It's Only Rock'n Roll
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It's Only Rock'n Roll |
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Stones
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My first Stones concert was in the danish city Aarhus in september 1970. I was 19 years old and said then to my best friend Jakob Lou - a Stones fanatic then and now - "we got to go there, it may be the last time Stones will go on a tour". You may laugh now!. I have seen Stones a handfull of times since then. Most concerts was really great, but not all was fine. The 1980�s was not the best years of The Rolling Stones concerts! The concerts in the late 1990�s was great though.
But now it is 2006. The concert yesterday was a openair concert in the city of Horsens, 50 miles from my home. My expectations was cooled down a week ago, because Madonna played that same place in front of 80.000 spectators. A bad experince due to the maybe to great a audience, bad sound and the screens being much to small. With 85.000 spectators the Stones concert yesterday in Horsens was the second largest on this 2005-2006 world tour. Only beaten by the Rio free concert. And I have to say, that I have never seen the Stones better. Wonderfull guitarplaying, Keith sharp and cool, Charlie steady as ever, and Mick singing without a single falls note. The sound was perfect and so were the big screens. The energy on stage was unbeliveably. During the numbers on the B-stage, the rain came down for while, but that did not seemed to bother the Stones. The concert of my life. A clich� - yes - but I can�t find any other words. Neither can my lifelong friend Jakob Lou, who also went to Horsens My son Thomas (21) now lives in Austin, Texas. I wish I could join him when he goes to the Stones concert in Zilker Park in Austin 22th october. I wonder - will the Bigger Bang Tour ever stop ?? |
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85.000 enthusiastic fans on seven soccer fields in a little town: Horsens - (48.000 inhabitants) in Jutland - western part of Denmark were happy that The Stones made it after all the troubles:
Keiths head injury,and Micks thoath problems.
Just ten days before Madonna played on the same ground -and from what I have heard - she danced and performed - for herself ! No contact to the audience at all. Rolling Stones came to Horsens - and showed the Danes how to perform in front of 85.000 fans. The stage was magnificent - beautiful and effective for music, dancing, lightening and the screens - with a monster screen in the middle. Sharp and effective. Two hours with a perfect show - as it was mentioned several times on our national radio during the next day. And the news papers - excellent reviews everywhere. Highlights: Midnight Rambler and Streets of love. It was my eight Stones show since 1970 - and it could not be better. Oh well - maybe if they played more new tunes ! Why not playing "Back of my hand "or "Look what the cat dragged in ?" Unbelievebel how Jagger can control a show, and with Keith and Ronnie playing up to their very best - as Charlie was beating the drums like the master drummer he is. Thank you Stones and all your backing musicians for this night - we hope to see you in Gothenburg 2007. Thank you Horsens for a well organised show. |
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Horsens� never heard about this place but this has
changed completely. I had no plan at all to see the
Stones in Denmark but after seeing our favourite band
for their kick-off concert in Milan� I started to
think, why not see the first and last concert of the
European Tour?
So be it!
It�s not only a very long drive from Belgium but we (two friends and myself) didn�t had any tickets and that�s a stressy situation but we were still able to buy front-of-stage tickets in the box office after four o�clock. We had already discovered the city centre at that time and I must say, I couldn�t believe my eyes� Stones posters everywhere, all shops were open, cover bands in nearly every square of the market and the people were really friendly with information points where they spoke English. A free �special� Stones issue of a local paper was handed over to everyone around, amazing! There was even a special Stones beer. This was a must see for every hardcore Rolling Stones fan around the globe. The actual show was REALLY good. The bands energy was in top form� Horsens started with a Big Bang thanks to JJF and it ended with the loudiest firework I�ve ever seen at the end of a Stones concert. The setlist was however average and not very ambitous (I thought that they were going to play Wild HORSENS and Rain Fall Down) but we heard Bitch, Sway and Streets Of Love. The Keith songs were good but Keef was losing his touch at the beginning of Slipping Away, nice to hear and see this little mistake. When the stage lifted up and carted them to the middle of the field, it started again to rain a little bit and Mick was really hoping that he had a hat at that time. No surprised at the B-stage but I really rocked during Rough Justice and Start Me Up. The girl who was in front of me had already left the concert and before I could realise, I was first row for the rest of my last concert of this tour. Perhaps we�ll see them back in 2007 but I must admit, this summer was hot thanks to the great shows of our favourite band� Thanks Keith, Mick, Charlie, Ron!!! |
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Maximo Park was the warm-up (From Newcastle Upon Tyne). A bit boring to me. It was a band that knew one melody and knew 20 ways of playing it. They started with a "wild" rock track. The problem is that they don't know how to do live shows really. They started on a high note and could never top themselves, and that was their problem. The front man was one of those Jagger types. They seemed like cool persons though. The frontman said that it was fantastic to be allowed on the same stage as the Stones. He said some Danish things too, like "tak" and the like. They ended their set and the frontman screamed "Thank you very much Horsens, enjoy THE ROLLING STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONES"!!!!
