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The Rolling Stones
Circuit of the Americas
Austin TX USA
Saturday November 20, 2021



The Rolling Stones live at Circuit of the Americas, Austin TX USA, November 20, 2021 - Photo by Bjornulf Vik, IORR

The set list

  1. Street Fighting Man
  2. It's Only Rock'n'Roll
  3. 19th Nervous Breakdown
  4. Tumbling Dice
  5. Let It Bleed (vote song)
  6. You Can't Always Get What You Want
  7. Living In A Ghost Town
  8. Start Me Up
  9. Honky Tonk Women
    --- Band introductions
  10. Connection (Keith)
  11. You Got The Silver (Keith)
  12. Miss You
  13. Midnight Rambler
  14. Paint It Black
  15. Sympathy For The Devil
  16. Jumping Jack Flash
    --- Band off stage
  17. Gimme Shelter
  18. Satisfaction


Show start :  8:59pm
Show end   : 11:05pm


Live pre/post show comments:

Austin show live updates - Saturday 20-Nov-2021


Review by Allen Rothman

I came to this concert doubting the Stones should even be playing after the passing of Charlie Watts. Tonight, the Stones convinced me they made the right decision. I've been to 9 Stones shows since my first in 1975 and this show ranked right at the top.

They played with high energy and joy throughout, led, of course, by Mick who should donate his entire body to science (assuming he ever dies). But a lot of credit should also go to Steve Jordan who was a dynamo on the drums -- establishing a solid groove without a lot of extraneous flash. Sound familiar?

Several of the arrangements sounded fresh and subtly re-thought. You Can't Always Get What You Want, Midnight Rambler, Paint It Black and Sympathy For The Devil stood out tonight.

Keith performed Connection and You Got The Silver, with his trademark ragged nonchalance. The latter had a lot of heart. No doubt Keith brought the riffs tonight. Thankfully, he left most of the leads to Ronnie. Keith's much-awaited solos on Honky Tonk Women and Sympathy were rough and patchy

Crucially, the quality of the sound and the video was fantastic, particularly for such a large venue. Kudos to the Stones and their tech team.

On the other hand, the traffic getting to the show was horrendous. 2.5 hours to drive 17 miles.That's what happens when you select a venue in the middle of nowhere with no mass transit and serviced by one two lane highway. Nevertheless, the ordeal was well worth it.


Review by Dean Goodman

The Austin concert, the Stones' 38th in Texas, was thisclose to entering music history as possibly their last U.S. show, maybe even their last show ever. But the Circuit of the Americas lost its Candlestick Park moment when the Florida money grab was announced and seemingly no one cared about the stop in the sticks anymore.

Well, I do know that it was the first show seen by at least a few Europeans, so that’s a big deal for them. And it was the last “official” show and last outdoor show this year. In fact Mick made a point of thanking all the crew on the tour, listing them by profession, including “the carpenters, we’ve only just begun,” which was quite funny.

The night's other comedy bit came for the song vote when Mick made a big deal about playing "this bloody" 12-string guitar on “Let it Bleed,” the first of five songs from that album. It soon became an 11-string, causing much mid-song hilarity. I was surprised they didn’t have a backup. And I guess that was the musical highlight since I had not heard that song on the tour (and I've missed out on so much good stuff, such as “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” “Shattered” and “Monkey Man”).

And that’s about it, really. Eighteen songs, nothing amazing. I spent so much time getting out of the race track that I soon forgot what I’d been there for. As I write this at 2 a.m., it’s possible people are still stuck there. I was fortunate to find a great Airbnb just a 45-minute walk away, but still managed to mess things up by walking for almost an hour in the wrong direction afterwards, which might be karma for the smugness I felt as I passed all the idled cars while walking to the show.

