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crumbling_mice
I think we would all agree that Keith, whilst having flashes of his old self, is finding the touring hard. He is still having those moments where he seems to just blank out in songs and loses his way. Very similar to the major issue he had on stage following the surgery.

Maybe the way forward is to switch the role Taylor currently ha with Keith if they are intending to tour again. So Ronnie and Taylor are the main guitarists with Keith coming on for selected songs and the encore. He wouldn;t necessarily have to even do all the shows, but it could be the way forward if the touring is too much for the guy.

Seems that the rest of the band are having no problems at all and Ron is playing better than he has for years. Keith's health is the only thing preventing more touring and this solution could be a win win situation.

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latebloomer


Keith is the little engine that could. He keeps chugging away, doing what he needs to do to get to the top of the mountain. He might slip down a few times, but he gets there eventually in his own, unique style.

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geordiestone

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latebloomer


Keith is the little engine that could. He keeps chugging away, doing what he needs to do to get to the top of the mountain. He might slip down a few times, but he gets there eventually in his own, unique style.

Couldn't of put it better myself, well said.

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latebloomer

Keith is the little engine that could. He keeps chugging away, doing what he needs to do to get to the top of the mountain. He might slip down a few times, but he gets there eventually in his own, unique style.

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His Majesty

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latebloomer

Keith is the little engine that could. He keeps chugging away, doing what he needs to do to get to the top of the mountain. He might slip down a few times, but he gets there eventually in his own, unique style.

That's it.

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lem motlow

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vertigojoe
But surely this is the big secret that RS Inc desperately tries to keep quiet. Sure on this board we all know about it but i bet 95% of ticket buyers dont have a clue the Iconic Human Riff guitarist is crippled by arthritis.
The proof? Its never mentioned once in Life. You'd imagine coping with the realisation of his onsetting problems might have caused KR a few sleepless nights etc. The horror of knowing your outstanding redeeming defining feature is being taken away from you slowly. A bit like Beethoven going deaf. But no! According to Life, not even worth a mention. Never crossed his mind.

i'm far from a keith apologist,i have no problem saying what i think about keith or mick or any of the stones.but plain and simple-keith needs to get a pass on this for the exact reason vertigojoe posted above.

the fact that he gets out there and plays at all with those hands in that condition is a marvel.its as amazing as jagger moving the way he does at his age.

and he never complains about it or uses it as an excuse ,he just carries on and keeps working,it really shows his toughness and resolve.mick knows,the whole band does and they work through it.

just looking at those fingers makes my own hands hurt,his fingers are swollen to almost double their size to the point the ends nearly cover the beginning of his fingernails,you know how fcking bad that must hurt at times?

to hit a note precicely every time on something as small as a guitar neck is just not possible,it shows what a great player he is that he gets it as right as he does.when he pauses-he's setting and resetting his hands alot of the time,not "getting lost out there"he knows exactly what he's doing.

a casual fan wouldn't know any of this and probably barely notice a mistake during the excitement of the show,a "harcore fan" should understand.

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laertisflash
I have to disagree, Vedran. They're still doing excellent shows anywhere, stadiums included. In addition, playing bigger venues does mean smaller total number of gigs and THAT'S the most important factor at their age, i think. Because it's the simpliest way of saving powers. Of having deeper breaths. And this has more to do with the frequency of the gigs, with how long the breaks between the concerts are, than the size of the stage. Ultimately, noone expects from Mick to move and dance from the one side of a huge stage to the other, like he did it 40 years ago.

So, honestly, i don't see why the stadiums of the current tour should be considered as "a bad stragedy". Judging from the clips (until the Rome gig...), the band delivers and makes the crowds happy, once again.

(Speaking about "bum notes", come on, in 1978 - just an example- they played much more "bum notes". In smaller venues and stadiums too...).

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Gooo
Oh brother is right

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crumbling_mice
It is ridiculous from a Stones fans point of view, but for the rest of the band especially Jagger there may come a point where it doesn;t seem ridiculous and would be a massive money spinner.

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Turning To Gold
What's happening is pretty obvious, if you are a guitar player...

I was noodling around with a guitar in open G, thinking about some of the recent shows, and I realized this....


The issue is that Keith can no longer play chords that require THREE fingers, and a barre across the neck. His signature move...

--> He butchers the intro to "Start Me Up"

--> He screws up the intro to "Brown Sugar"

--> He no longer plays "Happy" or "Before They Make Me Run," instead playing "Can't Be Seen"and not playing at all on "You Got The Silver."

All of these songs require that three finger, bar shape chord (some might call it a hammer-on) in open G, that is the Keith Richards trademark.

Listen to the recent shows. Pay attention to where he screws up or where he gets turned down by the sound man. It's obvious if you listen. He is fine on things that are straightforward open chords (Honky Tonk Women, You Got Me Rocking") but he can't clench the neck and use two fingers to shape chords, independently of the third finger.

He can't do it anymore, folks. That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

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Deluxtone
A reference for that would be interesting, Joker.

I think that it is something that cannot not have occurred to Jagger in the present/future.

Yet it does strike me as odd that they don't make more use of Taylor on more songs - even the usual ones - unless they are worried about the risk of spontaneous combustion and the danger that this might present to fitting in with lighting and video cues/timings.

No-one seems to miss Blondie much though, (do they?).