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stargroover
I don't think the Stones were missed either.Infact I thought it was a lukewarm reaction from the crowd after their video message.And Bill's bass playing was amazing...really miss that distinctive sound.The Stones have never sounded quite right with Mr Jones.

I know what you mean there was hardly any reaction at all. That said it lasted all of about 15 seconds, just saying that 80 was a milestone and they're working on getting there and that they wish him a really happy birthday. There wasn't much of a reaction from Bill either just "thanks to the boys".

I think a lot of people, you could hear folks chatting afterwards, felt that there wasn't a good reason why they didn't show up.

Bill can still play his instrument very well, no problems there at all.

I'm happy for Bill.
It looks like the night belonged to him, as it should.

Ronnie's artwork was indeed a nice touch.

As far as the Stones, apparently all four of them were there.
Wyman just had them airbrushed from existence.

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Rollin92
Mick Hucknall mentioned on his Twitter that Ronnie will be there. He was obviously mistaken.

From my perspective certainly, others may feel different, it was a great concert and the Stones were not missed.

I'd say a 1/4 or so of the bass work was done by Dave Bronze whilst Bill sat out. From where I was sitting you could see him in the wings enjoying the music with his family.

[twitter.com]

Set list;

Ruby Tuesday (Joe Brown)
Tulsa Time (J
Summertime Blues (J
Donnegan's Gone (JB & Mark Knopfler)
Song for Sonny Liston (Mark Knopfler)
Playtime Deluxe (MK)
Mule skinner Blues (MK & Van Morrison)
I Believe to My Soul (VM)
Mean Old World (VM)
Harlem Shuffle (Andy Fair Weather Low)
I shall Not Be Moved (AFWL)
You Never Can Tell (Bill)

*Interval*

Martin Taylor x2 Jazz Guitar Pieces
Beast of Burden (Hollie Stephenson)
Time Is On My Side (HS)
Little Red Rooster (Bob G & Steven Van Zandt)
Route 66 (BG & SVZ)
Je Suis Un Rockstar (Bill)
King Bee (Mick Hucknall)
Reconsider Baby (MH)
6345789 (MH)
Mans World (Bev Skeete)
Tell You A Secret (Mike Sanchez)
Let The Good Times Roll (MS & Imelda May)
I'm Crying (IM)
I Feel So Bad (Robert Plant)
Let That Boogie Woogie Roll (RP)
I Need Your Lovin' Every Day (RP &IM)
Encore; I Need Your Lovin' Eveyday (Everyone)

They could have shown up.After the Boston gig there was time for them to travel.I would expect Ronnie and Charlie to be back in the UK by now.But they were not missed.The video message was the minimum they could do.

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Stonesfan62
If Bill wanted the Stones to turn up he should have coughed up £5 Million that seems to be the going rate these days.


John Nicholls

Ain't that the truth

Just wondering why the Bill gig is not featured as an official news item?The last item was the Boston gig.

Maybe because Bill isn't part of the band since the early nineties?

Maybe the same reason why Mick Taylor's activities don't make the news page very often, they're former members. Those interested in Bill's birthday celebration already have a dedicated thread that isn't considered Off-Topic.

nobody cares

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Rollin92
Set list;

Ruby Tuesday (Joe Brown)
Tulsa Time (J
Summertime Blues (J
Donnegan's Gone (JB & Mark Knopfler)
Song for Sonny Liston (Mark Knopfler)
Playtime Deluxe (MK)
Mule skinner Blues (MK & Van Morrison)
I Believe to My Soul (VM)
Mean Old World (VM)
Harlem Shuffle (Andy Fair Weather Low)
I shall Not Be Moved (AFWL)
You Never Can Tell (Bill)

*Interval*

Martin Taylor x2 Jazz Guitar Pieces
Beast of Burden (Hollie Stephenson)
Time Is On My Side (HS)
Little Red Rooster (Bob G & Steven Van Zandt)
Route 66 (BG & SVZ)
Je Suis Un Rockstar (Bill)
King Bee (Mick Hucknall)
Reconsider Baby (MH)
6345789 (MH)
Mans World (Bev Skeete)
Tell You A Secret (Mike Sanchez)
Let The Good Times Roll (MS & Imelda May)
I'm Crying (IM)
I Feel So Bad (Robert Plant)
Let That Boogie Woogie Roll (RP)
I Need Your Lovin' Every Day (RP &IM)
Encore; I Need Your Lovin' Eveyday (Everyone)

Cheers Rollin', good stuff................

