Now I'll try something new: read the topic's title and post something that is supposed to be posted in it, in case anyone would be interested.



Getting there...
I never had the intention of showing up early. In fact it would be impossible, since I always take my brother to the Stones and he really had to work until five. No probs, we would just enjoy the spectacle from the back this time, strolling about the field from left to right and just be relaxed. Leaving at 17:00 from Limburg (southern Netherlands) would allow us to be on the site at about 19:00.

My bro's meeting ran late. It was nearly 17:30 when we left and the first thing we encountered was a traffic jam on the motorway. Our plan was to drive to Oss, which is at about a 20 mins. train drive to Nijmegen. This would allow us to comfortably park the car and have an easy way out after the show. This instead of finding a parkingspot near the venue, which, as we all know, can be a drag to take the car out of after a gig.

The complete 100 mins. drive to Oss was covered by black clouds and spectacular lightning. And slow traffic. The Oss trainstation has a more than adequate parking and four trains to Nijmegen every hour. Yes we were late, but the train we caught would drop us at Nijmegen at about 19:45. We probably wouldn't see much of Van though...

At a village close to Nijmegen the train stops, due to thunder struck at Nijmegen's southern yard. After a while, back we go, to Oss... our concert seems to go down the drain. A quick resetting of plans has us re-occupy our car at Oss, and drive it up to Nijmegen anyway, with a more than average chance of getting a lousy parkingspot and arriving only after the Stones had started. Oh well, at least it's something. The car is packed by the way, since we take three other Stones fans, a mother and her two daughters (as well as a Nijmegen-bound student) to save them the trouble of finding a bus or taxi and miss most of the gig.

Parked the car at 20:15 (I admit speeding), in a residential area of Nijmegen (parkings full from where we were coming) and neither of us new what way to walk. Of course, we took the wrong way at first. So it took us 30 mins. from the car to the site, and we had our tickets checked at 20:48, being delighted the Stones were not on yet. At this point I am struck by severe cramps in both my legs, probably from the walking or whatever. And as I am, in quite some pain, stretching against my brother, the opening video appears on the big screen quite unexpected.... You know from bv's report this was at 20:58. So we stumble on a bit, find us a sport not too far from the b-stage, and from then on just enjoy the great atmosphere. It appeared that we of all people, being late, were saved from the biggest shower, since by that time we had still been driving!

...and the show!
Start Me Up was up to standards. I am one of those that like You Got Me Rocking a lot, so fine with me. Some lyrics were missed or late I believe, but these things are adequately corrected. Rough Justice was done well, and this year Keith is more prominentl with a solo, although the live versions have never featured Ronnie as much as the record. On with All Down The Line, no problems there, I love it! People around me don't know it, except for an about ten year old boy, who jumps along with his father while screaming out the lyrics. That's the spirit.

She Was Hot! Yeaaah! And what a performance! Have I already mentioned the excellent sound? Keith spot on. Even though lots of people don't know this, it's such a cheerful tune they dance along anyway. Sweet Virginia is about the slowest song tonight, which is remarkable. The singalong at the end ("because you dutch people like singing a bit" is a bit fading with us in the back, but it must have been a thrill up front I'm sure, judging by Mick's smiles. Can't You Hear Me Knocking is opened with strong riffs by Keith, Mick's harp doesn't seem to impress me too much this time. Ronnie's solo loud and clear. Not the best version, but good enough. I'll Go Crazy is this year's dead musician song and it's a nice change, although the Charles tune last year made a stronger impression. Lisa's moment of fame, by the way. She impresses everyone.

Keith set was tonight's biggest surprise, to me anyway. Knowing that two rockers has as far as I know never happened since 1990 (admittingly You Don't Have To Mean It has served as the fast as well as the slow song in his set) I was very thrilled with the choice of Wanna Hold You and Happy, both of which I had never seen live (I always got Before They Make Me Run and almost always Slipping Away). Wanna Hold You does certainly not have the smoothness of the 1997 dvd, but it's one of my favourites, jumping guaranteed. The intro to Happy was completely unrecognisable. He announced it after Wanna Hold You so I knew what is was supposed to be. I've never seen his face more puzzled than now, it took halve a minute before the wreck was rerailed and he sang the first words. Good version after that. His set needs a bit more rehearsing though.

