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 |
Live pre/post show comments:
The standard warhorse tunes were showcased, but my personal favorites were Monkey Man and Happy. Chanel Haynes is a force to reckon with on the vocals, as strong and clear as any of her predecessors in that role. Ronnie looked a bit tired at times, but still wailed through, especially on the pedestal while either standing or sitting. And Keith, well, he’s Keith, unabashed and smiling throughout. Mick continues to manage the stage from a vocal and physical presence, interacting with us in the crowd in a geo-centric capacity as he has in the 14 different cities that I have seen them.
My first Rolling Stones show was in September of 1981, as a freshman in college when I attended the “Still Life” tour at JFK Stadium on the same ground that Lincoln Financial Field stands now. It blew my mind then, and still does 43 years and 31 shows later.
Many thanks to our tailgate group to include lifelong friends, Pat Campbell, Joe Hayden and his son Pat, Jeff, Steve, and Jill.
Ride like the wind
At double speed
I’ll take you places
That you’ve never, ever seeeeeeen
- Start Me Up
Last nights show was my 37th , with my first being at the former Veterans Stadium in the same complex.
Concert was brilliant, all 3 I saw so far were great but the additions of Monkey Man and Lets Spend the Night Together did it for me, along with IORR and Chuck's piano playing on She's a Rainbow.
Sat in the first row of club level which offerred a great view.
In particular I enjoyed hearing the bass and drums on Mess It Up. Seeing Keith do 3 songs is inspiring to me. I think Tell Me Straight is a beautiful song,
I would have liked to have heard Sweet Sounds in heaven as it is my favorite song of theirs since Out Of Tears. Sympathy for the Devil and Gimme Shelter are my 2 favorites from them. I think Keith's playing is really good these days, I see he is able to move up and down the fretboard resulting in melodic solos. I'm going to Cleveland and trying to even go to Chicago as I have one vacation day left, having used all the others on the Stones and Billy Joel!
Ok, I know I sound like a commercial and no, the Stones are not paying me for these compliments that millions have paid them a million times over. Regarding the show, it was a bit a sedate crowd at the beginning. I think 9:30 p.m. is a late start for a midweek show and it was apparent the crowd needed some time to warm up. I attended the second show in the Meadowlands which was on a Sunday evening of a holiday weekend. The crowd was well rested and most had a relaxing day planned for the day following the show. Plus, it was New York.
Philly crowds are great though and after about the first fifteen minutes and three numbers, the Stones AND the crowd were alive. Angry really started with a bit of audience participation in the chorus. It was well received. I was treated to She’s A Rainbow for the song vote, the first highlight. Outstanding rendition and was a first for me. They had not started playing Rainbow, a song that is approaching 60 in age until ½ dozen years ago, for the most part. Monkey Man, although played, it is an infrequent visitor to the setlist. Well done too. Mick commented that he was pleased the band got the ending right. He did have one good joke for the night. He implored people to vote in the upcoming Presidential election. He joked that it might be the last election. It kind of fell flat or maybe people didn’t hear it. I thought it was funny and yet poignant at the same time.
Tumbling Dice really got the crowd into it. I’m ok with this song, not my fav though. All 23 shows that I have seen they played TD. Only Start Me Up, JJ Flash and Honky Tonk can say that as well.
Mess It Up was next up Fantastic version of a great song that in a year no one will remember. What a shame because it makes the Stones sound fresh and relevant to today’s music.
Keith’s set was the next highlight with a great three song set. His playing is better than it was in 2021 and even 2019. Tell Me Straight was great. Little T&A even better, although the solo right before the bridge was not my favorite of Ronnie’s. Happy was a real highlight. This song is infectious and it sounds like it has new life to it. I was a bit tired of it from the Zip Code and 50 Counting tour. This sounds fresh, alive, and very upbeat. A real gas.
Sympathy kick starts the second half of the show. It is visually spellbinding to me. The images on the screen are like, damn, this is one BAD ASS song and Mick Jagger is still one BAD ASS dude. Honky Tonk lightens the mood and the crowd sings along, but then it gets dark again with yet another highlight, Rambler. No Stones show is complete without Midnight Rambler. So glad I witnessed the resurrection of this opera of the blues in the Meadowlands, the first time it was played on this tour. Damn, it rocked even harder last night and Steve just drives home the last section of this song. If the crowd was younger, I can imagine some moshing going on in the pit during the last three minutes of this classic. It was that moving.
