Ok, there are a lot of threads on the best shows from the 1969 - 2003 era, but very few on the A bigger Bang Tour, as most of the shows were relatively new, when those threads vere created. So those who know the boots, what are the top 23 shows performance-wise?

Pretty specific number...

Giants Stadium - Sept 2006

Killer setlist:

1. It's Only Rock'n Roll
2. Live With Me
3. Monkey Man
4. Sway
5. Far Away Eyes
6. Streets Of Love
7. Just My Imagination
8. Midnight Rambler
9. Tumbling Dice
10. You Got The Silver (Keith)
11. Little T&A (Keith)
12. Under My Thumb
13. Rough Justice
14. Start Me Up
15. Honky Tonk Women
16. Sympathy For The Devil
17. Jumping Jack Flash
18. Satisfaction
19. Brown Sugar

The 2 best recordings are probably Atlantic City from November 17th,2006 and Stuttgart from August 3rd,2006.

Glasgow from August 25th,2006 is not bad. University of Virginia from October,2005. Buenos Aires 2006. Saitama 2006. Oakland .... November 6th,2006.

Saint Paul,Minnesota from early on in the tour is alright but a notch below the other seven.

I could be missing some. It's been some time.

There is a recent thread here : * [www.iorr.org] * but,as always,there were good performances recorded poorly as well. (Such as Boston and New York in January of '06 and East Hartford in 2005 just to name a few.)

Judging by recordings I would say:

Best:
Hartford 2005 - Very solid gig, Beast Of Burden and All Down The Line are great.
Columbus 2005 - Great opening with a supercharged Brown Sugar and then we get rarities like Mr. Pitiful played perfectly.
Whichita 2006 - Just look at the setlist!! Playing is also great.
Nijimegen 2007 - Band seems to be in considerably better form than in they were in Wercther just a few days earlier.
Lyon 2007 - The energy is there, listen to Charlie's drumming on Brown Sugar, wow!

Worst:
Tokyo Dome 1st & 2nd show 2006 - Sleeping going through the motions gigs, musically not good.
Saitama 2006 - The band is so uninspired, Keith just walks around laughing during his Sympathy solo.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-06-05 12:19 by EasterMan.

2nd night at the 02 2007. Tremendous gig. Supercharged version of Midnight Rambler. And in a row we got All DownThe Line, She's So Cold, Shine A Light and Midnight Rambler. Hearts were indeed a pumpin'.

Here's the setlist.

Start Me Up
Let's Spend The Night Together
Rough Justice
All Down The Line
She's So Cold
Shine A Light
Midnight Rambler
I'll Go Crazy
Tumbling Dice
--- Introductions
You Got The Silver (Keith)
I Wanna Hold You (Keith)
Miss You (to B-stage)
It's Only Rock'n Roll (B-stage)
Satisfaction (B-stage)
Honky Tonk Women (to main stage)
Sympathy For The Devil
Paint It Black
Jumping Jack Flash
Brown Sugar (encore)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-06-05 12:10 by Silver Dagger.

Quote
taz22
Giants Stadium - Sept 2006

Killer setlist:

1. It's Only Rock'n Roll
2. Live With Me
3. Monkey Man
4. Sway
5. Far Away Eyes
6. Streets Of Love
7. Just My Imagination
8. Midnight Rambler
9. Tumbling Dice
10. You Got The Silver (Keith)
11. Little T&A (Keith)
12. Under My Thumb
13. Rough Justice
14. Start Me Up
15. Honky Tonk Women
16. Sympathy For The Devil
17. Jumping Jack Flash
18. Satisfaction
19. Brown Sugar

Yes I loved that show.
What I remember most is that nervous breakdown moment during the intro.

The Rio concert was special, but I think that the 2005-2007 shows were among the worst the band ever played. 2007 was shocking, and it has been a pleasant surprise to me, that the band did not end a great career on such a pathetic level.

Quote
taz22
Giants Stadium - Sept 2006

Killer setlist:

1. It's Only Rock'n Roll
2. Live With Me
3. Monkey Man
4. Sway
5. Far Away Eyes
6. Streets Of Love
7. Just My Imagination
8. Midnight Rambler
9. Tumbling Dice
10. You Got The Silver (Keith)
11. Little T&A (Keith)
12. Under My Thumb
13. Rough Justice
14. Start Me Up
15. Honky Tonk Women
16. Sympathy For The Devil
17. Jumping Jack Flash
18. Satisfaction
19. Brown Sugar

I was there....simply great. I hated Streets of Love, still do actually, but Mick's performance that night was phenomenal.

Now this is a can of worms aint it.

I went to quite a few shows on the Bigger Band Tour, so I'll just talk about the shows I attended (except Copacabana, which I didn't attend). My personal favorites were as follows (with LA Forum probably being #1)

MCI Center in October 2005,
SBC Park 2 in November 2005,
MSG 1 in January 2006,
Copacabana in February 2006
LA Forum in March 2006,
Saitama in April 2006,
Atlantic City in November 2006
O2 2nd show in August 2007

Although they may not sound as good on audio only recordings, I much preferred the pre-accident shows because even though Keith might have been too busy posing for the audience to play the right riff, or handing out picks when he should have been playing a solo, etc., and Ronnie was often a mess, clowing around half the time, playing solos that had Mick looking at him like "WTF?", they were the inconsistent Stones we know and love, and they seemed to be having a great time. An earlier post mentioned Saitama as a "worst" performance, but watching the video, it seems like the last great show of the tour- it's a trainwreck in spots, but it's exciting.

