Stones Wrap Up No Filter Tour with One Hell of a Hurricane Party at Hard Rock StadiumWendy Rhodes | August 31, 2019
Michele Eve SandbergIf you thought an impending Category 4 storm with 135-mph winds and flooding rains would keep the World’s Greatest Rock & Roll Band away from their fans in Miami, you don’t know the Rolling Stones.
Mick Jagger was
born in a crossfire hurricane. In fact, those were his first words when the Stones hit the stage almost an hour late Friday for the final night of the North American leg of the No Filter Tour at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
Jagger sang “Jumping Jack Flash” to a ravenous and drenched crowd who delayed stockpiling food and nailing up storm shutters, only to be soaked by a heavy downpour just before the show began.
Guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood traded licks on “It’s Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)” and “Tumbling Dice” before Jagger paused to apologize to the crowd for “screwing up” everyone’s weekend plans.
The tour was originally scheduled to kick off in Miami on April 20 but had to be postponed to August 31 because Jagger needed heart surgery. A few days ago, it was moved a second time — from Saturday to Friday night — because of the approaching hurricane.
After receiving collective forgiveness from an audience that was elated to see them under any circumstances, the Stones rolled into “I’m Out of Control” and “Under My Thumb.”
Guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood traded licks on “It’s Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)” and “Tumbling Dice” before Jagger paused to apologize to the crowd for “screwing up” everyone’s weekend plans.
The tour was originally scheduled to kick off in Miami on April 20 but had to be postponed to August 31 because Jagger needed heart surgery. A few days ago, it was moved a second time — from Saturday to Friday night — because of the approaching hurricane.
After receiving collective forgiveness from an audience that was elated to see them under any circumstances, the Stones rolled into “I’m Out of Control” and “Under My Thumb.”
Wood worked the crowd with infinite charisma and a sly smile, while Watts perched behind his minimalistic drum set looking shy and slightly detached.
And then, in a quintessential example of the raw genius that defined the early Stones, Jagger and Richards together belted out the soulful, bluesy lyrics of the two early classics that helped seal their reputation as the most the enchanting and enduring partnership in rock.
Back at the main stage, Jagger donned black sequin tails and a black hat for an impassioned version of “Sympathy for the Devil” and then “Honky Tonk Women” before again apologizing for being late, joking that he got “stuck in Mar-a-Lago traffic.’
Wood worked the crowd with infinite charisma and a sly smile, while Watts perched behind his minimalistic drum set looking shy and slightly detached.
And then, in a quintessential example of the raw genius that defined the early Stones, Jagger and Richards together belted out the soulful, bluesy lyrics of the two early classics that helped seal their reputation as the most the enchanting and enduring partnership in rock.
Back at the main stage, Jagger donned black sequin tails and a black hat for an impassioned version of “Sympathy for the Devil” and then “Honky Tonk Women” before again apologizing for being late, joking that he got “stuck in Mar-a-Lago traffic.’
“We saved the best for last,” Jagger said as they broke into “Brown Sugar,” the final song of the regular set and which featured a riveting sax solo by Karl Denson.
And then, falling somewhere in the category of “you can’t make this stuff up,” the pre-show downpour returned precisely during the opening notes of the first encore song, “Gimme Shelter.”
Jagger and the extraordinarily talented and electrifying back-up singer Sasha Allen danced together down the catwalk to the mini stage, where Jagger raised his arms to the sky and let the rain wash over him.
The pair nailed the aching, emotional intensity of the song before Jagger helped Allen back to the main stage down the rain-soaked runway.
The showers tapered off during the second encore song, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” which saw the entire band, even Watts, laughing, playing, and appearing to have the time of their lives.
Fireworks shot up above the massive screens just as the band walked off stage. Almost immediately, the sky opened up again, the rain blowing in sheets across the field and parking lot, flooding the ground under several inches of water and making it difficult to walk.
No one complained.
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