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VoodooLounge13
Like others have said, this was the first time I'd seen the band live as well. So really, for as much as everyone laments that they miss Bill or Mick T, or Brian. I have only ever known the Stones live as the Darryl era. I've found no problems with them, but then I've nothing to compare it to, so that might explain some of us younger folks' attitude toward things. And really, having gotten into the band at 13 with SW and Flashpoint, there really wasn't much of an exposure to Bill. Can a 13-year old really tell the difference in bass players??? To me, Voodoo Lounge was primal and faaaaaaaaaaaar supreme to SW's tinniness. But I'm digressing. I think BTB has held up remarkably well over time. And yes, I think it was the last time that they really took chances with the setlists - the whole BTB/No Security tour. When I look at my first setlist now, holy crap!!!

Satisfaction
It’s Only Rock n Roll
Let’s Spend the Night Together
Flip the Switch
Gimme Shelter
Sister Morphine
Anybody Seen My Baby
19th Nervous Breakdown
Out Of Control
Star Star
Miss You
All About You
Wanna Hold You
Little Queenie
Crazy Mama
The Last Time
Sympathy For The Devil
Tumbling Dice
Honky Tonk Women
Start Me Up
Jumpin Jack Flash
Brown Sugar


How many of us would be ecstatic for a setlist like that nowadays?!?!? Mind you, there were 8 - EIGHT - songs I'd never even heard before in that list. I didn't own them and I hadn't heard them on the radio. That's what caused me to start collecting more albums.

BTB will always hold a special place for me, because that tour started a life long obsession, and it's been 25 years today since that album dropped. I gave it a listen earlier today, and it still sounds remarkably fresh, and if the boys gave us something of this caliber as the final bow, I'd be one happy mofo!!!

Alwasy interesting to hear of 'new' fans who came upon the Stones at a much later date. (Even though it's a quarter of a century now). I wouldn't expect a 13-year old to understand what bass, especially Bill's, did to their songs. I just assumed they were all great musicians and didn't really understand Bill's contribution until later. I assumed when he left they would find a top notch rock bassist to replace him like Busta Cherry Jones. They still haven't.

I have no idea what it would be like to listen to post Wyman Stones, not knowing any other sound. The Brian Jones era. Mick Taylor. Nicky Hopkins. Bobby Keys. Bill Preston. They would all mean nothing.

ROCKMAN

Thief in the night! just the topps!

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Captain Teague
I have always thought it was a pretty decent album but also thought that Flip The Switch was the weakest opening track on a Stones album ever. Not a bad song, just a weak opener.

I'll agree with that, and counter with "I think it's a bad song".

The fact that it is their fastest number just helps that it is over faster. I particularly loathe that guitar intro.

I liked it a lot more at the time of its release than I do now. It hasn't aged well in my opinion. As another poster wrote, it was a great time to be a fan and it was a time of great touring...'97-'99', but I rarely ever listen to Babylon anymore. Or Voodoo for that matter. If anything from that era I listen to Stripped and even that is pretty rarely. Generally I skip from Steel Wheels to Blue and Lonesome these days.

I also loved the Fully Finished Studio Outtakes from Bridges, 20 Nil, Prairie Love, and Dream About. As I have said before, this one needs a Super Deluxe box!!!

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Big Al
Who remembers 'Anyway You Look At It'? The last B-Side-only Jagger-Richards recording, I think.

Fantastic song. Such a pity they didn't put that on Bridges to Babylon, instead of Juiced and Too Tight for example.

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TeddyB1018
I was in the studio (Ocean Way) when the Stones recorded the backing track for Flip the Switch. It was one of those KR preferred writng methods. He had the riff. No words. They jammed on it for hours, as a live band, and the last take was many minutes long, maybe seven. Jagger played harmonica. No bass player. It sounded fantastic. Just like the Rolling Stones. The final version isn’t as exciting. Maybe it’s the simplistic lyrics.

This is something that has bothered and slightly confused me for years.
I never listen to the the official releases,only bootlegs.
Most people don’t do this because the sound of the boots is often terrible, I don’t care.
I crank it up,either in different rooms,outdoors or in my car.and what you hear is amazing- the Stones always sound the same.
It could be a track from Beggars, Goats head or Bigger Bang and it’s always the same sound.
CB seeing it in real time only confirms what I’ve always thought, the production changes everything.
It’s why I hope they never make another record,it will get destroyed, either from brickwalling, a shitty mix or terrible song selection.
Sad because they can still play their asses off, live doesn’t lie.