I did like the venue and organization, though, and I always prefer outdoor shows. I believe it was a custom configuration for the Stones, but that we were not on the actual race track. The pit actually sloped towards the stage, like an old style movie theater, so the sightlines were great everywhere - except perhaps for those up front who might have had to crane their necks. The people around me were quite sedate, as in Vegas, and a couple of plastic surgery disasters seemed more interested in taking selfies every time Mick or Keith came into the shot.

When Mick asked if we felt like singing a little bit, people started chanting “Woo! Woo!” just like Pavlov’s dogs, even though Matt was on stage with his french horn and Mick was clutching his acoustic. They also chanted “Charlie! Charlie!” after Mick's standard tribute to their fallen comrade. That was a sweet moment.

The show began 45 minutes after the designated 8:15 pm start time with "Street Fighting Man" in which Mick seemed to miss a beat on his intro and endearingly sang "the times is right." Keith's clunky intro to "It's Only Rock'n Roll" troubled Ronnie enough that he preemptively sought to count Mick in. Mick later gave Ronnie - “the David Hockney of the hill country” - a cowboy hat to wear, but Ronnie didn't seem into it and it ended on the floor, prompting Mick to comment that "it cost a fortune."

Keith's section was a little troublesome, not that it was his fault. Bernard's vocals were too prominent on "Connection," and Steve's drumming too prominent on "You Got the Silver." By the way, if you were looking at Steve on the big screen, it might have seemed he was dressed like a banana. But the camera lies, and his color choices were more muted.

Much of "Midnight Rambler" took place on the b-stage, with Keith looking at Mick with unabashed adoration. It's a huge piece of largely wasted real estate that could easily accommodate both the Edwin Hawkins Singers and Mike Curb Congregation. "Rambler" ended on a curious note. Mick dropped the last three lines, ending it with “I'll steal your mistress from under your nose … yeah, everybody got to go.”

I enjoyed the opening act Ghost Hounds and their engaging singer. "Devil Woman" was a great choice, and I trust this presages an avalanche of Cliff Richard covers by American acts.


Review by John Simmons

I was bowled over how good the Stones are now. Only my 2nd show in 15 years. Some new arrangements made Miss You, Paint it Black, and You Can't Always Get What You Want fresh, more edgy and enjoyable. They played 19th Nervous Breakdown (first for me), Let It Bleed, and You Got the Silver - YAY!! Start Me Up and It's Only Rock and Roll were not spectacular renditions, but fun when Mick finally got to the chorus and egging the audience to sing back at him in the chant fashion.. Mick is 99% as energetic -- no, frenetic -- as ever. His face was flush with physical exhaustion at the end of the Midnight Rambler -- which never fails. Most in-your-face version of Jumping Jack Flash in my 35 shows. I danced along through all 18 songs. There is no other entertainer that compares.


Review by Bjørnulf Vik, Norway

This show in Austin was the one I have been worried about for a long time. Far away from the city, no organized transportation, and it was supposed to be the last show of the tour, until they added the Hollywood Florida show. Luckily a great friend had a car, and we were a group of "tourists" from Chicago, Norway, Finland and Sweden on our way from Austin downtown at 3:15pm. The drive would normally take less than half an hour. We arrived shortly before 4pm. As we walked out of our car in parking lot F like "Fanstastic close to the venue", I could hear "It's Only Rock'n'Roll". At first I thought it was from one of the parked cars, but as we passed more and more cars, the sound was still crystal clear, in fact it got better and better, we had made it for the soundcheck!

I was told by friends they did "Let It Bleed" just before we arrived. After IORR we got the soundcheck of "Rocks Off" - may be they will do it in Hollywood FL, then they did bits of the intros to "Ghost Town" and "Gimme Shelter". Then at the end there was harmonica and guitar, Rambler B-stage souncheck. We were behind the stage, so we could see the backstage exit, with the ramp and the stairs where the band was going in and out. First Keith left, waving at us, walking down to his car, taking him the very short ride to the backstage tents. Then Ronnie walked down, he waved too, and then Mick appeared, he did not bother to go by car, as he took the stairs and hiked the short distance to the tents. So we had a great soundcheck warmup in the afternoon.

