Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anybody knows what happened to the engine (Charlie Watts) yesterday during 'Sympathy.' There was no drums for half of the song, and he was not even behind his drumkit for a while. Anyone got some info ?

Also, does anybody knows why they left Ottawa this morning ? They were supposed to shoot the video of 'Streets of Love' ? Hope eveything is fine with Charlie.

Besides that, it was a great show, especially 'Beast of Burden' and 'Night Times', were unforgettable. And great vocals on the final of 'Tumbling dice.'

Cheers everyone,

J-M

someone named Toofcat posted this on shidoobee:

"The issue with Sympathy was that Charlie could not hear the percussion loop. We were very close and could see Chuck telling the backline to turn it up, and Keith and Charlie were frustrated. The people with "in ear" monitors didn't have as much a problem as they could hear the loop. So Daryll and Blondie were actually leading the way. Charlie kept falling off the loop. Mick did his best to really move around and distract the crowd. Ronnie hung in there and appeared to follow Daryll and Blondie. Keith went backstage to complain, I could see him clearly yelling at the techs to turn off the loop. For some reason they didn't. Some speculated that the loop was the sync to the lights and images, not sure. It is very difficult for a drummer to find his groove once being thrown like that, it was very strange for Charlie to leave his post. Never seen that before, or heard of it. He is normally very good at playing to a pattern or drum machine."

[p081.ezboard.com]



"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith

@#$%& the loop, get real conga players or play the rhythm on guitar.

Also from RO, Charlie was angry to find Darryl at his drum kit during his absence - so did he (D) stop playing bass? Any other eyewitness accounts or info on this most singular occurance? Of course the daily Ottawa paper review I saw the reviewer was oblivious to the whole thing. (Perhaps they should dispense w/ the loop -far less audible to audiences than in the past - & let BF/BC play some percussion.)

If anyone in the world didn't think that any conceivable question about the Stones would get answered on this site, well here you are. No matter what it is, someone who visits here knows what's up.

I agree with tootough what do they need that stupid loop for? Play it with guitars only or with congas. Where is Ollie Brown???

the only time I saw Charlie flustered was at the Oakland '02 show (had behind the stage seats, so my vantage for this was perfect):

during You Don't Have to Mean It, Charlie completely lost the beat - after a minute or so, Mick comes up from below/behind the stage (where he's been taking his break) to come up right behind Charlie and clap out the proper rhythm. It was pretty cool team work, I thought.

BersaGurra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I agree with tootough what do they need that
> stupid loop for? Play it with guitars only or
> with congas. Where is Ollie Brown???


Rehab? No I agree. Play guitars again and skip the solo Keith. It was good in '75 but since then....

Noooooooooo! He was bidding on a relic from the Civil War on Ebay and the auction was about to end!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"The wonder of Jimi Hendrix was that he could stand up at all he was so pumped full of drugs." Patsy, Patsy Stone

Hey!..thats a good laugh Menace.

ROCKMAN

Also from alt.rock-n-roll.stones:

Reports from fans say a frustrated Charlie Watts walked away from his drum
kit during "Sympathy For The Devil" at the Ottawa show, and an angry Keith
Richards yelled at roadies to fix the technical problem that had rattled the
normally unflappable drummer. Apparently a taped percussion track was
inaudible to Watts, who kept getting out of sync as a result. The band
members with in-ear monitors could hear okay, but Charlie could not, and
Keith's and Chuck Leavell's repeated demands of the roadies that the tape
track either be turned up or turned off were not acted on, Keith finally
went backstage to yell at the roadies at closer range. Mick Jagger went
into overdrive to distract the crowd from what was happening, leaving
Ronnie, Darryl and Blondie to keep playing as best they could. Some fans
speculated that the tape track could not be turned off because it is synched
to the light show, if so, this demonstrates what happens when you let
computers run a musical performance. The Stones have apparently had "click
track" problems on previous tours, but nobody can remember Charlie being
unable to hold down the beat before, very disturbing.

that may be it for sympathy,,i hope so ,,throw in rambler or shelter

Due to that mishap, I agree with chippy. Maybe it's time to put another song in it's place, at least for awhile. Please be Midnight Rambler!!!

Tho the earlier versions I heard were much improved - best of the Ron W era, far less conspicuous/audible fake percussion (thought it might be real, as some others did) - but to get up & leave the stage! Charlie?

Yeah, that's pretty crazy. I wouldn't have expected that of him either. Maybe his recent health problems have taken a toll on him physically AND in other ways, such as susceptibility to stress. I hope they don't yank Sympathy from the setlist, however. I missed that the last tour, having gone to an arena show, and I'm still in withdrawals. I'm sure the boys are hashing it all out right now and all will be well!

man I would not want to be on the business end of the exchange that must have taken place backstage during the song...

>man I would not want to be on the business end of the exchange that must have >taken place backstage during the song...

I still remember Hannover 90. Sympathy to start and Mick on top of the stage and the mic didn't work. When he came down from the top he was more than angry pointing several times in direction of one roadie!! I though, hell, must have been his last working day on that tour.

To mention the audience keeps the "huuh huuuuhhhh" running. Very cool ;-)

Well, what happened to Charlie ? Good question. I guess he finally realized how depressing it is having to play alongside a computer loop - instead of letting the dogs out like in 1969.

Chippy:

>>that may be it for sympathy,,i hope so ,,throw in rambler or shelter<<

Agree!!!
Am fed up with it! Used to love it, but... It's a long encore piece, I think, for today's attention span... Rambler is long too, but it has changes of pace and tension-building...