It's Only Rock'n Roll
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I thought Mick ended SFTD just a couple of seconds too soon. It was incredibly hot and sweaty; Keith threw his guitar pick a bunch of times and once he put it on the security guard's head. Mick lost one of his tongue pins during SFTD and it landed just near me but I couldn't reach it unfortunately, though I did manage to throw a flower at Keith & Mick too. Mick said quite a bit in Hindi, which he didn't do in Bangalore and if that was intentional it was pretty politically correct of him. There was an Argentinian guy next to me who kept singing an Argentinian song between the Stones' songs, and Mick changed the words from "Puerto Rican girls dying to meet you" to "Argentinian girls." He was also quite a lot more salacious here than in Bangalore.
When they finally got on stage it was about 8 in the evening, and the roar that went up was about two thirds relief and a little enthusuasm to boot. Bombay is a goddamn hot and sweaty place to be standing for two hours waiting for the Stones, I tell you! They kicked off with Brown sugar, and the sound was an immediate disappointment, something that remained disappointing till near the end of the show when things got better. The guitar tones were a little muddy and the bass was a omnipresent boom with indistinct notes, for the most part. Also, the much awaited giant screens weren't on so the guys at the back had nothing going for them, really. The response was still good, India doesn't get many international acts, so every moment was to be enjoyed... and the crowd did just that. The second number, It's Only rock n Roll got a pretty good response but then the third song, Start Me Up was when things really came alive. The screens came on, the visual treat was there, Jagger strutting, Keith bending over his Telecaster as the played them nasty bluesy licks, Ron holding out his Strat, and suddenly the crowd was screaming and jumping and singing along.
From then on the night went on pretty smooth... Don't Stop, Angie, You can't always Get, Monkey Man.... and India got a taste of what Rock 'n Roll is all about. While Jagger did his moves like only he can, the guy who really owned the stage was Keith. He dominated the stage with his presence, his mean walk, with every kick of his foot, every shuffle and bend as he played the bluesy, rocking licks. He used about ten guitars... mostly Telecasters, a couple of Strats, a Martin... one saw him play his trademark open tunings as he held his left hand high and picked away on the intro riffs of the songs. Ron Wood did a good playing lead, rhythm, slide, pedal steel, everything...
They took a break for introductions and then Keith did Slipping Away and Happy. Before he started on Happy he talked a bit... saying he could smell the pot in the crowd, and could somebody save him a joint, please. Mick spoke quite a bit in Hindi, but I couldn't catch the words most of the time. They did Sympathy for The Devil and that really got the crowd going, though I felt they could have carried it on for a little longer. The second half also had You Got Me Rocking, Honky Tonk Woman with its, well, 'Stonesy' cartoon video of a girl riding a tongue, and then the song everyone was waiting for... Satisfaction. The roar that went up when they launched into the intro riff was huge, and the whole crowd sang along. When they were over with that it was about 10, and they said the goodbyes, and walked off... some people started to leave, but the majority just stood and screamed "we want more", and well, you know how this one goes... on the darkened stage the lights glimmered again, Watts could be seen back on his seat, then back bounded the rest of them for the encore to a huge burst of tri-color confetti as they did Jumping Jack Flash.
The end, when it finally came, was the entire band taking their bows. Then just the four Stones taking a bow. And then the last vision of Mick walking away, hand held high. The crowd was happy, everybody had just experienced the worlds greatest Rock band, and with such acts being few and far between here in India, it was an evening to remember.
Sandeep Mittal (Editor www.gigpad.com)
After the Don't Stop came a nice triple of All down the line, Angie and YCAGWYW. People loved it and were singing along all right. Mick made is usual "please & thank you" in Hindi and everybody was cheering. Than came my favorite "Monkey", good live version. Anyway in most of the songs the band lets us at least have a blink what it could be like if the machinery would let them free and jamming and laborating on the song while performing. However the Stones had a mission to fulfill and that was to give all Smash Hits for the first time to India - fair enough. Therefore went on to Miss U and people loved it too and I think it's because Mick wants to carry a guitar to look cooler. Next Tumblin'Dice had also some good moments when Keith struck more then 3 cords in a row.
Then Keith, Slippin away (very nice and thankfully nobody could sit down) & Happy, made some jokes to save him a joint and send to his address. I knew that we now would get the next package of Smash Hits and was right but also awarded by a nice long version of Midnight Rambler following SFTD (my wife could snitch one of Micks blinking tongues when it flew of his coat), Mick was playing with the crowd like in his best days. So the full list was completed with), Gimme Shelter, YGMR, HTW, Street Fighting Man (could be played a little dirtier) Satisfaction and encore JJF. That was it, 2 hrs of constant BigHits, enlightening moments when the band gets together on stage and give some nice new touches to a song. Personally I would have enjoyed some more "less-known" songs which I did not see live yet. Maybe the energy in big stadiums in Europe is different but I missed some shiver moments in that show that I get normally when only thinking of it. But if I was Indian in India who never had the Stones in his country, it would be a perfect fit.
One thing for sure, the people were awe-struck by the show, professionalism and the (for India unusual) energetic crowd. Never ever has this country seen something like this. And me? I got 2 picks from Keith? guitar, blinking tongue from Mick, autograph (on my wifes Stones T-shirt) of Charlie Watts, Darryl Jones, autograph of Ronnie Wood (on my business card), Production Passes, freight letters of the equipment, could see the soundcheck (Bitch & Miss U), nice T-shirts, a silly hat and a big hang-over.
Thanks to Johannes and Nadita for news links!
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It's Only Rock'n Roll 2003 -
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