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RisingStone
Many thanks for recollecting the memory of the hectic day, Captain.

I am now certain that the dismantled stage for the 13th and 14th was the Urban Jungle stage, not the Steel Wheels one, as the tickets indicate that way.

Frankly I can't imagine why that was ever in doubt!

Up until the moment that the shows were postponed (on the day of a show) there was no doubt that the Wembley gigs were part of the ongoing Tour, and were the second weekend of shows at Wembley. The first of which (I have the photo's to prove it) were unequivocally Urban Jungle shows.

On what planet would they change the stage over after the 6/7th weekend of Urban Jungle shows to set up a stage at the SAME venue for the 13th 14th as Steel Wheels?

The shows on 13th 14th were postponed, The Machine kicked into action, took the stage down and moved it to its next scheduled location.

In due course the Steel Wheels stage was retrieved and put up in Wembley for 24th August.

--
Captain Corella
60 Years a Fan

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CaptainCorella

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RisingStone
Many thanks for recollecting the memory of the hectic day, Captain.

I am now certain that the dismantled stage for the 13th and 14th was the Urban Jungle stage, not the Steel Wheels one, as the tickets indicate that way.

Frankly I can't imagine why that was ever in doubt!

Up until the moment that the shows were postponed (on the day of a show) there was no doubt that the Wembley gigs were part of the ongoing Tour, and were the second weekend of shows at Wembley. The first of which (I have the photo's to prove it) were unequivocally Urban Jungle shows.

On what planet would they change the stage over after the 6/7th weekend of Urban Jungle shows to set up a stage at the SAME venue for the 13th 14th as Steel Wheels?

The shows on 13th 14th were postponed, The Machine kicked into action, took the stage down and moved it to its next scheduled location.

In due course the Steel Wheels stage was retrieved and put up in Wembley for 24th August.

The Stones’ original tour schedule around the two Wembley weekends of July 1990 is as follows:

4/6/7 = Wembley Stadium, London
9 = Hampden Park, Glasgow
13/14 = Wembley Stadium, London

They were not consecutive dates. There were five days’ interval between the 7th and the 13th, and in the meantime they moved to Scotland to play a show in Glasgow! I don’t know if they used the same stage unit in the two locations or not, but if they did, they had to dismantle the set after the first weekend and transfer it to Glasgow. And if there were two identical units for whatever logistic reason, would they have left one of them in assembled state, paying five days’ rent — even if there was no other event booked to be held at the stadium?
Adding to this, observing the other Steel Wheels show locations and dates — Turin 28 July, Berlin 13/14 August — were scattered around with roughly two weeks’ interval between them, I wondered if the Wembley second weekend was assigned for the Steel Wheels shows, which actually wasn’t. My speculation turned out to be wrong, but it felt plausible.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-12-17 03:01 by RisingStone.

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RisingStone

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CaptainCorella

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RisingStone
Many thanks for recollecting the memory of the hectic day, Captain.

I am now certain that the dismantled stage for the 13th and 14th was the Urban Jungle stage, not the Steel Wheels one, as the tickets indicate that way.

Frankly I can't imagine why that was ever in doubt!

Up until the moment that the shows were postponed (on the day of a show) there was no doubt that the Wembley gigs were part of the ongoing Tour, and were the second weekend of shows at Wembley. The first of which (I have the photo's to prove it) were unequivocally Urban Jungle shows.

On what planet would they change the stage over after the 6/7th weekend of Urban Jungle shows to set up a stage at the SAME venue for the 13th 14th as Steel Wheels?

The shows on 13th 14th were postponed, The Machine kicked into action, took the stage down and moved it to its next scheduled location.

In due course the Steel Wheels stage was retrieved and put up in Wembley for 24th August.

