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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Hackney Diamonds |
Tour 2024 |
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Live pre/post show comments:
Glendale AZ show live updates - Tuesday May 7, 2024 - The Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds Tour
He seemed more engaged on Tuesday, and tentatively regained confidence on the first two songs, “Start Me Up” and new addition “It's Only Rock ‘n Roll.” “She's So Cold” was a scorcher, reminding us what a great guitar album Emotional Rescue is. By the time “Angry” rolled around, Keith was almost back to his normal self. He still avoided the catwalk, and it appears “Little T&A” - or, as he introduced it, “She's My Little Rock 'n' Roll” - is all we'll hear from him.
Good song choices tonight, with “Out of Time” mercifully axed and the immortal “Monkey Man” winning the song vote. I strongly doubt that it actually beat “Like A Rolling Stone,” but I won't seek a recount. As far as I could tell, Steve's drumming seemed very faithful to Charlie's original. This tune required a bit of work during rehearsals, for reasons unknown.
Another unsuccessful contender was “Emotional Rescue,” but since the Stones went to the trouble of rehearsing it, we'll probably get it at some point. Its loss tonight did not prevent a fan from waving a banner with “Emotional Rescue” for another 10-20 minutes afterwards.
The set really flies by with “Midnight Rambler” on hiatus and Keith's spotlight halved. If we could just truncate the interminable “Miss You,” and add a few more Hackney Diamonds tracks, this could be a tour for the ages. The codas for “You Can't Always Get What You Want” and “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” were also dropped, adding to the streamlining effect.
Speaking of “Miss You,” I forgot to mention that Darryl's bass was super high in the mix at Houston, especially on the new songs. Tonight it was incredibly noticeable during “Satisfaction,” pretty much drowning out the guitars. From my vantage point in Pit A at least.
Mick remains the hardest working man in show business, of course. Even Keith was impressed when Mick dropped to his knees during “Satisfaction” while pleading “Gotta! Gotta!” His only (tiny) error was repeating the first line of “Beast of Burden.”
Mick brought our attention to the stadium's open roof, a rare occurrence, I believe. He remarked that it was the Stones' 11th stop in Arizona, and reminded us - with help from the teleprompter - that they accidentally set fire to the Sun Devil Stadium stage in 1997. I vaguely remember this. His joke about Waymo self-driving cars fell flat. Matt Clifford needs to up his joke writing game before Mick gets demoted to a Catskills opening slot.
Overall good experience tonight. Entry was simple, guards were friendly and exit a cinch. The millennials in front of me brought their baby, who didn't seem impressed. Electric Mud was a strong opener, with a Tom Petty vibe on their penultimate tune. I definitely would see them again. And then came Carín León, a Mexican balladeer who dresses in black leather and therefore covered Johnny Cash's “Man in Black.” His band consisted of 15 or 16 musicians. It's possibly the first time ever that a tuba player has graced the Stones' stage. Or maybe there was one at the Rock and Roll Circus?
Many people after the show thought that this was the best show of the tour so far. There was little to pick holes in, and a whole lot to enjoy. Ignore the nay-sayers – this tour is becoming a real diamond, and is not at all hackneyed.
It has been nearly 5 years since the Stones played the Valley of the Sun. On that day it topped 115F; today it was a much more moderate 92F…. Shortly before the Stones came on for their set I saw senior tour personnel on stage looking at the roof – it was being slowly opened to allow-in the cooling desert air. I hope that the stadium turned off the A/C to maintain green credentials.
Mick told us it was their 11th show in Arizona, and listed all the cities and towns he knew. Maybe he has forgotten the words to Route 66 as he omitted Flagstaff. Most of these shows have been in the Phoenix area and we were reminded that they caused a fire at a show in Tempe in 1997. The city had marked today by calling it Ruby Tuesday (we’ve forgotten how to play it, said Mick) and also announced a road named after the Stones. They should have called it Satisfaction “Street”, for the alliterative impact, not Satisfaction “Way”. Or, for the rebels out there, Starf*cker Street…
The Stones first show here was in November 1965, at the 15,000 seat brand new Veterans Memorial Coliseum: a venue that they revisited in 1969. On this date in 1965, May 7th, the Stones played a show in a small ballroom in Southsea (Portsmouth, UK) – my hometown. Famously, part of Hal Ashby’s 1981 tour documentary was filmed at the Sun Valley Stadium – a matinee performance like the last gig on this tour.
