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The Stones played the United Center in Chicago after opening their
Forty Licks tour with 3 shows in Boston.
The Pretenders
(or maybe 1/2 the Pretenders) opened with a nice set. A decade younger than the Stones, but
already with more dead band members (unless you count Ian Stewart as a Stone)... "so much of our inspiration came from the Stones" said
Chrissie Hynde in her tight jeans and
Exile on Main Street Haircut, "Our clothes, our haircuts, our drug habits...
Unfortunately, guitarist James Honeyman Scott didn't have
Keith Richards' resilience, nor did original bassist Pete
Farndon, both of whom died of overdoses only months apart in
the early '80s. But Hynde is always captivating and original drummer
Martin Chambers is still one of the hardest hitters in rock. The Pretenders played a 45 minute set which was well-received by the Stones fans, then a 45 minute break before the Stones came out.
The houselights went dark and a percussion beat came over the PA. About a minute later
Keith Richards was standing alone in a spotlight at the front of the stage, playing the opening riffs to
Street Fighting Man, a very powerful version that ended with Richards again at the very edge of the stage, on his knees playing his guitar like his life depended on it.
It's
Only Rock and Roll and
If You Can't Rock Me were next. While not my favorite Stones songs the Keith Richards
- Ron Wood guitar interplay and Mick Jagger's emotional singing blew me away.
From the very start, the crowd was on their feet, waving their hands in unison over their heads in response to gestures from Jagger. Even way up in the 300
level, quite a few people were on their feet, which was amazing given the vast expanses of the usually comatose United Center.
Next came the only new song of the concert
Don't Stop which seems to sum up the way everyone, including the Stones I think,
feels about the Stones, especially if they keep playing like this. For
All Down The Line the band was joined by a 4 piece horn section
featuring Bobby Keys, Mr. Brown Sugar himself on sax. They stood on a
raised platform to the right of the stage, next to Keith. All Down the Line was brilliant, powerful, horns and guitars blasting,
with tremendous energy coming off the stage. This must have been the way it felt to be at a 72 show on the Exile tour.
The crowd went nuts. During a long ovation with
a lot of whoops. Keith, salt of the earth, kneeled down on one knee
and
bowed to the crowd, a gesture he repeated many times during the course of the evening. Next was
Stray Cat Blues. Ron Wood had gotten out of rehab earlier this year and his playing throughout the concert was magnificent with his guitar much more prominent in the mix than on the
Bridges To Babylon tour. Keith would frequently walk over to Ron's side of the stage. Standing next to each other they would lock in on some incendiary guitar interplay.
I'd seen on the internet that the Stones were going to feature classic albums at their hockey arena shows. The first stop in Boston, it was
Exile On Main Street. Tonight we got 4 songs from
Some Girls. First up was
Faraway Eyes with Ron Wood playing steel guitar and Jagger's vocals showing more of a
Gram Parsons sensitivity and conviction instead of the condescending campiness that marred the studio version.
Shattered was next. The energy from the guitars with Jagger bellowing the lyrics was overwhelming. Same with
When The Whip Comes Down, which featured a video on the giant screen behind the stage of 2 blissfully wasted young adult industry lovelies sipping a bottle of wine together, spilling on their
blouses...mesmerizing! Miss You came later in the set to round out
the
selections from Some Girls.
From Exile,
Tumbling Dice lacked the lyrical, melodious guitar solos of past tours, but was nonetheless very powerful driven by the horn section. Jagger cheerleaded with hand claps over his head
- no more choreographed rolling across the stage. He doesn't leave it all on stage like Keith, but maybe he finally realizes that the Stones' music is more important than his movie career or
past hobnobbing with celebrities like Lee
Radziwill and the late Truman Capote and , and the Stones' music is all the better for it.
The band was introduced just
before Keith's two-song solo spot, and drummer Charlie Watts got a very long ovation. Looking through the binoculars I thought he might start tearing up. He was obviously very touched by the crowd's show of affection. The crowd really appreciates him and I think everyone realizes that without Charlie Watts there would be no more Rolling Stones.