The Stones’ original tour schedule around the two Wembley weekends of July 1990 is as follows:

4/6/7 = Wembley Stadium, London
9 = Hampden Park, Glasgow
13/14 = Wembley Stadium, London

They were not consecutive dates. There were five days’ interval between the 7th and the 13th, and in the meantime they moved to Scotland to play a show in Glasgow! I don’t know if they used the same stage unit in the two locations or not, but if they did, they had to dismantle the set after the first weekend and transfer it to Glasgow. And if there were two identical units for whatever logistic reason, would they have left one of them in assembled state, paying five days’ rent — even if there was no other event booked to be held at the stadium?
Adding to this, observing the other Steel Wheels show locations and dates — Turin 28 July, Berlin 13/14 August — were scattered around with roughly two weeks’ interval between them, I wondered if the Wembley second weekend was assigned for the Steel Wheels shows, which actually wasn’t. My speculation turned out to be wrong, but it felt plausible.

I know that there were three Steel Wheels basic stage sets. By that I mean the large "outer" parts. The routine was to have one being played on, one just played on being taken down to be moved, and a third for the next show being assembled. A sort of "rolling" build/play/unbuild/move cycle.

The "inner" parts where the band played travelled with them so was always more time critical. Of course I'd include Angie and Ruby (the inflatables) in the core stage setup. And for Urban Jungle that would include the dog (name forgotten).

I lost track of things for Urban Jungle, but would be certain that there were at least 2 stages, but would not guess about a third. But the principle would be the same.

My guess would be that the intent was to put a stage up at Wembley before their first appearance there, and then to leave it until just after the last. Someone with time could go back and check the then local press to see if there were any other events at Wembley between the various Stones gigs, but I'd be very surprised if there were.

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Captain Corella
60 Years a Fan

Interesting information.

Thank you, Captain.

I was at the 4th July Wembley show and England were playing in the World Cup semi final in Turin at the same time. Mick kept us updated with the scores etc and I remember those in the private boxes had the match on the TV, you could see the green of the pitch on the TV screens from the Wembley pitch.

I remember feeling so happy that I was seeing the band again, after the wilderness years of the 1980’s it was so good to see them back on stage and playing so damned well. One of my favourite tours, The Stones were back and were tight and rocking.

My 1st tour was the Urban Jungle tour.
What a summer it was... after Rotterdam and Paris I saw them on august 13 in Berlin.

I can tell you... as a (then) little boy, I was very very impressed by the stage.

Running into Charlie that afternoon at Unter den Linden made it a fantastic trip !

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franzk
[www.youtube.com]

German TV report from 1990.

I wonder if there's any footage from these shows except what was used in At The Max.

Thanks for posting the clip (I'm one of the three fans in the clip )
But the clip is not from 1990 (surely the scenes in the clip from 1990)
The recordings were made in 2015 for the 25th anniversary of the Weissensee concert by german television ZDF.

Unfortunately, we didn't take any photos at the concert, but I have some nice memories of my 1st Stones concert (press article, pin, poster, etc.- I hope that not everything has been shown here yet)
If I find some time I'll post some of them here (unfortunately I'm busy with work at the moment, Christmas days and WM something on)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-12-17 13:08 by Nankstone.

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ErwinH
My 1st tour was the Urban Jungle tour.
What a summer it was... after Rotterdam and Paris I saw them on august 13 in Berlin.

I can tell you... as a (then) little boy, I was very very impressed by the stage.

Running into Charlie that afternoon at Unter den Linden made it a fantastic trip !

Erwin,

So you saw the two different stages on the basically same tour. How different were the impressions you got from each stage?

And…you were “a (then) little boy” and you followed them from Rotterdam through Paris to Berlin for your first Stones concerts.

I don’t know how old you were back then, but how did you manage to make such an odyssey at a supposedly tender age? Were you on your own, or with an elder person? Just curious.

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Scooby
I was at the 4th July Wembley show and England were playing in the World Cup semi final in Turin at the same time. Mick kept us updated with the scores etc and I remember those in the private boxes had the match on the TV, you could see the green of the pitch on the TV screens from the Wembley pitch.

I remember feeling so happy that I was seeing the band again, after the wilderness years of the 1980’s it was so good to see them back on stage and playing so damned well. One of my favourite tours, The Stones were back and were tight and rocking.

That's how I felt too. I was happy to see them back on stage together playing with full energy.
When I listen to the tour now, I find the organ sounds much too present.
But they played very tight and full of energy.

From the boots I have heard I thought the European 1990 shows were outstanding! I really enjoy listening to those shows.

The last time band was really great was1989-1990.After that there were some good tours



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-12-18 03:03 by Taylor1.

