Hi,
I am not a musician....I ask myself if it is possible that such professional guitarplayers like Keith and Ronny who are playing an instrument
for about 50 years almost daily, can loose their ability to play on a high level for about 2 hours evry second night.

I do not think they can not do it anymore as some of you say.
I ask myself: Why should they loose their playing ability ?...indeed they should improve.

people say:
Ronnie sucks cause :
1. he is too drunk on stage
2. he can not do it phisically ( what do they mean with that ?
3. he just doesn`t care...cause he is to low in the mix

they say Keith sucks:
1. because of his athritis.
2. he is too old

Could this all be true ?! ...or are we just looking for reasons, why such a superband like the Stones do @#$%& up sometimes, like an 16 year old teenyband playing their second gig.

Didn`t the Stones always were like that ?
Wasn`t it always kind of the Stones fascination mythos not realy knowing how the next gig would be like ?
Even Mick , yeah the "perfect" Mick, @#$%& up verses from time to time in songs he should know perfectly.

The high ticketprice does not give you a guarantee for a qualitywise perfect gig.IMO.
It gives you the right to see a great show with an awesome stage , a perfect lightshow and a fascinating Rockn`Roll performance.
But Rockn Roll means up and down....it is raw, direct,LIVE,..it hits you right in the belly....it is pur emotion....not mathematical.
Therefor we sometimes say:
" Autsch....how could he mess up this solo"...and next time we say:
" Wow...did you hear that solo..how he nailed it !"

Yes.....this is the ROLLING STONES !
The band which still can not be explained after being on the road for so long.

Thats why we love them.
Cheers.

I've seen two shows so far, Columbus and Charlotte. The guitar playing is fine about 95% of the show. In some spots it's fantastic. It all depends on the song. Keith still plays the lead on Honky Tonk Women really well. The only glaring errors occur during Ronnie's lead part during YCAGWY... they should let one of the sax players solo, and have Ronnie just weave some rhythm with Keith. Keith tends to fail during Sympathy FTD, although other times he hits some nice accents... I don't think either of them have ever had the great solo ability of a Clapton or Taylor... but it hasn't seemed to hurt their careers.

However, the stinking lead attempts really drag down an otherwise good song performance from the rest of the band. It's VERY obvious.

New songs and She´s so cold,and the ones they haven´t done often are usually
brilliant.
Best warhorse is again JJF.

Oh yeah salar, and you have seen how many shows?

Haven't seen shows for this time but I watched several DVD from this tour. I think, they are over 60 but they have the energy to play, music is in their blood. Mick is really professional. Ronnie, we don't all the reasons of his state. About keith, I think if he stops to pose, to move every 10 seconds his legs and arms in all direction (Parkinson, sciatic nerve, coke, heu "humour"), he'll certainly play a lot of better.

I totally agree with you:

<Didn`t the Stones always were like that ?
Wasn`t it always kind of the Stones fascination mythos not realy knowing how the next gig would be like ?
Even Mick , yeah the "perfect" Mick, @#$%& up verses from time to time in songs he should know perfectly.>

That's what's the Stones fascination is all about.
They have been always a "Cellar-Band". They don't take it all so important as their Fans, otherwise they wouldn't be on Stage, after more than 40 Years. No one of the boys is a perfectionist. Their genius lies in the simplicity, sometimes they are on a High and then on a Low. As we all know, the simplest Riffs, are the best. But it doesn't work everyday. And if this all comes together - you will still enjoy the greatest Rock'n Roll Band in the World on a certain evening.
I have seen the boys more than 120 times live on stage and I always liked it, when someone was out of tune, from it they mostly developed a highlight.

<The high ticketprice does not give you a guarantee for a qualitywise perfect gig.IMO.
It gives you the right to see a great show with an awesome stage , a perfect lightshow and a fascinating Rockn`Roll performance.
But Rockn Roll means up and down....it is raw, direct,LIVE,..it hits you right in the belly....it is pur emotion....not mathematical.
Therefor we sometimes say:
" Autsch....how could he mess up this solo"...and next time we say:
" Wow...did you hear that solo..how he nailed it !" >

Total agreement!!!!That's their Secret!!!!!That's R'nR!!!

And at last to all the negative commentators (Postings) on this Board:

I'm glad that the Stones are still there. I'm glad that they still releasing new songs, that they still on the road, after all this times. If e.g. Keith wants to do his posing on stage, why shouldn't he? I'm glad he's still there. If he needs hair implants or a Face-lifting or whatever- that's all F@CK!!
If you don't like the new album---don't buy it!!!
If you don't like their performance on stage---don't go to the show!!!!
If you don't like their ticket prices--- don't buy tickets!!!!
If you don't like the Stones--do not bore others with your comments!!!!

Reasonable criticism is good, but not this sh....t all the time!!!

You can't expect everytime the best songs in the world on a new Stones-Album, you can't expect that every Tour is better than the one before. They are only Humans.

Regarding their entire work, they are still the best. It will take Lightyears to beat them.

Reptile Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh yeah salar, and you have seen how many shows?

I saw them on evry tour since:
82...2 times
90...6 times
95...6 times
98/99 more than 10 times
2003..3 x München, 3xParis, 1x Rotterdam Ahoy, 1xHannover
2006..waiting

So what was your question again, Reptile ?

Another "how are Keith and Ronnie playing' thread. I feel like this board is under some sort of curse where we have to regurgitate the same old boring topics every other day.