If they do another festival...
1) START ON TIME. Everybody else managed it. I wonder if there was a fixed end time?
2) Use the additional time to add a couple more strategically placed warhorses and another song on the B-stage. In the festival atmosphere Satisfaction went down a storm. I know they've been doing It's all Over Now on the B-stage elsewhere and it would have been fantastic.
3) Keep on doing some less-familiar things. I think most of the audience enjoyed hearing some songs they didn't know - it was just that when we finally got down to the well-known stuff there wasn't that much of it! I heard so many people looking forward to Paint it Black - and we never got it.

Yes, Ronnie was really in form - and the sound mix was set up to show it. No @%$$** stadium echoes either, thank goodness.

Mack Jigger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> After reading all the negative comments about
> Werchter and Nijmegen and all the positive
> comments about the Isle Of Wight we can now
> unofficialy announce the bootleg title of the IOW
> gig:
>
>
> "WE NEVER REALLY GOT IT ON TILL ISLE OF WIGHT"
>
> [i21.photobucket.com]
> iowcover.jpg

There were some "WIGHT TRASH" t-shirts about - another possible title?

Nijemegan was patchy but IOW was better. I wasn't at Werchter but the IOW was definately better. See you in Paris boys!

Guba Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Huh, I cant handle any torrent files, please
> someone put the SMU and SFTD clip onto youtube.


Ya better learn, Guba. It's the Trail to paradise

NME report that, 1 in 5 tickets, in circulation ,for the festivals
final day, were fakes.....

[www.nme.com]

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lorenz Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Before we all get too happy about the Stones
> > performance, here a thread from the official
> Isle
> > of Wight festival forum...:
> >
> >
> [community.isleofwightfestival.com]
>
> > 62565/ShowThread.aspx
>
>
> Oh God, thats hilarious
>
> Setlist whining, complaints that they are
> basically an R&B band, moaning about "old" Stones
> fans not being excited by other acts ('yawning at
> Muse' how dare they!) that they played a lot of
> new stuff to help sell copies of their new album
> (!!!!!!), a long list of hits that they didnt play
> and - my favourite of all - that they played a lot
> of their 'solo' stuff instead.
>
> Good to see our own sjs12 nailin' it to the little
> infidels....

yes those "negative" comments are very funny and tell a lot
and maybe raise some question about your theory gazza about new generations of fans
i mean, we talk a lot here (you, I, many) about the chances and risks they dont take playing new stuff or obscure stuff from their catalogue (not in the jaggerian sense of obscure - that is Neighbors or Loving cup..) and then we confront with an hypotetically new audience that express disappointment because they played Love in vain, CYHMK and not Paint it black etc...
Maybe the "jagger balance" about setlists (50-50) must be reconsidered as "reasonable" to achieve "their" goals at least in the "stadium show tour" business scale. That is reach some new and younger audience, keep the older generation hooked with some cookies.
Licks tour, i think, was pretty good in that.

Also, as you see, Keith get bashed for his vocals and not his guitar playing... what do you think of it? I am really baffled by the fact that none outside from here or rocks off msgb seem to discuss keith's bad playing.
and, i mean, listening to SFTD from nijemengen... there's plenty of room for this discussion...)
still, i wonder if we (or some of us fans at least) tend to lose sight of the whole that is a stones concert when we focus on @#$%& up



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-06-12 15:57 by maumau.

Theres a slight difference, though , maumau - those people HADNT bought tickets to see the Stones to begin with, The Stones were added to the bill AFTERWARDS. The audience were almost entirely there to see OTHER acts or to just soak up the vibe of a festival weekend regardless of who was playing.

So, theres nothing to suggest that they would have necessarily been Stones fans anyway. When the Stones are playing to an audience who have specifically paid to see THEM, then its reasonable to expect they'll know more than about 4-5 songs and that they can take a few chances with what they played. For a show like last Sunday, they really DID have a new audience to win over. When was the last time they were faced with that scenario?

Personally, for a show like the IOW Festival and bearing in mind the Stones were a late addition to the bill, a 'warhorse' heavy set was perfectly valid (in fact, if anything I'm surprised it wasnt MORE like that than turned out to be the case) - and when the show is already cut from 19-20 songs to 15, then I can understand why they wanted a few more.

