It's Only Rock'n Roll
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It's Only Rock'n Roll |
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Stones
NEWS |
Tell Me Forum |
Hackney Diamonds |
Tour 2024 |
Mick Jagger |
Keith Richards |
Charlie Watts |
Ronnie
Wood |
Band 2
Tim Ries |
Show start : 9:15pm Show end : 11:10pm |
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Atlanta is the city of CNN, Coca Cola and "Gone With The Wind". So it was only natural that CNN founder Ted Turner was at the show. He enjoyed what seemed to me like an ordinary seat in the crowd, and had Jane Fonda and other friends as company. That way he could enjoy it a lot more than the numerous VIP's in the brand new company boxes on the top side behind him. And like the rest of us, they rocked through the show.
"Rain Fall Down" was great and funky. Kind of "Miss You" touch to it. The singing guitar riff running through the song looked like it was coming from Mick's guitar but some times it was being played even if Mick did not play the guitar. There were three other guitars on stage including Blondie but I don't think any of them were doing it. A mystery I will soon find out next time they play it. But I like it a lot, even if the crowd is kind of silent.
Bitch made people dance and sing again. And "Wild Horses" gave us Keith on a 12 string acoustic with such a sharp and great sound you could wish for this great sound in every venue through the tour. A beautiful song and a great version tonight. Plus Ronnie did hs job as well of course.
As they were in Georgia Mick said they would do "Mr Pitiful". And if some had been sitting down before this song, they were all dancing in the isles by now. And the security guys who were so god at keeping the isles free did some dancing too I think, because at least they did not bother to clear the isles anymore, at least not during "Mr Pitiful".
Keith did The Worst and Infamy. The new song of his got the biggest ovation but Keith himself got the warmest welcome before that. It must be fun to have 20,000 people in your hand like this.
Just as Infamy ended I made my way to the B-stage. Knowing security was tight and they don't always allow people to the B-stage I was trying to be invisible as close as possible. And as the stage came closer, one security guy who was in charge told us they would do four songs down here and he told us to come closer so there I was on the very first row by the B-stage enjoying Mick, Keith and Ronne coming over all the time during the set. I even managed to make eye contact with Mick, whick is kind of jackpot at the show. Normally he looks into the crowd. Great set and great hot version of "Get Off Of My Cloud". Mick does still have a board up with words to "Oh No Not You Again" but he don't use it anymore. How could he? He is all over the stage throughout the song.
"Paint It Black" was magic. "Jumping Jack Flash" was the strongest song of the entire show. As the confetti came down this was another show that lasted two hours but felt like it had just started, because it was so great.
One of the biggest single ovations of the night was during introductions, when Mick introduced Chuck Leavell, a Georgia native. This was clearly Chuck�s night to shine, and he did great on keyboards, vocals, and hamming it up on the small stage with Ronnie. On the down side, Keith did seem slightly tired tonight, still delivering great guitar work and wandering to all points of the stage, but then sitting down near Charlie for the middle part of You Can�t Always Get What You Want. The guitar was just as good, but the motion and stage presence werev not there. Which leads to the question of why we still get The Worst and Infamy for Keith�s two songs, something that has not varied at all during the tour. Yes, one song is great and tremendously lovable, and the other new and continues to grow on us. However, there are so many opportunities for other new stuff (This Place Is Empty) or old stuff (Susan Tedeschi�s brand new cover of You Got the Silver brings that song and the genius of all the other Keith songs to mind) that casual fans would love and serious fans would see as a very welcome change of pace.
So seemingly before we could take it all in, the colorful streamers exploded onto the floor at the end of Satisfaction to close the show. This provided the additional cool effect of a few streamers hanging off Keith�s guitar neck as he finished the song. From the old favorites to the underappreciated classics, it is hard to find a flaw in this show. Atlanta was a gracious host, providing an enthusiastic crowd. The Stones not only provided the affectionate familiarity many fans come to see, they also prodded, poked, and pushed the envelope with enough innovation to make this show tremendously interesting to those who have seen multiple performances on the A Bigger Bang tour.
Acoustics, pretty darn good, same as outdoor show, guitars and drums upfront. Mick sounds great however played with his backpack to adjust vocals alot and I think he was becoming frustrated with it.
