The Rolling Stones

[Freypower]

Well, I did have a great time, although the venue was hot & overcrowded with insufficient services to cater to 15000 people.

Jumpin' Jack Flash
It's Only Rock'n'Roll
You Got Me Rocking
Tumbling Dice
Silver Train (with Mick Taylor)
Bitch
Paint It, Black
Honky Tonk Women
You Got The Silver
Before They Make Me Run
Happy
Midnight Rambler (with Mick Taylor)
Miss You
Gimme Shelter
Start Me Up
Sympathy For The Devil
Brown Sugar

You Can't Always Get What You Want
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (with Mick Taylor)




I will get the criticisms out of the way first. They were slow to start; the groove just wasn't there on the first four songs & I thought the mix was too loud; the guitars sometimes overwhelmed the vocals. Mick was somewhat slow to get going & got some of the earlier lyrics wrong. It's a mark against the Stones that none of the members do backing vocals; they rely on others. Unfortunately Lisa Fischer shrieked, not sang, Merry Clayton's part in Gimme Shelter & she & Bernard Fowler had more time down the front than they should have near the end. Also I like it when Mick plays guitar but he only played a Strat for one verse of Miss You & an acoustic for You Can't Always (which had a local choir helping out). Miss You relied too much on the audience singing along. The iconic sax in Bitch was barely audible.

I had voted for Respectable in the fan vote for what song people wanted them to play. Silver Train won & apparently this is only the second time they have played it since 1973. It isn't bad but it's too repetitive. And try as they might with You Can't Always.... I can't warm to it.

However, once they got to the magnificent Paint It, Black. for the most part they delivered. Honky Tonk Women was a joyous singalong (as were Start Me Up & Satisfaction). Keith's three songs were excellent, including my favourite of his, You Got The Silver, the closest they came to a ballad all night. Ronnie played pedal steel on Happy with a cigarette dangling from his fingers!

In terms of musicianship & watching them play, Midnight Rambler was the standout. Sir Mick rocked the harp & Taylor rocked the solo (Les Paul). It gave me a new appreciation for the song. Sympathy, their greatest song in my view, was excellent. Mick started it wearing a feather cape. The only problem is he leaves out the 'who killed the Kennedys' verse these days.

Most of the guitars were Teles & Les Pauls. I can't be more specific.

Mick ran round the huge ramp at top speed & occasionally Keith & Ronnie joined him. I was on the side in the circle & the occasional glimpse over towards my section was worth the wait. Mick is a phenomenon; he doesn't have an ounce of extra fat on him. He made a couple of jokes about our beloved () Prime Minister & what a fool he made of himself at the G20 summit which finished just before the Stones arrived. Charlie was Charlie. I can't believe what he does with such a small drumkit.

Great show, and if it wasn't perfect, that's the Stones for you. I like it, like it, yes I do!