Just putting this out there for discussion - not even saying I'm subscribing to it.


Two things seem somewhat apparent so far, based on two shows (admittedly, it's not much, but it's all we have).

1) guitars seem turned up...background musicians turned down.

2) setlist is static


Two things related? As is commonly accepted, Chuck has been quite instrumental (no pun intended) on getting the boys to play varied setlists since '89. I wonder if Mick and Keith are "taking the band back" and as a result are doing it "their way" - this may explain these two items.

Thoughts? I mean intelligent thoughts....

You could be right. I was at the show on Sunday and I couldn't even hear Chuck. The keyboards, backing vocals and horns were so far in the background that you hardly noticed them compared to other tours. As far as the set list goes, Keith said something in an interview they had on Boston.com that said when it comes to choosing set lists they look at what they played last time they were in that city. Well based on that and the last stadium show at Gillette the set lists were very similiar with only a few different songs. They even did Shattered last time around, just the order was different. I know Keith said several times that he enjoyd mixing up the set lists so hopefully this will improve.

As far as listening to the fans for song choices I think most people said they didn't want to hear Miss You, You Got Me Rocking and Tumbling Dice. As we know those songs are still being played. You Got Me Rocking they seem to want to play every night.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-08-24 21:09 by Hound Dog.

Maybe their getting lazy at looking at the back catalog. The real die hards are dying for something different. I still like them but I'm starting to wonder. Play something from Aftermath, that would be nice.

Hound Dog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As far as listening to the fans as far as song
> choices go I think most people said they didn't
> want to hear Miss You, You Got Me Rocking and
> Tumbling Dice. As we know those songs are still
> being played.

i'd like to hear those, just not every show.. except for tumbling dice. great live song! the rest should be played accasionally.

I'm not sure about Tumblin Dice, I know A LOT of people that love that song, myself included.

My guess is that You Got Me Rocking is Mick's favorite song for one reason or another.... and it's very likely that the rest of them dig it as well.
And Keith has said that he almost get's a hard on when he sees Tumblin Dice in the set list. Miss You, I guess is Mick's thing as we'll, but if it's played very short and tight I'd love to see them play it a lot, cause it's a great song!
I guess one of the great things about music and great songs is that it's not always logical why you love a song, whether it's playing it, or listening to it. And whatever they choose to play, and for whatever reason, I'm just very very very greatfull that they still go on tour and play the way they do!!

Back in the early 1990's when Chuck was with touring with Eric Clapton, I asked him about setlists and why Eric was playing the same setlist for what seemed like 2 years. His basic response was "If it's not broke, don't fix it"

I do agree that RS do not take enough risks when it comes to setlists, I just assume they are more interested in playing to the 95% of the crowd who know only the war horses.

But Clapton doesn't really have the rich history of material to draw upon that the Stones do. He's much more locked into a certain number of must-play songs.

It's worth recalling how little the Stones changed setlists prior to '89 & especially, '94 - 95, and we got used to the varied setlists for different sized venues last tour. Plus more people seem to go to multiple shows in recent years than '82 or '72 (no?),and the instant communication of any information via internet. I used to wait for rock 'zine dispatches (the RS mag tour coverage of the '72 tour) for what now seem like droplets of info except for the shows I saw myself. I think they will add more new ABB songs, and other songs known to have been rehearsed or played at the Phoenix, but the basic concept of the set will stay with what seems to work best, after the first few weeks.

Keith is much more open to changing the setlists around than Mick is....Chuck makes a lot of suggestions about mixing things up but the final decision tends to be Mick's as he might not feel up to singing them or mightnt think the audience reaction would necessarily work

Regarding Chuck and how high/low he is in the mix. The early reviews from the last tour were pretty universal in stating that the guitars were up high and Chuck turned down...it didnt last....so whether this particular development lasts long we'll have to see

I saw 2 opening shows of Licks & the whole approach is different, with Chuck & horns much more up front last time. I enjoyed those shows, but they clearly want to emphasize the core band this time, & that more alive this week, with mistakes and awkward moments but greater vitality. If Ron stays sober, Keith in good shape, Chuck imo will stay in background.

john r Wrote:
> If Ron stays sober, Keith in good shape, Chuck imo
> will stay in background.


If we see Chuck starting to share his brewski's with Ronnie...now we'll know why!