We are about at the halfway point so are there any stand out shows that are head and shoulders above the rest? I thought there were a couple clear winners but it looks like everyone has got different ones they love.

Inviting everyone--especially who attended in person--to submit your favorites.

This is really tough. I only attended the first Hyde Park show, but going by Matt Lee’s superb videos, there have been terrific performances throughout. I guess this’ll come down to one’s own personal experience. If we were to get some decent quality full-shows to view, or listen to, then I think we all could make a sounder judgment, perhaps.

Going by Matt Lee’s videos, two of my very-favourite non-Hyde Park #1 performances include You Got Me Rocking from Hyde Park #2 and Keith’s great effort on Bitch from one of the proceeding European shows. He really turned the clock back, there!

But please advice your place in the crowd too. Would be very interesting if the best concert votes are from pit or any other places.

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Parisrambler
But please advice your place in the crowd too. Would be very interesting if the best concert votes are from pit or any other places.

My brother and I were perfectly happy with our GA vantage point at Hyde Park. Attending a Stones show is about the entire experience and, overall, just having fun.

Exactly. But sometimes i think people vote for the best concert ever is because of their Pit view. I had great concerts also from side restricted views. Best place to overlook the vibes in a Stadium.

out of the four I've seen so far (Munich, Liverpool, Amsterdam, Brussels) it's Amsterdam. But maybe just because of the overall feeling (finally closer to the stage, setlist etc. and maybe I was rather tired at Brussels)

1. Brussels
2. Hyde Park I
3. Hyde Park II
4. Amsterdam

All gold circle.

I have only seen Amsterdam and with my LD in the Diamond pit i had a great expercience and highlights were for Sweet Virginia, CYHMK, Out of Time (which was really great to hear live), Ghost Town and the stunning version of Midnight Rambler. And it´s always nice that Mick tries to talk Dutch and the Scheveningen story he told.
I feel really blessed i have seen them this tour again.

I saw Madrid, Milan, Hyde Park I, Amsterdam and Brussels so far. There were all super shows and I wouldn't like to rank them as they all had their special moments. Madrid was the first show which is always special. Milan had the return of Jagger, the best and wildest audience so far and a fantastic Gimme Shelter. But the guitars were not that strong in Milan which changed for Hyde Park I. Especially Keith was on top of what he's able to do. Nice setlist changes. Amsterdam was a very good show. Keith didn't move much but his riffs were so good and loud it blew me away. Brussels had a bad sound on our restricted side view. The worst sound I ever had at a stones concert beside Frankfurt 2007. But I really enjoyed the concert and the audience was wild and loud. They played the warhorse section simply perfect and had a strong audience reaction. Satisfaction was the highlight!

I attended all shows but Brussels from Diamond Pit

Hyde Park II

Brussels from the pit. Not only this best of this tour, but also in my top 3 overall at least. Magical gig.

The only way to fairly judge that would be to attend everyone of the gigs. Even then it would be subjective. Seems to me the gigs are very much alike.
The only difference between gigs is 2-3 songs. So it depends on which of these 2-3 songs you like the most I guess...

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Stoneage
The only way to fairly judge that would be to attend everyone of the gigs.

or to any gig at all (but listening to high quality recordings not youtube clips)

When will some of you stop? You don´t have to be there to see, hear - if Keith is out of key or not. The clips on youtube is simple proof, truth. Some of you are not functioning. Just because you were there and had a great time - doesn´t mean every @#$%& note were right.

Ok?

I`m struck by the routine. Mick has found some ballance between being spontaneous and leaning on routine. Routine makes the shows alike. I watched the posted Vienna show from start to Wild Horses. -And didn`t I hear someone shouting "-wünschen Schlager!" during those first songs?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2022-07-17 19:04 by noughties.

Who cares if Keith was out of key at any time he's nearly 80 years old were lucky to see him play at all he still smashes it the whole band do

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BowieStone
1. Brussels
2. Hyde Park I
3. Hyde Park II
4. Amsterdam

All gold circle.

