Kiel Opera House, St. Louis, Missouri
1978
3557 seats

Roseland Ballroom, NYC, Sept. 30, 2002

first Mariner Arena, Baltimore Md USA February 1, 2006. !3000 persons. Before the "fall".
5th row Keith's side; fantastic show. Thoughts of "Get Yer Ya-Ya Out".

The Joint, Hard Rock, Las Vegas. Stood right behind former partner to Johnny Carson on Tonight Show, Ed McMahon.

"Take all the pain...It's yours anyway"

Edinburgh Playhouse 1982. 3059 seats . Tickets £6.50 Happy days !!!

Circus Krone-Munich June 2003

The Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland, December 7, 1981. My first Stones show. About 18,500 capacity.

Smallest outdoors was at the Marcus Amphitheater in Milwaukee on the Zip Code tour at 23,000.

I saw Keith at the Return To Sin City tribute to Gram Parsons at Universal Amphitheatre when he did a duet with Norah Jones on Love Hurts. They tore it down in 2013 to make room for the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter attraction. It seated 6251.

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Big Al
Wembley Arena, 2003

I was hoping to get tickets for the Astoria, but was unlucky. Saying that though, it was a disappointing show, according to many, here.

Yes the arena show two days later was much better, At the Astoria, it was thrilling to be so near to Mick and Keith but it was horribly loud, the band seemed to rush through the whole thing, and I spent the first half hour being pushed and shoved all over the place - very unpleasant. Mosh pits aren't my thing! Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

Actually, The Winos PBS filming at WTTW studios in Chicago in December of 92 was THE smallest venue I ever saw Keith and the Winos if that counts as a Stones gig. Maybe a hundred people or so in there? That was a truly memorable evening!

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bakersfield

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Big Al
Wembley Arena, 2003

I was hoping to get tickets for the Astoria, but was unlucky. Saying that though, it was a disappointing show, according to many, here.

Yes the arena show two days later was much better, At the Astoria, it was thrilling to be so near to Mick and Keith but it was horribly loud, the band seemed to rush through the whole thing, and I spent the first half hour being pushed and shoved all over the place - very unpleasant. Mosh pits aren't my thing! Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

I attended three first of the three(?) Wembley Arena shows. I remember it being a terrific performance; easily the best I have seen, in retrospect. Respectable on the B-Stage was quite something, and I recollect a terrific performance from Keith on Bitch.

Leicester Granby Halls 1976

Vredenburg, Utrecht (The Netherlands), 2003

An incredible performance with a setlist that was pure fantasy for a young Stones fan back then. It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday, and I had already seen the band three times earlier that week. On Monday and Wednesday, they played in scorching conditions at De Kuip (Feyenoord’s stadium in Rotterdam). Those were my first-ever Stones concerts.

On Friday night, they played at Ahoy, a concert arena in Rotterdam, where they performed a selection from Exile On Main Street. I remember it well because they closed the show with Jumping Jack Flash. Will get back to that later. Right after the concert, I headed to Utrecht with a cool guy from Rotterdam who was dressed in just shorts and a Union Jack with the Stones logo as a cape. We spent the entire night outside the Vredenburg venue, hoping to score tickets in the morning.

There were a few acoustic guitars around, and we played some Stones songs with complete strangers. Members of The Vue, who were the opening act, also came by to check things out. In the morning, I was number 55 in line and lucky enough to get a ticket and a wristband that read “LUCKY ME,” which I still have.

I had already driven to Rotterdam at 4 a.m. on Wednesday night for the Ahoy concert, and by the time the Vredenburg show started, I was completely wrecked, but still buzzing with enough energy to enjoy every moment. Even with all the booze and weed! They opened with a blazing version of Jumping Jack Flash, and I realized much later that I had actually heard that song twice in a row in 24 hours.

