Unfortunately I have only seen The Stones since the 82 european tour, but here's my list of what imo are the ratings:

Licks
ABB
B2B
Voodoo lounge
Steel Wheels
Urban Jungle
82 european

licks
no security
voodoo
s wheel
b2b

sorry i'm not that old school

the best tour is the one you didnt see and the best show should be the next one youre going to

Of the tours I've seen (82, Urban jungle, VL, BTB, No Security and Licks) the best one overall IMO was Licks.

75
78
81
89
94
97
99
2002
2003

Can't really put an order to em...... each was great in its own way and time.

2005 Nov. (SF)

'72 MSG (although they didn't play nearly as long as they do now)

'75 Tour Of Americas (The debut of the Lotus Stage)

'02 Licks (like seeing Hot Rocks, More Hot Rocks and Video Rewind live)

I've seen them in '78, '81, '94, '97, '99 good tours but my top 3 are above

'72 U.S. Tour...hands down the best
'70 European tour...close second
'73 European tour...so close it's like splitting hairs
'76 European tour...Ronnie really fit in by the summer of '76
'75 U.S. Tour...
'66 U.S. Tour...the last with Brian Jones...but a great tour
'81 U.S. Tour...still fresh in my mind..
'78 U.S. Tour...when I first saw them
'94 Voodoo Lounge Tour...the best of the '90s tours...IMHO..most nights they were playing great!
'99 No Security...if only for the setlists
'02 U.S. Licks Tour
'97 Bridges to Babylon tour...some great nights, but sadly more poor to bad ones
'05 A Bigger Bang tour....still collecting evidence...too soon to tell, but all indications are positive.

the shoot 'em dead, brainbell jangler!

1972...1969...1970...1973....1966...1978...1981

I've only seen them twice, in '89 shea stadium and '02 roseland. I haven't heard an '89 show since, well '90, so I'm not sure how to rate it. '02 was awesome to be there, but not something I ever want to put on the stereo.

For listening, I'd rate them this way (adjustments made for quality of recordings):

'72
'73
'69
'70
pre-'69 - everything I've heard of what little there is is great!
'78
'76
'75
'81-82

cc

1972 was the tour to end all tours. Nothing else compares.

From the ones I have seen in descending order:

1981
2002/2003 Licks
1994/1995 VooDoo Lounge
2005 ABB
1978 Some Girls
1999 No Security
1989/1990 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle
1997/1998 B2B

I could reverse Some Girls with No Security.

72 U.S. Tour
73 European tour
05 A Bigger Bang tour

"early" era -- 1978

"late era" -- no security

1. 81-82 Tour.
2. Bridges To Babylon Tour.
3. 1975 Tour.

How many of these people do you reckon who say that 72 was there favourite tour, actually saw one of the show's?

1995
1990
2003

I experienced the 73 tour and i have to say because it was also my first stones concert plus billy preston supporting and also with mick taylor i began to realise over the years what a awesome concert this was.

Since I haven't been to the US, the ranking for Europe is

1973
1990
1965
2003
1997

It's difficult to compare different periods (you know, different criteria, different styles and manners), but my top5 is:

1973
1972
2005
1994-95
1981-82


In my opinion: 1978, the most overrated tour...

Gazza:

Of the tours I've seen (82, Urban jungle, VL, BTB, No Security and Licks) the best one overall IMO was Licks.

Yes you got to meet Moon is Up. a great moment in history. No tube disturbance got get between that

My list:

89/90 --> Keith at his best
94/95
71/72/73
69/70
81/82
78
02/03
97/98/99
75/76

73
72
75
05
94-95
78
89-90
02-03
81-82
76
99
97-98

1969
1972
1994
2002-2003
2005

i only can go back yo 81.....but they where quite diferent in 81 saw them 3 times.....89 was the best in my view ....voodoo was ok...b2b was very good no security very good ...licks was very good... the new one is good too...
89,98,02,94, ---on a diefernt level......81-82 i was sixteen years old...what the hell did i know!! ABB is what they are now!!!
i have heard 72 was the cats ass... as well as 69 75...
each time thaty have had a diferent line up.....89 was wymans last.. the had Lisa and (what was the other girl) bernard ......before in 81 they where really raw.. no horns except bobby....now they have darryl blonde horns ronnie is a bit more laid back....hey as long as they keep it going there is still no band out there that comes close

75 no question.

sorry double posted

-----------------------------------------------------
Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-10-14 22:06 by TeleK.

i cannot say it to the shows before 1990. (i was 9years old)
i attended the steelwheels in tokyo and urban jungle in munich.
in my thoughts it was the best tour i seen,
directly followed by the licks tour
(olympiahalle,circus krone munich)
b2b and vl was quite nice

-----------------------------------------------------
Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away

To me the best tour in recent days are the Licks tour!
In Stockholm they made the stadium show just as a small gig
in Globen or Cirkus. It was hot, sexy and raw with some good
slower moments like "Wild horses" with Keith on 12 string acoustic!

there's also my first tour memory of the Stones, in Malmoe when they
did soundcheck in front of 40 to 50 people, in that bunch I was one.
They did "Roll over Beethoven" which was changed to "Carol" during the concert!

It was a great moment in my life! No wonder I'm still a fan!

Been Stoned since 1964 and still am!

1972

Since I first went it would be

99-No security
03
81
94
97
89

Can't wait til next year!!! Btw I moved from the US to UK 4 years ago hence the tour years I have seen.

rattler2004 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> '72 U.S. Tour...hands down the best
>

The 72 Tour of the U.S. was the first I saw and still the best live concerts I've ever attended...

Mick Taylor was on lead and the band just smoked. NOBODY could keep up with the guy... not Jagger, Richards, Watts.... they all just hopped on Taylors groove and COOKED...

And of course the crowd didn't know what the f*ck was happening...

They came, played 18 or so songs and just left and you were breathless from start to finish.

Some Tour.

Next best: I really liked Licks. Every song was a concert. probably the highest "musicianship" they ever reached as a completed 10 or 12 piece band.

VooDoo Lounge was just brilliantly "raw and rocking". They hit the stage with Not Fade Away... a slow build, and then Darryl starts crackin' that bass "... boom - boom - boom - booom BOOM..."... and the whole concert was just over the top.

Those are really my favorite 3 tours. Some parts of ABB were brilliant I must say, but probably not overall as memorable as those 3.

"It's just that demon life has got me in it's sway..."