I have a few pics here:

[i12.photobucket.com]

[i12.photobucket.com]

[i12.photobucket.com]

[i12.photobucket.com] - The Glimmer Twins! Too bad this pic is a little too bright.

[i12.photobucket.com] - soon after that pic was taken Keith first almost fell off the B-stage, rescued by Mick, and then fell on his ass, still kept playing though and finished the song before getting back up

[i12.photobucket.com]

[i12.photobucket.com] - not exactly sure if this is PIB or JJF.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2007-08-02 13:02 by Topi.

See pictures etc on the IORR Helsinki pages: [iorr.org]

Bjornulf

C'mon it's becoming to be a little too embarrassed. I love Keith, he was ,he is and will be my lovely man. But he felt on his ASS serval times during the show in front of 45000 fans, i'd fell like stupid. Probably some fans claim it's cool, you know drunk on the stage roc n roll etc. I'm affraid that Keith believes in his myth too much. It's not like it used to be in 70's... .I'm glad i saw him in a good shape in Brno and Warsaw. Anyway i love the man

he wasnt looking too good but he was feeling really well

thrak wrote:

"I'm affraid that Keith believes in his myth too much"

That`s it.

funsense Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great show! My first (and propably last?). I must
> admid, I am not a huge fan and didn´t knew all the
> songs that got played, but you could hear that
> Keith´s playing was dreadful.

sad to hear.
we can only hope the situation improves.

I have read some Finnish media reviews of the concert, and all of them say that the concert was fantastic, even though it is recognized that Keith played pretty bad and fell down few times, etc. A kind of sad thing is that these reviews somehow assume that Keith's bad off-key playing and drunkness is a natural part of every Stones show, and people love him because of this; they expect him to behave like this. The truth seems to be that this happened to be musically an off-night for Keith; it was not a standard night.

A positive note: all the rest guys are praised heavily, Mick of course, but what makes me glad is the praisal of Ronnie Wood.

- Doxa



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-08-02 14:40 by Doxa.

The other Swedish paper probably went to another concert.

[www.gt.se]

One of the best this tour, Keith at his best etc... LOL

TE
Oslo

Christ....and I thought the Werchter reviews were disturbing.

Theres not much point bashing a tabloid journalist for saying Keith's performance took the shine off things when there are fans here saying the same thing.

I dont know. Personally, I cant see how anyone can say that watching Keith fall over and only being able to play about 7-8 songs properly DOESN'T ruin a concert, regardless of how well the rest of the band perform. How can you NOT feel sad and pessimistic about seeing or reading that? If that isnt a downer, I dont know what is.

Updated Helsinki pages, now with pics from the gig: [www.stonesvikings.com]

Vilhelm
Nordic Stones Vikings

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Theres not much point bashing a tabloid journalist
> for saying Keith's performance took the shine off
> things when there are fans here saying the same
> thing.
>
> I dont know. Personally, I cant see how anyone can
> say that watching Keith fall over and only being
> able to play about 7-8 songs properly DOESN'T ruin
> a concert, regardless of how well the rest of the
> band perform. How can you NOT feel sad and
> pessimistic about seeing or reading that? If that
> isnt a downer, I dont know what is.

Blinded by rainbows

I hate to say Keith "ruined" this concert. I hate to say it because he´s my favorite Stone. I do feel pessimistic about the gig, and a bit sad, too.

Here´s my review:

Toots and the Maytals were the opening act replacing Van Morrison who had for some reason cancelled. I´m not a reggae fan but can dig it. The sound during Toots´set was a bit messy, however. I was in FOS, Keith´s stade, row 13, and couldn´t hear the lyrics. Still, I was confident that the Stones would sound much better and had no worries.
I overheard a security guy telling another one that the Stones would go on stage a quarter to 9 PM. It had been announced that they would go on at 8 PM already, but I never believed that – as a matter of fact, that announcement might just have been a way of luring the folks inside in time. A lot of the seats in the front field were empty during Toots, but as they finished, people started packing the place.
The Stones´ road crew did a pretty quick job of setting up. For some reason they removed the plastic roof on top of Charlie - I had never seen that happen. I was too far away from the stage without binoculars to see just how many songs would be played, let alone their names, as the set list was being written on the plexiglasses, but the weather promised for a 19-song set.
At almost exactly 9 PM the screen multimedia intro and the first fireworks started. Charlie came in, then Keef.. It seemed they came on stage surprisingly quickly. The SMU riff was perfect and, slowly, the crowd stood up from their seats!