It's Only Rock'n'roll to the b-stage. It's All Over Now was a highlight tonight, even with Mick appearantly having some mic problems thereby missing most of the first verse, changing to the handheld. The crowd sang along the chorus so enthusiastically, I was pleasantly surprised. This is so good it should be a stayer. Satisfaction worked great here, it's like seeing them doing their most famous riff in a club nearby. Honky Tonk Women back to the mainstage.

The drumsample and red stage indicated Sympathy would not be the encore tonight. Keith soloing on the right wing for ages. Paint It Black always pleases the dutch crowd, who mainly know it from the Tour Of Duty tv-series. Brown Sugar and the encore Jumping Jack Flash were strong and loud on guitars.

A good show and a great atmosphere. We loved it. And we got the car out without problems, since we were so far away. Managed to drive home in less than two hours... after a great day.

with sssoul Wrote:
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> >> The "but they're old and this might be the last
> time" excuse isnt really going to work
> with most of the wider public if they feel the
> performance isnt up to scratch. <<
>
> is "most of the wider public" dissatisfied with
> the shows so far?
> that's a sincere question, not trying to be snippy
> (for a change!)
> i haven't read any reviews outside the fan sites -
> are they generally as critical as folks here are?
>
> i thought i saw a word that looked like
> "triumphant" in one of the headlines about the
> Werchter show
> but maybe something was lost in the translation.


I didnt say they were or they werent. I dont know, one way or the other - I havent bothered reading too many reviews. Just saying that when you raise prices, you raise expectation levels accordingly. If an audience think theyre not getting a committed performance from any artist who's charging a lot of money, they're not just going to put it down to an off night - they're probably more likely not to return. Most audiences tend to come back, so they're obviously happy enough with the effort the band are putting in at the shows theyve seen - but at this level, an artist cant really afford to not deliver.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-06-10 00:08 by Gazza.

Nice review, Limbo - glad you had such a great time

Great, thanks for the review Limbostone!
If you liked it, chances are they did play well and I'll like it as well. All that I need to know.
Great you enjoyed the show, glad you made it in time - I would've been a bundle of nerves if it was so close to get to the show!


Belgrade-Bucharest-Budapest-Brno

Reckon all ya kind people who care to post actual reviews here
also could appreciate seriously aiming comments.. ?

Aim away.

As long as it's not about subjects like the nature of warhorses, ticket prices or the taste of the general audiance in general, which is off topic here and makes finding real comments on the show a pain, it's fine with me.

By the way, I always wonder how they keep the stage from being struck by lightning. I suppose they have detractors (or whatever "afleiders" are called in English) otherwis the colossus would have burned to the ground yesterday.

Nice review, Limbostone. Great read.

Was thinking about "afleiders' as well yesterday. Probably taken care off.

"She Was Hot! Yeaaah! And what a performance! Have I already mentioned the excellent sound? Keith spot on. Even though lots of people don't know this, it's such a cheerful tune they dance along anyway. Sweet Virginia is about the slowest song tonight, which is remarkable. The singalong at the end ("because you dutch people like singing a bit" is a bit fading with us in the back, but it must have been a thrill up front I'm sure, judging by Mick's smiles. Can't You Hear Me Knocking is opened with strong riffs by Keith, Mick's harp doesn't seem to impress me too much this time. Ronnie's solo loud and clear. Not the best version, but good enough. I'll Go Crazy is this year's dead musician song and it's a nice change, although the Charles tune last year made a stronger impression. Lisa's moment of fame, by the way. She impresses everyone."

Limbo... What can we say....

Limbostone, they have "blixtlås" against the lightning.

In retrospect, I should have realized that I was jinxing myself when, at 3 pm yesterday, as I arrived at Goffert Park, I remarked "the weather couldn't be better." A few hours later, it wasn't cheers that greeted Van Morrison - it was cracking thunder. Soon we were being pelted by bitter-cold rain. Luckily, we were provided with tarps, thus creating a tent that encompassed almost the entirety of the FOS area. This is where things got fun - with all of the hashheads toking up under the plastic, a well-sealed "fishbowl effect" took hold. Hey, when in Holland . . .!

That prima donna Van Morrison couldn't handle the rain however, and left after playing only three songs. (It appeared that Bobby Keyes stole his outfit later on, as well) Then again, nobody could see the stage at that point anyway, so the management should have just put on a Van Morrison CD and told us it was actually him performing! Not only that, but what with all of us under the tarp, it was almost one of thoes European arena shows that we've all been clamouring for.