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floodonthepage
Generally I skip from Steel Wheels to Blue and Lonesome these days.

Exactly. I haven't watched my Four Flicks and The Biggest Bang DVDs in a long time either. Once they started releasing the Vault stuff, there isn't much comparison. To be fair, there is some great stuff on those DVDs. 'You Don't Have to Mean It', 'That's How Strong My Love Is'.

I saw all but one of the Bridges to Babylon shows in Japan 1998, Tokyo Dome x 3 and Osaka Dome x 2. I didn’t see the tour opener, Tokyo first night. All of the shows I was at were fabulous, Tokyo second night (14 March) and both Osaka nights (20 and 21 March) in particular. The web vote that was introduced for the first time was fun. Genuine or fake, it didn’t matter. And that unforgettable bridge to the B-stage! It was a magic moment that transformed the huge stadium concert into a club gig sort of an atmosphere. It felt as if it was a bridge to the fans. After almost 25 years, these shows still remain some of my all-time favorite Stones concerts.

I flew over to London the next year to attend the two nights at the old Wembley Stadium, first time for me to see them on their home turf. As much as I enjoyed the shows, I was somewhat disappointed at them as well. No more web vote, the same selection of the three songs played on the B-stage both nights and the omission of YCAGWYW from the encore (the pattern passed on from the B2B Europe 98). I felt something was lost in the transition from the B2B 97/98 through the No Security US 99 to the Europe/UK 99.

IIRC the UK tour 1999 was a postponed leg of the B2B Europe 98 for some tax-related reason. Some information source (e.g. Wiki, setlist.fm) includes the Europe/UK 99 in the No Security Tour. I’m not sure. Whatever it was, to me, these London shows felt like a degraded version of the B2B Tour.

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RisingStone
I saw all but one of the Bridges to Babylon shows in Japan 1998, Tokyo Dome x 3 and Osaka Dome x 2. I didn’t see the tour opener, Tokyo first night. All of the shows I was at were fabulous, Tokyo second night (14 March) and both Osaka nights (20 and 21 March) in particular. The web vote that was introduced for the first time was fun. Genuine or fake, it didn’t matter. And that unforgettable bridge to the B-stage! It was a magic moment that transformed the huge stadium concert into a club gig sort of an atmosphere. It felt as if it was a bridge to the fans. After almost 25 years, these shows still remain some of my all-time favorite Stones concerts.

I flew over to London the next year to attend the two nights at the old Wembley Stadium, first time for me to see them on their home turf. As much as I enjoyed the shows, I was somewhat disappointed at them as well. No more web vote, the same selection of the three songs played on the B-stage both nights and the omission of YCAGWYW from the encore (the pattern passed on from the B2B Europe 98). I felt something was lost in the transition from the B2B 97/98 through the No Security US 99 to the Europe/UK 99.

IIRC the UK tour 1999 was a postponed leg of the B2B Europe 98 for some tax-related reason. Some information source (e.g. Wiki, setlist.fm) includes the Europe/UK 99 in the No Security Tour. I’m not sure. Whatever it was, to me, these London shows felt like a degraded version of the B2B Tour.

My understanding is that the 1999 European and U.K. shows were part of the Bridges to Babylon Tour, with the original stage setup and design. I’m not sure if the European dates were rescheduled from the previous year, or I’d they were newly-added.

First time they played "Flip The Switch" live I wrote this:

IORR is over. Keith is half way to Charlie, a bit behind and to the side of Darryl. He is standing legs wide, like about to doing a split or something. Something is on. He seems eager for some reason. Then Mich says: We're gonna do a new song - it's virgin, we have never done it before live". And then they jump into Flip The Switch. What a great song. Thank you, Keith! I love it. And it sounds like they have performed it forever, even if they barely rehearsed it in fractions earlier today at the stadium. When it was done, Mick say: We did it! - with the look of a cat having just caught a bird!

