Before the final chorus of "Midnight Rambler", at 10:30 into the song, Ronnie pulls out a Taylor lick from Ya-Ya's, and then launches into his own style of lead flourish. Very nice -- I really hadn't noticed it before.

All in all, a very good gig for Ronnie.

Just watched that again. They should take this entire 12-minute clip and put it in a time capsule. Can't wait for June!!!

Amazing gig! Tell me the band can't play anymore!!! Utter bull.....

Just watched several Japan 2006 shows again, and I come to the same conclusion as 6 months ago: the Stones have become the absolute worst live band still performing. They should be ashamed to even ask money for their shows.

Mathijs

i've noticed mathijs always has very negative comments, can't believe that you bother to be here at all, imagine that you have nothing better to do than write rubbish and hope to prick a response- this gig in saitama is fabulous

Saitama was extremely ragged in spots (Start Me Up, HTW, Keith's solo on ONNYA), smoking hot in spots. That's what you get with the Stones.

Yeah I just listened to the saitama show for the first time. Can't say I was overwhelmed. Sway just sounds way too fast. imho...

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

sway is way to fast and mick sings way to restrained on the live version of sway,he should sing it like he did on the album, take no prisoners screaming attack

It's a song I think they should avoid. Besides Jagger's singing, it is one of their great guitar solo numbers. Ronnie isn't up to it.

Saitama was good but it was VERY ragged at spots. "Midnight Rambler" was a killer though. Maybe the best "modern era" version that I've heard. But anywayz, I listened to alot of those Japan shows and was largely unimpressed. A couple of them were ok.

They started out ragged at Saitama (best I can remember), then they got really hot. The middle part of the gig absolutely rocked. But then they started to lose it towards the end and got really ragged again. The wheels about fell of during "Honky Tonk Women".

I didn't see the dvd btw, I just listened to the show.

If a few people are disappointed with them and thousands happy then that is not a bad deal. In fact I would say that is a good reason for touring still.

Bjornulf

bv Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If a few people are disappointed with them and
> thousands happy then that is not a bad deal. In
> fact I would say that is a good reason for touring
> still.


Go get em,bv! I agree 100%, It's unfortunate about the sour apples,but it takes all kind's right? They must be getting miserble in there old age!

I guess most people think Saitama is smoking, because this show is probably the only one from the ABB Tour with a sublime audio quality / a very full and rich sound. Hampden Park sounds like a pumped up soundboard recording with some stadium echo, and Rio and Buenos Aires aren't that great, they sound very thin. Sapporo and Nagoya sound good and clear but very dry.

When I praise Saitama, I am not talking about the audio -- it's professional quality recording of a typical (imho) show -- but the quality of the video! It is hands down my favorite Stones concert video. I thought that Four Flicks was great, but Saitama is better -- the complete show, no edits or overdubs whatsoever, shot largely with handheld cameras from audience level (sometimes from behind the audience), very few close-ups and avoids concentrating too much on Mick.

On a tape, Ronnie's solo on SMU sounds pretty crappy. On video, you see him clowning around, running around the perimeter of the B-Stage during the solo. On audio, you might hear a guitar just drop out; on the video, you get a fantastic shot of him giving a pick to an audience member. Fantastic camera angles -- to me, it gives the viewer a very good "feel" for what it was like being at the concert. I cannot recommend it more highly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-05-12 09:34 by drbryant.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't!

Horrible isn't it when the Stones are ragged? Almost as bad as when they are all polished and "vegas" stytle.

sigh...no matter what they do some people on this board will find a way to complain.

About the forthcoming DVD realease. Could it be the case that Saitama is among the shows? I have only heard about Rio show - which is quite bad performance - and some US show, but does anyone knows more?

Anyway, I am not particular fan of all of these recent Stones releases, but I have heard so many mixed reviews about this Saitama footage, so I am interested in seeing it. (And mock it later)

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-05-12 11:49 by Doxa.

Mathijs,

Have a look at the saitama intro of YCAGWYW:




The last time Keith played it so well was in 1989/1990.
For example on live at the max.

Another example , YGMR :


This is the best live version ever.

The band is better than in 2002/2003 and 1997/1999.

Some songs like Brown Sugar do not sound good at all.

The problem of the bigger bang tour is the set list and the absence of club shows.

---



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-05-12 11:49 by Doxa.

Doxa Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> About the forthcoming DVD realease. Could it be the case that Saitama is among the shows? I have only heard about Rio show - which is quite bad
> performance - and some US show, but does anyone knows more?


The 4-disc DVD package "The Biggest Bang" will include footage from Austin, Rio, Buenos Aires, Shanghai and Saitama. Plus documentary bonus material.

Tokyo was dreadfull, but in all honesty Saitama had some truly fine moments like Wild Horses, and indeed YGAGWYW. It is one of the better shows from this tour.

bassplayer617 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Before the final chorus of "Midnight Rambler", at
> 10:30 into the song, Ronnie pulls out a Taylor
> lick from Ya-Ya's, and then launches into his own
> style of lead flourish. Very nice -- I really
> hadn't noticed it before.
>
> All in all, a very good gig for Ronnie.