Highlights - 'Get Off of My Cloud' brought he house down from the center smaller stage. A true sing along from 1966. This should be played at ALL shows. "JJF" rocks hard, the faster 'BSugar' is better too. Mick trully 'lost it' on 'Satisfaction' singing and dancing fiercely.
Started up, warmed down, started back up, sat, then blew the doors off the place. The band came out rocking thru the first two numbers and for some reason, 'Live with Me' kinda lost the beat, it was performed well but didnt work with the crowd. Then the show reenergized and again, during 'Rain Fell Down' which had a nice groove to it lost the crowd a bit. Then it warmed up again. 'Mr. Pitiful' to me and fans around me was boring. Stick with Ray or Marley!
Keiths set was great and then the place caught on fire. 'Miss You' on was terrific and the Atlanta fans danced the nite away. Mick HAD to be excited by the crowd who sang to him, clapped hands for him and danced with him throughout.
And the Atlanta fans and crowd never ever sit and they really sang allnite.
Again- GET OFF OF MY CLOUD was magic. PAINT IT BLACK was a close second in fun and energy.
Fingers crossed for the same two songs next Friday in Charlotte.
The bands energy was in top form! I can't believe they get THAT fired up and excited for every show. None the less, they certainly were for this Atlanta show. Mick still moves around and dances alot, but he does alot ... and I mean ALOT of the same stuff over & over again. I certainly wanted to see some of those rooster steps from the 70's when they did Honky Tonk Women or Brown Sugar. Well, anyway.
The Keith songs were good. His voice on THE WORST was THE WORST! But it soon recovered for INFAMY. But I guess that is the charm of Keith. Would you want it any other way?
Hands down, the COOLEST thing was during MISS YOU when the stage lifted up and carted them all to the middle of the floor to the mini stage. Words do not illustrate how neat that was and how awesome that looked. Even if you were in the back, it brought you right up to the front for a few songs. And when they started Honky Tonk Women as it went back to the main stage, it felt just like you were seeing them do one of those flatbed trailer shows from years ago. I just wish Keith would have drawn the beginning out a little more like he has in the past. He cut it short and you could tell it caught Mick by surprise like he wasn't ready.
Best songs of the night:
Honky Tonk Women
Paint it Black (Wood tore it up on that electric sitar thing he played)
Mr. Pitiful (the showed a huge portrait of Otis Redding behind the stage for this one)
Cool Moments:
-The moving stage
-Keith's ovation and him leading the band for Infamy
-And Chuck Leavell's intro & ovation. He got a huge reception and Mick even let him come to the front for a few bows. You know, he is probably making more money just this year with The Stones than he made in all his Allman Brothers and Sea Level years combined (well, exclude maybe the song writing royalties from some of the Almans years, if he had any. I am sure he sees a nice check every once in awhile from some of those)
Hmmm..... They are in San Francisco in 1 month with Metallica....should I?
Some of our group reported horrible sound in their sections and said that the show was a loss for them because of it. Where I sat the sound was fine and that could account for some of the reasons I loved it where a few of the gang said this was their last Stones show (maybe they had a seat for this one like I had for Nashville's Forty Licks ). Our group split up this way: 2 said it was dreadful, 2 good and 7 fantastic !!!!! But we were all sitting in different sections.
Boy was I pleasantly surprised. They kicked ass and took no prisoners !!!! Guitars were mixed high and the punch that a great Stones show needs was there. Compared with previous tours they made little use of the horn section or backup singers and I suppose that goes with the spirit of the album. The crunching guitar-led sound reminded me of the 78 and 94 tours. Keef & Ronnie were in the zone and they once again proved that they rightfully hold the title of World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band.
I wasn't crazy about the set-list. I could have done without Mr. Pitiful and Rain Fell Down. I was hoping that after they played the latter that the disco driven songs for the night were done and I'd be spared Miss You.....but no such luck. They did it anyway. I also missed It's Only Rock & Roll. They've done that song at every show I've seen since 1975 and I missed at least one Chuck Berry styled rocker.
They delivered in other ways though with Live With Me, Bitch and Get Off Of My Cloud. All in all A FANTASTIC EVENING !
Out of six shows throughout the years...this was the best. I love the Rolling Stones...and they've cemented it with the Atlanta show.
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Thanks!
Thanks to
Charlie Moore
for stage photo!
Thanks to
Bernd M
for news links!
It's Only Rock'n Roll 1980 - 2005