Review: The Rolling Stones show why they’re the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band

Scott Mervis
October 5, 2021


Emily Matthews

Mick Jagger wasn’t around “when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and pain,” as he sang late in the set, but he was actually around just after the Blitzkrieg raged.

Somehow, he’s still running around stadium catwalks like a teenager.

The wonders of the 78-year-young Jagger, in an array of sleek, flashy jackets, were on full display Monday night when The Rolling Stones. after a pandemic delay, finally touched down at Heinz Field on the No Filter Tour.

With the Stones having played their first show here in 1964, it now widens the gap between Pittsburgh shows to a whopping 57 years. Making each of the shows all the more precious, this was just the 11th stop here during that span (as they ignored us for 17 years between the glorious ‘72 tour and Steel Wheels in ‘89).

This time, the Stones travel with heavy hearts, having just lost the heartbeat of the band, Charlie Watts, in August. He was honored at the top of the show with a moving video montage of him playing a simple backbeat.

The Stones hit the stage at 8:48 p.m., striking a defiant tone with “Street Fighting Man,” guitars clanging and Jagger singing in clipped fashion. He was just getting warmed up.

It launched a 19-song set, all but three of which were classics from their mid-‘60s to early ’80s heyday. They could have gone on for six or seven more hours with those. Paul McCartney does 35-plus song sets, just sayin’, but he doesn’t have to “move like Jagger” (an obligatory phrase now in any Stones review).

“It’s quite emotional when you see these images of Charlie up on the screen,” Jagger told the crowd. “We played with each other for 59 years…We dedicate this show to Charlie Watts.”

The Stones are now the two originals in Jagger and his 77-year-old Glimmer Twin Keith Richards, along with “the new guy” Ronnie Wood, who moved over from The Faces in 1975. The three of them generate the core of a sexy sound that has defined the Stones through the decades.

Their roots are in American blues, so despite some of their records being glossy at times, they much prefer LOUD and RAW to slick, produced and note-perfect. That element of chaos to the guitar work makes it all the more visceral and electric, and clearly have a blast doing it.

Early on, they stormed through “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” “Tumbling Dice” and “19th Nervous Breakdown” before getting to the first rarity with “Troubles a’ Comin,” a cover of a Chi-Lites song they recorded in 1979 that’s just now being released as part of the “Tattoo You” boxed set.

“I was hoping to do ‘As Tears Go By’ in Italian, but it didn’t win,” Jagger said of the online fan-vote request song. The honors went to “Angie,” given a lovely treatment with RIchards on acoustic guitar.

It was paired with “You Can't Always Get What You Want,” done this time without the full choir production, but with a searing Wood solo, a crowd sing-along and a revved-up gospel finish.

“Thank you, Pittsburgh, you sang brilliantly!” Jagger hollered. “Even better than Cleveland.”

“Living in a Ghost Town,” the funky, almost tropical rocker released during the pandemic, followed the trend new Stones songs sounding enough like old Stones songs. With the energy waning a bit on that one, they cranked things right back up again with “Start Me Up,” a song probably played hundreds of times in this stadium, “scene of a lot of drama,” as Jagger called it.

Before making the band intros, Jagger mentioned not having much time to explore the city — like “glaring at myself at the Andy Warhol Museum” — but he did say he hit Primanti’s on Saturday, and that he would have to loosen his britches. They are slimmest size possible.

Eleven songs in, he went off to get oxygen, or whatever he does, leaving the stage to Keef, in a leopard blouse and bright yellow knit hat, to handle the vocals on “Slipping Away” and “Before They Make Me Run,” which included a touching moment when he put his hand on his heart to sing, “It’s another goodbye to another good friend.”

In for that good friend was a different old friend in Steve Jordan, a member of Richards’ late ‘80s solo band X-pensive Winos. He filled in nicely by driving a muscular beat with bassist Daryl Jones, who replaced Bill Wyman in 1994. Rounding out the ensemble were keyboardists Chuck Leavell and Matt Clifford, backing vocalists Bernard Fowler and Sasha Allen, and saxophonists Tim Ries and Karl Denson.

They got to jam out together when Jagger returned for a disco-funk workout on “Miss You,” followed by a magnificent “Midnight Rambler” with the singer blowing harp and an absolute barsage of loud snarling from the guitars. It was the Stones in peak form.

Once Jagger caught his breath, they stomped into one of the great, exotic odes to misanthropy, “Paint It Black,” followed by a cosmic “Sympathy for the Devil” with a hellish fire to the screens and Richards taking liberties with the classic solo

“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” was an absolutely ecstatic closer, the riff ringing out so loud you could probably hear it in Squirrel Hill.