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Rocky Dijon
Maybe the same reason why Mick Taylor's activities don't make the news page very often, they're former members. Those interested in Bill's birthday celebration already have a dedicated thread that isn't considered Off-Topic.

If you want information on Bill's activities, just check out his official website.
It's better than most artists' sites.

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EddieByword

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Rollin92
Set list;

Ruby Tuesday (Joe Brown)
Tulsa Time (J
Summertime Blues (J
Donnegan's Gone (JB & Mark Knopfler)
Song for Sonny Liston (Mark Knopfler)
Playtime Deluxe (MK)
Mule skinner Blues (MK & Van Morrison)
I Believe to My Soul (VM)
Mean Old World (VM)
Harlem Shuffle (Andy Fair Weather Low)
I shall Not Be Moved (AFWL)
You Never Can Tell (Bill)

*Interval*

Martin Taylor x2 Jazz Guitar Pieces
Beast of Burden (Hollie Stephenson)
Time Is On My Side (HS)
Little Red Rooster (Bob G & Steven Van Zandt)
Route 66 (BG & SVZ)
Je Suis Un Rockstar (Bill)
King Bee (Mick Hucknall)
Reconsider Baby (MH)
6345789 (MH)
Mans World (Bev Skeete)
Tell You A Secret (Mike Sanchez)
Let The Good Times Roll (MS & Imelda May)
I'm Crying (IM)
I Feel So Bad (Robert Plant)
Let That Boogie Woogie Roll (RP)
I Need Your Lovin' Every Day (RP &IM)
Encore; I Need Your Lovin' Eveyday (Everyone)

Cheers Rollin', good stuff................

It was fantastic to be there. Listening to music played with passion and spontanity. No rush through 20 warhorse done on "autopilot".

Stones could this things, when playing smaller venues. Why don't they play Route 66, I am a King Be, Going Home, Yesterdays Papers, Little by little, Out of time and other older gems? Mick could challenge his voice instead of doing safe thing. Robert Plant love singing old stuff, why not Mick!!!! I am sure the audience from last night would LOVE it. Real fans and not wannabees....

The audience last night loved the more unknown songs in stead of the usual warhorses.

5* review in the Telegraph

[www.telegraph.co.uk]

To celebrate Bill Wyman's birthday, fellow Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards sent messages while Van Morrison, Robert Plant, Mick Hucknall and Bob Geldof came to jam

The Rolling Stones sent a video message to celebrate Bill Wyman’s birthday; the skinny old rockers leaning up against one another as Keith Richards chortled, “Bill’s 80? It’s not our fault!” and Mick Jagger offered sincere but slightly incredulous congratulations on achieving a milestone they “hope to get to in time”. Bob Geldof, true to form, seemed personally affronted by the message. “Lovely to see the Stones so bemused at Bill being 80. Next week, it’s your turn, lads,” snorted Geldof in his customary derisory style.

The gangly Irishman then led Wyman’s Rhythm Kings on a snarling, sleazy crawl through the slow-burn blues of Willie Dixon’s Little Red Rooster, which the Stones memorably made their own in 1964. Geldof, 64, wailed magnificently on harmonica, Andy Fairweather-Low, 64, ripped out dirty guitar licks and the birthday boy himself remained inscrutable behind a bass held erect in front of his face.

Mick Hucknall, Robert Plant, Bob Geldof, Bill Wyman, Joe Brown and Terry Taylor pose backstage during Wyman's 80th birthday gala concert
Mick Hucknall, Robert Plant, Bob Geldof, Bill Wyman, Joe Brown and Terry Taylor pose backstage during Wyman's 80th birthday gala concert CREDIT: ALAN D WEST
The stage may have been filled by bald heads, grey hair and wrinkles, but close your eyes and that dirty blues remained as thrilling as ever. Great music is not just timeless, it effectively suspends time. And this was a night of really great music, played with love and style by masters of the art.

The vintage stars came out for Wyman’s 80th Birthday Gala at the O2 Indigo in London, as part of the Bluesfest. Robert Plant, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Mick Hucknall, Imelda May and Joe Brown all joined the Rhythm Kings for slick, rich, heartfelt runs through blues and soul classics.

