It's Only Rock'n Roll
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Charlatans (warmup) : 7:05pm - 7:45pm The Rolling Stones : 8:30pm - 10:20pm
The gig was excellent. Despite persistant rumours of poor sales, by the time the band hit the stage the stadium was 99% full. All though raining all day it stopped before the show.... As the band hit the stage at 8:30 the overcast sky helped to create a great atmosphere.
Reading this forum I wasn`t sure what to make of Ronnie`s solos... No problems tonight... In particular his slide solo on Sway was magnificent. I have to say that Keith looked a bit frail but this didn`t affect his playing.
The setlist was as predicted on another thread.
I know YCAGWYW is not everyone`s fav... but tonight, being in a crowd of 50,000 singing along, it was majestic.
So, now to Hampden on Friday, my first and long awaited Bigger Bang experience. My first comment has to go to the crowd, who were brilliant and up for it from the start. There�s no doubt that a Glasgow audience is second to none. I was sitting in A7, about half way between the main and b stages and had a great view of everything. The Charlatans were excellent and although most people hadn�t arrived until even half way through their set, the ones that were there gave them a good reaction; never easy opening for the Stones!
The Stones came on at 8.30 to what I consider to be one of the flattest starts to a Stones show that I�ve experienced. Keith just kind of appeared, with no bangs or crashes and an almost weak sounding opening to JJF. Things warmed up quickly, however. My first reaction was how �muddy� the sound was. I�ve been to many stadium shows and the sound at this one was definitely the worst I�ve experienced. ONNYA was excellent and one of my favourites from ABB, but it was Ruby that really lifted the crowd and will stick with me as the highlight of the show. I read all the set list whinging on here, but I actually think it�s quite brave of a band to run a couple of lesser known album tracks (Sway & SCC) together with even lesser known new material. Anyway, the band clearly enjoyed it and so did the audience.
One thing I noticed was how disengaged the band seemed to be towards the audience, despite the rapturous response. Mick was brilliant as always, but hardly spoke to the crowd. Keith spent most of the show hanging out with Ronnie at Ronnie�s side, which I notice is where most of the action is. I don�t know if it was the hat, but Keith actually looked quite frail. I couldn�t comment on either guitarist�s performance because to be honest, I could hardly hear the guitars very well for most of the show. However, it was good to see them both concentrating, with very little mugging and posing. A few problems on the b-stage had Charlie out of his seat talking to a technician on two occasions, but these things happen. SFTD was another highlight, which the crowd really got into. Satisfaction, for me, was weak because I just couldn�t hear Keith�s riff. Charlie, as always, shone.
Overall, a brilliant concert, made even more so by the crowd. If it was any other band, I�d be complaining about paying �150 for a ticket and not being able to hear the show properly, but after all, its the Rolling Stones and worth every penny.
The Charlatans were politely received but when the Stones came on the audience was up as one and never sat down again until the end of the show. The tempo slowed up a bit as unfamilair songs (to most not me-Oh No Not You Again, She's So Cold, Sway) followed each other and people started to drift away for more beer, comfort breaks and whatever else they do. However Ruby Tuesday brought them right back and the whole crowd sang along. Tumbling Dice was fantastic and then it was Keith's turn "I stopped the rain, .....it *had* to be done", Slipping Away was very well received - I have seen the Stones countless times but I feel everyone was just grateful that Keith was there at all. You could feel the affection the crowd had for him.
Miss You to the B Stage caused much excitement and by the time they did Honky Tonk Women the audience was on fire. Sympathy was spectacular but by the time they did Brown Sugar something happened to the guitars, they sounded as if they were muffled, Ronnie changed guitars in mid song but it didn't seem to make much difference. It will be interesting to hear how they sound on the Radio 2 show on Monday.
For the encore YCAGWYW was again a chorus of 40,000 singing along and the band didn't want to end Satisfaction, the audience didn't want it to end either, they seemed to think they would come out again and stayed and stayed but of course as we know they don't do that.
I was at Twick2 and my impression was that the setlist rocked there and was bang on target,. Mick also commented at how they nearly had to build a new stand for all friends and family, and they seemed to enjoy it immensely. Here the setlist seemed to lose its way a third of the way through, although I love SWAY it didn't do much for me and Mick didn't sing it anything like the original. But in Glasgow the audience were so up for it nothing could have spoiled it.
In conclusion Mick was on fire, I heard so many people comment on how fantastic he was, but if you have such a receptive audience you'll never want to stop performing. Keith was cool, smiled a lot and seemed genuinely touched with his reception. Ronnie was OK, tried hard, and Charlie to me looks a lot more relaxed and happy (as he did at Twickers), perhaps his health scare has made him realise how precious life is and he's going to enjoy it. Hopefullu he's changed his mind about giving up touring.....
I was very very disappointed with the show at Hampden mainly because of the poor sound quality, it was atrocious!
As the years have passed the only one thing the Stones have left to prove to anyone is that they can still do what they have always done best, play live rock n roll.
Having watched Friday night�s show I have very little idea whether they can still play well or not as for 90% or more of the concert all we could hear was a muddy mess.
Only during the slower songs like Ruby Tuesday where there was less bass and drums could we make out anything worthwhile, although still poor.
Keith�s guitar was extremely woolly and indistinct for most of the evening.
There were fundamental musical errors during Live with me, Before they make me run and Satisfaction but I actually love that about the Stones as it is part of the legend.
All I wanted was the chance to hear those errors properly and all the great licks as well.
I know enough about acoustics to realise that the sound will vary in different parts of the stadium, but the sound that we got in the upper tier of the east stand was a joke and totally unacceptable.
I paid �100 for a ticket to listen to what amounted to a second rate late 70�s bootleg concert tape imitation.
It is unacceptable, and in the unlikely event that I get another (affordable) opportunity to see them, I doubt that I would be interested.
If anyone of any importance within the Stones machine ever reads this then please take note.
Being there is not enough. I am a consumer and the vendor did not deliver. How difficult can it be to provide a decent sound system and engineers who know their trade?
This was the most disappointing Stones show I've seen. �90.00 ticket but up in the Gods, band were spots in the distance. Sound was so muddy, where we were sitting, that we could hardly hear the guitars, particularly on "Rough Justice". Spoke to several other fans after the gig and concensus was pretty poor sound all round. We couldn't really say how well they played as the sound was so bad. How can this happen after the Paris triumph? They also made an arse of the end of "Live With Me" which had been great up until then and the start of "Satisfaction". The look of shock on Charlie's face as they tried to end "Live With Me" said it all.
A few good points "Sway", "Start Me Up" and "Rain Fall Down" all sounded good. Can't wait to hear the BBC Radio 2 broadcast on monday to hear how they really sounded!
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It's Only Rock'n Roll 1980 - 2006