Re: It's over when the US-tour is over!
Date: September 2, 2006 19:25
A week or so ago, I didn't rush out and buy tickets for the Rolling Stones Oakland Stadium show. This is the first time since 1975 that I didn't go WAY out of my way to secure great seats for a Stones show. Most, ok, ALL of my friends didn't rush out either, That's too bad for us, and it's too bad for the Stones.
Up until recently, it never seemed "too much". Multiple shows, night after night, no problem. Traveling to see a show, even better. But now, it smells of being all for the money, and that's a shame.
For me, the least desireable place to see the Stones is in a huge stadium, especially when I'm seeing songs I've seen them play dozens of times.
The Rolling Stones should stop at Dodger Stadium. Then, in 2007, they should get involved in a variety of projects, without all the overhead, and the redundency. Scale the entire organization back down to a manageable level. They have a solid core group of people, they can build from that. They certainly can earn revenue by releasing some dandies from the vault, and by getting involved in different film projects, just to mention two ideas.
From the film projects, new music can be created. I'll bet if you gave Mick and Keith an interesting script for a film, in a few weeks they'd have some great songs. Then get the band back together to record the Score for the film, plus some other new music so they could release another sizeable CD, Then, play intimate summer shows in the cancelled European cities, for the orig ticket holders, only. No stadiums. No Arenas. If you must play a larger show, do it outside in a nice setting, like they've done in the past with Hyde Park, or in Rio, and recently with Bergen. From Europe, they should do a week of shows in NYC at The Garden, and a week of shows in SF. The setlist should be eighty-percent new music, and a selection of songs they've rarely, or never played live before. No Satisfaction, Brown Sugar, Tumbling Dice, JJ Flash,.. you get the picture. Midnight Rambler, ok, you can stay.
Most importantly, do it for yourselves. Do it for the creativity. Do it for your legacy. After you're gone, the money won't matter.
CHELSKEITH
www.themidnightrambler.com