The show was set to start with "Ghost Hounds" at 7pm, and The Stones on stage at 8:15pm. Then just before show start it was said that the Ghost Hounds would be on at 7:30pm. There was a major traffic jam into the site. People who left from wherever they were, into the site two hours after us, like 5pm, were stuck in traffic into the site for two hours. I assume they delayed the show start due to so many people stuck in traffic. One other moment was the carpenter works. After the stage was ready, there suddenly appeared a carpenter, working on fixing the carpet on the way to the B-stage. He worked for 10-15 minutes, at a time when the show was supposed to have started. Then, as it seemed to be ready, more happening at the end of the stage Ronnie side, a bit of panic, stage manager Opie did not look as relaxed as he was half an hour ago. Then finally they were on just about 9pm.

There is still a lot of energy, great mood and sounds on stage. They perform at the high level they have been at through this tour. May be they were a bit rusty in St Louis and Charlotte, but from Pittsburg and on, no complaints, they have been just great. We got "You Got The Silver" by Keith, we got many great Mick-Keith, Keith-Ronnie and Mick-Ronnie moments. Mick is still unpredictable, some things he is doing are staged and routine, others change, he never stand still, except during slow songs like "Let It Bleed".

Mick seemed to save his voice a bit during the first half of the show, may be that was the reason for 18 songs tonight, rather than the usual 19 songs. Bernard and Sahsa did quite a bit of vocal overlap. At one point Bernard was added a bit too much too late, upon Mick quickly turning his head towards Bernard, making sure they were in sync. During "Let It Bleed" Mick broke a string on his acoustic guitar early in the song, but he kept playing it through the song, and when his guitar tech picked up the guitar with the broken string, Mick gave him a short message. No worries, the song worked fine.

Mick said this was their 38th show in Texas. Even if they performed in Dallas Texas just two and a half weeks ago, at the Cotton Bowl, many were responding when Mick asked if anyone were from Dallas / Ft Worth. And he asked if anyone actually were from ATX - Austin Texas. His food jokes were predictable, except this time he added a very honest statment, saying it was all a lie of course.

The big four songs in the end were performed with high power and the sound turned up quite loud, probably because it was a large field. As they finished Satisfaction, and after the final bow, Keith was hanging around next to the drums, doing some extra bows to us. He did not seem to want to leave. Then we walked into the night, found the car, stayed two hours in a jam out of the venue, and 45 minutes to the city. Three hours after the show I hit my bed, tired, happy.


Review by Ernie Dorantes

This was my fourth show of the tour and 33rd of my life, starting in Frankfurt April 76. St. Louis, LA#2, Las Vegas and now Austin.

I try to attend the start, the middle and the end, to have a taste on how setlists, playing, band emotions and people reactions evolve over the course of time. With the Stones you can hear 80% of the songs almost every night, but never sound the same, but get better played as the tour moves forward, like wine.

I arrived early to this show compared to the other concerts I saw during this tour, given the expected attendance size of this day. You never know what to expect, going to a Stones concert is like going to a World Cup final or a Super Bowl game. Throughout the day, I probably walked 4 miles from parking spot to my seat and viceversa. Reward however, is to see the greatest rock and roll band in the world, being part of a story being written in real time.

The Circuit of the Americas is in the Austin area, in the middle of nowhere, so you have to take your time to drive, expect detour surprises, park, walk long distances, looking for your access point to your seats, etc. But on the positive side, this gave me the opportunity to watch the band entourage arriving at the venue, hear the soundcheck from the back of the stage, and see Ronnie, Keith and Mick once they finished the rehearsal waving to the crowd gathered behind a fence.