The post-accident shows were always colored for me by a concern for Keith's health. What I remember from Giants Stadium 2006, for example, which other posters cite as a great show, was Keith with his eyes half open, hunched over his guitar for most of the night. When you listen to the audio, his playing is actually decent, and Ronnie really stepped it up after Keith's accident, focusing on his playing. I found that to be the case for most of the post-accident shows I saw, especially in stadiums on cold nights - they played well, but Keith seemed to really have to concentrate to play. That is why I really wondered how they would do in 2012, but Keith seems fully recovered.

The last two scandinavian 2007 gigs were great.

And frankly, I think that Keith looks as animated today as he did prior to the accident. Unreal.

Quote
windmelody
The Rio concert was special, but I think that the 2005-2007 shows were among the worst the band ever played. 2007 was shocking, and it has been a pleasant surprise to me, that the band did not end a great career on such a pathetic level.

Hershey 2005 was the only gig I saw for ABB (My first Stones show I ever saw too), and I'm by no means an expert on the rest of the tour, but I'd tend to agree with you based on what I've heard. Every show I've sen since 2012 has been leaps and bounds better than Hershey.

A typo - I meant top 3, not 23 shows.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-06-05 15:58 by Poetry.

Quote
windmelody
The Rio concert was special, but I think that the 2005-2007 shows were among the worst the band ever played. 2007 was shocking, and it has been a pleasant surprise to me, that the band did not end a great career on such a pathetic level.

Pathetic level? The closest The Stones ever been to ''pathetic'' is what they are now. A greatest hits act who play most of their songs at way too slow tempos. It's not strange that they've slowed down since 2005-07, they're older now.
The setlists in 2007 was far more varied than they are now, and also the playing was much better in 2005-07 compared to 2012-2015.

It's true that the Bigger Bang-tour was inconsistent, but the good shows was a million times better than any show they've done since 2012.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-06-05 16:20 by EasterMan.

Quote
EasterMan

Quote
windmelody
The Rio concert was special, but I think that the 2005-2007 shows were among the worst the band ever played. 2007 was shocking, and it has been a pleasant surprise to me, that the band did not end a great career on such a pathetic level.

Pathetic level? The closest The Stones ever been to ''pathetic'' is what they are now. A greatest hits act who play most of their songs at way too slow tempos. It's not strange that they've slowed down since 2005-07, they're older now.
The setlists in 2007 was far more varied than they are now, and also the playing was much better in 2005-07 compared to 2012-2015.

It's true that the Bigger Bang-tour was inconsistent, but the good shows was a million times better than any show they've done since 2012.

I look at the whole 50 year plus Stones touring and recording career as a continuous evolving piece of work. Really looking forward to Buffalo and beyond!! Especially hoping they play "You Gotta Move", oh baby that would be nice.

The two Hollywood Bowl shows in Nov 05 were outstanding....

So many variables as to what makes one show better or worse than another - how tight the band is playing, how into it the crowd is, what songs are in the setlist, where your seats are, how into it the band is, the venue and the weather. Hard to compare, but I like the second night at Fenway the best out of the five shows I saw that tour in person (also saw Fenway 1, Atlanta, Memphis, St. Louis).

Glendale'06 sounds below par but it's a fantastic show!
With Oakland two days before it's the opposite : great sound, poor perf.

Quote
drbryant
And frankly, I think that Keith looks as animated today as he did prior to the accident. Unreal.

That's a band having fun!

Contrary to what is being said about 2007, Hamburg 15.8.07 had them totally ON, building up towards the final O2 shows. The selection was killer, we got LSTNT, Rough Justice, Rocks Off, Love Is Strong, Ruby Tuesday, Rambler and I Go Crazy all in one straight run! Great boots available (notably Hamburg&Düsseldorf in one package)

Quote
drbryant
And frankly, I think that Keith looks as animated today as he did prior to the accident. Unreal.

Rocking version. Charlie opens his hi-hat more than usual causing it to swing more . I would say it's the best Start Me Up I've heard since 2007.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-06-05 18:41 by TheBlockbuster.

Denver Thanksgiving day in 2005 and Wichita in 2006 are two of the best stones shows I have ever seen. I have not missed a U.S. tour from 1975 on

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Nikkei
Contrary to what is being said about 2007, Hamburg 15.8.07 had them totally ON, building up towards the final O2 shows. The selection was killer, we got LSTNT, Rough Justice, Rocks Off, Love Is Strong, Ruby Tuesday, Rambler and I Go Crazy all in one straight run! Great boots available (notably Hamburg&Düsseldorf in one package)

Getting Love Is Strong in 2007 in Hamburg was great ofcourse, I was there, but it did't came near the versions from 1994 and 1995.

In Brno wasn't bad at all, though!

There's a pro shot vid of it too.

I would say:

Msg sept 2005

Melbourne 2006 - probably one of the loudest shows I've ever attended. Keith was on fire.

Both Twickenham 2006 shows

Glasgow 2006

2nd O2 show

I think the 2007 shows improved massively as soon as Keith shaved off that stupid moustache. I think for some reason that moustache was holding him back!!

Who will ever forget some of those dreadful versions of Moustache Me Up!!

In 2013 the Scarf took over the Moustache's role.....

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john lomax
I think the 2007 shows improved massively as soon as Keith shaved off that stupid moustache. I think for some reason that moustache was holding him back!!

Sharp assessment. THe Keefstache made it hard to really look up to the man, I have no idea what he tried to pull off with that.