Some more waiting followed. I saw the people being let up on the on stage skyboxes and I knew it was about to happen. I welled up as usual. Typical me. I saw the Shidoobees I talked with standing 10 meters to the right of me. Then they came on. Jumping Jack Flash was the first number. So cool. The sound was great. Loud and very dry. No echoes or effects on the guitars other than distortion. It sounded like they were playing in my living room. And that was cool. Great, great sound. They were on fire.
Next number was It's Only Rock 'n Roll. Keith had some great licks on it. Ronnie did some cool rythm. After that it was Oh No Not You Again. It was my first time hearing it live and it was good. Keith's solo was awesome. Jagger was on absolute top form. He said that it was their last concert in Europe this time around, and they would make sure it was the best one. I never heard them so good, and so much on fire. And if someone has heard a better concert ever, then I take my hat off and bow in the dust for you.
Bitch was next. Cool version, and Keef kept firing those great licks on us. Totally awesome. The horns were cool. Again loud as a son of a bitch. Really cool. Ronnie did some cool things on there. Charlie "Bang Bang" did some great stuff, and you could really hear his special smack. Then came Sway. It was cool. I know some would say that Ronnie's solo was messy, but it works. I love the weird rythm on this one.
Mick Jagger strapped a guitar on and introduced Streets Of Love. The rumors are true: This one is much better live, but that's kindda the thing with all those new tracks. They outrock the album version. Jagger seemed like he checked if it went good with the audience. And it did. You could see that he was thinking: "Awright. This is going well". And then they took the song even higher up in the stratosphere. Ronnie's solo was beautiful. You could feel the love all around and the audience sang the chorus line. It felt really great. Who would've thought that Streets Of Love was one of the highlights tonight?
I heard some jamming up on stage. The lights turned blue. I know what that meant. Midnight Rambler. This was one of the songs that lifted the show even higher. Jagger was a few meters out on the catwalk to the b-stage and he really got the audience going in the break part of the song. As opposed to Maximo Park, who started on a high note and couldn't go higher, the Stones had started on a very high note and took it so high that I was out of breath. It's unbelievable that it's even possible. Also, it must be annoying for every single rock 'n roll band out there, that they get their arses kicked by these old geezers every single time they go on tour. Then they did this beautiful version of Tumbling Dice. As if the show couldn't go higher it did exactly that. Ronnie nailed the solo. Truly great.
Jagger introduced the band. Ronnie got a good cheer, and when it seemed like over, he pumped the people up for a very wild cheer. He had the audience going here. I was a bit disappointed in the cheering for Charlie. He usually gets a wild cheer by Danish fans, but tonight it wasn't as big. Well, he's still everyone's Charlie and we all love the guy. Then the Keith intro came and he got a WILD cheer. He had the audience in the PALM (Ha ha) of his hand. He did a beautiful Slipping Away at first. Some guy in the audience screamed for it before he announced it, and when Keef introduced it you could REALLY hear that guy. Keith's usual chit-chat with the audience was cool too. He said: "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. A big crowd here tonight. Where did they FIND you all? Huurr huurr huurr!!!! He started Slipping Away wrong, but it was just funny. Ronnie came up and put his arm around Keith and cheered. Keith laughed too. After Slipping Away he did Before They Make Me Run and that pleased the crowd. Many people sang along to the lines: "After all is said and done, gotta move while it's still fun. I gotta walk before they make me run". Nice one. And this was also one of the 7 songs I never heard live before tonight. I love Keith. He is the man.
Then Jagger came back. Miss You was good. A bit of a highlight really. Played more as a rock song than a disco/soul song. It actually works better as a rock song in my opinion. The b-stage rolled out on the slide and I held my hand up with victory fingers. Keith saw it and threw me a victory sign right back. I was about to pass out when he did that. Charlie was looking down to my side and I waved a him like a lunatic. Typical Charlie he just stared at me until he couldn't anymore, as the b-stage rolled on. I loved that stare. An his nostrils going in and out as usual (I have about 25 pics from the concert and I think one of them was Charlie right here).