Opening band Ghost Hounds was probably the best of the concerts I attended. They played a solid setlist of covers and songs of their own. A great window for them to get attention of the huge gathering they have in front of them, but at the same time, difficult to deal with the fact that people emotion’s are like a countdown clock waiting to see the Stones. In the middle of the show, the singer even joked when he heard someone in the pit front shouting “we want to see the RS” !!! “You will anyway, he responded with great humor”.

Street Fighting Man is a winner as a concert opener. It wasn’t the best rendition of the song of this tour, but it definetly sets the mood of the concert.

YCAGWYW, Midnight Rambler, Gimme Shelter, Let It Bleed (vote), You Got The Silver (tonigh’t one of Keith choices) all from their stellar record of the sixties.

Ghost Town, audience participated more than in St. Louis or LA, but it still falls short. They will probably drop it in future tours, enough is enough, they have to fill that spot with something different, there is so much good stuff to choose from.

The second half of the show is a tour de force, spectacular, goes up like an Elon Musk rocket (funny hearing Mick sating they want to come to live in Austin, now that Tesla is moving here).

Other highlights of the show: sound quality, outdoor venues are perfect for these huge events. Fireworks, again, taking advantage of being outdoors, they were the best of the tour so far. Mick giving thanks to the whole crew, without them this would not be possible.

Merchandise purchases are always difficult. Yes, you can go online, and wait a month to get your poster or t-shirts. But buying it at the venue, is a different experience and feel, you are part of the show. They should probably learn a little bit more on how to handle hundreds of people at the same time from other big event merchandisers and improve their performance. Merchandise is not cheap at all.


Review by Art Lewis

Clear, warm Saturday night in the capital city of Texas- Austin- the 'Live Music Capital of the World' at an F1 race track with a festival style setup.

Street Fighting Man opener. It's Only Rock'n'Roll. As the show was dedicated to Charlie Waits the crowd broke out into a Char-lie Char-lie Char-lie chant. Vote song Let it Bleed. As Mick introduced Ronnie he placed a cowboy hat on him that fell on the stage and Mick said that hat cost a fortune. Keith with Connection and You Got The Silver. Keith said- Bless you all- this what we do-Love you all. Big fireworks show at the end.

Parking lots at the track opened at 3pm and the doors were to open at 430pm but opened around 515pm. The track is under 10 miles from the airport but had no public transportation options. Some fans self organized shuttle buses. Were big lines to get rental cars at the airport with parking lots charging $30-$200 a car. Some of the roads into the venue were two lanes- 1 lane in each direction- with construction going on to expand them into 4 lanes. Arriving early traffic was fairly easy with the band doing an extended soundcheck starting around 4pm. Were traffic jams for fans arriving later and on the way out. Cell phone data/service were also limited. The opening band mentioned that 5,000 tickets to the show were given to healthcare workers to show appreciation for all they have been doing. The pit areas seemed much larger than other stadium shows. Some sections of the crowd had to stand on the curved race track which is tougher on the feet than standing on plastic at a stadium. For me the show sounded clearer than other shows not having to deal with stadiums.

Cities Mick mentioned included Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. Mick mentioned Austin is a great place thinking of moving like Elon Musk. Mick also mentioned with Thanksgiving coming he had some cranberry flavored Deep Eddy and a Tito's- two local vodka distillers- but added it was a lie. Mick mentioned from the stage this was the 38th show in Texas. But was only the 2nd show in Austin the other being Sunday October 22, 2006 at Ziker Park - the site of the Austin CIty Limits music festival. This show was first announced for May 24, 2020 if the originally scheduled date held up the show might have been cancelled because of hail, lightning and severe rain that day in Austin. The Stones twitter also said a man and woman were married at the show.

Every show is a miracle. This show especially with the festival setup recently in Houston leading to death and forcing some other artists for example the Norwegian dj Kygo cancelling a November show in Houston because of crowd control fears. Thankfully this has been a great tour that has happened perfectly. As Mick mentioned this was the last big show on the tour Mick thanked all the crew, production, lights, video, carpenters, riggers, accounting, merch, doctors, nurses, steel and truck drivers. Just want to give a special shout out to the iorr community - I was able to share a ride with other fans to and from the show.


