagne & Reefer," a Muddy Waters tune the Stones picked up years ago.

The midpoint of the show offered up the only new songs, "Doom and Gloom" and "One More Shot," both recorded for a 2012 greatest-hits album, and both sounding like familiar Stones songs with which you're not actually familiar.

After a break for Jagger, during which Richards sang lead vocals on "Before They Make Me Run" and "Happy," another nice bit of this anniversary tour unfolded with the appearance on stage of Mick Taylor, the Stones' lead guitarist from 1969 to 1974, for a version of "Midnight Rambler" that ran close to 10 minutes and featured all three guitarists roaring away.

The main set wrapped up with a long run of much-loved songs: "Miss You," which served as a dance-y bookend to "Emotional Rescue" played earlier in the night, "Brown Sugar," which had everyone in the crowd singing along, and a terrific take on "Sympathy for the Devil," on which Jagger's strong delivery of the lyrics was matched by the jagged, distorted blasts of sound Richards wrenched from his guitar.

As has been the case throughout the tour, the encore opened with a choral ensemble on stage to kick off "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (in Anaheim the singers were from the USC's Thornton Chamber Choir). As for most of the night, it felt like anything but going through the motions: Jagger sang it with commitment, Wood's solo was typically concise, and the band and choir together took it to a gospel-inflected peak.

Then, more fun, more classics: "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," with Richards, in particular, tearing off one muscular riff after another, and grinning cheerfully at his band mates.

That Richards is alive at 69, given all the bad things he cheerfully acknowledges he did in his younger days, is no small miracle. But you look around the stage and you see Wood, 65, no stranger to drug addiction in his past and now proud to show off his well-toned arms in a sleeveless shirt, and Watts, 71, always the most elegant and reserved of Stones, and you think, why should this be their last tour, as they've sometimes hinted.

As for Jagger, well, he's just impossibly fit for 69, with the energy of a guy half his age, bounding around the stage and its protruding tongue-shaped ramp nonstop, strutting, throwing shapes and striking poses, and generally doing all the things you expect of him. He's clearly having a fine time on stage still.

And you think: This could be the last time, maybe the last time, but really, there's no reason why it should be.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013-05-30 03:50 by Title5Take1.