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RisingStone
Erwin,

So you saw the two different stages on the basically same tour. How different were the impressions you got from each stage?

And…you were “a (then) little boy” and you followed them from Rotterdam through Paris to Berlin for your first Stones concerts.

I don’t know how old you were back then, but how did you manage to make such an odyssey at a supposedly tender age? Were you on your own, or with an elder person? Just curious.

Ok, little boy was a little exaggerated... I was a big boy of already 17.
I did those trips with my older brother and a group of his friends.

Seeing the band for the 1st time was incredible of course, pure magic.
Those were my first huge concerts, so impressed by the Urban Jungle stage.
In Paris we were just in front of stage, incredible experience.
The Steel Wheels stage in Berlin was huuuuuge, much larger than the Urban Jungle stage, we were very excited about seeing the show with that stage.
It looked like a huge factory.

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ErwinH

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RisingStone
Erwin,

So you saw the two different stages on the basically same tour. How different were the impressions you got from each stage?

And…you were “a (then) little boy” and you followed them from Rotterdam through Paris to Berlin for your first Stones concerts.

I don’t know how old you were back then, but how did you manage to make such an odyssey at a supposedly tender age? Were you on your own, or with an elder person? Just curious.

Ok, little boy was a little exaggerated... I was a big boy of already 17.
I did those trips with my older brother and a group of his friends.

Seeing the band for the 1st time was incredible of course, pure magic.
Those were my first huge concerts, so impressed by the Urban Jungle stage.
In Paris we were just in front of stage, incredible experience.
The Steel Wheels stage in Berlin was huuuuuge, much larger than the Urban Jungle stage, we were very excited about seeing the show with that stage.
It looked like a huge factory.

Thanks, Erwin, for offering your “big boy” experience.

There are very few firsthand accounts of the Steel Wheels shows in Europe as they were only five shows, even less by people like you who witnessed both UJ and SW stages. It’s almost like the Steel Wheels shows never happened over there — they did, albeit in a limited number and to a smaller audience.

My first Stones shows were the Steel Wheels U.S. Tour, Pittsburg, 6 September and also Cincinnati 14 September. And my impression of the stage was the same as yours — it was huge, so huge, so gigantic. Astonishing. Jaw-dropping is the word to describe my first reaction when I saw it. Seeing is believing. Yes it was like a factory from the future. Without that monstrous structure, the show impact would have been reduced considerably, I bet.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-12-18 15:51 by RisingStone.

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RisingStone
My first Stones shows were the Steel Wheels U.S. Tour, Pittsburg, 6 September and also Cincinnati 14 September. And my impression of the stage was the same as yours — it was huge, so huge, so gigantic. Astonishing. Jaw-dropping is the word to describe my first reaction when I saw it. Seeing is believing. Yes it was like a factory from the future. Without that monstrous structure, the show impact would have been reduced considerably, I bet.

The Steel Wheels stage was the first huge stage set used by touring rock bands. Nothing in the least like it had been seen previously. The Rolling Stones set the stage (pun intended) for following touring bands like U2.

In case you didn't know, it was designed by Mark Fisher - an architect - with a mass of input from Mick and importantly Charlie.

Somewhere there's an architectural magazine with a big feature on it.

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Captain Corella
60 Years a Fan

The magazine article about Steel Wheels is in Architectural Design 1990 "New Architecture : The New Moderns and The Super Moderns". ISBN031205421-2

There's a bit by Mark Fisher and an interview with Jagger.

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Captain Corella
60 Years a Fan

If there is a name I associate with Mark Fisher this is first and foremost Pink Floyd performing The Wall Live in 1980.




That said the Steel Wheel stage was impressive



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-12-19 00:23 by ds1984.

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CaptainCorella
The Steel Wheels stage was the first huge stage set used by touring rock bands. Nothing in the least like it had been seen previously. The Rolling Stones set the stage (pun intended) for following touring bands like U2.

In case you didn't know, it was designed by Mark Fisher - an architect - with a mass of input from Mick and importantly Charlie.

Somewhere there's an architectural magazine with a big feature on it.

Of course, I know the late great Mark Fisher who designed many impressive concert stages.