Review by Warren Redfearn

Austin was my home for 20 years before moving back to the Houston suburbs a few years ago, so this was a homecoming of sorts. The first time the Stones came to Austin, in 2006, I was able to make the trek to Zilker Park on foot from my house. This time it was a 2.5 hour drive. It was my second show this month and 11th overall since 1994. I had just taken my 12-year-old son to to the Cotton Bowl show in Dallas (Pit tickets), so that was an experience we will never forget. This time it was to be adults only (no Pit this time but we had Gold Circle which are general admission, standing, behind Pit), so I drove with two old friends (both Stones veterans), and we decided to camp. The venue is a Formula 1 race track, but it is out of the way and not near any major roads, so no doubt there would be paralyzing traffic getting in and out. This proved to be the case for many of the concert goers as it turned out. We arrived before noon to the camping site and so didn't have to worry about any of that. The camping lots (actually RV lots) are 20x40 feet, plenty of room for for the tents and car as well as for us to spread out and "tailgate" before the show. Some other friends of mine from Austin also had tickets and planned to stop by, but they were not able to do so due to and barriers between the parking sections and the vast expanse of the place. We were on the south side of the venue and could see the stage video screens, although they were dwarfed by the enormous expanse of the track.

We didn't venture out much during the day but heard some sounds emanating from that direction at some point; later I realized it must have been the sound check, and I regret not going over there to check it out. We finally made it over and into the venue midway through the opening set by the Ghost Hounds. I was struck by the chaotic situation, as the vendors were set up in such a way that the long lines of people practically blocked access to the "floor" area. It turned out there was no need to rush anyway, as the Stones ended up coming on almost an hour later than expected, probably to accommodate people stuck in traffic trying to get in. They finally appeared at almost 9:00, opening with a strong sounding Street Fighting Man. Sound was good and clear in general, as we were standing about halfway between the mixing desk and the "center stage" catwalk area. I'm tall, so I had no problem with sightlines. Mick, especially, came out quite often, so were able to got a semi-close view from time to time. I felt the first few numbers were a little shaky compared to what I had seen in Dallas. Keith looked tired, flubbed some intros, and just seemed to lack the presence and attack as he had shown just weeks before. Mick more than made up for this, though, as the man is superhuman. Things began to pick up with Midnight Rambler, certainly the best version I have seen. I was surprised how loud things were getting (especially since it was open-air) starting with Sympathy, fireworks notwithstanding. They really cranked it up for Jumpin' Jack Flash and finished strong. Mick's incredible interaction with Sasha Allen during Gimme Shelter in the encore will stick in my mind forever.

Great show, perhaps not the greatest that I have seen (that honor goes to Dallas 11/2, and having Pit tickets for that didn't hurt matters). I realize this really could be the last time, at least for me, so I thank the Stones for giving us another chance to be once again part of the stuff of legend.


Review by Alwyn Welch

Stephen Austin, after whom this city is named, was someone who was partially responsible for John Wayne being killed at the Alamo - well Wayne character being killed anyway. Austin had captured what is now San Antonio from the Mexican army in 1835, which led to the siege of the Alamo the next year. Around that time Austin was first settled, and it was named after one of Texas’ founding fathers who died of pneumonia in 1836. The original name suggested was Waterloo, which was presumably too sensitive to contemporaneous American allies in Paris.

The show venue, Circuit of the Americas, is the only large enough venue in Austin for large concerts (well I suppose some parks like Zilker should be added as well). Considering the amount of music in this city it’s a surprise. COTA, as it’s is known probably without affection, has a reputation for being difficult for travel. Usually it is leaving - yesterday the biggest issue was arriving with people I know taking 3 hours to travel the 15 miles from the downtown area.