It gets hot here, and it is very, very dry. It is one of the largest metro areas by population and area in the US, and sitting in the middle of a desert needs a major canal and reservoir system just to survive. One of the very early European settlers realised that growing crops here was possible as he noticed the remains of another canal system built centuries before – we now know that was 2000 years ago.
In another reminder of how the history of this state has evolved, I recalled that Arizona was part of Mexico until 1848. Mexico had achieved independence from Spain only 27 years previously. I don’t think anyone is suggesting that the ownership should be reversed here, unlike some territories around the world where people try to change history.
Despite, or maybe because of, all of that history, over one third of Arizona’s population has Hispanic heritage and the support act and Grammy winner Carin Leon interacted with the audience mostly in Spanish. He has a huge band, and a huge following, and huge sales. Unusually we had a third support band, Electric Mud from San Diego, who got 30 minutes on stage playing to the early arrivals in the venue. They had a very vocal group of supporters, which is always nice, and were founded by the Hansen brothers from New Jersey: Keith’s nephews.
I think the ultra-low humidity got to Mick’s voice a few times as he needed quick trips to his water station to rehydrate. He may not have been helped by some jerk near me who blew large amounts of weed smoke across the catwalk as Mick was approaching: why pay $500 for a pit ticket and then try and screw-up the show? Even Keith held-up the start of one song by grabbing some water.
So, on with the show…. I immediately felt a surge of energy when the band came on with tour opener Start Me Up. The crowd near me bouncing around, and I hope bouncing energy to the band. Then it became clear that the setlist was being given a big shake up – at least in the first half where all the changes normally occur.
It’s Only Rock’n’ Roll followed, a real rocking version, with Keith playing some great Berryesque licks. This has become a bit of a rarity, played last on the 2021 tour and then only three times. This was followed by a big surprise, She’s So Cold, which again gave Keith and Ronnie the opportunity to trade great licks and Chuck to tinkle the ivories. Another rarity, this has been played only a handful of times in the last 10 years. Someone decided to really mix it up for Phoenix.
Angry next, becoming a firm favourite. Most of the crowd seemed to know it well enough to sing along. Beast of Burden was the next surprise, played for the second time on tour. Lovely guitar playing all round, and a sweet duet and interaction between Mick and Bernard. Nobody could have predicted this running order – a nice touch and it seemed to energise the band and crowd alike, appealing to the hard core fans and the curious attendees alike.
Mick made his second on-stage plea for people to vote in the upcoming US Presidential election as he introduced the song vote. We had the songs listed, and Monkey Man was the choice. It has a delicate and complex introduction, and I saw backline chief Pierre de B carefully watching Keith kick it off as if worried about something. He had no need to be worried as the song went along very nicely, with a quiet section and some horns that I don’t remember hearing before – although I was assured later that this was not an innovation.
Mess it Up, played for the second time live, was much tighter with great backing vocals, rhythm, and all round enthusiasm. Interesting how now 4 of the HD songs have grown in stature already and can stand alongside well established classics. Many would love to hear Tell Me Straight and Live By The Sword. Go on guys: you should have the confidence to give them a couple of tries, and maybe try even more from this album.
Little T&A now seems to be renamed She’s My Little Rock’n’Roll, as announced when a newly woke Keith introduced this song. He played another strong version of this, with only a few glances at the teleprompter. It’s a tight short version, which works well. It seems that Keith needs a few shows to really get to top form. He has warmed up pretty fast this tour, making the odd slip that we would all make, but I would say really great especially on the faster new songs. Armchair critics should beware of writing him off; you’ve been doing this, incorrectly, for nearly 50 years!
Miss You followed the new format with Mick on harmonica, the usual creative bass solo from Darryl, and a longer sax interlude from Tim and Karl. The opening riff was being played by Matt I think, as Keith was taking a break for a minute or so. Mick is evolving the lyrics, a bit like Dylan does, so it is now “Argentinian girls who want to meet you”. Is there a story there I wonder?
The duo of duet songs, Shelter and Sweet Sounds, went fantastically again. Both Ronnie and Keith sitting for the start of Shelter; Chanel sending shock waves around the stadium from the catwalk, and seeming to challenge Mick to reach even great heights. Sweet Sounds was a bit shortened, but still a tour de force. At times it is a Mick/Chanel song with the Stones as a backing band, but that suits the genre well, and surprisingly a new song has established itself as an encore.