I recall Mick Jagger — on separate occasions — named the following as the sources of the inspiration and his inputs for the Steel Wheels stage concept:

1. Bladerunner (Ridley Scott’s influential science fiction film noire, released in 1982)
2. Neuromancer (the seminal ‘Cyberpunk’ science fiction novel by William Gibson, published in 1984)
3. Constructivism (early Twentieth Century’s Russian art trend — as clearly reflected in the cover art of the SW album)

Talk about sci-fi, isn’t it?

No but saw em in Vancouver

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bv
I was there. I don't care about stage stuff. I just want to see the band, and hear them play. I saw the Stones both 1989 and 1990, with both stages, but it was the same band, no worries. London 1990 was different, because it was the last two shows with Bill, but that is a different story.

I loved the Vancouver show. Didn’t know London was Bills last. Happy I have 7th of July a awesome recording.

I remember that a huge cheer went up mid-way thru the concert - it was a quiet number like Angie - and the band looked surprised. England had just scored in the World Cup, it transpired.

I was in Turin and I also bought a ticket for the second show which was sold on the same day than the first show.

But as far as I remember, this second show was not cancelled but it was played in an empty stadium for additional filming of what would become few months later "Rolling Stones at the Max".

I had to return my ticket for the second show and I was fully refunded.

I was also in Wembley for both shows end of August.

It was the Steel Wheels stage but with the white and orange loudspeakers of the Urban Jungle stage, so a little bit different than the 100% real Steel Wheels stage in the US 1989 and Japan 1990.

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MidnightGambler
I was in Turin and I also bought a ticket for the second show which was sold on the same day than the first show.

But as far as I remember, this second show was not cancelled but it was played in an empty stadium for additional filming of what would become few months later "Rolling Stones at the Max".

I had to return my ticket for the second show and I was fully refunded.

I was also in Wembley for both shows end of August.

It was the Steel Wheels stage but with the white and orange loudspeakers of the Urban Jungle stage, so a little bit different than the 100% real Steel Wheels stage in the US 1989 and Japan 1990.

There is something peculiar surrounding the second Turin show.

To begin with, why did the Stones not put on a public performance and have the production team shoot it like they did on the first night? That would have been far simpler than releasing the tickets and refunding the customers the money, and then filming the performance behind the closed door.

I have a doubt whether the tickets for the second night sold well, after all.

I didn’t know the European SW stage was equipped with the UJ speaker system. Thanks for the information.

Don't forget, much of the IMAX film At The Max was filmed after in a sound studio where they recreated the stage and even Keith s sweat.
They didn't have enough film at the real shows to finish the production.

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deardoctortake1
Don't forget, much of the IMAX film At The Max was filmed after in a sound studio where they recreated the stage and even Keith s sweat.
They didn't have enough film at the real shows to finish the production.

So “The Song Remains The Same” all over again? Way to go!

Pittsburgh...

Mixed Emotions, the MTV broadcast?

Whatever.

One of the best moments in... it's very simple...

4:32. Ronnie does some Ronnie riffing. Mick responds.

Stones soul classic .... lurv it live ..... fanks Mick



ROCKMAN

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GasLightStreet
Pittsburgh...

Mixed Emotions, the MTV broadcast?

Whatever.

One of the best moments in... it's very simple...

4:32. Ronnie does some Ronnie riffing. Mick responds.

Is this really Pittsburgh? One of the YouTube comments sez, ‘This isn't really "via satellite" because it was taped 2 nights earlier in Toronto. The Stones were playing the night of these awards in Pittsburgh but I guess they decided not to show them live.’

I wish it was. My first Stones show…
I wish I could say, “I was there.”

But anyway…

Mick, Keith, Ronnie, Bill and Charlie, they were so young…or were they?

33 years…where has all the time gone?

Yes, Toronto. Great show.

The Urban Jungle show I caught was Main Road Manchester.

We were a bit late getting there cos the bloody bus got lost . Still managed to get a decent pog though.

Good show as I recall .

Extended clip of SMU from Hannover, 1990, pro shot by German TV.

[youtu.be]

Judging from camera angles and positioning, it looks like this was the source of the IORR clip, posted above, that was broadcast on the International Music Awards?