I think Keith and Ronnie arrived late despite a police motorcycle escort, and this may have contributed towards a slightly shortened show: 18 songs, and 5-10 minutes less than for most of this tour. The advertised start time was missed by 45 minutes - just like the good old days - to echo the title of one of support band Ghost Hounds’ songs. Getting home, for some, was also a process longer that the Stones’ set itself. To be credible this venue needs better access: to be credible Austin needs a large indoor venue. This is Texas after all! Another delay might have been due to the removal of the on-stage carpets between the Ghost Hounds and The Stones, and the crew seeming to find that the shortened catwalk was not properly fixed to the structure holding it off of the ground. Cue hurried carpentry work to ensure no trips during the show itself. The stage was low; the cat walk even lower - waist height by the small stage. Finally there was a Fire Marshall-mandated delay to crowd entry - after Houston recently one can understand people being very careful at large events.

It felt a little like the end of term/academic semester when the band were on stage. A little looser again; clearly really enjoying themselves; laughing at each other; grins; banter with the crowd. Mick talked through the list of local foods that he had tried, and then commented that nobody really believed they had eaten them. So why go through this ritual? He and Ronnie were laughing together waiting for Keith to start JJF - Keith had strolled onto the catwalk for maximum effect before the first riff blasted out from his Telecaster.

Keith found it hilarious that Mick’s 12 string became 11 string part way through song choice Let It Bleed. It was played with a little more of a country feel, fitting the location deep in the heart of Texas. Mick threatened Darryl with another chest bump, but then didn’t deliver it. Darryl recoiled anyway - as he has said playing with these guys is an adventure. The playing and performing kept up the normal high standard, mostly. The only “new for this tour” song, You Got The Silver, was another beautiful Keith slow song. There were a few snafus - people coming in late, forgetting or omitting words, starting solos in the wrong key and taking a little time to recover. 20, or 10 or even 5 years ago we heard much more of this - today they are noticeable by their rarity.

We had 5 songs from Let It Bleed, 6 if you include Honky Tonk Women. Later albums featured far less - you could argue one third of the set was from 1969.

Close to the front it was hard in this vast open area to assess the overall sound quality and audience satisfaction. Mick seemed happy with the sing-along sections of various songs. We managed to get a good “Charlie” chant going to show appreciation and respect for absent friends. Ronnie got a good cheer for the large Stetson that Mick placed on his head - although he got told off by Mick for kicking a valuable item around the stage..

I have been told the sound was great everywhere. Sound delay, when the rear must have been over 200 metres back, was I guess was the biggest issue for the experts to manage, not echoes. They handled it as we have come to expect. Access to the Pit at least was the best of the tour - 100 metres from security to the front and centre rail… no complaints there. Some parking was a mile away - it’s a huge area.

In reality all the performers were enjoying themselves - the end of the tour, and their isolation routine, is in sight. They have delivered yet another great tour and Austin, the brevity notwithstanding, sits well in this year’s performances.

As Mick commented towards the end of this show, this was supposed to be the last show in the Tour and is still the last “big” show. Of course there is a “coda show” in Florida in a few days time. He called-out and thanked all the “invisible” contributors to this tour - a tour that many felt could not be completed even before CW passed away. It sounded a very heartfelt thank you from Mick with applause from Keith, Ronnie and others - the extensive precautions have worked, and over 500,000 people have been able to get “back to normal”.

He could have made special mention of three people, although he is clearly too cautious (unsurprisingly), to do that. Firstly Opie Skjerseth the Production Director - who you will see checking the stage area (and I’m sure much more) before the band comes onstage. It’s a big and complex enough task in normal times with the luxury of the relative geographic proximity of consecutive venues. For the second tour in a row, re-scheduling has made the logistics far more complex and Covid is ever-present as another complication.

