Went to Hamburg with few expextations, a blank mind really (after 31 concerts).

Although i have been a fan since 1973, i did not want to get too high hopes for this tour.

But... They blew me away.
Did not see too many shows on this tour. Just 4. hamburg,Lucca,Amsterdam and Arnhem.

Amsterdam and Arnhem were the best.

The band still has got a lot of energy, showed a lot of fun at the last few gigs.
sure..there had been not much interaction in the first 5 gigs between Keef and Mick.

But, i am still so much a fan, and still have a big smile on my face when i talk to other people about this tour.

55 years on the road, and still going strong.

Sure, you can talk about the @#$%&-ups, about the slower pace , blah blah blah. . But hey, they still deliver!!! Dont know if i will, when i am 73 years old.

and.. they still ge me blood pumping in high expectations for the UK 2018 Tour.

Jeroen



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-11-05 22:19 by corriecas.

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Keep On Rolling

Had a great time with great people in some of the great cities of Europe watching the worlds greatest band,what more can you ask for.

Nate

I attended 2 gigs. Barcelona and Paris 3. Both excellent, especially the second one. Of course they still deliver. Energy, strong "team spirit", and, as Dean Goodman wrote, an "wall of guitar sound". And I fully appreciate the fact that they are still performing 130 minutes...

UK, are you prepared for rock and roll??.

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Nate
Had a great time with great people in some of the great cities of Europe watching the worlds greatest band,what more can you ask for.

Nate

Ditto. The concerts were terrific - the company of various IORR rogues and scoundrels made it great! (Excuse me - almost forgot the lunatics! My bad. )

From the perspective of not having attended a show, but having watched them all online...

Generally speaking - the fact that they can still walk on stage and play 14 shows is a strong point.
Specifically - Paris 2.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

For me, the story was 'Can they still do this, or will this be a trainwreck?'
Happily, they got better and more confident as they went along. Mick's singing was good, Keith can still lay down those riffs, Charlie was good, Ronnie did his part and the rest supported the whole.
So, good tour.
I will still be holding my breath the next time they go out. Six months is a long time when you are over 70.

Strong points:

- Mick's voice hasn't been this good since 2007.
- A few nice rarities like Dancing With Mr. D and She's So Cold.

Weak points:

- Setlist
- Keith using the first shows as rehearsal

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Nate
Had a great time with great people in some of the great cities of Europe watching the worlds greatest band,what more can you ask for.

Nate

cheaper drinks in Stockholm

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Al65

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Nate
Had a great time with great people in some of the great cities of Europe watching the worlds greatest band,what more can you ask for.

Nate

cheaper drinks in Stockholm

Some might say Barcelona

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TheBlockbuster
Strong points:

- Mick's voice hasn't been this good since 2007.
- A few nice rarities like Dancing With Mr. D and She's So Cold.

Weak points:

- Setlist
- Keith using the first shows as rehearsal

I don't think that is true. Even though his playing was a bit rough on SFTD and IORR, I wouldn't say that had anything to do with not rehearsing.

He did excellent versions of Play With Fire, Dancing With Mr. D, Under My Thumb (a song he butchered in 2006) and others.

No, it probably had more to do with getting accustomed to the huge stages, the huge sound (they are in their 70s, and I suspect their hearing is somewhat impaired) and the band interaction in general, which is very different from that of the rehearsing room.

"Had a great time with great people in some of the great cities of Europe watching the worlds greatest band,what more can you ask for".

What more can we ask for? Gigs in 2018, of course!

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DandelionPowderman

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TheBlockbuster
Strong points:

- Mick's voice hasn't been this good since 2007.
- A few nice rarities like Dancing With Mr. D and She's So Cold.

Weak points:

- Setlist
- Keith using the first shows as rehearsal

I don't think that is true. Even though his playing was a bit rough on SFTD and IORR, I wouldn't say that had anything to do with not rehearsing.

He did excellent versions of Play With Fire, Dancing With Mr. D, Under My Thumb (a song he butchered in 2006) and others.

No, it probably had more to do with getting accustomed to the huge stages, the huge sound (they are in their 70s, and I suspect their hearing is somewhat impaired) and the band interaction in general, which is very different from that of the rehearsing room.

Agreed!

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Nate
Had a great time with great people in some of the great cities of Europe watching the worlds greatest band,what more can you ask for.