Out on the b-stage it started to rain a bit, but the weather overall was pretty good. Still, it could have snowed and I wouldn't have noticed anything. I was in the seventh heaven. When the b-stage arrived out in the middle, I couldn't see much, but I could HEAR it, and that was enough. Jagger said: "We're gonna do one from our new album and it's called Rough Jutiiiiiiice"! That instantly recognizable intro was played. It was so good. Ronnie once again on fire. He had some bum notes during the night. A few solos were started the wrong way, but he redeemed himself every time. Rough Justice is a true killer track and it should be played at every concert. Start Me Up was next and it went over with a cool Ronnie solo and the audience at the b-stage cheering wildly. Usually Danish audiences aren't good at Stones concerts, but I think they were pretty good last night. Still it's a bit hard to judge because I was all the way up front and had 84.999 people on my back. No reason mentioning which way my face was turned. Coming back from the b-stage to the tones of Honky Tonk Women was great too. Also a song that lifted the show even higher. Loved the Keith solo. Jagger wanted to keep the song going, but it was over right before they reached the main stage. So there was a little break here. It doesn't matter as, for my part, it was a break I needed. I was drenched in sweat at this point. All that cheering is hard. I just can't get how Jagger does it every time.
Sympathy For The Devil started in kindda low volume, but jeez Louise was it turned up at the first chorus. Best version I ever heard. Fire on the top of the stage. Keith's solo was really cool. The hat Jagger was wearing during the song was put on Ronnie's head when it was done. He kept it on during the next song. Great with all the pyrotechnics. Especially the fireworks that was right by the wing of the stage that was just burning through the entire song.
Paint It Black was played. A true highlight. The sound crew really cranks it up at the end of the show. Charlie was banging like a lion (So Don Was was right). Brown Sugar, my favourite track ever, was next and it must've been the best version I ever heard. Jagger did the YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, WOOOOOOO along with the audiences. He kept both sides going. How he did that is beyond me. Did I mention Jagger was good tonight? After the song he yelled: "THANK YOU DENMARK, GOODNIGHT"!!!! Some fireworks went off, and Jagger imitated he was being shot by a machine gun.
They went off. A minute or two passed. Then Keith went in with the intro to You Can't Always Get What You Want. Cool one. And it took the show to higher grounds. People clapping along to the beat. Ronnie started the solo wrong and if that's what he gets slapped around for, I can't understand it. Sure it was a bum note to begin with, but it's all part of the charm, and always have been. I don't know how it was being at a concert in Brussels 1973, but the bootleg paints a pretty good picture of that. Well, I would rather be at this concert. That's how good it was. I use all these words like "fantastic", "cool" and "amazing" all the time, but it's a puny word for what I experienced last night. They also get slammed for playing only 19 songs. Let me tell you something: IT WORKS mates. Sure I woould love a 30 song setlist, but I'm not sure I would survive it if they play like they did last night. Anyway, You can't Always Get What You Want went over very well.
Then the last tune. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. It was started like on Flashpoint with that power chord strumming in the beginning. Jagger went nuts, as did I. It went on for what seemed like longer than usual. GREAT Keith solo. Ronnnie using his bender like mad. The beat Charlie kept was cool. Slam, slam, slam, slam, slam, slam, slam all the time. The sound crew cranked it up so high that it sounded like the loudspeakers was about to explode. At the end of the song I was yelling to Keith to throw me a pick and he tried to and nodded at me, but it flew right over my hand and landed somewhere right at the back of me. As seen in a pick of the front row audience from BT or Ekstra Bladet, you can see 4 people looking down at a "hole" in the up-against-the-railings audience.
The show ended and they bowed. Bernard threw the setlist out to the audience, but it went well over my head. They were gone. But it was the best gig I ever saw. Truly a great one. I never even heard it better on any bootleg. And that says a lot. Many of you will say that I should be careful with comparing it to Brussels '73, but I'm telling you: It was THAT good!!!! The show ended and we waited to go out because of the many people. Some English guy that stood one meter behind me came up and lit a lighter by the floor. I looked down as he picked something up. "Hey, look what I found" he said. In his hand was the pick Keith threw at me. I just laughed and told him that he was lucky. I didn't want to try and get it from him. It was HIS find, and after that show I need no souvenir. I have the memory (And my pictures, which I will get made at the shop soon for you all to see) and that's enough. But if anyone have a pick from the show they want to give me, I won't say no. :-)
It was a show that started in the stratosphere and stopped at the end of the universe. I got home and wanted to put Saitama on, but I didn't because I knew I would be disappointed in it after what I just witnessed. Went to bed at 2.00 and had a great night's sleep. This was indeed a great show. The best I ever witnessed. Thanks Rolling Stones. This was one of the best nights of my life.