Anyway, as Keith says, On With The Show. And that brings me to the painful part: speaking in terms of sheer execution, the Stones simply are no longer a great live band. (With the exception of Charlie, who, yet again, missed nary a beat all night.) The guitars were simply MIA through much of the show: Keith played probably only 50% of the time, and when he did, it was either tired old Chuck Berryisms or just noise. Happy should be renamed Sad: it was an absolute trainwreck. CYHMK was marred by the all-too-human riff's slopiness as well. As for Ronnie, well I love the guy, but his playing was servicable at best. The guitarists seemed mainly concerned with looking 'cool' : smoking cigarettes and posing. (Yep, Ronnie's smoking again onstage.) OK, fine, superficial bastard that I am, I will admit that I think they do look cool smoking! (As the saying goes, at least I'm deep enough to realize that I'm shallow). As for Mick: his antics, as always, were a hoot, but his somewhat lackluster vocals detracted from a few numbers - mainly She Was Hot. And as for his costume . . . well, you guys have seen the pictures, right?

There were certainly bright spots, however: It's All Over Now was superb (the berryisms worked very well there), as was All Down the Line. (Ronnie really came through on that one.) And how can you go wrong with Sweet Virgina? And yes, I'm one of those sickos that loves the hell out of Tumbling Dice every time he hears it. As for the setlist, for the most part, I think it was very good. However, only 19 songs (and less than two hours) after we endured the rain seemed a little skimpy. Bring back the two-song encores! Also, despite my repeated cries of "Play Indian Girl" they declined to honour my request. Aah, such is life . . .

And more importantly: despite the subpar guitar work, I still had the time of my goddamn life. Myself and some German friends I met up with were RIGHT IN FRONT! Maybe FIVE METERS AWAY from the stones themselves! (I'd only seen them as roughly the size of ants before.) Hell, I could see every last wrinkle in Mick's face. I also noticed that Mick doesn't really look at the crowd (his eyes are strangely vacant), whereas Ronnie and Keith certainly do. (I even made eye contact with Ronnie! I can die happy now.) The atmosphere down front was just great - lots of hardcore fans like ourselves. I even found myself joining along with the 'Hey Heys' of YGMR - my head said no, but my gut said yes!

One last thing: let me give a warm thank you to the wonderful people of Nijmegen. (A really lovely city, by the way.) I went out to a few bars after the show, and the Dutch people I met were uniformly exceedingly generous. One of them even let me sleep in her bed! Believe you me, that was much more pleasant than what my original accomidations were: sleeping on a cold hard bench in front of the train station.

See you in Paris!

*and i'm just like that bird - singing just for you*



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2007-06-09 16:24 by the singer not the bong.

Good review, very entertaining! Too bad about the guitar playing though...

Yeah, thanks for the review!
Shame about the guitars, yes...I still won't whine until we get in more reports from the next shows.


Belgrade-Bucharest-Budapest-Brno

....I always suspected that about the vacant eyes, nikki, but I've never been close enough to notice....it makes sense though.....eye contact can be a distraction when performing in front of an audience.....thanks for the review

To stay on this topic - I noticed this several times at the b-stage. Mick looks above the heads - like they recommend for holding a speech, etc. That can seem quite weird if he's working the crowd but looking above you. Ronnie is really different, he spent 2 mins last time in Vienna throwing guitar picks to my brother...


Belgrade-Bucharest-Budapest-Brno

Lorenz Wrote:
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> To stay on this topic - I noticed this several
> times at the b-stage. Mick looks above the heads -
> like they recommend for holding a speech, etc.
> That can seem quite weird if he's working the
> crowd but looking above you. Ronnie is really
> different, he spent 2 mins last time in Vienna
> throwing guitar picks to my brother...


ironic isn't it? being close to mick actually made him seem LESS human.

ronnie, on the other hand, is the @#$%& man!

*and i'm just like that bird - singing just for you*

Yeah, that's Micks pro attitude. Ronnie's just such a good guy, he wouldn't manage not to look at the crowd...
Btw, you planned your journey to Belgrade and Bucharest already?


