A month ago, I was seriously burned out on the Stones. Between them playing the same 15 songs every night (in a 20 song setlist) and their increasingly crass and money-grubbing ticketing/merchandising shenanigans, I felt they were losing some of their integrity. It's hard to keep up a fanatical level of devotion to a band when you start to suspect that their top priority these days is playing the safest, easiest setlist possible, then selling you a T-shirt and a bottle of Stones wine for $150 on your way out of the venue.

I needed a break from the Stones; it was fun talking about them all the time when I was enjoying the tour reports (and the two concerts I went to), but it became not-so-fun to talk about them all the time when every new tour report was a source of disappointment for me, my reaction invariably being - "oh great, the same 15 songs again. How adventerous."

So I took a break for a little while; I have been posting on the Dusty Springfield message board under the userid sonofapreacherman. Just kidding! But it is amazing how effective taking a breather has been. Although I will probably be disappointed by some setlists, etc., again, I'm not going to take it so hard I can't enjoy following the tour or discussing the band. I think I've put it all in perspective. It's only rock 'n' roll, after all! (But I like it).

I used to scoff at the notion that "we're just lucky the band is still around and iable to put on some great shows (even if they all have the same 15 songs)." But I'm leaning more toward that view now. It's amazing these guys are even alive, much less performing. And some of the shows on this tour have been pretty fantastic. At this point, I'm content to take what I can get while I can get it. And after that, bring on the archival releases!

Perhaps you haven't heard - the summer tour has been cancelled due to keith's injury!

ok ok, i'm kidding.

good to see you back, ONNYA.

Everyone who has ever gotten drunk, done something stupid and then had to take time off work because of it, raise your hand. My hand is way up in the air, so I'm not going to judge the man.

Welcomebackagain, ohnonotyouagain !

Thanks Erik and nikki. It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-05-30 20:28 by ohnonotyouagain.

Welcome back Ohno.....have you been reading about our Atlanta get-together July 29? Enter "Atlanta" in the search function and you'll find it. This is Elmo's baby...I hope you and Drake can make it. I hope everyone can make it, for that matter.

I'm with Lukester, welcome back. In Clapton's words, "Hello Old Friend". Do try to make it down to ATL on July 29. Maybe you can "enlighten" us to some of your commentary on the Atlanta 2006 boot (or at least buy us a drink!). You know, hard working people, salt of the earth types.

Ohno!!! Welcome back man! If you're in the ville we need to kick it sometime. BTW, I understand about getting burned out on them. When you own every album by any band they eventually get tired. For me there's the Stones and then there's every other band but the others arent too bad. Glad you're back man.

-Drake

If you haven't gotten drunk and done something stupid you are probably not someone I really want to know, LOL!

oh no not YOU again

Oh yes, its you again. Just climb on board. :0)

Elmo Lewis Wrote:
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> I'm with Lukester, welcome back. In Clapton's
> words, "Hello Old Friend". Do try to make it down
> to ATL on July 29. Maybe you can "enlighten" us to
> some of your commentary on the Atlanta 2006 boot
> (or at least buy us a drink!). You know, hard
> working people, salt of the earth types.

I am seriously thinking about Atlanta but may have to work that weekend (boo!). Sorry about the drunken babling on the Atlanta boot; I was so good about being quiet in Memphis (with one or two exceptions) and then totally blew it in Atlanta. It's a shame what I did to Drake's fine recording. Sorry guys!

Lukester, if I come to Atlanta, can we redecorate your hotel room like Hunter Thompson and Dr. Gonzo did theirs in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas? We just have to make sure to stow the grapefruits and the hotel soaps in the back of your car and make our getaway before the bill comes. You'll have to register under an alias, of course. I suggest Micky Vibrato.

Hey, ohno, I liked what you said! At the beginning, do you say "I'm a black/blind man"? Which is it? Best I can tell you're neither. Although I was about blind drunk and ready to black out at Jock and Jill's before the show.

* 2nd place - Jagger dance contest!

drake Wrote:
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> Ohno!!! Welcome back man! If you're in the ville
> we need to kick it sometime. BTW, I understand
> about getting burned out on them. When you own
> every album by any band they eventually get tired.
> For me there's the Stones and then there's every
> other band but the others arent too bad. Glad
> you're back man.
>
> -Drake
>

Thanks. Is it too late to have a Mint Julep? Derby should be celebrated the first Saturday of every month as far as I'm concerned. It might even be better without all the horseracing and tourists.

Redecorating the hotel room eh...? We'll need some party favors. Just give me the list.