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Stones in Horsen, it works real fine.
In (what I heard) regarding Madonna v. Stones the Stones show is build for this type of settings. Even if the audience wasn�t the best, it was none the less a great show. Of we go with JJF and IORR (same start of all the European shows), and it is what it is. IORR is not the best of songs but they pulled it of really good this time. Oh no not you again really good Bitch and Sway = Superb. Those 2 and midnight rambler is worth the ticket alone. Streets of Love was perfect executed and works better live then on the CD. Tonight�s highlight was Midnight Rambler and it seemed that the stones wouldn�t stop playing it, when you thought the song was over of they went on new solo. Tumbling Dice, ok as always. Then it was Keith�s turn on the microphone, Slipping Away was to be honest a real disaster. People around me starting laughing when Keith started to sing. I have to agree (not with the laughing) but with the real bad singing. Before They Make Me Run was better. Miss You is not a favourite of mine but it was well executed. Then it was of to the B-stage and for us in the front it was just listen to the songs, for some dumb reason they always decides to turn the big screen off when they goes out with the B-stage. No good. Anyway rough justice sounded really good and was I�m sure well executed on the b-stage. Start me up is one of those I�m real tired of but this is one time the Danish crowd really wakes up, so it was probably good they played it. Honky Tonk Women is a classic and it�s was wonderful. A really strong Sympathy For The Devil was preformed and Keith shows why is the band leading guitar man. And yes Paint It black is the best I have heard in a long time, super. Brown Sugar You Can't Always Get What You Want (encore) Satisfaction (encore) You can�t leave them out, they are what they are, classics. Overall it was a 4.5 of a 5 point scale |
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At exactly 6 pm sunday evening I meet with the Virgin representatives in front of the Horsens Ny Teater main entrence, door 3. There, me and 7 other lucky winners were given a very large, pink sticker. The sticker displaying the Bigger Bang Tongue was to be put on our jackets or jeans and should serve as our ticket to the backstage area.
6.15 pm, Helen, The Rolling Stones Tour Entourage Coordinator showed up and told in very clear English what to do, what NOT to do and how to behave when the band showed up in the meet and greet room. Right after her briefing we alle went inside the gates to heaven � the backstage area. We stayed close together through the many corridoors and at all time we could see displays on the walls telling where to find band dressinrooms, the Rattlesnake Inn, offices etc..
Once inside the meet and greet room, we were kindly asked to chill out and relax, enjoying the cold beers and wines inside the picnic basket in the room.
Having a hole hour to ourselves before meeting the band, we talked and enjoyd the time wating impatiently for the Stones.
At around 7 pm lots tour personel ran around just outside our room, preparing for the band to arrive. We could hear voices telling that the band was getting closer. As she had done many times during our wating, Helen now came in and in a split second drew the curtains, which acted as the door.....
...in came first Keith, laughing, smiling ad yelling: �How�s every one�....he was really laughing. He walked straight over to the woman next to me greeting her �Hello sweetheart�...and then me. Keith richards shook my hand smiling. He was wearing a cap and shade, so it was hard to see his eyes. But it amazed me how soft his hands are! Right next after Keith, Ronnie came. He never said a word but he also was smiling. He greeted me first and looked into my eyes! WOW! Before I could do anything then Mick was in fron of me. He politely greeted me and asked we if everything was alrigt. He look SO rockstar�ish and famous. He was cool to se him and it seemed like I have known him for years! He was wearing a pink shirt a LOTS of powder in his face.
The stones joined us as the group picture was taken. Everybody was happy and we all laughed and smiled.
After the picture was taken I looked for Charlie and as the polite man he appearently is, he walked over to me and to others to shake our hands. He is actually very kind � and small!
Opposite from where we were standing, another large stones banner hang from the ceiling. There, the band revieved their gold plate from the Virgin people. As their picture was taken we all stood and watched them.
This experience was fantastic to me. The biggest experience I can have when it comes to the Stones. I will never forget it.
As for the rest of the time before show start, we hang out backstage having free beers and crisps.
Just before kick-off we were all escorted to the field using the exact same route the band used when getting to the stage. The area just behind the stage were packed with limousines waiting for the Stones to be driven away from the concert site. HUGE black, shiny limos with tags in windscreen displaying each name of the Stones � MJ CAR, KR CAR, CW CAR, RW CAR....fascinating.
And the show. The show as F*!�#�#% FANTASTIC! I was FOS with nice space and the best view! Wow, what a night is was for me!
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Thanks to Glenn From Gothenburg , Kent Alex Pedersen and H�gne Midjord for news links!
It's Only Rock'n Roll 1980 - 2006