I spent a little time watching Steve Jordan. We know Charlie was a tough, almost impossible, act to follow but Steve continues to do that very well indeed. His snare drum seems to need replacing mid-show – does he hit it that hard that it needs re-setting? He also has a close communication from Mick, who makes an extra nod to Steve when it’s time to bring some songs to conclusion and a drum fill alerts the rest of the band. Keith also spends much time close to, and looking, at Steve like he did with Mr. Watts. Steve is a key element in the band today.
The classic Stones tracks, Honky Tonk, Flash, Satisfaction, Dice, Sympathy, Paint it Black were all competently played. It must be hard at times to summon up enthusiasm for something you’ve played nearly a thousand times on stage (or more) but they do, and the audience yesterday responded well. Superfans have to remember that this is the core element for most gig attendees: whilst we look for the rarities and exceptions.
So to summarise: best gig of the tour so far, with a significantly changed setlist and the Band accelerating in performance again. Some truncated versions of songs that give space for now adding a couple of short tracks and/or adding more from HD. So unless 110 minutes is a constraint, give it a go and be surprised at the strength of positive response you’ll get.
Mick gave a 15 minute interview to a local newspaper previewing the show in which he hinted at dropping "Out Of Time". Noting that song is not getting a good reaction and also how he likes to switch the set list around. He said, "I don't like doing the same set every night." The interview really highlighted for me how in tune the band is with the audience and how they want everyone to have a good time.
The city of Glendate ceremonially renamed a portion of the 95th Avenue road in the nearby Westgate Entertainment District in honour of the Rolling Stones being the first act ever to bring three separate stadium tours to State Farm Stadium and Glendale. The city of Glendale’s Mayor Jerry Weiers also proclaimed the event day ‘Ruby Tuesday’ Mick said from the stage today is Ruby Tuesday but were not going to do the song. They had the first concert in the stadium's history on November 8, 2006. They also had a show on August 26, 2019 of which I attended.
This is an indoor stadium with a retractable roof. The show started a few minutes past 9:15pm. The slight delay appears to have been caused by the band requesting the roof be opened just before the show. Which happens fairly quickly within minutes. After the show the roof was closed back up. Mick mentioned from the stage this was the 11th show in Arizona and also the fire that occured at the 1997 show in Arizona.
Was amazing the distance people traveled for this show. I was standing behind someone who traveled from Paris and sitting next to someone who drove from Arkansas and another from Las Vegas. The stadium had a large crowd for Tuesday night again though the stadium capacity made the show very accessible a ticket could be bought for $50 usd. The city of Glendale is a suburb of Phoenix before the show public buses were running by the stadium but afterwards with the late hour they would not be running. Thankfully there was a bus to downtown Phoenix and Scottsdale near the rideshare pickup.
The day after the show at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix Band 2 consisting of Tim Ries, Bernard Fowler, Chuck Leavell, Darryl Jones had a show that Celebrated Charlie Watts.
After that, set was consistent.
For me personally, I liked Houston better overall. It’s not that Phoenix was bad, it was great, just a couple of small differences put Houston over the edge for me:
But Monkey Man was great, the war horses great. And again, such a good show. That’s the problem with seeing them live 20 something times, I’m getting nit-picky! But not enough to stop me from committing to at least another show this tour (LA).
Side note: went to see Band #2, a tribute to Charlie Watts, last night. Fantastic! Great sounding room at the MIM! The whole backing band made an appearance outside of Steve, Matt and Karl. Stones songs covered: great, jazzy Honkey Tonk to open, a sublime Wild Horses and a lovely Ruby Tuesday as the encore. Thank you Band #2, hope to see you again!
Photo by Bjørnulf Vik
Photo by Bjørnulf Vik
Photo by Bjørnulf Vik
Photo by Bjørnulf Vik
Photo by Bjørnulf Vik
Photo by Bjørnulf Vik
Photo by Bjørnulf Vik
Photo by Bjørnulf Vik
Photo by Hendrik Mulder
Photo by Hendrik Mulder
Photo by Geir Greni
Photo by Geir Greni
Photo by Geir Greni
Photo by Geir Greni
Photo by Geir Greni
Photo by Victor Woods
Photo by Victor Woods
Photo by Victor Woods
Photo by Victor Woods
Photo by Victor Woods
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