There was no doubt we were watching the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band of all time.

“That’s it for Pitt!” Jagger yelled, leaving the stage.

Ir wasn’t totally it because they came back with a “Gimme Shelter” that unleashed Allen in a shout-away with Jagger on the B-stage, and, finally, the song that made the Stones the Stones: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”

The first time they played it here was ‘65 at the Civic Arena, when LBJ was the president and the song hit the planet like an asteroid. More than a half-century later, there’s life left in “Satisfaction” — and in the Stones, who were satisfied in every possible way ages ago, but keep rolling every time we think they’re done. They certainly earned those fireworks at the end.

Will they be back when they’re 83? Stay tuned.

Among those privileged to open for the Stones over the years in Pittsburgh: The Byrds, Stevie Wonder and Pearl Jam. Winning that coveted spot this time was Ghost Hounds, the Stonesy Pittsburgh-based band formed by guitarist, Hollywood producer and minority Steelers owner Thomas Tull.

They had a dynamic frontman of their own in Tre Nation, who was up to the challenge of impressing the people who weren’t still hanging in the parking lots and the concourse.

Since the tour for the debut album, they’ve enhanced the sound with three backup singers. Highlighting their set was the soul-rocker “She’s All Gone,” boogie-woogie number “Bad News” and their bluesy version of the old Cliff Richard tune “Devil Woman.”

Tull wished his 12-year-old twin boys happy birthday, saying “I’m glad I could get The Rolling Stones for your birthday.”

[www.post-gazette.com]

Quote
StonedRambler

Quote
bitusa2012
GREAT photos BV. Tell me/us… somehow you seem to have superb pics taken from slightly above ground/pit level. They don’t seem to be taken from IN the bottom of the pit. You’re looking straight at the band, even slightly DOWN on them occasionally. Do you levitate???

Bjornulf is just really tall

Met him in Perth in 2014. No, he’s not!!!! ;-)

Rod



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-10-05 14:26 by bitusa2012.

Quote
bitusa2012

Quote
StonedRambler

Quote
bitusa2012
GREAT photos BV. Tell me/us… somehow you seem to have superb pics taken from slightly above ground/pit level. They don’t seem to be taken from IN the bottom of the pit. You’re looking straight at the band, even slightly DOWN on them occasionally. Do you levitate???

Bjornulf is just really tall

Meet him in Perth in 2014. No, he’s not!!!! ;-)

Took a little bit for me to get the joke

The Rolling Stones rock Pittsburgh with plenty of hits, energy

Paul Guggenheimer
October 5, 2021


Shane Dunlap


The extension of the pandemic has kept several bands away from Pittsburgh this year.

But it was going to take a lot more than the threat of covid-19 variants to prevent The Rolling Stones from coming to Pittsburgh, the latest stop on the group’s “No Filter Tour.” The show had originally been scheduled for June 2020 but was postponed by the pandemic. However, it was not going to happen a second time.

Not even the death of the Stones’ longtime drummer Charlie Watts, just six weeks ago, could stop them from playing a rocking show before an estimated crowd of over 50,000 fans at Heinz Field Monday night. Drummer Steve Jordan has been filling in for Watts and did an excellent job of keeping the steady beat going.

The Rolling Stones have been around a long time and their song catalogue is extensive. So, one of the questions fans likely had going into the show was what songs would Mick Jagger and company perform?

“’Wild horses’ is probably my favorite but (also) ‘Satisfaction’ and ‘Memory Motel,’” said Amanda Mills, 31, of Cecil County, Maryland. “What about you?” said Amanda to her sister Stephanie Mills, 28. “Paint it Black,” answered Stephanie without hesitation.

The girls’ mother Kristen Mills has seen the Stones about 20 times but wasn’t going to miss this show. “I always think it might the last one,” she said.

If it was the last Rolling Stones show in Pittsburgh, the group certainly went out on a high note — which Jagger can still hit. The Stones front man and guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood left it all on stage in a roughly two hour and 15 minute show that was exhausting to watch let alone to perform.

The evening began with a video tribute to Watts displayed on four giant video monitors. After Jagger burst onto the stage and launched into “Street Fighting Man” and then “Let’s Spend The Night Together” to open the show, he became emotional as he announced that the Stones were dedicating the show to Watts.

After a hearty rendition of “Tumbling Dice,” Jagger told the crowd “Blimey, it’s good to be back at Heinz Field, scene of so much drama.”

