ok
im going to go out on a limb here, as most people here seem to have a huge love for either the voodoo lounge or no security tours.
to me the licks tour was/is the greatest tour of the rolling stones in three ways:
1) setlists
2) uniqueness and riskiness
3) challenging themselves as a band

(obviously im going to get jumped on by everyone saying the tours from the 70s either had 'way more energy, better playing, mick taylor, etc) but i am not saying licks was better than those for those reasons. i am just saying licks was the best for the 3 criteria above.

1) first of all setlists. look at the setlists from these shows, to me they are the absolute ideal for a modern day stones show. they of course have the warhorses (which i admit, i would feel cheated if i didn't hear at a show). I believe mick says on the 4 flicks DVD that there are about 5 songs people feel they need to hear at a stones show to feel that they saw the stones, and i agree. however, the amount of songs that the band dug back to bring out for this tour is phenomenal.
everynight there was quite a variance, especially among the arena and club shows to mix things up. sure there was a basic formula, ie- arena shows usually got street fighting man and if you cant rock me, near the start, but honestly look how some nights you could get 4-5 songs off of let id bleed, and then the next night 4-5 songs off of exile, amazing in my opinion.
these setlists really allowed the band to be proud of their past, but not rely on the 'same old' songs they had for the past few tours.

2) uniqueness, and riskiness in that they were playing club shows and as stated in my first point bringing out some old tunes. 3 different stages, and 3 different shows on one tour really is a unique thing for this band who for the past decade had more or less just done huge stadium shows, and the idea of an intimate show was an arena show.

3) challenging themselves as a band.
honestly look at the songs they brought out: she smiled sweetly, cant you hear me knocking, loving cup, if you cant rock me, stray cat blues, rip this joint, neighbours, i cant turn you loose, hand of fate, little red rooster, torn and frayed, worried about you, heart of stone, love in vain, sweet virginia, no expectations etc etc etc.
the band apparently rehearsed like 120 songs, and for that i give them credit.

licks, the best tour for setlists, a unique concert experience and showing that the band was willing to challenge themselves still into their 60s.

Good points. I like all of the tours I've been to. Some more than others.

I agree. And when Mick says fans needs at least 5 songs to experience a real Stones show I agree. This is why I am baffled for the most part of their song selection for the US part of the tour. Seems like he meant to say they need 12 songs to experience a real Stones show, because its a real shock if any of these songs are not played at one of their shows. The songs being...

IORR
Honky Tonk Women
YGMR
Start Me Up
Satisfaction
Miss You
Brown Sugar
Satisfaction
JJF
Tumblin Dice
YCAGWYW
Sympathy for the Devil

You wouldn't think all of these would be a must for every single show because when you throw in 2 Keith songs, Rough Justice and ONNYA again it only leaves 4 songs to get some variety or any possibility of a few new songs.

Canadian.Sway:

You make strong arguments. Licks tour will always been my personal fave owing to the opportunities I had to see them twice in a theater setting - those will always be my favorite Stones experiences.

On a pure "execution" level, however, none of the modern era tours holds a candle to the far better tours of bygone eras.

I like them all, but I do have to agree that licks was the best because you could go see four shows and see four different shows with songs you never heard before.

Go Dawgs!

LIX was great indeed. I had the opportunity to see 7 clubshows in 3 different continents, and a bunch of arena and stadium shows there too. That just cant't be beaten. Never..

How did people get these tickets for the theater shows. I tried to get tix for almost every theater show and was willing to travel anywhere to see one and couldn't get anything. Only way I could have gone would have been to pay $3,500 for one ticket at Roseland. I even went to Boston and waited outside with hopes of getting in and nothing.

Hound Dog Wrote:
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> How did people get these tickets for the theater
> shows.

You were obviously praying to the wrong pagan gods.

I had about twenty rs.com memberships ready. So whenever a show went on sale I could order tickets. Some clubshows were on sale for a few hours... The only thing was to know when it went on sale and login immediately. Together with a friend we just kept our eyes on the rs.com screen for weeks... Tough job, but it worked for us. If you work hard, you get rewarded!