Ericsson Stadium, Charlotte, NC
Friday, Oct. 10, 1997

Bjornulf

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24FPS

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VoodooLounge13
Like others have said, this was the first time I'd seen the band live as well. So really, for as much as everyone laments that they miss Bill or Mick T, or Brian. I have only ever known the Stones live as the Darryl era. I've found no problems with them, but then I've nothing to compare it to, so that might explain some of us younger folks' attitude toward things. And really, having gotten into the band at 13 with SW and Flashpoint, there really wasn't much of an exposure to Bill. Can a 13-year old really tell the difference in bass players??? To me, Voodoo Lounge was primal and faaaaaaaaaaaar supreme to SW's tinniness. But I'm digressing. I think BTB has held up remarkably well over time. And yes, I think it was the last time that they really took chances with the setlists - the whole BTB/No Security tour. When I look at my first setlist now, holy crap!!!

Satisfaction
It’s Only Rock n Roll
Let’s Spend the Night Together
Flip the Switch
Gimme Shelter
Sister Morphine
Anybody Seen My Baby
19th Nervous Breakdown
Out Of Control
Star Star
Miss You
All About You
Wanna Hold You
Little Queenie
Crazy Mama
The Last Time
Sympathy For The Devil
Tumbling Dice
Honky Tonk Women
Start Me Up
Jumpin Jack Flash
Brown Sugar


How many of us would be ecstatic for a setlist like that nowadays?!?!? Mind you, there were 8 - EIGHT - songs I'd never even heard before in that list. I didn't own them and I hadn't heard them on the radio. That's what caused me to start collecting more albums.

BTB will always hold a special place for me, because that tour started a life long obsession, and it's been 25 years today since that album dropped. I gave it a listen earlier today, and it still sounds remarkably fresh, and if the boys gave us something of this caliber as the final bow, I'd be one happy mofo!!!

Alwasy interesting to hear of 'new' fans who came upon the Stones at a much later date. (Even though it's a quarter of a century now). I wouldn't expect a 13-year old to understand what bass, especially Bill's, did to their songs. I just assumed they were all great musicians and didn't really understand Bill's contribution until later. I assumed when he left they would find a top notch rock bassist to replace him like Busta Cherry Jones. They still haven't.

I have no idea what it would be like to listen to post Wyman Stones, not knowing any other sound. The Brian Jones era. Mick Taylor. Nicky Hopkins. Bobby Keys. Bill Preston. They would all mean nothing.

i was born march 4th, 1991 the same day the last studio single with bill highwire/sex drive was released and got into the stones when i was 16 (2007)

imagine my view on them and what drew me to them and there music

the only live version i've known is the post wyman band and since becoming a fan the only version live is the post 2012 band

the only album released in that time is blue and lonesome

i can't even imagine what it was like to be a stones fan when brian was alive or see them with mick taylor in the band

or what it would have been like to listen to the big four when they came out for the first time with the rest of my generation

when the stones where gods with unparalleled impact and influence on popular culture and the musical tastes of the young

i can't imagine what's it's like to have experienced and been conscious of the band back then and then have to experience what they have become in the present

i don't find it hard to imagine why someone likes you has an often negative view on the latter day incarnation of the band

and i think it at least in part has to do with nostalgia for what was

nostalgia is a heavy burden to bear and it colors and shades the way we experience the world around us in profound ways

i don't have that burden i have the luxury and privilege to be able to experience the stones and there music on an even plain of something that has mostly happened in the past

and i think it's because of that that i'm able to basically enjoy all there music in some way

it all has deep meaning and value to me as a fan

i love bridges and exile and dirty work and a bigger bang

i listen to them all regularly in almost equal preportions

that doesn't mean i'm crazy clearly exile is better then bridges but they're both terrific albums to me just not on the same level

and i love brian, billy, bobby, the ians, nicky, ollie brown, jack nitzsche, mick taylor, and rocky dijon

they've all affected the way i view the world around me and live my life in ways i find difficulty putting into words and probably will for the rest of my life

they all have a great deal of meaning to me

sorry for ranting just suddenly had a lot to say

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Big Al

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RisingStone
I saw all but one of the Bridges to Babylon shows in Japan 1998, Tokyo Dome x 3 and Osaka Dome x 2. I didn’t see the tour opener, Tokyo first night. All of the shows I was at were fabulous, Tokyo second night (14 March) and both Osaka nights (20 and 21 March) in particular. The web vote that was introduced for the first time was fun. Genuine or fake, it didn’t matter. And that unforgettable bridge to the B-stage! It was a magic moment that transformed the huge stadium concert into a club gig sort of an atmosphere. It felt as if it was a bridge to the fans. After almost 25 years, these shows still remain some of my all-time favorite Stones concerts.