Nate

Says it all really !!

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

Went to Amsterdam and Paris 1 & 2, went with different people and viewed the band from different locations. The band are playing better than ever, the gigs were all great, the company was wonderful - etc. The only possible downside was the crap organisation and security in and around the U-Arena in Paris, and that has been commented on separately elsewhere on this board.

Overall - WHAT a tour !! Can't wait for the UK in 2018, given the form they're currently in !!

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

I had a great time too with the best band in the world. My 16. and 17. time (hope to see them again)
I went to Hamburg and Copenhagen. Hamburg was exiting, with a great and long setlist. I had tears in my eyes while listening to "Play With Fire" and Dancing With Mr D." And what a nice Blues set it was!

Copenhagen was a very strong gig. I was 10 meters away from Mick, Ronny and Keith as the were living the hotel just before the concert! The guys were amazing and they gave us "Doo,Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo (Heartbreaker)" Wow! So i got some really diamands i never expected to hear live and i got the best you can get from these living Legends.

Thank You so much!

Street Fighting Man was the strong point of every show. Just Wow.

Also loved crazy Mick in the second part of the tour. Smashing cymballs, throwing shirts and water... Just great.

And Under My Thumb hasn't sounded so good since 1982. The guitars were more up front, Mick sang it beautifully and the groove was back - great!

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paulywaul
Went to Amsterdam and Paris 1 & 2, went with different people and viewed the band from different locations. The band are playing better than ever, the gigs were all great, the company was wonderful - etc. The only possible downside was the crap organisation and security in and around the U-Arena in Paris, and that has been commented on separately elsewhere on this board.

Overall - WHAT a tour !! Can't wait for the UK in 2018, given the form they're currently in !!

I was at all 3 Paris shows. Such were my experiences of the 1st 2, that I couldn't be bothered to turn up early for the 3rd and queue up all day for a spot up front in Fosse Or. But by all accounts, the final show was much better organised than the 1st 2. I turned up at 645pm and it took me 45 minutes to queue and get through security. Still got a good spot anyway, on Ronnie's side, finally getting SSC live in my presence after 26 shows! She's a Rainbow a pleasant surprise too.

Also attended Hamburg & Barcelona. Excellent Tour with Mick's voice still sounding very fresh and strong. That was evident at the final rehearsals in Hamburg, which I listened to from behind the stage.

While not the best perfomance, Hamburg was probably the most exciting gig as we had no idea of song order or the fact we'd get 22 songs. Opening with Sympathy took us all by surprise. I shared the experience with 7 other IORRians and 2 other fans. 4 were IORR Band Members and Frontman DP even provided us with in-crowd backing vocals on a couple of songs

Barcelona on a warm balmy evening with the enthusiastic Ole Ole crowd was memorable too.

5 enjoyable shows and no complaints from me other than the shambolic organisation of Paris 1 & 2.

I shudder to imagine how many UK shows I'll end up going to next year
I'm a native and so can attend most shows at short notice. Will definitely do Scotland, Wales & Ireland if I can.

To answer the original thread topic, the strongest point has to be Mick. His voice is, by a country mile, the strongest of any of his peer group of veteran rockers and his athleticism for a 74 year old man absolutely breathtaking. He is bordering on superhuman and his ability to hold an audience in the palm of his hand and work a crowd is undiminished after 55 years.

As for the rest of the band, it's amazing that they are still able to consistently put on the calibre of show that they do, even if they are a little more reliant on their non-core support band.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2017-11-06 14:25 by grzegorz67.

The B & L blues numbers were also highlights for me!

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grzegorz67

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paulywaul
Went to Amsterdam and Paris 1 & 2, went with different people and viewed the band from different locations. The band are playing better than ever, the gigs were all great, the company was wonderful - etc. The only possible downside was the crap organisation and security in and around the U-Arena in Paris, and that has been commented on separately elsewhere on this board.

Overall - WHAT a tour !! Can't wait for the UK in 2018, given the form they're currently in !!

I was at all 3 Paris shows. Such were my experiences of the 1st 2, that I couldn't be bothered to turn up early for the 3rd and queue up all day for a spot up front in Fosse Or. But by all accounts, the final show was much better organised than the 1st 2. I turned up at 645pm and it took me 45 minutes to queue and get through security. Still got a good spot anyway, on Ronnie's side, finally getting SSC live in my presence after 26 shows! She's a Rainbow a pleasant surprise too.

