Glasgow!
Posted by:
theimposter
()
Date: August 31, 2006 04:57
So I just heard the radio broadcast in the Hot Stuff section (thanks again to whoever posted that).
I have to say that my jaded, cynical old self was pleasantly surprised. This was a great show!! Even some of the better shows I have heard frm this tour (Nagoya comes to mind) were, at best, enjoyable but frustratingly ragged. Not ragged in the charming old sense of the 1970's, but more in the sense of a bunch of old men that really couldn't do much better.
Well, this proved me wrong. The playing was tight, Mick in top form, Charlie and Darryl working the groove and Keith and Ronnie really holding their own. Hightlights:
"Sway" - Mick actually SINGING the song for a change and Ronnie playing like he meant business!
"She's So Cold" - Yes! A stew of guitars all over the place, licks here, there and everywhere. This was rock and roll, ladies and gents - the genuine article.
"Miss You" - the best post-70's version I have heard. I never could stand the long, bloated, audience-pandering 94 and on versions (and let's not discuss the 89 version with it's synthesizer harmonica). This was tight, to the point and all about the song as opposed to the spectacle. Goddamnit I enjoyed this one.
"Jumping Jack Flash" - I never get tired of hearing my favorite Stones tune of all time, especially when they let it out like a switchblade. Killer opening, great version, does this classic the justice it demands.
"Slipping Away" - a fine, emotive vocal from KR. And as opposed to some of the lazy licks I have heard him throw onto this one on previous live version, he injects this version with some wrenching, soulful soloing. Good on ya, mate!
"Rain Fall Down" - Finally, a live version of this I was really happy with! This was a free-for-all funk number, guitars right on - had me thinking of "Hot Stuff". To boot, Darryl gets a fine bass moment and (yes I am actually going to say this) Chuck even gets to prove he knows how to negotiate a funky little electric piano solo. Needless to say I dug it.
I was already crap-in-my-pants-excited about Louisville this month. Now I am 10x as excited. God bless 'em the Rolling Stones. Like any great band, they might not be on every night, but when they're on they are ON.