I flew over to London the next year to attend the two nights at the old Wembley Stadium, first time for me to see them on their home turf. As much as I enjoyed the shows, I was somewhat disappointed at them as well. No more web vote, the same selection of the three songs played on the B-stage both nights and the omission of YCAGWYW from the encore (the pattern passed on from the B2B Europe 98). I felt something was lost in the transition from the B2B 97/98 through the No Security US 99 to the Europe/UK 99.

IIRC the UK tour 1999 was a postponed leg of the B2B Europe 98 for some tax-related reason. Some information source (e.g. Wiki, setlist.fm) includes the Europe/UK 99 in the No Security Tour. I’m not sure. Whatever it was, to me, these London shows felt like a degraded version of the B2B Tour.

My understanding is that the 1999 European and U.K. shows were part of the Bridges to Babylon Tour, with the original stage setup and design. I’m not sure if the European dates were rescheduled from the previous year, or I’d they were newly-added.

I think they projected the visual used for the No Security Tour on the stage back screen at the Wembley Stadium for the show opening.

According to the Wiki article, “The European Leg is mainly consisted of cancelled shows from the Bridges to Babylon Tour and festivals.” Actually these dates were newly added apart from the UK shows.

[en.wikipedia.org]

Nothing beats the sounds of the Fender guitars and amplifier's on the opening number during the live shows.Added guitar solo on Satisfaction makes for a satisfying experience.

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Hansel1976
Nothing beats the sounds of the Fender guitars and amplifier's on the opening number during the live shows.Added guitar solo on Satisfaction makes for a satisfying experience.

It is the opposite for me. Keith playing the LP on it during the WL tour was SO awesome.

And I can't believe Bridges to Babylon is already that old.
In my calendar I feel like being just 10 years old or so.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2022-10-02 23:02 by ds1984.

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ds1984

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Hansel1976
Nothing beats the sounds of the Fender guitars and amplifier's on the opening number during the live shows.Added guitar solo on Satisfaction makes for a satisfying experience.

It is the opposite for me. Keith playing the LP on it during the WL tour was SO awesome.

You mean, the VL tour.

I agree. Hearing Satisfaction being played a few songs into the set from the show start, embellished with guitar solo by Keith armed with the beefy-sounding Les Paul, was quite refreshing. A nice way of revitalizing a warhorse.

I also like Satisfaction as the opener of the B2B show.

I like already over me a lot. Good record. Thief in the night top shelf.

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RisingStone

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ds1984

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Hansel1976
Nothing beats the sounds of the Fender guitars and amplifier's on the opening number during the live shows.Added guitar solo on Satisfaction makes for a satisfying experience.

It is the opposite for me. Keith playing the LP on it during the WL tour was SO awesome.

You mean, the VL tour.

I agree. Hearing Satisfaction being played a few songs into the set from the show start, embellished with guitar solo by Keith armed with the beefy-sounding Les Paul, was quite refreshing. A nice way of revitalizing a warhorse.

I also like Satisfaction as the opener of the B2B show.

It was a fresh change from the drawn out boring versions of 1981 and 1989-90. Short and to the point with muscle.

I still love B2B. Always in my top Stones albums somewhere near the top of the list.
My unpopular opinion though is that the two Keith songs at the end bore me to tears. I have been listening to the album regularly for 27 years and have rarely made it all the way to the end because of them. Lord knows I have tried.

I never heard this version before..... "Out Of Control" (rare Reggae mix)"

Some brief comments on the mix....


video: [youtu.be]

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Barkerboy2
I still love B2B. Always in my top Stones albums somewhere near the top of the list.
My unpopular opinion though is that the two Keith songs at the end bore me to tears. I have been listening to the album regularly for 27 years and have rarely made it all the way to the end because of them. Lord knows I have tried.

Imo the only problem is "Thief in the Night".

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HardRiffin

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Barkerboy2
I still love B2B. Always in my top Stones albums somewhere near the top of the list.
My unpopular opinion though is that the two Keith songs at the end bore me to tears. I have been listening to the album regularly for 27 years and have rarely made it all the way to the end because of them. Lord knows I have tried.

Imo the only problem is "Thief in the Night".

For me, "Thief In The Night" is the only reason I would listen to the album. I'd skip the rest.

