Just a comparison with the Licks Tour - no Monkey Man, no Can't You Hear Me Knoking, no Undercover of the Night - all rather "difficult" songs performed in stadium - not to forget some others as Dance (pt 1) and That How Strong My Love Is.

It seems their choice to lessen the importance of the backup musicians has also taken its toll on the songs's diversity.

They have messed up Brown Sugar more often than any other song. Funny because it's the song they play most often. I don't think that they choose the simple songs.

DanCE and THSMLI will probably do better in Clubs than stadiums.


I think the choice of songs is aimed at the audience. On another thread it's said that they dropped Sway because of the poor reaction of the crowd.

Bear in mind that of the 30000 or more people in the audience there is only a couple of hundred like us. The play to please the majority.

I reckon they do choose simple songs - they've been doing it since 1969 !
If some songs don't sound good on stage then they'll drop it. And more often than not, the hard-to-play songs get dropped.

Look at You Got Me Rocking, it's not warhorse but gets played every show !!!
This is an easy song to play and the band love doing it.

Look at Monkey Man - why do you think it took until the Licks Tour for the band to play it ?
They rehearsed it on the 1969 US Tour (as well as Let It Bleed), but it just didn't come off. Some songs are just best left to the studio....

This Tour seems a very "safe" Tour to me....perhaps they didn't rehearse much..??

Esky

They just play the songs they like.

Yes. Except if you count Satisfaction as tricky.

Esky Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Look at Monkey Man - why do you think it took
> until the Licks Tour for the band to play it ?
> They rehearsed it on the 1969 US Tour (as well as
> Let It Bleed), but it just didn't come off. Some
> songs are just best left to the studio....

Sorry Esky, but I have to correct you there. Monkey Man was played on the Voodoo Lounge Tour in '94. It was pretty much a staple in the set list.

Oh - yes...correction noted...thanks

But still the same point...

OK - I'll try this one : Can't YHM Knocking as another example

coasting - the rolling coasters....

Esky Wrote:
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> I reckon they do choose simple songs - they've
> been doing it since 1969

----

Or since 1962?

Tricky Stones songs? Are you kidding me? Their songs are not difficult to play. They wrote the songs, they should be able to play them live on stage on any given night with proper rehearsal.

For the life of me, I cannot see as to how they could screw up BS or any other song after playing them over a 30 year period.

MT's solos are not that difficult to play. I learned most of them in my teenage years.

Hi

The Stones do what they, want to do, they love to play the " songs of the day"

best regards
Allan

Promoman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > I think the choice of songs is aimed at the
> audience. On another thread it's said that they
> dropped Sway because of the poor reaction of the
> crowd.
>
> Bear in mind that of the 30000 or more people in
> the audience there is only a couple of hundred
> like us. The play to please the majority.


Sway is from Sticky Fingers which is not only widely regarded as being one of the best two or three albums of their career but is also in their top 3 all-time selling albums. i think it sold something like 6-7 million copies

If hardly anyone in the audience at a Stones show in 2005 recognises a song from this album, then that speaks volumes for the sort of audience who are coming to these shows. They're obviously not the people who buy Rolling Stones albums.

Most of those people have been priced out of attending and replaced by an audience of people who obviously have little appreciation of the band's music outside of whats on "40 Licks". Hence the band's decision to become a jukebox for these people and their reluctance to try anything that will challenge said audience's short attention span

They've always "played to please the majority", promoman. Difference is, the 'majority' used to know their songs



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-12-11 02:25 by Gazza.

"Sway" is so friggin' easy to play, come on now! "Honky Tonk Women" was probably the trickiest song that I have learned so far and KR has been playing it every night since 1969.

As far as "Satisfaction" being tricky,I learned it in 5 minutes. A few chords and an opening riff and there you have it.

You may be the solution to the "RW Problem"!

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Promoman Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > > I think the choice of songs is aimed at
> the
> > audience. On another thread it's said that
> they
> > dropped Sway because of the poor reaction of
> the
> > crowd.
> >
> > Bear in mind that of the 30000 or more people
> in
> > the audience there is only a couple of
> hundred
> > like us. The play to please the majority.
>
>
> Sway is from Sticky Fingers which is not only
> widely regarded as being one of the best two or
> three albums of their career but is also in their
> top 3 all-time selling albums. i think it sold
> something like 6-7 million copies
>
> If hardly anyone in the audience at a Stones show
> in 2005 recognises a song from this album, then
> that speaks volumes for the sort of audience who
> are coming to these shows. They're obviously not
> the people who buy Rolling Stones albums.
>

Ah, but keep in mind that even when people DO buy albums, they hardly play the whole album through.
I would bet that many people in the audience (casual fans) actually own Sticky Fingers. But I don't think that they actually sit and play the whole album through, out of sheer love 'for the music'.
I'm absolutely certain that out of the 8 mil who bought Some Girls, 7.5 mil only listened to Miss You and Beast of Burden.
Out of the 4 or so mil who bought Tattoo You, 3.8 mil listened only to Start Me Up.
Short attention spans indeed.

its not like the Stones have had just one big album

If they were that fussed only about the songs you mention, theyd have stopped at the singles and not bothered with buying the albums as there would have been no point

Sorry, I dont buy that theory that most people buy an album and listen to no more than one or two songs from it. If they do, they're retarded. I know LOTS of people who would fall into the 'casual' fan category and believe me, they know a LOT more than just the warhorses.

Granted, not everyone listens to every album the whole through on a regular basis, but in the case of a classic album, most fans would know MOST of the songs on it

Thats the same for any major artist. Any artist I go and see, their fans KNOW a good cross section of their music...I cant believe that the majority of Stones fans are any different. If that was the case, the band wouldnt have played shows on the Licks tour where they did about 4-5 songs in a row from a 'classic' album.

There should be no tricky songs EVER for guys who've played in a band as long as they have and wrote and recorded them...no excuses.

If any of you are musicians, you will know that there is nothing that they play which is actually complicated...however, what makes there music almost unrepeatable or hard to nail down for others to play is the feel and the chemistry of the band which really is something that you can't describe.

Only the Stones can play the Stones like the Stones.

Why do they avoid what you might call tricky songs? Lazyness...though I have to give them BIG UPS for all the songs they've tried since and including the Steet Wheels tour...for all the bitching we do...they have given us so much of the catalog live since '89.


PECMAN

Imagine if you had to pick what songs to play. How the hell do you do it? You gotta have the crowd pleasers

I thought they mixed things up pretty good 94 thru Licks. You cannot expect a half the show to be different every other night. Another thing, a show is just not some good amps and a spot light anymore........it's all syncronized and produced, everynight...the graphics on the screen, the lights , the sound guys, there is so much shit going on.

I do think they should play more material from BANG. Up the setlist to 23 songs. From 81 thru Bridges/Security they played 26/27 songs a show.

The 20 song format ain't working with a new album out. I saw them twice so far during BANG and will be at MSG next month for both shows. 23 song setlist would allow 3 more BANG songs.

Milo, NYC
She saw me comin'

Midnight Toker Wrote:
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> "Sway" is so friggin' easy to play, come on now!

Yes, but Mick has to be on his game to pull the vocal off !
And I'm sure if Mick isn't keen to embarrass himself then they won't play it.

Midnight Toker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Sway" is so friggin' easy to play, come on now!
> "Honky Tonk Women" was probably the trickiest song
> that I have learned so far and KR has been playing
> it every night since 1969.
>
> As far as "Satisfaction" being tricky,I learned it
> in 5 minutes. A few chords and an opening riff and
> there you have it.


satisfaction was the first song i learned on the guitar.

then 2000 light ears, UMT etc...