It was an unforgettable concert—one I doubt will ever be topped. On the way home, I nearly fell asleep on the highway. I took a short break and finished the one-hour drive east. Once home, I was totally knocked out, but deeply satisfied, as you can imagine. A few days later, I was supposed to see them in Amsterdam, but Mick was sick. They made up for that show a month or two later.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2025-10-25 22:54 by Rutger.

hard rock in hollywood florida

Tower Theater Licks. 4th row Keith side.

Enmore Theatre, Sydney.Front row. High five with Keith and Mick.Marianne Faithfull was attending. Mick: "Welcome to all my lovers and my ex-lovers". I suspect Bob Dylan was there as well, which is just a guess...but, when I walked past the Four Seasons at Darling Harbour the day before, I saw Bernard and Blondy get into a car, together with another man that vaguely reminded me of someone (not a big Dylan fan, I am) of which I later realised it was BD. They probably were of to a rehearsel. BD played Sydney the day before.
They opened with Midnight Rambler! And Malcolm and Angus were guests on Rock me Baby...... What a night!

Roseland, Cirkus Krone or Cirkus in Stockholm.

Enmore Theatre, Sydney, 18th February 2003. Jesus, going on 23 years ago!

Rod

The Astoria for me and yes, bakersfield, the mosh pit was not for the faint hearted! Thought I was going to die at one point. Have happy memories of seeing the band in the much missed Glasgow Apollo which sat about 3000.

We were seven - 7 - fans in the studio in London UK 2019:

The Rolling Stones No Filter US Tour Rehearsals 2019 (IORR)

The Rolling Stones No Filter US Tour 2019 rehearsals (Stoneslife)

The Belly Up show in 2025 was very special, because a rich parking boss was celebrating his wife's 60's bithday with some 400 friends, and I was invited into this show as the only Stones fan I know.

The Rolling Stones
Belly Up Tavern
Solana Beach, CA, USA
Wednesday, May 27, 2015

The most unique moments have been when I was the only person at the rehearsals, listening to songs rehearsed, but never played live, and after the rehearsals, waving goodbye to Mick, Keith, Charlie, Ronnie and the others in the band.

Still, it is not about size, but about crowds. River Plate Stadium, Madison Square Garden, Wembley Stadium and Anfield, such amazing crowds, I would go there any time, being part of such crowds is what The Rolling Stones are all about. Excitement. Passion. Being part of something unique and eternal.

Bjornulf

I did some checking and it turned out that the smallest venue I saw the Stones was 42000 people.

Several of note:

Shepherds Bush Theatre, London 1999
Orpheum Theatre, Boston 2002
L'Olympia, Paris 2003
Cirkus, Stockholm 2003
Hard Rock, Hollywood Fl 2021
Racket, New York City, NY 2023 (the smallest venue, and shortest gig)

Each one a privilege, and also sharing the experience with friends.

I didn't check out the capacity but here are mine:


Oshawa
Horseshoe Tavern
RPM
El Mocambo
Palais Royale
Phoenix Concert Theatre

Obviously not in the correct order.

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MadMax
Cirkus Stockholm 2003 and I had the best spot in the house apart from being on stage. The next to the last time they finished with Sympathy.
Last time was at Werchter in 2007 and yours truly was there too, at the front.
Happy days!

Cirkus Stockholm 2003 was my case as well.

Earl's court 1976 - 18,000 so not that small - biggest, 3 months later -Knebworth - apparently, so I read, 250,000.

Festhalle Frankfurt 1982. We lit a joint at the beginning of Time Is On My Side. Great memories.

Hard Rock in Florida (6750 people). Could be the only show in a smaller venu where they didn't even try to do a special song. Instead they cut the setlist down to 17. I enjoyed the other shows on that tour more

L'Olympia, Paris 2003

1) Roseland Ballroom (15' from center stage).

Still waiting for a boot video of that night.

2) Beacon

2003 - Tower Theater
2006 - The Beacon

Shapherd's Bush, Paradiso (both shows, Boston Orpheum, Tower Theater, Capitol Theater, NY (MTV 10 Spot 1997) are in the running, but the winner is . . . . Toad's Place 1989.

HBK