That re-scheduling was enabled by promotor Concert West and their President John Meglen. The complexity of navigating NFL schedules, geography, a moving feast of Covid rules and risks - and to still get, according to media reports, a very good gross per show cannot easily be understood. Both Opie and John have shown that big rock shows need not be postponed any more - with the right team, planning and execution.

Band managers often get bad press: they are a convenient lightning conductor for criticism from fans and critics alike - even sometimes their clients, the band. They also have the unenviable task of balancing the demands of all these and other parties. So Joyce Smythe also deserves being in this list as the person who carries the can as well as being the non-musical conductor. I think the Stones have played over 150 shows since 2012 - when most of us believed there would be no more. A good amount of archive material has been released (never enough of course!) and many challenges met. A good balance for everyone seems to be in place.

So, to conclude, another great show. It might sound boring to read (and write) those words, but you do have to nit-pick to find material fault - if being half-full is your predilection. If it is to have a great time with your friends (and others); to be half-full, even 99% full; to see this great band staying at the top of their game…. Then Austin fitted the bill yet again.


Review by Chelsea Drugstore

The band is on stage is one of those nights!

This for me was the first show of this tour. My first post pandemic Stone experience was also a very special one because I was joined by my elder son. His first show was at the age of 4. Now a young man, it was a privilege for me to go with him, and for him to meet some of my friends of so many tours and concerts, who shares some of their stories with him.

You could notice during the very good set by the opening band, Ghosts Hunters, that the crowd was ready to party. Soon after the band left the stage the entertainment resumed, at least in Pit 1, with a couple that decided to marry right there. The minister was properly dressed up for the occasion, with a glittering and informative jacket, decorated with the Stones logo and the names of the happy couple, Mary & Ed. On our way to Miami the following morning there was another couple on the plane that also decided to tie the knot during the show. Elvis has some serious competition here.

SFM kicked off proceedings and three first impressions rapidly came in. The first one was the sound quality. So crisp and clear, and so well mixed that I could easily listen every single instrument throughout the show. In this department there is a noticeable upgrade on what was already a top quality feature of the No Filter tours. At some point during the first part I even thought that it needed an up of a couple of notches, but it was probably more to do with the inevitable distraction when some people around you decided to chat or sing out of tune.

The second thing that hit me was the quality of the rhythm section. This was my first Jordan & Jones experience. They reproduce Wyman & Watts work respectfully enough to retain the essence of the songs, while inevitably bringing a new, rejuvenated dimension to the whole thing. As much as I love W&W, J&J is now the closest thing we have, and it is top notch.

The third thing is the quality of Mick's singing. He delivered as always, but he also managed to bring new things to his reportoire. In Ghost Town, beautifully played by the entire band, he brought a new, blusey colour to it.

Keith showed up at times, and nothing wrong with that. I appreciated in particular Ronnie's work tonight, coming to the rescue of Keith at times, completing some of his lines in an understated way, and keeping the ball rolling. Like a consumate team sportman, he is not only playing his parts but also making sure that he is there if someone misses a beat.

For me the concert had two clear parts, the first one when I was absorbing all this information, and the second one that was much, much stronger and tighter after Keith's set, which I found rather weak. Connection sounded a bit disconnected to me, while you've got the Silver was too loose for my liking.

I know for many Miss You shouldn't be anywhere near the set, but for me Wyman's bass lines are enough to justify its presence. J&J version is funkier and still true to the original. Tim and Karl sax duet also brought new energy, and I enjoyed Keith's very sporadic lines, some of them totally new to me. I always find myself wanting more of Keith's attention to this song, and I would pay extra for that privilege.

From Miss you on the show was on power mode. Keith was back in style for MR, firing those powerful blasts, while Ronnie kept on filling the blanks to ensure things remained tight. He is the perfect one to blend Mick and Keith on stage.

I could see what others said here about Gimme Shelter in this tour: Keith's intro is a bit understated, and Sasha elevates the song to a new level. Mick applied the Otis treatment to the coda in Satisfaction, and end of a powerful show.