Dressed most of the evening in an all black outfit that made his torso look super thin and his arms and legs downright spindly, Jagger was a blur. He skipped, hopped, danced, shimmied and ran all over the stage, and its accompanying runway, so fast, it seemed faintly scandalous that a man of 78 was performing with such high energy.

Just when he started to look a little tired, Jagger would pull himself together, no doubt helped by those high intensity workouts he’s been seen doing on social media.

The Stones might have caught the crowd by surprise when Jagger sang a version of the Chi-Lites “Troubles a’ Comin,” a true rarity the Stones recorded in Paris in 1979 during sessions for the band’s “Emotional Rescue” album. It went unreleased for over four decades before they recently decided to put it out there.

If it didn’t catch the crowd by surprise, “Troubles a’ Comin” seemed to throw Richards for a loop when he appeared to stop playing before figuring things out and jumping back in.

That was followed by the evening’s fan vote song “Angie” and then “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” which saw Jagger play acoustic guitar before walking the runway and encouraging the crowd to sing the refrain.

“Thank you, you sang brilliantly, even better than Cleveland,” he remarked.

After a version of the pandemic inspired 2020 release “Living in a Ghost Town” that featured a harmonica solo by Jagger, the band played a blistering rendition of “Start Me Up” that had Richards and Wood trading brilliant guitar solos.

Following a version of “Honky Tonk Woman” that featured what seemed to be Voodoo inspired video effects, Jagger told the crowd that he was a bit frustrated at not having enough time to see much of Pittsburgh on this trip.

“I haven’t even had time to go to the Andy Warhol Museum and look at myself,” he said. “I did have time to queue for a sammich (yes, Jagger said it that way) at Primanti’s.”

Jagger for sure burned off those calories on Monday night. He did, however, take a break to let Richards enjoy the spotlight on a couple of songs including “Before They Make Me Run” and “Slipping Away.”

Richards, wearing a yellow wool ski cap and a silver ear ring in his left ear told the crowd, “It’s great to be in Pittsburgh. It’s great to be anywhere.”

Jagger came roaring back to the stage for the Stones disco-era gem “Miss You,” on which he played rhythm guitar. He also encouraged the crowd to join him on the high pitched “whoo hoo hoo ooo, ooo” parts of the song.

He followed that by working up a sweat with a 15-minute version of the intensely bluesy “Midnight Rambler,” a song for which Jagger once again broke out his formidable harmonica. Then he stretched out the song, engaging in a bit of call and response with the crowd as he made his way up and down the runway.

Between songs, Jagger mentioned the group’s June 1964 Pittsburgh debut at Danceland in West View Park, the first of the Stones 11 appearances here.

“Did anyone here climb under the fence (that day)?” asked Jagger. “Well, thanks for coming back.”

“Paint It Black” was next. Stephanie Mills had her wish.

Jagger was at his dancing fool best for “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” which ended the pre-encore part of the concert.

The encore might have been the best part of the show. Jagger, now resplendent in a black frock coat with silver sequins, was joined on “Gimme Shelter” by Sasha Allen, a New Yorker who’s been a backup vocalist with the Stones touring band since 2016. She took her turn in the spotlight, creating a fabulous duet with Jagger that rivaled singer Merry Clayton’s iconic vocals on the 1969 recording of the song.

The grand finale was a staccato version of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” that Jagger no doubt decided to juice up after singing it so many times. It was a bit different but still satisfying — and included Jagger breaking out a Terrible Towel and twirling it with vigor as if to show he hasn’t given up on the Steelers.

The consensus among veteran Rolling Stones watchers at this show was that these age-defying rockers, Richards is 77, just keep getting better. Maybe they will make it back here again, if only to perform “Wild Horses” for Amanda Mills. It did not make the playlist this time. Sorry, Amanda, but you can’t always get what you want.

Local group Ghost Hounds opened the show with a strong 45-minute set that included a bunch of fine original songs performed by front man Tre Nation, plus a kicking cover of the song “Devil Woman” made famous by Cliff Richard.

The Ghost Hounds must have impressed Jagger who made a point of thanking them while the Stones were on stage.

[triblive.com]

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
Jeffer
He play's the intro in open G, just as he did with the Winos.The sounds reminds of a Telecaster. After the intro is done, ha changes to the Gibson Les Paul Jr with standrad tuning. Look att the clip where he is hiding in the beginning and Ronnie's guitar is the only you can hear during the switch.

[www.youtube.com]

No, he doesn't. And he didn’t with the Winos.