Also attended Hamburg & Barcelona. Excellent Tour with Mick's voice still sounding very fresh and strong. That was evident at the final rehearsals in Hamburg, which I listened to from behind the stage.

While not the best perfomance, Hamburg was probably the most exciting gig as we had no idea of song order or the fact we'd get 22 songs. Opening with Sympathy took us all by surprise. I shared the experience with 7 other IORRians and 2 other fans. 4 were IORR Band Members and Frontman DP even provided us with in-crowd backing vocals on a couple of songs

Barcelona on a warm balmy evening with the enthusiastic Ole Ole crowd was memorable too.

5 enjoyable shows and no complaints from me other than the shambolic organisation of Paris 1 & 2.

I shudder to imagine how many UK shows I'll end up going to next year
I'm a native and so can attend most shows at short notice. Will definitely do Scotland, Wales & Ireland if I can.

To answer the original thread topic, the strongest point has to be Mick. His voice is, by a country mile, the strongest of any of his peer group of veteran rockers and his athleticism for a 74 year old man absolutely breathtaking. He is bordering on superhuman and his ability to hold an audience in the palm of his hand and work a crowd is undiminished after 55 years.

As for the rest of the band, it's amazing that they are still able to consistently put on the calibre of show that they do, even if they are a little more reliant on their non-core support band.

Hear, hear!

Paris 3 and Amsterdam (the best i've seen on this tour) was the best shows i saw since Porto in 2006.
The sound, the interraction between boys, the way they use space. I was so dissapointed after Hamburg but the guys blew me away again
i'm surprised to write this but this is the way i feel and it's honnest

Paris 3 was awsome!!!

Play With Fire was the absolute highlight of the Hamburg show. Don't know why they just dropped it after one outing. They did so with Sway too. After they debuted it in Sept. 2005 in Columbus, they didn't play it again until Jan. 2006.
To me, having seen just Hamburg, the main problem of the tour was the setlist. Even a 20 song set is not long enough if they include SFM, PIB, YCAGWYW, IORR and MU (these songs are somehow variable warhorses if u look at past setlists) to leave space for rarities. Just two spots each night (including the "not so rare" vote song) and NO ballad was a letdown for every setlist Nazi like me.

Strong points:

1. The guitars prominent in the mix, did not hear it to this extent since the 81/82 tour.

2. The Blues streak, unfortunately only two numbers, let us hear more of this. The Stones at their essential peak. What the hell they could give us if they would refocus on this.

3. Dancing with Mr. D.

4. Ronnie's solo guitar on MR in the middle part and at the end (sometimes).

5. Slipping Away.

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paulywaul

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Nate
Had a great time with great people in some of the great cities of Europe watching the worlds greatest band,what more can you ask for.

Nate

Says it all really !!

I second that! God, the three shows in Paris were off the charts Praying for England 2018

It was a great tour, at least a great end in Paris for all 3 shows there.
Paris 2 and Paris 3 were better than Paris 1, but I cannot say which was the best.

Of course, Play With Fire was sorely missed.
And as far as I'm concerned, I'm fed up with Tumbling Dice.
Would have been happy so see them drop this one and play something else instead.

[doctorstonesblog.blogspot.com]

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DandelionPowderman

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TheBlockbuster
Strong points:

- Mick's voice hasn't been this good since 2007.
- A few nice rarities like Dancing With Mr. D and She's So Cold.

Weak points:

- Setlist
- Keith using the first shows as rehearsal

I don't think that is true. Even though his playing was a bit rough on SFTD and IORR, I wouldn't say that had anything to do with not rehearsing.

He did excellent versions of Play With Fire, Dancing With Mr. D, Under My Thumb (a song he butchered in 2006) and others.

No, it probably had more to do with getting accustomed to the huge stages, the huge sound (they are in their 70s, and I suspect their hearing is somewhat impaired) and the band interaction in general, which is very different from that of the rehearsing room.

Well I hear what you say, but I think his playing was better on opening night 2016, 2015 and 2014 etc.. Maybe it's an age factor, or maybe he just didn't pick up his guitar between the Cuba and Hamburg shows. I know from own experience if I barely play guitar in a month, my ''chops'' will go down and it will take a few hours to get back where I was. Keith seemed to play better with every show this year.