Bill Wyman (L) and Robert Plant perform at Bill Wyman's 80th Birthday Gala
Bill Wyman (L) and Robert Plant perform at Bill Wyman's 80th Birthday Gala CREDIT: DAVE BENETT/GETTY IMAGES
Knopfler, 67, joked with Joe Brown, 75, that he was enjoying himself because it was so rare to be one of the youngest people on stage. Knopfler fired off almost supernaturally free-flying licks as Morrison kicked up a storm on Ray Charles’s I Believe To My Soul. Bruce Springsteen sideman Little Steven, 65, joined Geldof for a rip through Route 66, Wyman driving it along with little more than a blurred right thumb.

Mick Hucknall, a spring chicken at 56, swaggered through Slim Harpo’s I’m A King Bee and spoke about how the Stones had provided a soundtrack to all of our lives. Sensational Irish rockabilly belter Imelda May, at 42, she would have been just a twinkle in her parents eyes when the Stones were at the very height of their rocking power, absolutely tore up a version of I’m Crying by The Animals. May spoke with joy about the atmosphere back stage, where musicians were sitting around telling tales. “It’s true,” said a magnificently hirsute Robert Plant. “We’ve been talking about horn parts on Ray Charles songs. That’s how progressive we are.”


Ever the orator, it was Geldof who gave the most heartfelt speech about the vital part Wyman, with his glowering visage and nimble bass lines, played in the story of a band that genuinely shook the world. Wyman left the Stones in 1993 but has continued to perform the music he loves with the Rhythm Kings, effectively enjoying an active retirement with some of Britain’s finest old players, doing the thing they enjoy the most. It was a pleasure that was evident throughout the evening.


Under a mop of thick grey hair, behind huge glasses, and wearing what looked suspiciously like a cardigan, Wyman at 80 no longer comports himself with the leering menace that once made him and the Stones appear so dangerously reprehensible. The usually poker-faced old Stone became genuinely misty-eyed every time he tried to thank the rock royalty paying tribute to his lifetime in music.

“They’re not even getting paid,” he noted, before adding (as if slightly affronted by the realisation) “But neither am I.”

A reminder of his less savoury reputation, however, was mischievously offered after Plant spoke in praise of Wyman’s distinctive upright bass playing style. Wyman, who unabashedly claims to have slept with over a thousand women during his rock star pomp, explained that he held the bass that way to cast a shadow over his eyes, all the better to communicate with women in the front row. “It’s not all art,” he joked.

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TooTough

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stone66
It's a funny day when the lead singers of INXS, Led Zeppelin, and Boomtown Rats all look the same age as Bill Wyman, or is Bill Wyman looking even younger?

Perhaps Bill Wyman found the stairway to heaven because he doesn't like Mondays, and for that reason he don't change.

But the lead singer of INXS is dead.

Boy, is my face Simply Red.

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stone66

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TooTough

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stone66
It's a funny day when the lead singers of INXS, Led Zeppelin, and Boomtown Rats all look the same age as Bill Wyman, or is Bill Wyman looking even younger?

Perhaps Bill Wyman found the stairway to heaven because he doesn't like Mondays, and for that reason he don't change.

But the lead singer of INXS is dead.

Boy, is my face Simply Red.

That happens when we are In Excess.

A few I took last night

Great shots.


btw: here are some pictures from BW´s exhibition
in London (some rare locations!)


Scroll down a bit: [www.proudonline.co.uk]

Bill looks great, thanks for the pics! Sounds like it was a wonderful evening.

I hope the gig turns up 'somewhere' on audio

Was a great night, genuine warmth for Bill from the guest performers and the crowd.

Bill seem humbled by the evening.

It will live long in my memory and I'm sure it's a night Bill will never forget.

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stargroover
Just wondering why the Bill gig is not featured as an official news item?The last item was the Boston gig.

Because BV is only interested by current members of the Rolling Stones. If tomorrow, Charlie will quit the band, he'll forget him too and at that time you could tell what you want on him, he won't care if you're not a band memberb but not now, too early.
If the Stones stops after tomorrow (not all events on the same day), you couldn't tell anymore because he'll close the website. I enjoyed for all these years here but I think my last sentence was a suicide