Sorry, I was wrong.
But he plays the lick different and this way fits him better because it's similar to his open g-chords. The lick is played the same way as in the 89-90 tour which you can hear from Atlantic City with Stones and Boston 93 with Winos.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-10-05 14:44 by Jeffer.

Quote
Jeffer

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
Jeffer
He play's the intro in open G, just as he did with the Winos.The sounds reminds of a Telecaster. After the intro is done, ha changes to the Gibson Les Paul Jr with standrad tuning. Look att the clip where he is hiding in the beginning and Ronnie's guitar is the only you can hear during the switch.

[www.youtube.com]

No, he doesn't. And he didn’t with the Winos.

Sorry, I was wrong.
But he plays the lick different and this way fits him better because it's similar to his open g-chords. The lick is played the same way in th 89-90 tour.

With the Winos he played the riff differently (but still in standard tuning), trying to make it sound more like the studio version.

Is it just me or was Start Me Up especially good last night? That weaving at the end!

I don't remember them playing It's Only Rock N Roll.

However I had about 15 beers in me so I may have just missed it.

Quote
Jeffer

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
Jeffer
He play's the intro in open G, just as he did with the Winos.The sounds reminds of a Telecaster. After the intro is done, ha changes to the Gibson Les Paul Jr with standrad tuning. Look att the clip where he is hiding in the beginning and Ronnie's guitar is the only you can hear during the switch.

[www.youtube.com]

No, he doesn't. And he didn’t with the Winos.

Sorry, I was wrong.
But he plays the lick different and this way fits him better because it's similar to his open g-chords. The lick is played the same way as in the 89-90 tour which you can hear from Atlantic City with Stones and Boston 93 with Winos.

I know what you mean. It’s not in open-G, but he is doing it like he used to … he’s playing A shapes rather than E shapes, starting at sixth fret rather than 9th. I prefer that, too, and it’s allowing him to grab the slightly different arpeggio that you hear on the record.

Quote
StonedRambler

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
Jeffer
He play's the intro in open G, just as he did with the Winos.The sounds reminds of a Telecaster. After the intro is done, ha changes to the Gibson Les Paul Jr with standrad tuning. Look att the clip where he is hiding in the beginning and Ronnie's guitar is the only you can hear during the switch.

[www.youtube.com]

No, he doesn't. And he didn’t with the Winos.

I think I might have been played in open E. It sounds similar to the original version which is in Open E. You can definitely hear that it's a different guitar, does not sound like the LP Junior but rather like a Fender - judging from that one Youtube video that is available.

I haven't seen any of the current clips but for many years Keith has played the GS intro mostly using the E shaped inversion, starting on the 9th fret.
In recent times he's used the A shaped inversion lower down the neck a bit more.
This lends itself better to some of the little licks and extensions from the studio cut.

[www.youtube.com]

Mick sounded better on Trouble's A Coming this time. Keith forgot to play his riff at 2:30. Then Ronnie starts playing the wrong chord. I'm sure they will nail it the next time.

He’s using the Junior in standard for the whole song. Tone is different because he starts on neck pickup (possibly some tremelo in there too). Neck position is pleasant, but when he switches to bridge, it’s the worst tone of his career. I’ve been complaining about that too much, so I’ll stop now

From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:


Emily Matthews


Emily Matthews

Quote
MelBelli

Quote
Jeffer

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
Jeffer
He play's the intro in open G, just as he did with the Winos.The sounds reminds of a Telecaster. After the intro is done, ha changes to the Gibson Les Paul Jr with standrad tuning. Look att the clip where he is hiding in the beginning and Ronnie's guitar is the only you can hear during the switch.

[www.youtube.com]

No, he doesn't. And he didn’t with the Winos.

Sorry, I was wrong.
But he plays the lick different and this way fits him better because it's similar to his open g-chords. The lick is played the same way as in the 89-90 tour which you can hear from Atlantic City with Stones and Boston 93 with Winos.

I know what you mean. It’s not in open-G, but he is doing it like he used to … he’s playing A shapes rather than E shapes, starting at sixth fret rather than 9th. I prefer that, too, and it’s allowing him to grab the slightly different arpeggio that you hear on the record.

But is he doing that now?

EDIT: Yep, he is. Even touching on the suspended chord that is different on the studio version.

I like it. He should add a touch of tremolo to it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-10-05 16:12 by DandelionPowderman.

For those of you in the Pit in Pittsburgh, was it crowded toward the back or was there plenty of room? So far St. Louis had room and Charlotte was packed.