My ranking of the 4 I attended as well. Funny how the day of show experience for Brussels was the worst and had gold circle vs pit for HP1 and Amsterdam. Gold Circle for HP2.

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slewan

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Stoneage
The only way to fairly judge that would be to attend everyone of the gigs.

or to any gig at all (but listening to high quality recordings not youtube clips)

I would agree, but the quality of some of the YouTube clips, today - Matt Lee’s, for example - are outstanding. In my opinion, you can form a good impression and judgment. In a way, I suppose, being in attendance isn’t necessarily the very-best yardstick: your caught up in the euphoria of it all, too often! A more sober and objective reflection is often best in hindsight.

Why is Keith performing better?? Twenty years of progresive decline. And suddenly he is the best Richards in years. Is his playing as well as his attitude on stage

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KeithNacho
Why is Keith performing better?? Twenty years of progresive decline. And suddenly he is the best Richards in years. Is his playing as well as his attitude on stage

I don't think Keith performs better this year than the years before but he is concentrating a lot and doesn't have so much parts where he doesn't play but rather walks around as he did in the past. I think Keith is getting honorred here because Ronnies playing has declined a lot since the last tour and this makes his part more important.

OK, of course you can hardly compare all previous concerts realistically, but still a few thoughts from me.

I've only visited Munich (Silver Pit) & Milan (Golden Circle) - (Berlin is to follow), so I only know all the other concerts from reports from friends or from internet clips, so I can't really give an opinion on these gigs.

For me (as others have already mentioned) there are several things that make a "special" concert. (audience, meeting friends, how works the band, the sound, my place during the concert with the people around me, setlist, special moments).
In Munich, for me as a German fan, it was above all the meeting with friends that was great (I haven't seen some of them in years). Of course, there were also special moments during the concert in Munich (the first time "Out of Time" & "Ghost Town" and "Slipping" was for me incredibly good by Keef, "Ruby" & "PIB" were also among the highlights) as well It was nice that I could experience the concert side by side with some friends. The sound was OK in Munich.
On the negative side I could call the extremely bad organization of the stadium, the band (especially Ron) still seemed a bit rusty, the really bad weather before the entrance was a bit of a mood killer, but all in all it was a solid concert for me.
Milan, on the other hand, was fabulous from the first moment to the last.
The meeting of old companions was missing, but everything else was almost perfect. The weather was great, admission and organization were great, the sound in the stadium was superb, the band was "on fire" and Ronnie was in a better mood, although not on the same level as in previous years.
The crowd was just really amazing, I think the best crowd for me in a very long time. The setlist was crazy too, especially DF & WH was amazing for me (2 songs in a row from my favorite album) perfectly matching that light dribble from the sky - there was a tear in my eye too.... a very emotional moment for me arm in arm with my wife.
Other song highlights were "Silver" by Keith and JJF, which almost blew me away. When Gimme Shelter came along with this Chanel (Tina) Haynes who danced with Mick right in front of our noses, I don't think that can be topped for this song. Another important reason was that it was still extremely uncertain in Milan whether and how Mick would come back after his infection ... this power after the C19 illness was probably not only phenomenal for me.

Therefore, I can only say it for myself from these 2 concerts, but this order is clear.
1. Milan
2. Munich

Performance-wise - Hyde Park II
Setlist-wise - Hyde Park I

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Bjorn
When will some of you stop? You don´t have to be there to see, hear - if Keith is out of key or not. The clips on youtube is simple proof, truth. Some of you are not functioning. Just because you were there and had a great time - doesn´t mean every @#$%& note were right.

Ok?

So the amount of times someone is out of key is the factor we have to rank shows as good or not good? I don't think so. Crowd reaction, overall mood, general sound, the weather and all other circumstances make a show a great show. The stoens have never been about perfection and will never be!