Ronnie has done this on every "Rambler" I've heard from this tour. It doesn't sound perfect, but it's a cool lick and his doing it his own way, and that's cool. I guess this is Ronnies kind of appreciation for Mick Taylor licks
Anyway, I haven't seen the whole Saitama gig yet(!) -Been kind of saving it, so I'm looking very much forward to it!!

It's not about being ragged (I love the ragged '78 and '81 tours), it's not about bum notes (the great '75 tour had more bumnotes than any other tour), it's about the musicians, and then mainly Wood and Keith. I truly think they have become horrible guitar players. On the last tour it simply felt like they didn't know most songs they played. They didn't know the chords and song structure, they didn't know when to solo and what to solo. I find all renditions of Sway utterly horrible. The same goes for Tumbling Dice, Honky Tonk Women and Let's Spend the Night.

I feel Wood is strung out on most nights. I feel Keith really hit his head hard when he fell from that tree. There simply is something terribly wrong with the Stones anno 2006.

There's one thing I feel is great though: Keith's guitar hasn't sounded that good since the Wino's in 1992. The sound on JJF is just brilliant.

And why do I stick around on this board? Because the 1993 - 1983 years is 20 years of the best band in the world, and everyday you learn on this board. I learned all about Vox Foundation, Conqueror and Supreme amps, even so much that I just bought one.

Mathijs

Mathijs Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Because
> the 1993 - 1983 years is 20 years of the best band
> in the world

The 1993 - 1983 years is twenty years? Don't you mean that the 1983 -1993 years is ten years?

JumpingKentFlash

JumpingKentFlash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mathijs Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Because
> > the 1993 - 1983 years is 20 years of the best
> band
> > in the world
>
> The 1993 - 1983 years is twenty years? Don't you
> mean that the 1983 -1993 years is ten years?

As would seem quite obvious, I meant 1963 - 1983.

Mathijs

drbryant wrote:
..."but the quality of the video! It is hands down my favorite Stones concert video. I thought that Four Flicks was great, but Saitama is better -- the complete show, no edits or overdubs whatsoever, shot largely with handheld cameras from audience level (sometimes from behind the audience), very few close-ups and avoids concentrating too much on Mick."

Exactly....it`s the way the cameras showed the performance that makes it so special...as if you are in the crowd, havin a FOS place.

Mathijs Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As would seem quite obvious, I meant 1963 - 1983.
>
>
> Mathijs




JumpingKentFlash

Mathijs Wrote:

> I feel Wood is strung out on most nights. I feel
> Keith really hit his head hard when he fell from
> that tree. There simply is something terribly
> wrong with the Stones anno 2006.

Totally disagree, I've been going to Stones gigs for 25 years and Twickenham II was the best of the bunch for me. No doubt having a row 6 seat keithside had a lot to do with it, but I was even closer at Wembley Arena in '03, and I still had a better time last year. Maybe I just happened to catch one of the better gigs?

Lee

Good and bad in music is about taste and feelings. Like anything else in art. The moment you quantify or even qualify art in general you are lost. It is not about mathematics and physical definitions. It is the total experience. Is Picasso a great painter? Are the Stones great perfomers? Analyze this!

Of course it is possible to say: This show was great - for me. But the general characteristics of a show being good or bad makes no sense in general terms. May be good or bad due to some personal mesures of how many bad or good chords you are allowed to hit before the entire song is a waste - for you - but that is still a personal statement only.

I am a fan of "mob rules" in music. If 99 out of 100 are happy then something must be good. For those 99. Something must be worth preserving. Some examples:

Vienna 2006: One person told me this was a bad show, everybody else said this was one of the greatest shows on the tour. I have the same opinion. So for myself that was a great, great show, one of the best, for me. And for almoste everybody else that went to see that show.

Wichita 2006: Nobody told me it was a bad show. Everybody I have been talking to say it was one of the best. I just loved it. Perfect night. Keith made a pact with higher forces that night on the b-stage. So I qualify that show as one of the best. Regardless of any recordings that might say something else. Which is the overall opinion.

Saitama 2006: Another great show. Soaking wet fans got inside the small dome to experience some fan-tastic time and are still talking about this show. Here. More than one year later. The barriers were crashed by the B-stage. The music and the interaction between the band and the fans that night made security obsolete. What more can I say?

Just give me one - 1 - good reason why the Stones should quit touring, as long ast they ar5e able to please millions on every tour.

Bjornulf

The music and the interaction between the band and the fans that night made security obsolete.


Ya greatest line BV.....



ROCKMAN

Just give me one - 1 - good reason why the Stones should quit touring, as long ast they ar5e able to please millions on every tour. Bjornulf.

Hm, I've given that some thought since 1989... And I still haven't found a reason! And yeah - Saitama rocks! I must admit I play it a LOT. It's in my car, my office and at home. Impossible to get tired of that one.