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
MelBelli

Quote
Jeffer

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
Jeffer
He play's the intro in open G, just as he did with the Winos.The sounds reminds of a Telecaster. After the intro is done, ha changes to the Gibson Les Paul Jr with standrad tuning. Look att the clip where he is hiding in the beginning and Ronnie's guitar is the only you can hear during the switch.

[www.youtube.com]

No, he doesn't. And he didn’t with the Winos.

Sorry, I was wrong.
But he plays the lick different and this way fits him better because it's similar to his open g-chords. The lick is played the same way as in the 89-90 tour which you can hear from Atlantic City with Stones and Boston 93 with Winos.

I know what you mean. It’s not in open-G, but he is doing it like he used to … he’s playing A shapes rather than E shapes, starting at sixth fret rather than 9th. I prefer that, too, and it’s allowing him to grab the slightly different arpeggio that you hear on the record.

But is he doing that now?

EDIT: Yep, he is. Even touching on the suspended chord that is different on the studio version.

I like it. He should add a touch of tremolo to it.

I was surprised too. Very encouraging. I have to think he and Steve talked about it. (I hear some tremelo, just a hint of it.)

What was up with a rug being rolled up from the cat walk during the show ? Was it there to prevent slipping in case of rain?

To make good pictures you do need a quality camera, and also the right settings. Luckily Hendrik and Jim have helped me with that. During shows my camera is always at M = Manual, 1/250 shutter speed and ISO 800. The rest is automatic I think.

I like it best at the back of the pit, then it is less pushy and crowded, you see all of the stage, also both sides, with a relatively flat i.e. horizontal view. Also you are closer to the B-stage. When I am in the front, I feel like I am missing all out there at the B-stage.

Then I never lift my camera above my head, because first of all that is bothering others behind me, but also the higher you hold up the camera in the air, the more unstable it is. Most pictures are taken with zoom 5x to 10x - as you get to 10x you have to keep your hands very steady, otherwise the picture is getting very blurred.

Then 95% of all pictures are not never good quality visually, so to get 20 good pictures you need more than 400 to choose from.

And finally I never take pictures when the stage is all lit up, then there is too much light, and pictures will be bad.

I don't really want to be busy making pictures, I am at the show to enjoy it, so I turn the camera off many times, then there is another moment I just have to preserve, for the future, to look at them when I am old and do not remember anything, then I turn the camera on once more and take may be 10-15 quick pictures.

Bjornulf

Good lord, that version of Gimme Shelter is outstanding.

The Telegraph

The Rolling Stones, review: Watts is much missed, but the show goes on
Jamie Fullerton
Tue, October 5, 2021, 8:16 AM

When Charlie Watts died in August, the purpose of The Rolling Stones’ Covid-rescheduled US tour dates suddenly became something more significant than merely marking the return of mega-sized stadium rock gigs. Beginning in 2017, halted in 2019 then finally reaching Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field on Monday, this delayed section of the No Filter tour was dedicated by Mick Jagger dedicated to his late bandmate, who noted that it was their first without him. Before the band appeared, images of Watts through the decades were shown on skyscraper-shaped screens.

A beat played as footage of Watts drumming cut to shots of him being embraced by his bandmates, at which point this American football stadium suddenly felt intimate. “It’s just quite emotional when you see images of Charlie on screen,” Jagger said. “We played together for 59 years as a band.”

Following this lump-in-the-throat start, the band kicked into Street Fighting Man, anchored by the steady drumming of Watts’s tour replacement Steve Jordan. Jagger yowl-sang in Keith Richards’ face as the gnarled guitarist, purple jacket folded to the elbows, grinned. Just as suddenly, things felt close to normal Stones stadium service.

The band has rolled on after losing founding members before. Bassist Bill Wyman left in 1993, keyboard player Ian Stewart was demoted in 1963 for not looking hip enough, and guitarist Brian Jones was ditched in 1969, shortly before his death at the age of 27.

However, Watts – along with Jagger, Richards and guitarist Ronnie Wood (since the latter joined in 1975) –was part of the band’s resilient core. Which meant that the affable drummer’s death raised questions about their long-term future that previous losses hadn’t.

Such debate was probably louder among fans and critics than inside Camp Stones, with Jordan, Richards’s drummer for his solo work, recruited to stand in for Watts before his death. When Watts’s death was announced, it didn’t feel as though the surviving Stones would seriously consider winding down – as Jagger introduced the players after the set highlight Honky Tonk Women, he lingered on Jordan, calling him “a good friend of Charlie’s”.