1. Start Me Up

Was never a fan of this song. Keith´s playing sounded fine and for a minute I put aside my worries about his condition. “Keith seems ok”, I was thinking. Mick had a bright red jacket on. A standard version. 3 stars out of 5.

2. Let's Spend The Night Together

I like this one, it always reminds me of my first Stones gig in 1998 in Helsinki, back then it was number second, too. Keith was all smiles. 4/5.
3. Rough Justice
Very good intro. The only ABB song this time – luckily they didn´t play SOL! Keith hit a bum note once, but no troubles. The sound was great. 4/5.

4. All Down The Line
Highlight of the night for me! After hearing it a year ago in Bergen I have loved it – a lot. 5/5, even if Mick didn´t nail all the lyrics. The horns got on to this song.

5. She's So Cold
Mick asks whether it´s time to slow it down, time for “a ballad” Turns out he´s either joking or just doesn´t remember which song is next. SSC starts off well. Mick keeps forgetting some of the lyrics though. Towards the end, Keith walks over to Ronnie who is in front of Charlie. Leans a bit backwards, tries some kind of a pose, and falls down! It was quite, well, embarrassing and awkward to see that happen. By that point I hadn´t noticed that he was wasted. But the first thing that crossed my mind was “oh boy, he´s drunk”. A roadie almost came in to help him back up but the rest of the band shook their heads in refusal. They kept on playing but looked VERY confused. Keith was slow to get back up and only hit a few random chords.
2/5.

6. Love Is Strong
I kinda guessed they would do this one. A 2nd time for me, as in 1998 it had been the web choice. This time, Mick sang the lyrics, well, more correctly. Still not quite perfectly.
3/5.

7. Sweet Virginia
Why is Mick having a guitar AND a harmonica, I thought. When the song started without Mick introducing it other than just asking for us to sing along at the end, I thought: Wow! Sweet Virginia. Another Exile song. When Keith backed up and sang “gotta scrape that shit right off my shoe”, he pointed back, to Charlie´s direction, twice. I thought the “shit” he was referring to was the incident during SSC…

The crowd didn´t know the lyrics and the sing-along at the end didn´t go very well. Keith played correctly but way, way too seldom. 3/5 for this one as well.

8. Can't You Hear Me Knocking
Right after SW Keef kicks off! Wow! It took a minute for me to realize that it was indeed CYHMK and not Rambler. I had secretly hoped for this one. Ronnie´s solo was excellent, I took off my ear plugs during it.
They had a hard time getting it started but after that it was a great version. 4/5

9. Tumbling Dice
I often think of TD as “Keith´s song.” Good intro, I thought. Mick made the exact same mistake as in 2003: he sang the “lone crap shooter” version twice. At some point, Keith went on a walkabout to the right wing. He leaned on the railing, and it looked funny: it looked as though he was testing how it would hold. He was visibly wasted and skipped some of his parts.

10. --- Introductions
No I´ll Go Crazy this time, which was a bit of a surprise. For a moment I thought the set list would be cut down to 18. I actually would have liked to hear IGC live because I have been digging it since seeing the Werchter version on TV. Mick spoke a lot of Finnish during the introductions. I gave an extra hand and “yeah” to Bernard, Tim and Michael.

11. You Got The Silver (Keith)
Keith sang his lyrics surprisingly well, but he clearly had the teleprompter to help him. I have loved this song ever since I bought LIB in 2003. Beautiful guitars by Ronnie and Blondie.
4/5.

12. I Wanna Hold You (Keith)
The “cheat sheets” helped Keith to get the lyrics right, and in that sense, this version was better than the one he played in 1998. And when Keith played, he played just fine.

13. Miss You (to B-stage)
Keith hopped on the B-stage late. Walking on the chair row, I managed to make my way to the railing to get some cell phone photos. Too bad Keith switched sides and I didn´t manage to get a photo of him. Ronnie came over to my side and I took a good pic of him and Darryl looking down. Mick was also in that same pic. The song was an OK version. 3/5.

14. It's Only Rock'n Roll (B-stage)
Keith didn´t quite nail the solo on this one. 3/5. The B-stage sounded better and clearer to the main FOS than in 2003, which was good.

15. Satisfaction (B-stage)
The intro was OK, but after that Keith had problems. He was on the wrong key a lot. At the end of the song he didn´t even play his riff when he was supposed to – you could hear Chuck´s piano playing it. Not good. During the song I called my mom who likes this song a lot and she got a bit of the “I can´t get no! I can´t get no!” part. But what happened with Keith? Anyhow, on the B-stage I think they should play a blues tune and bring Satisfaction back to the main stage. The ending of the song was a mess and this why it only gets 2/5.