The buzz of seeing and hearing them again in Madrid, aided by great sound in Pit A and a really strong opening gig performance.. with the Out of Time debut and a rollicking 19th nervous Breakdown, ‘slip away pal’, Satisfaction at 00.20…

I've just finished my last show of the tour, so have been mulling this over. The shows were better than I expected - I really wasn't sure I wanted to see them without Charlie, especially having listened to some of the 2021 shows with Steve, but I feel he has settled in better this time around. I thought Keith has been playing better than the last couple of tours (maybe best since 15, or 17, but I don't listen closely enough to be sure). Ronnie seems more subdued, but he came out of his shell a few times. Mick has slowed down a little since I last saw them (2019) but is still remarkable.

In order of preference:
- HP1 was one of my favourite shows ever; I don't know if the performance was any better or worse than the other shows, but the overall vibe was spectacular. Venue, crowd, weather... Mick was very excitable for this show.
- I can't really separate Brussels and Vienna. Both were really strong shows, with slightly different highlights.
- then Amsterdam and Liverpool. Both of these had their moments but overall did not reach the heights of the other three.

For all shows I was in pit B, a bit out towards the side. For HP I was towards the back of the diamond VIP area, which is probably the equivalent of golden circle for a normal show.

Favourite individual song from these shows = Bitch from Brussels. The interlocking guitars were spectacular. Wild Horses in Vienna was really nice. SFM, MR and Satisfaction were great every time. Ghost Town was good - I expected to get bored of it quickly, but didn't. I did get bored of Out Of Time, though; I only needed to hear that once. Perhaps the biggest surprise to me was that I even started to enjoy Miss You.

Overall, I am pretty thrilled with the 5 shows I saw. The quality was pretty consistently high. It is my favourite 'batch' since 2017.

syrel

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Big Al

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slewan

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Stoneage
The only way to fairly judge that would be to attend everyone of the gigs.

or to any gig at all (but listening to high quality recordings not youtube clips)

I would agree, but the quality of some of the YouTube clips, today - Matt Lee’s, for example - are outstanding. In my opinion, you can form a good impression and judgment. In a way, I suppose, being in attendance isn’t necessarily the very-best yardstick: your caught up in the euphoria of it all, too often! A more sober and objective reflection is often best in hindsight.

Absolutely! I say this all the time. Being there you're so hyped up, the chemicals in your brain are going crazy. It's not easy to judge a show objectively that way. Another day, you might be in a bad mood, have bad seats and that will also completely change the way you perceive a show.
So judging by high quality videos, doing direct comparisons, is actually the most objective it can get.

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hockenheim95

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KeithNacho
Why is Keith performing better?? Twenty years of progresive decline. And suddenly he is the best Richards in years. Is his playing as well as his attitude on stage

I don't think Keith performs better this year than the years before but he is concentrating a lot and doesn't have so much parts where he doesn't play but rather walks around as he did in the past. I think Keith is getting honorred here because Ronnies playing has declined a lot since the last tour and this makes his part more important.

Keith has been playing pretty consistent since 2012 but had some downs, like in 2017. I saw three shows in 2017 and it was the low-point of the recent years IMHO. Keith looked lost a lot of the times and not really present. Ronnie covered a lot for him. 2018 was the year when Keith sobered up (at least on the hard alcohol) and the difference between 2017 and 2018 was enormous, not just in his playing but in his whole stage presence. Now 2022 he's playing super sharp (compared to how he's been since 2012) and now he's covering for Ronnie a bit on some moments. And that's okay. I just hope Ronnie is doing good.

It is difficult to compare, even when we were there in person. It depends on our own mood, being hungry/thirsty, whether people in audience around us behaved sensibly (or not), sound, weather, transport...

From my 4 gigs (all pits) I would say Vienna and HP1 were joint winners (if pushed, would choose Vienna). Madrid may have been musically similarly good but my experience was spoilt by misbehaving "fans". HP2 was the weakest.

Keith's playing is decent overall but mistakes happen in every show. His playing has been awful on some songs this tour. I don't see any improvement from 2021 or 2019. The shows are pretty similar in terms of performance, none of them are perfect.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-07-17 19:56 by RaiseTheKnife.

Best show so far ? Brussels for me, it's taken since 2003 but Keith is back and it lifts the whole expirience, lifts the band and i really expect Keith to reach even greater hights now he has fully recovered from his demons.