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Keith was introduced to a loud ovation followed by chants of
"Keeeeeith, Keeeeeith...."and touched his fist to his heart, smiled and mumbled "Chicago" into the microphone.
For all you fashion fans, Jagger came out in black jeans and black leather jacket. After a few songs the jacket came off, then after a few more songs the white dress shirt came off, leaving a black sequined tank top.
Jagger left the stage to Keith for a solo version of
The Worst.
It was a very mellow song, but I was kind of disappointed to see the crowd sit down for the first time. Keith ended his spot with a nice sloppy, energetic version of
Happy which brought the crowd back to it's feet and featured Ron Wood playing some nasty pedal steel. Jagger
then reappeared wearing what looked to be a long white raincoat and white pimp hat for the R&B cover
Can't Turn You Lose.
Later in the show the band blew the roof off with a great extended version of
Can't You Hear Me Knocking, with a series of great solos starting with Bobby Keys on sax.
Then Jagger put down the maracas for a harmonica solo, and finally Ronnie Wood closed out the song with a fine job on the extended Mick
Taylor solo. I've grown tired of listening to
Honky Tonk Women
and
Satisfaction over the years but Keith's guitar playing on these songs was overwhelming.
Honky Tonk Women featured a cartoon on the screen behind the stage. A young woman in black stockings and high heels got on a Rolling Stones tongue and stuck a giant pin in the tongue. The tongue
started undulating and she rode it like a bronco buster, obviously
enjoying herself. The video ended up with the girl being swallowed, then
the boots being spit back out.
The Stones went out to the
B-stage for a 3 song set, which was accompanied by much throwing of female
undergarments. They paid homage to Muddy Waters by doing his
masterpiece Mannish Boy,
then You Got Me Rocking
and finally Brown
Sugar with Bobby Keys having the
honor of joining them again, this time on the small stage.
They walked off the B-stage,
through the crowd, to the back of the arena before reappearing a few
minutes later on the main stage for an encore of
Sympathy For The Devil
and Jumping Jack Flash.
Red circles of confetti were shot into the air to float back down on the
crowd. A group bow by the entire band with arms around each others
shoulders then Mick and Charlie were left alone at center stage for a
minute with Mick holding one arm in the air draped over the shoulder of an
invisible missing Stone before Keith ran back out onstage half wearing a
terry cloth robe for another group hug with just the 4 Stones.
All-in-all a great concert ---
a musical tour de force, with the Stones really focusing on the music and
playing something other than the usual greatest hits set list.
The New Comiskey Park show was 3 nights later on a beautiful Friday
evening. The weather was perfect for an outdoor show with a clear sky and temperature in the 70s. The Stones performed a miracle...they made the
New Comiskey Park seem intimate. Even fans sitting in the dreaded upper deck, which, built on top of rows and rows of luxury suites, is so high in the air that it can qualify as a sky scraper, were up on their feet and dancing!
Highlights for me were
Monkey Man and a slowed down, bluesy
Give Me Shelter which featured
Lisa Fletcher on the Merry Clayton vocals.
Sympathy For The Devil
was almost surreal with the red spotlights and smoke coming from the stage
and the crowd chanting the "Whooo-whooo, whooo-whooo" backing vocals. The B-stage featured
Neighbors and
Little Red Rooster, which the band had played with
Buddy Guy at Legends the night before, but the final B-stage song,
Bob Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone was absolutely transcendent with the crowd, whether in their teens or in their fifties or maybe even sixties bellowing at the top of their lungs
to the choruses "How does it feel?" (pretty damn good) "To be on your own, with no direction home, like a complete unknown, LIKE A ROLLING STONE!".
The encore was
Midnight Rambler with Jagger
looking especially sinister in a hood and cape. Yet another show of
musical force from the Rolling Stones.
People have been complaining
about the $350 face value tickets, but the Stones are playing as well as
they ever have, and for me, they're worth every penny!
ROLLING STONES - Official Site |