16. Honky Tonk Women (to main stage)
Keith has had worse solos on this one this tour. But this was far from a good one. It was rusty. I managed to get a photo of Keith and Mick on their way back. Moments after I took the photo, Keith went close to the edge and Mick practically had to keep him from falling off the B-stage! And, right after that, Keith went in front of Charlie and fell down on his butt again. Kept on playing and finished the song sitting on his butt. The expression on Charlie´s face looked, well, worried.

17. Sympathy For The Devil
The effects make it out to be impressive and the song itself has always been one of my faves. Too bad Keith hardly played at all. The solo was very late and because of that very short – and definitely not very good. Uh oh. Another drunkard walkabout by Keith, Ronnie almost went after him to babysit but didn´t. When on the left wing, Keith didn´t play very much at all and contented himself on just posing and waving. Uh oh. The end of the song was a mess as the rest of the band looked worried about Keith. I hate to say it but this was the weakest link on this night. 1/5.

18. Paint It Black
Amazing: Keith managed to play a good intro! In 1998 this song had been a pleasant surprise and I had been totally extatic during it, but it doesn´t hit me quite the same way today. Nevertheless, they delivered it really well. 4/5.

19. Jumping Jack Flash
This song was the opener last year, and now they use it to close. Blondie was helping on electric guitar. I couldn´t tell whether he was actually backing up for Keith there but the three guitars made this song sound just fine. 3/5.

20. Brown Sugar (encore)
No intro mess-up by Keith even if he took his time to start it. Mick´s only trip to the catwalk. Keith played just fine again but had trouble standing up and Darryl actually had to help him. Whoah. Well, at least they managed to finish this one – and the concert – respectably.

Mixed emotions. Worried about you, Keef. This could be the last time.

I´ll give Brown Sugar and the whole show, for that matter, three stars out of five. Setlist-wise this was the best show I went to, but a bit overshadowed by Keef´s antics.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-08-02 15:33 by Topi.

PiotrRSpl Wrote:

> situation with Keith falling down and many
> assuming he was simply drunk. What I was trying to
> say is that natural reaction would be worrying
> about Keith's health itself.

I was worried. A lot. I couldn´t believe my eyes.

> If he was do drunk
> that he was falling down on his bottom, how was he
> capable to do his set so well?

That´s what I was wondering. The teleprompter helped him with the lyrics though, that´s for sure.

> to comment on the setlist for a change: WOW ! What
> a bang in Helsinki, truly!

Yes! Scandinavians fans can expect good set lists this time around!

... well, last i heard the legendary occasions when Keith fell down/played on his back in the 70s and 80s
are cherished folklore, so ... so apparently something's changed, i'm just not sure what.
all kinds of well-being on Keith & all the Stones

Thanks Topi for your rewiev, which I almost fully agree. JJF I found better than you did. Just an impression. Rough Justice was also very good, rougher than on record.

Im in internet cafe in Tallinn, recovering from the yesterdays gig.

Slightly OT: are there any friendly Swedish IORR brothers or sister, who read the article of yesterdays gig from todays Goteborgs Post? If there is someone, who could check if theres a picture of a brunette lady fitting a RS t-shirt on? I would really appreciate if anybody answers. That lady is my wife and the photographer took some 10 pictures of her.

So, I will be back this night after a few Estonian beers..

Thank you!!!!

Hi Wesley! Recovered yet? It´s funny, but I had Sweet Virginia ringing in my ears earlier today. =)

Did you know that you can listen the YLE Radio Suomi Rolling Stones Night online at areena.yle.fi, [areena.yle.fi]. Holle Holopainen and Harri Saksala talking and playing Stones. Be sure to catch it if you didn´t.

Good to meet you, your wife and Gooner!

I´m off to a hockey game - yes, in August - now.

After reading all these reviews, you could get the impression that it's the end of the (Stones) world as we know it...

Sure, I'm worried about some things going on myself, but sometimes I also get a bit angry when people call Keith "a drunk" or "totally pissed" etc.
How do you know that he was drunk at all? I mean if you are drunk, you are drunk all the time and @#$%& up every solo and every song. But with Keith it seems to be merely dropouts, like a light bulb that goes black from time to time. And that is clearly a problem of the brain and not a state of drunkenness. Whatever this problem is caused by, we don't know exactly. We can only speculate. My guess is, that it has something to do with the accident and the brain surgery that followed it. And the medication thereafter. But that's also only speculation.

