Weird question I know, but does anyone know why, in 1981, Mick suddenly felt comfortable enough to put pre-JJF material back into the setlist?

Not withstanding the 1973 Nicaraguan benefit concert, Knebworth, El Mocambo and the occasional encore of "Satisfaction" in 1972 and 1978, Jagger had pretty much spent the entire 1970s avoiding any "old material" so the Stones wouldn't appear as some irrelevant dinosaur. Only "Get Off Of My Cloud" made it to the main setlist in the 1970s, and only then in a completely remade and unrecognizable form.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, in 1981, we get the return of "Under My Thumb," "LTSNT," "Time Is On My Side," and "Satisfaction" to the main setlist as well as attempts at "Down The Road Apiece" and "Mona" (and, if reports are to be believed, run-thrus at Longview and Sir Morgan's Cove of "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love," "I Just Want To Make Love To You," "Confessin' The Blues" and "Honest I Do.")

Why was Mick suddenly willing to acknowledge the Stones' past in 1981?



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2017-07-29 06:11 by stevecardi.

Time Is On my Side was a poke in the eye people calling them too old

As far as the others I don't know, but as far as I can tell they were never embarrassed by their back catalog.

the shoot 'em dead, brainbell jangler!

Well...it was "The Last Tour"...wasn't it?

Why not play those songs for the last time.

Pecman

I don't think there's any particular reason they played those songs other than they just felt like it. They were good songs in their cannon, so why not?

Now that I think about it, The 81 tour had the longest regular set list of any tour they had done up to that point, and they were giving Rambler a rest. On longer shows they tend to delve back into the song book.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2017-07-29 06:59 by ryanpow.

Big stadiums, lots of people. He wanted the old fans to show up as well?

Micks last tour with his Rolling Stones "the old 60s band". The 50s rock n roll was popular in the early 80s hence those covers and a bit of that style on some of their songs. Their setlist, style, micks southern accent and their clothes were very American, they are not out to conquer, explore or denounce/mock America -they are Americans providing a soundtrack for Americans and all of us who love that marvellous exciting country.

The evolution of the set lists is one of my favorite topics.

Adding 60's gems back to the set list started in 81, continued with Steel Wheels with additions of Rooster, PIB, 2000LY, Play with Fire. Plus this was to me the beginning of the warhorse era by bringing back SFTD, MR, IORR and GS which were abandoned from 78 to 82.

Then, despite all of the complaints about the warhorse era, during VL we got Monkey Man, Memory Motel, Shine a Light etc with the Stripped gigs adding quite a bounty of rarities.

One could write a doctoral dissertation on the topic for the mega-tours that followed, leading to tunes like I Wanna Be Your Man in the 50 Years Plus era. Ultimately, it's now mostly warhorses with the occasional treat like Kansas City or the SF rarities in 2015.

HBK