As we were leaving the venue, we saw many happy faces. We saw them again at the airport the following morning, when my son shared with me his post concert reflection of the whole experience: this goes well beyond music. It is like a global sport event, with a team that is in a league of their own.


Review by Matija Djuricic

It is said that Austin is a music city. For sure it justified its reputation when I arrived at Austin airport and saw some band playing in one of the food cafes in front of a terminal. I was hungry anyway so decided to eat there and hear a bit of rock, country, blues mixture of songs. Nice welcome from the city.

For the show I decided to take a cab early when there is no traffic and high demand. It went perfect, for couple of dozens of dollars and 25 min from downtown. After arrival of Ronnie's car to backstage area, in just a minute Mick started singing Let It Bleed as a first song of quite a long soundcheck.

With 45 min delay of the show, the bleechers still weren't full, maybe 80%. Than after 4-5 songs they filled, and maybe back of the lawn too, couldn't see that from where I was in the front. Probably people had traffic issues. Cool memories from the show were Darryl energetic head nodding during 19th Nervous Breakdown, then Mick's guitar string broke during Let It Bleed and Keith was laughing about it, Keith forgot his solo in Honky Tonk Woman and started verse chords with fingers but then took his pick from mouth and played solo with the pick for more powerfull and louder sound. I like how they "keep it fresh". Also Keith seemed to really put his emotion in Connection like he was thinking of someone while singing and I enjoyed how he and Roonie stood close to each other during You Got The Silver like they are playing in a small room, rehersing. For me the show and the whole festival type experience was great.

Thanks to a fan that drove three of us other fans to the airport. Nice ride and nice to have met you.


Review by Lee Williams

Legends. We felt it.
The full moon helped too. Two of us, wrong side of 65, Sat am flight from JFK, antivaxer pilot never showed. Stones ticket holders scrambled for flights. Made it to lawn 3 songs in via Charlotte, NC, car rental bust up, and traffic snarl for the history books--replete with cop cars, road blocks, ambulance sirens, shuttle buses stopped so passengers could piss.

Still menace, in Jaggar's sneer and tension in pauses, phrasing. Ghost Town, took you somewhere deep and inside.

Midnight Rambler, after a conventional start, went somewhere strange, unexpected, then came back in to a kind of ectasy all of us in.

Gimme Shelter. Yaaasssss.

Mick Jaggar--so gracious. He thanked everyone. Introduced everyone but himself. Unf**king believable. This man carries it. What is he -- Dorian Gray? Jumping up and down, catwalking, articulating for 2 hours, oily limbs. Concise and fabulous. Is it W40 in the joints -- said the Texans. We need some. We are so inspired.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Exiting under a tunnel -- crowds' spontaneous outbreaks of "woo wooo" echoing against the walls.


Pictures



Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik



Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik



Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik



Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik



Photo by Bjornulf Vik


Photo by Bjornulf Vik



Photo by Roderick Keur



Photo by Roderick Keur


Photo by Roderick Keur


Photo by Roderick Keur



Photo by Geir Greni


Photo by Geir Greni


Photo by Geir Greni


Photo by Geir Greni



Photo by Geir Greni


Photo by Geir Greni



Photo by Jim Miller


Photo by Jim Miller


Photo by Jim Miller


Photo by Jim Miller



Photo by Jim Miller


Photo by Jim Miller


Photo by Jim Miller


Photo by Jim Miller



Photo by Hendrik Mulder


Photo by Hendrik Mulder


Photo by Hendrik Mulder


Photo by Hendrik Mulder



Photo by Hendrik Mulder


Photo by Hendrik Mulder


Photo by Hendrik Mulder


Photo by Hendrik Mulder



Photo by Hendrik Mulder


Photo by Hendrik Mulder


Photo by Hendrik Mulder


Photo by Hendrik Mulder



Photo on Twitter - Married Couple show day


Links


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