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Mathijs

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HMS
The Stones won´t show up uninvited. And an invitation is very unlikely after they treated Wyman so awful in 2012. I believe inviting Wyman/Taylor for 50 and counting was a planned and well executed humilation of the "unfaithful" ex-members. First they humilated Wyman off- and on stage. Then Taylor´s 2-year-long humilation began. He rarely ever had a chance to play his "signature tunes" like CYHMK or Sway and if they allowed him to play those tunes Mick usually stopped his solo after a few bars. They treated him to play acoustic guitar on Satisfaction, his major part of the shows was a few minutes of jamming on MR (anybody could have been doing that, it´s not a big thing). The top of it all was not even letting him know that he wouldn´t be part of the zip-code-tour. According to MT he was ready and waited on a call that never ever came. To be kicked out and not even told about being out is the biggest humilation possible. They acted really macchiavellian. I love the Stones, but they can be real mean if they want to. Bill will never forget what they´ve done to him in 2012. I also do not think Bill will invite Mick Taylor, he obviously doesn´t care for MT. He never offered him to join the Rhythm Kings although it would have been an almost natural choice. So I don´t expect any Stone to join the 80th Birthday Gala.

But in all honesty, it was Taylor himself who blew it. It just wasn't any good what he played. It was unrehearsed, uninspired, sloppy. So they quickly moved him to Midnight Rambler only, which is a blues jam in B, where not much can go wrong. But even there Taylor managed to step on Jagger's and Richards'toes, by overplaying and being too present. It just wasn't a big success.

Mathijs

Is a star guest spot not supposed to be present, did Jagger expect him to stand out back and play low in the mix. Mick Jagger has to be the star of the show, he didn't like Taylor getting any limelight on CYHMK or Sway, so dropped them. Taylor performed these songs and Rambler to perfection imho. To hand him a acoustic guitar on Satisfaction is humiliating, you could see it written all over Taylor's face.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-10-30 00:45 by keithsman.

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ouroux58

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stargroover
Just wondering why the Bill gig is not featured as an official news item?The last item was the Boston gig.

Because BV is only interested by current members of the Rolling Stones. If tomorrow, Charlie will quit the band, he'll forget him too and at that time you could tell what you want on him, he won't care if you're not a band memberb but not now, too early.
If the Stones stops after tomorrow (not all events on the same day), you couldn't tell anymore because he'll close the website. I enjoyed for all these years here but I think my last sentence was a suicide

BV should remember that BW together with CW was the backbone/ spine of Rolling Stones from 1962/1992. After that, not music has been produced as a such, just concerts based on the same old 20 warhorses.

Anyway,Bob Geldof was very good on harmonica.
Never seen BG on harmonica like that.

Yes indeed - Geldof on harmonica was one of the many highlights of this gig. And mtaylor made some very true comments earlier too about setlist choices.

Does anybody know if any of the merchandise at the show can be bought online ?

As for the rest of the band not showing up--if they had, the spotlight would have pivotd off Bill, where it rightfully belonged. I think everyone made the right decision.

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Aquamarine
As for the rest of the band not showing up--if they had, the spotlight would have pivotd off Bill, where it rightfully belonged. I think everyone made the right decision.

Agreed. If the Stones show, then it's a Stones event.

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ouroux58

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stargroover
Just wondering why the Bill gig is not featured as an official news item?The last item was the Boston gig.

Because BV is only interested by current members of the Rolling Stones. If tomorrow, Charlie will quit the band, he'll forget him too and at that time you could tell what you want on him, he won't care if you're not a band memberb but not now, too early.
If the Stones stops after tomorrow (not all events on the same day), you couldn't tell anymore because he'll close the website. I enjoyed for all these years here but I think my last sentence was a suicide

I was busy celebrating the birthday of my granddaughter. I am sure she is happy having me back for her birthday as a real person, rather than over the telephone on tour or in front of my PC, pleasing impatient fans with no understanding of how other people's life is. Thanks to everyone who respect my work and the effort I put into IORR.

For those who care, I have seen Bill Wyman live on every tour and in countries like France, UK, Norway etc, the last time I saw Bill live was at one of his last shows ever in Notodden two years ago on Nov 28, just four days after I came home from the Stones tour in New Zelanad, with a terrible jetlag of course. Same with Charlie, also Ian Stweart if you care to know. I do care, and write, about all present and past band members of course.

This week, like every time I come back from far different time zones following more than just a week or two out, I have been totally dead from 5pm till midnight. I don't know how many of those who complain about missing people at this gala actually do know how your body works when you are in the wrong time zone. But then it is easier to complain than to understand.

Bjornulf

Bjornulf you do a great job with iorr,your efforts are greatly appreciated!Hope the jet lags wearing off.Cheers!