Shelter, Paint It Black and JJ Flash all rocked. Chanel really brings home Shelter. I wish Mick would expand the setlist to 20 songs and include Sweet Sounds of Heaven. That song was a big highlight for everyone in New York, even if it is brand new for most people. Chanel Hayes is a freaking star! Her voice and her stage presence coupled with her physical beauty makes for one mesmerizing singer. Wow!
Satisfaction brought us home as it has for the last dozen or so years. Keith was outstanding here. Before I bolted for the exit I had to see the three Stones take a bow. I nearly shed a tear as I believe this may be the last time. I’ll hope for a couple of residency runs at MSG in the near future. I just don’t know how they can do another tour of the U.S. in two or three years. Mick and Keith are 80 now. I know they’ll play until they drop, but as much as they have kept Father Time at bay, truly time is no longer on their side.
A wonderful night. 115 minutes of pure energy and excitement.
Are the Stones as good as they were in the 70’s or 80’s? No. Are they as good as they were on the Licks Tour? No. They are 20 + years older than they were on Licks and over 40+ years removed from their heyday, yet they still deliver one of the best shows you will see this year. Amazing that band can continue to be the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World. They truly are and most likely always will be.
He prowled, seemed to aggressively play his notes and generally seemed way more ‘into it’ than I have witnessed in some time.
Long live the greatest rock and roll band in the world. Onto Cleveland and a strong reconsideration of traveling to Missouri.
With a setlist that had only one song in the encore, and three excellent renditions in Keith’s singing spot, the obvious question was “how is Mick’s singing voice?”. I saw or heard no sign of any issues at all. He was on top form in all senses; shimmying his way across the stage, performing around it’s far reaches; sprinting down the catwalk during Honky Tonk Women; never missing a note. No grimaces and only few sniffles. Normal service resumed.
I’m sure they are ensuring no relapses with a little more vocal protection, helped of course by strong support from Bernard and Chanel. Mick may have been additionally motivated after seeing 60s and 70s competitor Roger Daltrey, in town for his own show. Roger was singing the Stones’ and Mick’s praises in an interview and Mick had to live up to his peers’ high opinion.
His comments to the audience had their usual local flavour, including about food, and a warning that this November’s election may be the last time people have to vote in the US. Serious, maybe not, but there are now major elections in several major democracies – and probably more to come. In the west we do select, and de-select, our political leaders: no dictatorship please.
Philadelphia: the city of brotherly love; location of Liberty Bell (the one that rings, not the Sousa march written as a theme for Monty Python); site of a famous statue (Rodin’s The Thinker, not Rocky’s). Philadelphia was also the first capital city of the USA. This region was first colonised by the Dutch and then the Swedes, before being captured by the British and the city founded some 340 years ago. There is a lot of history here.
The Stones, as Mick reminded us in a historical note, first played the city in 1965 and I could add that this show was their 27th in the city. On their first US tour, in June 1964, the band played two shows in Pennsylvania but not in Philly. This year the Stones captured the crowd at the Lincoln Financial Field, although at times there was not much brotherly love in the pushing crowd in the Pit. The stadium looked full and was mostly very friendly, until the lure of being another yard or so closer to the stage proved too much to resist.
Keith was again on fire, playing on top form, grinning and clearly enjoying himself hugely. He received several gestures of appreciation from Mick and Ronnie, all well-earned. He had family at the show, included it was suggested to me afterwards perhaps the youngest ever attendee at a Stones show. His guitars were clear and at times very loud. His guitar weaving with Ronnie was often sublime. He even added some ad-libbed psychedelic pieces to song vote winner She’s a Rainbow. He rightly got a big cheer when introduced and for each of his very well sung and played singing spots. Many Berryesque riffs completed a superb evening for Keith.
Ronnie was also on top form, whether with laptop steel on Rainbow or Happy or on one of the many guitars slung around his neck, which he occasionally pointed like a machine gun towards the audience. After the best solo I’ve heard from him in ages, on YCAGWYW, Keith went over and hugged him. He did have a couple of less memorable episodes, including part of the Dice solo being in the wrong key, but overall here was another top performance.