Well said, Canadian Sway. It makes it all the more depressing that the band seems to have actually regressed since the Licks tour.

nikkibing
i dont know how much the band has regressed.
licks was a chance to parade and do real justice to their huge past and bring out some gems from the past. it seems that was the mission statement of that tour, this new tour is based around parading some of the new songs (we've seen 6 of them or so) and continuing their tradition of big tours in the name of the voodoo lounge and steel wheels. both those tours feature little change in the setlists night from night, and only really switched 3-4 songs at the most a night, this new tour plays around with 5-6 songs or so a night.

I can see your points Canadian, though some of the songs you mentioned were only done once (torn and frayed, she smiled sweetly). More important to me: a let down of Licks (I've been to all three kind of venues) was the sound. It was hard to hear the guitars! Keyboards, side musicians, bass & even drums (the terrible SFTD version) were too loud. I thought the sound of Voodoo Lounge (& Bt was much better. But these points aside: Licks got great setlists indeed. And when Mick sang That's how strong my love is I had shivers down my spine and tears in my eyes. What a great band!

The Licks Tour was the best during '02 and for part of '03 until they stepped it down a notch playing 19 songs per night and not including many of the great '02 songs.

anyone else think that the licks tour is the last time we'll hear undercover of the night, sad sad sad and rock and a hard place?

yes

but where was rock and a hard place played?

well i must say it was more exciting to read the setlists of the Licks Tour as there was usually a unique difference b/w setlists unlike this tour which is pretty predictable.

I saw a great show from the licks tour.

Streetftighting Man
IORR
IF you cant rock me
Dont stop
Aint Too Proud
Heart Of Stone
Sweet Virginia
Loving Cup
All Down the Line
Tumbling Dice
Thru and Thru
You dont have to mean it
Start Me Up
You Got Me rocking
Honkey Tonk Women
Cant You hear me Knocking
Satisfactin
Mannsish Boy
When The Whip Comes Down
Brown Sugar
Sympathy
JJ Flash.

Pretty Impressive.

I didnt go to the No Securtiy Show but I looked at set lists from that tour and they looke pretty impressive too. Especially the opening show in Oalkand. That must have been amazing for several reasons.

1. opening with JJ flash for the first time since 69-70
2. live debut of some girls, you got the silver & moonlight mile
3. brining back midnight rambler for the first time since steel wheels. It was the first encore , so it must have been the LAST thing the crowd expected to hear.
4. Closing with Sympathy for the first time since 75.
Was anyone there? If I was I would have been blown away.

nikkibong- i believe rock and a hard place was played one of the first nights, i think it only made a once off appearance
sept 5th in boston



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-04-06 05:58 by canadian.sway.

i think Rock and a Hard Place would be a cool second song in concert.

yeah, I agree rock and a hard place would be a good 2nd song. at the last show I saw in this tour "shattered" was the second song. A great second song IMO. I wasn't expecting it at all. I thought for sure it would be "You Got Me Rocking". I wasnt even expecting shattered at all, certianly not at # 2. I totally got into the show at that point WOOOOHHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah, imagine after opening with a hot version of 'The Last Time,' a few seconds later, before the audience knows what hit 'em, badabadabada charlie kicks off a hard-rocking rock and a hard place.

You should contact Chuck Levall.com with your suggestions.

T&A Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>>
> On a pure "execution" level, however, none of the
> modern era tours holds a candle to the far better
> tours of bygone eras.

Concerning your execution, T&A, I would go along with that.

Which would you prefer -- hanging, firing squad or lethal injection?

reminds me of a great quote from the late great John McKay when he was head coach for the horrible Tampa Bay Buccanneers of the early 80's. He was asked after another loss what he thought of his team's execution. His response: "I'm in favor of it."

I won't jump you canadian.sway. I agree that VL is their best tour ever (The tour when I turned down a free ticket and ride to the venue - wasn't a fan back then. I'm DUM. I disagree on NS though. Licks was better.... IMO.

JumpingKentFlash