-Drake

Glad to hear you overcame your disappointment. I am still trying to get over mine after seeing several shows at the beginning of the tour. Wouldn't you know I sold all my tickets for the Euro tour and thank god or I would have lost a bunch of money with these shows not happening. I think us fans are not alone with being down on these guys, several other musicians have been saying the same things to the media.

Elmo Lewis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey, ohno, I liked what you said! At the
> beginning, do you say "I'm a black/blind man"?
> Which is it? Best I can tell you're neither.
> Although I was about blind drunk and ready to
> black out at Jock and Jill's before the show.
>
> * 2nd place - Jagger dance contest!

I say "I'm a blind man but I'm happy," That's a reference to the Memphis show, where some girl behind me and drake asked me, in all seriousness "pardon me, but I work with the blind and I was wondering - are you visually impaired?" (apparently my pupils were dilated and my eyes were half shut at the moment. i can't imagine why. ahem.) Anyway, I laughed and told her "I'm not blind, I'm just stoned." You can make this out on the recording if you listen hard. Mercifully, that was about the only conversation that got captured on that one.

When it comes to setlists, I think the Stones are in a no win situation. The die hard fans on this board get tired of the "warhorses", yet the vast majority of fans at the shows want to hear Start Me Up, Jumping Jack Flash, Brown Sugar, etc.
When I saw Deep Purple on their reunion tour in 1985, they DIDN'T play Smoke On The Water, the one song everyone wanted to hear! They played Woman From Tokyo for their encore.
I mentioned here previously that AC/DC is similar to the Stones, where their setlist is mostly the same from tour to tour, mostly a greatest hits concert with a few new songs thrown in.

drake Wrote:
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> Redecorating the hotel room eh...? We'll need
> some party favors. Just give me the list.
>
> -Drake


I'm working up a list now, Drake. I might have to wait until there's a good rain and then go running through some cow pastures to complete the list,if you know what I mean. When my overdue friends from the Keys get here I'll be able to rest more easily. In the meantime, my Owsley wannabe is working overtime with some bread mold and sugar cubes, it's all very confusing to me. I'll send you the list to see if I'm leaving out anything.


Ohno....Of course I will be checking into the hotel under an assumed name. There are still a few establishments in Atlanta that haven't seen me yet. I'll let you know where to meet on a "need to know basis." We can't allow news of our meeting to become known to hotel management.

Welcome back ONNYA - You were missed!

Isn't it good to be in love with the Rolling Stones again.

Wasn't looking too good, but I was feeling real well.

Even if I dont trust my memory at all when it comes to the
summer of 85 (I had just hit my head in a Keith-tabloid-way),
I want to recall they did play Smoke... But speaking for myself
I could go to a hundred Purple-concerts and wouldnt miss Smoke
once... Still, its commercial suicide. But Purple was never (and will
never be?) that kind of Give-the-people-what-they-think-they-want-band...

Lukester, ohno, drake - no coconut or palm trees at your hotel please! And stay off of jetski's on Peachtree Street.

Sugar cubes... Ahhh good times. Thats something I cant find these days. For the longest time I thought it was just madeup and never actually existed.

btw, I dig the comments and all that on Memphis and Atlanta. Those recordings are my souveneers of the show, capturing every moment in all its glory, including the openning comments of 'were rollin' and all that. My routine is very meticulous on recording and I actually hit record long before the lights dimmed (infact I hit it before the openning band went on, cause my recorder goes for 8 hours straight). We did have a little shoutout to everyone on IORR and the Shidoobees but I decided not to include it. Too obvious.

-Drake

Welcome back...

By the way, not really fair to compare the Stones and their set lists to ACDC or Deep Purple, the Stones have many more hits to choose from so mixing up the sets is a little different. And the Stones problem isn't really playing their biggest hits every night. Its playing songs like You Got Me Rocking every night and every tour. This song is not a hit and average fans I think would not care if it wasn't played.

CindyC Wrote:
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> Welcome back ONNYA - You were missed!

Thanks!

> Isn't it good to be in love with the Rolling
> Stones again.

Love may be a strong word in this case. We are more like "friends with benefits." Musical benefits, that is. Get your mind out of the gutter!

ohnonotyouagain Wrote:

We are more like "friends with benefits." Musicalbenefits, that is. Get your mind out of the gutter!

You first, Mr. Pig!

Isn't their a saying about a blind pig?

Elmo Lewis Wrote:
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> Isn't their a saying about a blind pig?


Not that I'm aware of. Why don't you enlighten us all.

or a Swinging Pig

-Drake