Again the bass and drums were prominent in the mix, which helped encourage lots of dancing in the aisles: thanks to Darryl and Steve. Monkey Man was the most surprising selection of the night. It featured a little section when you almost think the guitar players have got lost and that Darryl has to keep it going: I think it is planned as a quiet interlude in what was another excellent rendition. Mess it Up, now a great live version of a song only released last year, was another highlight for the rhythm section. No real sax solos tonight, but plenty of sax-heavy songs for Tim & Karl to practise their chops.
The show started after 9:25pm – all the documents say a 9:15pm start but the band is always at least 5 minutes late, perhaps waiting for the bars to close. Then the big screen goes very bright; downlighters dim; we see shadowy figures dancing on the screen; and then the classic introductory words from Matt C. He is clearly an eclectic man (keyboards, French horn, videography) who used music from Khachaturian for a video about the Stones in Seattle, or was that Spartacus piece an obscure British reference to seafaring?
Anyway, Steve slips onto the drums, Chuck to the keyboards, and then Keith, Ronnie and Darryl stride onto the stage to start us up. That initial burst of energy, with IORR and Lets Spend the Night Together, gets the audience off their feet and into the air; arms waving or pointing; responding to Mick’s every move and gesture. In Philly Keith was getting more and more mobile as well: Ronnie always is… Jumping around the set list, Sympathy and Paint It Black were very notable for their energy and the crowd response. Keith again tried to bring-in the verse riff early for JJF but the rest of the band resisted a premature finish. Dice roared away; Shelter was another highlight, Mick maybe leading Chanel rather than vice versa tonight. We even got a few phrases from You Gotta Move in Rambler – Mississippi Fred McDowell displacing Robert Johnson.
The extra Keith song had a new explanation last night: he told us that the band had offered him a big bribe to play it, which he accepted! The audience did not need a big bribe to listen to it. It’s an old one, but a favourite for many. It interesting how many people identify “Keith songs” as rockers like Happy, when some of his most delightful writing has been slower, more emotional and thoughtful pieces like Tell Me Straight – which again was excellent in Philly.
Last impressions: it is now very hard to choose the best gig of this tour. When the band has settled nerves down and warmed up during the first few gigs, the quality of playing and performance is uniformly so high. Only the audience and setlist swing my vote.
We’ll all hope the former stays fully engaged and excited (it will), and the latter becomes a bit more radical (we live in hope). We just had a gig here with no “new songs on this tour”, which was a little disappointing. The shores of Lake Erie now beckon.
My best show of the tour so far, Glendale and Vegas as well. The setlist was great as I finally got me some Midnight Rambler. We were on the floor RGA. During Sympathy the fans were goin’ crazy with some funky dancing.
We have three more shows to see Cleveland and L.A. (2) but I don’t think they will come close to what we saw in Philadelphia! A big thank you kindly to the fans and the Rolling Stones!
There is nothing like a Stones concert and those minutes before the "Ladies and..." announcement are as thrilling as anything can be.
SMU roared. Monkey Man is one of my favorites, however it seemed odd its place in the set list. Anyway, glad they played it. Maybe GOOMC would heve worked better than IORR, but how can I tell someone "Hey GOOMC" and then "LSTNT"? Lol. Anyway the set list was great.
Many highlights, MR being of one them. The sound (Section 119) was as good as it gets. It was my 4th show, my wife's 2nd, and my sister and brother in law 1st. Needless to say they were blown away by the Boys.
Mick was in top form, Keith looked genuinely happy and blasted some terrific riffs. Ronnie was also very good and consistent throughout the night. The weather was perfect to cap off a perfect night. A memory of a lifetime. Thank you God. Thank you Philly. Thank you The Rolling Stones.
Setlist by Ronnie Wood
Photo by Jordan Samata
Photo by Jordan Samata
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Photo by Victor Woods
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Photo by Geir Greni
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Photo by Shona Russell
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Photo by Shona Russell
Photo by Shona Russell
Photo by Shona Russell
Photo by Shona Russell
Photo by Shona Russell
Photo by Shona Russell
Photo by Shona Russell
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