That said, three shows into the tour, Jagger’s hyperactive jerk-dancing for the rarely-aired 19th Nervous Breakdown made it seem almost sensible to raise the question of a long-term future for a band that has a 78-year-old frontman. But watching the impish Jagger-jigs along the runway stage, seeing a performer clearly still in love with motion and dance, felt freshly joyous after such a long mega-gig shutdown – the parent-scaring rebel turned snake-hipped senior citizen has been belying biology for decades, and seems to be continuing to do so.

“It’s good to be out and about again”, Jagger said before noting the lyrical suitability of Living in a Ghost Town, considering recent lockdowns. On You Can’t Always Get What You Want, he stuffed his microphone down his trousers, giving him two free hands to flap-dance as he screwed up his eyes, seeming to absorb energy from the crowd.

Further catharsis came when Richards took on frontman duties for Slipping Away. What might have been anticipated as a convenient point to hit the bar, the guitarist’s vulnerable, croaky vocals in fact created an unexpected emotional highlight. He tapped his chest and muttered “God bless you all” as the sombre song ended.

A few mildly cheesy moments were less successful. Miss You had three bass solos too many, and Midnight Rambler was stretched past snapping point by Wood’s guitar wiggles. Such dips meant that this won’t go down as a truly vintage Stones performance, but still, hearing Britain’s biggest rock band perform again in a packed stadium felt like a celebratory milestone. A rapturous Jumping Jack Flash raised the energy again, tee-ing up Gimme Shelter, which was given plenty of vocal welly by Jagger alongside backing singer Sasha Allen.

A firework barrage and a supersized (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction ended the show. As a pink limousine pulled up behind the stadium’s VIP area, it felt as if the Stones had pulled off a fittingly emotional tribute to Watts while showing that they can still be close to their stadium-straddling best without him.

A decent number of changes to the set-list on this tour. Delighted that 19th Nervous Breakdown, Ghost Town and Trouble's A Comin' are being played. And hopefully they will continue to be. The tributes to Charlie are very very well done. Heartfelt, moving, tasteful and mercifully free of any kind of maudlin sentimentality. A big 'well done' to all concerned.

It is poignant in the extreme looking at the Three Amigos taking the final bow together. Suddenly they look small, vulnerable and very very human. It is a visual reminder of the toll the passing years have taken on The Stones and on all of us. And I am reminded of the words of Time Waits For No-One

'And time waits for no man, and it won't wait for me
Yes, time waits for no one, and it won't wait for thee

Drink in your summer, gather your corn
The dreams of the night time will vanish by dawn'

Right now I am suffused with gratitude towards this extraordinary band. To everyone who passed through its ranks - officially and unofficially - over the past 59 years. From my near neighbour here in North Kent, Dick Taylor, through Brian Jones, Mick Taylor, Bill Wyman, Charlie, and those others who 'fattened' the sound on stage in their roles as extra backing musicians, additional vocalists and sometimes both.

Thank you Rolling Stones. Thank you one and all. For all the years of pleasure. For keeping us all young. For so much extraordinary music. For never abandoning us. For carrying the flag for live music. For travelling to all corners of the globe. And above all for ALWAYS keeping it rock 'n' roll.

God bless you every one.

Wow...great picture.

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

Sorry to be a pain but can someone ( DP or a guitar anorak ) confirm if Keith is playing the intro to Gimme Shelter, it's fantastic.

Quote
Rocktiludrop
Sorry to be a pain but can someone ( DP or a guitar anorak ) confirm if Keith is playing the intro to Gimme Shelter, it's fantastic.

Yes, he's playing it differently. A-shaped chords/riffs, like he did with the Winos + a few licks from the studio version

Keith Richards:

Thank you, Pittsburghers! Off to Nashville!


[twitter.com]

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
Rocktiludrop
Sorry to be a pain but can someone ( DP or a guitar anorak ) confirm if Keith is playing the intro to Gimme Shelter, it's fantastic.

Yes, he's playing it differently. A-shaped chords/riffs, like he did with the Winos + a few licks from the studio version

Thanks Dande, hope he sticks to it, he's always got a surprise, nice solo on Slipping away too.

And there’s some added tremolo for the intro. All In standard tuning

Quote
Rocktiludrop

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Quote
Rocktiludrop
Sorry to be a pain but can someone ( DP or a guitar anorak ) confirm if Keith is playing the intro to Gimme Shelter, it's fantastic.

Yes, he's playing it differently. A-shaped chords/riffs, like he did with the Winos + a few licks from the studio version

Thanks Dande, hope he sticks to it, he's always got a surprise, nice solo on Slipping away too.