A fact is though, that Keith has said many times: "I'll play until I drop". If we accept that, we also have to accept the state in which he is while playing. If you feel that this is "embarassing" or "not worth the money" or something similar, that's completely up to yourself. Apart from that, the Stones are still able to pull it off and play fantastically, as St. Petersburg reportedly proves.

TE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The other Swedish paper probably went to another
> concert.
>
> [www.gt.se]
> nd
>
> One of the best this tour, Keith at his best
> etc... LOL
>
> TE
> Oslo


And that's so stupid. Why not just be honest and maybe they will improve etc

with sssoul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ... well, last i heard the legendary occasions
> when Keith fell down/played on his back in the 70s
> and 80s
> are cherished folklore, so ... so apparently
> something's changed, i'm just not sure what.
> all kinds of well-being on Keith & all the Stones


He was great back then and now he hardly plays guitar, that's a change.

Well said donnywas, I was just going to post the same. All the talk here assumes Keith was drunk and wasted. Does anyone on here know this for sure? I doubt it. He seemed fine during his own songs.

Whatever, poor Mick is hardly getting a mention anymore! He was top dollar last night! A great show overall!

yes we are all wrong, he played a great show, in fact best show of the tour!

ok my first post here but I was there last night and thoroughly enjoyed the show. The band turned up and made an effort, the crowd on the other hand was a little bit embarrasing.

I knew as soon as I heard it was all seating (Finns + seats are not a good combination) it was a roadcrash waiting to happen. True to form the seats performed another job of vacuuming the atmosphere out of the stadium. Normally there was a sweaty steaming mass of bodies all jumping and dancing along, in their place was a group of happy clappers, all rooted to the spot. Even the (big boned) American head of security was cursing under his breath and trying to get people to come to the front.

Yet it was a double edged sword, the stage was so bloody high that you had to be a little bit back to get the best view.

I was on the front barrier on Keiths side, I guess I impressed him enough that I scored one of his guitar pics

Here are some really rubbish pictures for your enjoyment.

[i19.photobucket.com]
[i19.photobucket.com]
[i19.photobucket.com]
[i19.photobucket.com]
[i19.photobucket.com]

Anyway that's enough from me

The photos are great!
Looks like the stadium was quite packed, too. Very daylighty though....
Anyway, in that one photo, Keith looks determined and energetic.

Thanks, personally I watched him flail a couple of times but I missed hime totally capitulating. I guess he was at the back of the stage and I missed it.

Seemed to be ok to me though, during start me up he was at the front and smiling and shouting "come on" to the photographers. I think he was drinking through the show because he did seem to get worse.

Still I got the warmest smile ever from him, just before he threw plectrum. Then some drunk guy came over and offered me 40 (fourty) euros for it, cheeky bugger. I waited 16 years for one of those

Photos Aamulehti.fi :















============================================================

Photos HBL :

pmcguire Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Still I got the warmest smile ever from him, just
> before he threw plectrum. Then some drunk guy came
> over and offered me 40 (fourty) euros for it,
> cheeky bugger. I waited 16 years for one of those
>


I got mine in 2003 from him. After only 8 years of waiting ;-)
So I consider myself lucky. A fast one, so to speak... :-)

Arizojp : splendid artistic photos. Mick seems in one of them walking on water !!! Keith has his good looking pushing hard. Contradictory reports which reminds of the first reviews of the tour. What really puzzles me is reading back the comments from July 2003 and 1998 which were unanimously laudative. Other point is the shrinking of the audience from 45,000 to 36,000.

Photos Kaleva.fi / Heikki Saukkomaa :

Great photos....and what a great audience photo! A total sell-out for sure!

It's proof that Finland still loves the Stones! Remember there's only 5million people in this country and they played here only four years ago. Also there have been more big concerts than ever in Finland this summer and most Finns are on holiday at the moment.

Ooh there's Ronnie's Versoul Finnish guitar in the last photo.

Sell-out with these ticket prices is amazing in Finland. Highest stadium tickets ever in here! If it weren´t the chairs on the field it wouldn´t have been sell-out by far. Some areas got unseated cause of the soundsystem camsp on the ground so you wouldn´t have been able to see anything from those blocks in the low corners.

Those pics are just awesome!

I'm wondering why Keith cannot be sober for these two hours only when he's on stage? It's total lack of respect for people who come to see him.It's like saying "F..k you all" to his audience.