Belgrade-Bucharest-Budapest-Brno

nope (lazy) - probably will this week

*and i'm just like that bird - singing just for you*

I can understand mick that he does not want eye contact
have you seen most of the fans????
you might get blind

and btw why is your thread called the stone were hot when then only thing you tell us is how bad they have been?

glimmer twin 81 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> you might get blind
>
> and btw why is your thread called the stone were
> hot when then only thing you tell us is how bad
> they have been?


speaking of blind, maybe if you read past the first paragraph, you would see that i had many positive things to say.

*and i'm just like that bird - singing just for you*

The Singer not the bong, is absolutely right about the guitar playing. I was there last night and sometimes it really hurt looking at especialy Keith. There was no fire in his eyes, he looked realy insecure. I felt sorry for him. And for Jagger who tried his best to cover up the mistakes.

I wish I could say something else, but the truth is Keith really lost it. I've seen the Stones many, many times. But this was simply not good. I had a great time yesterday, mainly because the atmosphere was great. Good crowd. It's always nice to see the band. Jagger is still one of the best performers around. But honestly, musically it just wasn't good.

I've read a few reviews over here that claimed She Was Hot was rocking and had some great guitar work from Keith. I didn't hear it. Although I love this song it was a big mess. Sweet Virginia and All Down The Line were good. Ronnies solo in Can't You Hear Me Knocking, well what shall I say. Can you call it a solo if you're honest? Some songs rocked and were great like Jumping Jack Flash. But mostly more mediocre. If that's the right term to use.

Overall Jagger again a great performance. Charlie was good, Ronnie okay, but Keith... Don't get me wrong I love this man, Keith is a hero. As somebody said before "once the coolest guy on the planet". But all the people on this board who are worried about Keith are right. Something is seriously wrong with him. Yesterday it hurt seeing him like this.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-06-09 17:16 by Mack Jigger.

I have seen the werchter show
well yeah the intro to brown sugar was bad
thank god the flames went up
but in the end I can hear it is played live
have you seen u2 ?
I have seen them many many times
80% of their music comes from a band sitting under the stage
how bad is that??

keith is fine, he is a bit out of rythmn sometimes, he might be drunk, he might take drugs, he might do whatever
I love him and I know he loves us, the fans

so lets just be glad to see our man on stage and follow him where he will take us

glimmer twin 81 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> keith is fine, he is a bit out of rythmn
> sometimes, he might be drunk, he might take drugs,
> he might do whatever
> I love him and I know he loves us, the fans
>
> so lets just be glad to see our man on stage and
> follow him where he will take us


Thank you for this nice talk..

glimmer twin 81 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> so lets just be glad to see our man on stage and
> follow him where he will take us

Ofcourse I'm glad to see Keith. I love this man for the great music he made, for who he is, there for it really hurts seeing him in this shape.

thanks for the review...glad to hear your post-show adventure made up for any shortcomings during the concert itself.

You dirty little bastard....

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> thanks for the review...glad to hear your
> post-show adventure made up for any shortcomings
> during the concert itself.
>
> You dirty little bastard....


yep, it seems that that famed dutch tolerance even extends to yours truly!

*and i'm just like that bird - singing just for you*

I hope the stones get their act together..
when i saw them in Novemeber they were Brilliant..
so have they changed that much since last year?
Maybe the first shows are a bit rusty

I won't doubt it if they get a whole lot better right in the middle of the tour.

[[FEAR; BUILDS WALLS.]]

glimmer 81 wrote:

have you seen u2 ?
I have seen them many many times
80% of their music comes from a band sitting under the stage


Huh? How many are in this "band"? Aerosmtih/The Who/ Cheap Trick, etc. and many others use somewhat hidden folks to play.

The Stones and their "baseball team" (yep, there's 9 other people up there) are visible anyhow. Blondie on guitar may be the most important person on the stage after Mick, Charlie, and Chuck. At least The Stones aren't lip-synching (yet).

"No Anchovies, Please"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-06-09 20:34 by Elmo Lewis.

Ohhhhhhhh...Conflicting reviews around...

Lorenz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Btw, you planned your journey to Belgrade and
> Bucharest already?


btw backatcha - are you taking the train or what?

*and i'm just like that bird - singing just for you*

the singer not the bong Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> btw backatcha - are you taking the train or what?

I am - write me an email if you need some help or if you wanna join us!