________
Review: The Rolling Stones show why they’re the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band

Scott Mervis
October 5, 2021

...Among those privileged to open for the Stones over the years in Pittsburgh: The Byrds, Stevie Wonder and Pearl Jam. Winning that coveted spot this time was Ghost Hounds, the Stonesy Pittsburgh-based band formed by guitarist, Hollywood producer and minority Steelers owner Thomas Tull.

...Tull wished his 12-year-old twin boys happy birthday, saying “I’m glad I could get The Rolling Stones for your birthday.”

[www.post-gazette.com]

______________

Christ. That makes me a little ill. C'mon Post-Gazette. You don't think that Billionaire Thomas Tull "won" these (once-) "coveted spots" with his checkbook? Assembled, owns, and bankrolls Ghost Hounds specifically in order TO "open for the Rolling Stones" and live out his childbood dream of being up on stage in front of 50,000 people like a real rock star?

I realize Tull is a major patron for the Pittsburgh area, but describing this band in the same context as those other bands and artists is carrying the a**-kissing to embarrassing lengths.

To Mr. Tull, I appreciate the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy of movies your Legends studio financed. Most of your other movies, less so. But thank you very much for those 3, anyway. And your "It Might Get Loud" homage to the electric guitar was okay.

As for the "privilege" of opening for the Stones, I imagine everybody working for Mr. Tull has thoughts on how that must have happened. "Privileged" being a word probably not chosen by the reporter accidentally.

My complaint is not with the musicians Thomas Tull hired. Musicians need to work, and these guys are competent and a bit more. Why wouldn't they be, why would a man of his resources hire musicians who weren't?

But let's be honest.

* Robert Kraft hiring the Stones to play the birthday party he threw for himself.

* Jeff Bezos spending what was required to build an interestingly-shaped rocket to ride straight up into, technically, space, for a few minutes, more or less straight back down again, and preen before cameras as an "astronaut."

* Thomas Tull's band, dormant but re-starting and re-staffing, as I read it, in 2018 as the Stones planned for its 2019 tour, and out of the blue this essentially unknown act becoming the opener in DC.

To my eyes these events are all of a kind. American billionaires with boundless egos, no one around them able to tell them no, spending whatever it costs to indulge and celebrate themselves in the splashiest personal vanity projects they can dream up.

The only thing that has surprised me a little is how everyone around this one has just rolled over for it and clammed up, declining to point it out. All I can figure is, those people who see through it either are close enough to be benefitting from it, or else are scared of the guy's money (maybe I should be too.. who knows), or just don't care.

The biggest block of folks, I know, both don't realize the above, AND don't care... opening acts not mattering anymore. Which is fine. Nearly all knowledge of the music industry does jade a person.

Amazing the reviews these first few shows are getting.. from the rock critics and fans alike.
Given all the adversity, this tour is turning into a real triumph for the band.
Bravo!


The paper's twitter lead for this review..

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

The Rolling Stones proved, yet again, that they truly are the Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World with a stunning performance at Heinz Field — a mere 57 years after their first Pittsburgh concert.
[twitter.com]

Quote
bye bye johnny
Review: The Rolling Stones show why they’re the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band

Scott Mervis
October 5, 2021


Emily Matthews

Mick Jagger wasn’t around “when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and pain,” as he sang late in the set, but he was actually around just after the Blitzkrieg raged.

Somehow, he’s still running around stadium catwalks like a teenager.

The wonders of the 78-year-young Jagger, in an array of sleek, flashy jackets, were on full display Monday night when The Rolling Stones. after a pandemic delay, finally touched down at Heinz Field on the No Filter Tour.

With the Stones having played their first show here in 1964, it now widens the gap between Pittsburgh shows to a whopping 57 years. Making each of the shows all the more precious, this was just the 11th stop here during that span (as they ignored us for 17 years between the glorious ‘72 tour and Steel Wheels in ‘89).

This time, the Stones travel with heavy hearts, having just lost the heartbeat of the band, Charlie Watts, in August. He was honored at the top of the show with a moving video montage of him playing a simple backbeat.

The Stones hit the stage at 8:48 p.m., striking a defiant tone with “Street Fighting Man,” guitars clanging and Jagger singing in clipped fashion. He was just getting warmed up.

It launched a 19-song set, all but three of which were classics from their mid-‘60s to early ’80s heyday. They could have gone on for six or seven more hours with those. Paul McCartney does 35-plus song sets, just sayin’, but he doesn’t have to “move like Jagger” (an obligatory phrase now in any Stones review).

“It’s quite emotional when you see these images of Charlie up on the screen,” Jagger told the crowd. “We played with each other for 59 years…We dedicate this show to Charlie Watts.”