Yes, Thief in the night is a big problem. I just dont get it - and I say this over and over again - two chords for five minutes, that isnt going anywhere. Why? What were they thinking? I love The Rolling Stones - every album - but this...

Just watched the press conference again. Aside from the usual "over here" and no one knows where that is, it seemed rather pointless, the same inane questions and then some that were bizarre, like about Mick being home for the birth of whatever child.

3 of the first 7 shows didn't sell out, 5 more later on. And several shows in Europe.

Too much Stones? It's too bad since the tour was way better than VOODOO and the new songs, overall, were way better than VOODOO.

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Bjorn
Yes, Thief in the night is a big problem. I just dont get it - and I say this over and over again - two chords for five minutes, that isnt going anywhere. Why? What were they thinking? I love The Rolling Stones - every album - but this...

Losing my touch and Thief in the Night are so boring.

Love Thief in the Night. Great song. How can I stop is even better. Great songs.

Very mediocre album if you ask me. I like Flip the Switch. Most of the songs are fillers or just mediocre. Also don't think this album aged well.

For me this might be my least favorite album.

B2B is their best album since Tattoo .

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Bjorn
Yes, Thief in the night is a big problem. I just dont get it - and I say this over and over again - two chords for five minutes, that isnt going anywhere. Why? What were they thinking? I love The Rolling Stones - every album - but this...

Hate to be pedantic, but it's three chords.
The fun of this song is exactly that is has a looseness (which, by the way, is deceiving because the structure is very well defined) as if they came up with it right now. It's not a sing-song verse-chorus-bridge Beatles-ABBA-Hackney-Diamonds kind of song. Instead, it's more like an atmosphere, an ambient thing. The Stones maybe have some songs a bit like that ("Let It Loose", "Heaven", "Slave"), but Keith has a lot of those and more extreme ("Wicked As It Seems", "Rockawhile", "Suspicious", etc...). The point is not in some recognizable melody but in the overall feel of it, the mosaic of various instruments and voice on the same level. I love the live-versions of Thief In The Night you can find on YouTube.
Try to play along with it on a guitar, part of the fun is when to go from the D chord to the G chord. It's perfectly simple but at the same time peculiar, a "on the wrong foot" kind of thing.
The simplicity is its strength.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2024-12-29 14:53 by matxil.

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matxil

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Bjorn
Yes, Thief in the night is a big problem. I just dont get it - and I say this over and over again - two chords for five minutes, that isnt going anywhere. Why? What were they thinking? I love The Rolling Stones - every album - but this...

Hate to be pedantic, but it's three chords.
The fun of this song is exactly that is has a looseness (which, by the way, is deceiving because the structure is very well defined) as if they came up with it right now. It's not a sing-song verse-chorus-bridge Beatles-ABBA-Hackney-Diamonds kind of song. Instead, it's more like an atmosphere, an ambient thing. The Stones maybe have some songs a bit like that ("Let It Loose", "Heaven", "Slave"), but Keith has a lot of those and more extreme ("Wicked As It Seems", "Rockawhile", "Suspicious", etc...). The point is not in some recognizable melody but in the overall feel of it, the mosaic of various instruments and voice on the same level. I love the live-versions of Thief In The Night you can find on YouTube.
Try to play along with it on a guitar, part of the fun is when to go from the D chord to the G chord. It's perfectly simple but at the same time peculiar, a "on the wrong foot" kind of thing.
The simplicity is its strength.

I am not a big fan of "Thief In The Night" (actually I find it among the most boring songs the Stones ever have released), but I agree with the lack of a certain distinctive pop song structure is not a reason to bash a song. One can fill up those minutes a track takes by many different means. And to win or lose by whatever means. For example, in this very album there are two Jagger ballads - "Always Suffering", "Already Over Me" - that formally are okay with their traditional verse/chorus structure, melody, etc, but those sound so damn cliche-like and dull, musically as uninspired as it gets.

But if one tries to create a certain atmosphere by using only minimal structural means there is a danger of its minimalism going against it. Namely, it it doesn't work, the lack of those musical elements might sound too obvious. In "Thief In The Night" Keith was ambitious, but I think he failed big time, me thinks.

Hmmm... I guess the moral of what I've tried to say is one can judge a song by purely its formal conditions - be them rich or poor - in a theory. It is how one uses those in particular instance that matters. How things turn out sound like.

- Doxa



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2024-12-29 15:43 by Doxa.