The Stones are now the two originals in Jagger and his 77-year-old Glimmer Twin Keith Richards, along with “the new guy” Ronnie Wood, who moved over from The Faces in 1975. The three of them generate the core of a sexy sound that has defined the Stones through the decades.

Their roots are in American blues, so despite some of their records being glossy at times, they much prefer LOUD and RAW to slick, produced and note-perfect. That element of chaos to the guitar work makes it all the more visceral and electric, and clearly have a blast doing it.

Early on, they stormed through “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” “Tumbling Dice” and “19th Nervous Breakdown” before getting to the first rarity with “Troubles a’ Comin,” a cover of a Chi-Lites song they recorded in 1979 that’s just now being released as part of the “Tattoo You” boxed set.

“I was hoping to do ‘As Tears Go By’ in Italian, but it didn’t win,” Jagger said of the online fan-vote request song. The honors went to “Angie,” given a lovely treatment with RIchards on acoustic guitar.

It was paired with “You Can't Always Get What You Want,” done this time without the full choir production, but with a searing Wood solo, a crowd sing-along and a revved-up gospel finish.

“Thank you, Pittsburgh, you sang brilliantly!” Jagger hollered. “Even better than Cleveland.”

“Living in a Ghost Town,” the funky, almost tropical rocker released during the pandemic, followed the trend new Stones songs sounding enough like old Stones songs. With the energy waning a bit on that one, they cranked things right back up again with “Start Me Up,” a song probably played hundreds of times in this stadium, “scene of a lot of drama,” as Jagger called it.

Before making the band intros, Jagger mentioned not having much time to explore the city — like “glaring at myself at the Andy Warhol Museum” — but he did say he hit Primanti’s on Saturday, and that he would have to loosen his britches. They are slimmest size possible.

Eleven songs in, he went off to get oxygen, or whatever he does, leaving the stage to Keef, in a leopard blouse and bright yellow knit hat, to handle the vocals on “Slipping Away” and “Before They Make Me Run,” which included a touching moment when he put his hand on his heart to sing, “It’s another goodbye to another good friend.”

In for that good friend was a different old friend in Steve Jordan, a member of Richards’ late ‘80s solo band X-pensive Winos. He filled in nicely by driving a muscular beat with bassist Daryl Jones, who replaced Bill Wyman in 1994. Rounding out the ensemble were keyboardists Chuck Leavell and Matt Clifford, backing vocalists Bernard Fowler and Sasha Allen, and saxophonists Tim Ries and Karl Denson.

They got to jam out together when Jagger returned for a disco-funk workout on “Miss You,” followed by a magnificent “Midnight Rambler” with the singer blowing harp and an absolute barsage of loud snarling from the guitars. It was the Stones in peak form.

Once Jagger caught his breath, they stomped into one of the great, exotic odes to misanthropy, “Paint It Black,” followed by a cosmic “Sympathy for the Devil” with a hellish fire to the screens and Richards taking liberties with the classic solo

“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” was an absolutely ecstatic closer, the riff ringing out so loud you could probably hear it in Squirrel Hill.

There was no doubt we were watching the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band of all time.

“That’s it for Pitt!” Jagger yelled, leaving the stage.

Ir wasn’t totally it because they came back with a “Gimme Shelter” that unleashed Allen in a shout-away with Jagger on the B-stage, and, finally, the song that made the Stones the Stones: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”

The first time they played it here was ‘65 at the Civic Arena, when LBJ was the president and the song hit the planet like an asteroid. More than a half-century later, there’s life left in “Satisfaction” — and in the Stones, who were satisfied in every possible way ages ago, but keep rolling every time we think they’re done. They certainly earned those fireworks at the end.

Will they be back when they’re 83? Stay tuned.

Among those privileged to open for the Stones over the years in Pittsburgh: The Byrds, Stevie Wonder and Pearl Jam. Winning that coveted spot this time was Ghost Hounds, the Stonesy Pittsburgh-based band formed by guitarist, Hollywood producer and minority Steelers owner Thomas Tull.

They had a dynamic frontman of their own in Tre Nation, who was up to the challenge of impressing the people who weren’t still hanging in the parking lots and the concourse.

Since the tour for the debut album, they’ve enhanced the sound with three backup singers. Highlighting their set was the soul-rocker “She’s All Gone,” boogie-woogie number “Bad News” and their bluesy version of the old Cliff Richard tune “Devil Woman.”

Tull wished his 12-year-old twin boys happy birthday, saying “I’m glad I could get The Rolling Stones for your birthday.”

[www.post-gazette.com]