I wouldnt put much creedence in the posts on that forum as a cross-section anyway. Quite evident from most eye witness accounts that the Stones went down a treat and were well received.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-06-12 17:22 by Gazza.

First attempt at posting a pic on here ...

f f f f f f my ole boots, it worked !! OK, my IOW review and some more pics coming up.

Yay! Thats about 50 pics I dont have to load on photobucket.

A bit harsh - those charming ladies are far from "ole boots".

Christ, you werent kidding when you said you were right up close. Cant wait to see the rest

Plenty of space at the front there Paul......still 8 hours till showtime no doubt!

good to see the IORR t-shirt 'onstage' !!

Shillid will be over the moon

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Theres a slight difference, though , maumau -
> those people HADNT bought tickets to see the
> Stones to begin with, The Stones were added to the
> bill AFTERWARDS. The audience were almost entirely
> there to see OTHER acts or to just soak up the
> vibe of a festival weekend regardless of who was
> playing.
>
> So, theres nothing to suggest that they would have
> necessarily been Stones fans anyway. When the
> Stones are playing to an audience who have
> specifically paid to see THEM, then its reasonable
> to expect they'll know more than about 4-5 songs
> and that they can take a few chances with what
> they played. For a show like last Sunday, they
> really DID have a new audience to win over. When
> was the last time they were faced with that
> scenario?
>
> Personally, for a show like the IOW Festival and
> bearing in mind the Stones were a late addition to
> the bill, a 'warhorse' heavy set was perfectly
> valid (in fact, if anything I'm surprised it wasnt
> MORE like that than turned out to be the case) -
> and when the show is already cut from 19-20 songs
> to 15, then I can understand why they wanted a few
> more.
>
> I wouldnt put much creedence in the posts on that
> forum as a cross-section anyway. Quite evident
> from most eye witness accounts that the Stones
> went down a treat and were well received.


yaix gary i see. most of all, all this speculation does not touch the fact that they SHOULD take more chances no matter what. Anyway i remember an interview with Jagger in which he quoted stats about stones audience where an impressive high percentage were still people who have never attended a stone show. I think jagger gives his own conservative interpretation to that.
About those posts i do not thnk they're in any way statistically relevant. Still they're relevant in the fact that is (likely to be) people who cared of type down they'r feeling. As we do here. We represent a small slice of the people who love the stones in the world and still... we are enough relevant to push them to play Sway...

ive just got the torrents of SMU & SFTD and they are absolutely knockout - i watched it live on C4 but was tired and didnt take as much notice, the sound and energy far surpasses when i saw them in voodoo lounge and b2b...imo

they got to release this and... let whoever filmed the concert (channel 4) do the editing!. The video of SMU is loads better than whoever do the stones DVD productions. If it is C4, then they are obviously experienced with the music buisness as the whole station is biased towards music productions - i bet theyll cover party on the beach at weston, i know theyve done other festivals, they are just pros at this sort of thing...imo (ill probly have egg on my face and someone will confirm the stones own editors done it)..

I know there will be Utubes and bootlegs out there but i wanna watch it all like it was on SMU with decent TV cams..

there must have been 6 or 7 different camera angles which made it even better... i dont know what it is, but , this is different to the voodoo lounge \ B2B and flicks dvds...

I reckon at the least, we should petition RS.COM to allow C4 to release more highlights if the stones dont feel they can make a profit from a DVD production of this...

DOG

Having had time to think about it and talk to more people who were there, it seems as though the show was way too short - that being the only real criticism. Amongst my friends, they were really disappointed at the lack of Gimme Shelter and Paint It Black - both of which could easily have been inserted into the first half of the show without making it too long or taking away from the greatness of it. That said, people were generally impressed that the stones didn't just do their greatest hits but also did more obscure stuff.

There were about 50,000 people there and I can say that I only heard VERY POSITIVE stuff from EVERYONE at the festival (not that I personally spoke to all of them though). My experience of peoples reactions during and after the show is VERY different to the impression given on the IOW forum Stones thread where, as always, a few negative moaners have hijacked a thread.

It was one of the best gigs I ever went to. To see the stones play to such a young audience and WIN THEM OVER really is very exciting. 50,000 people jumping up and down and pressing into each other and just having a mighty party - you can't beat it.

I really wish that the stones would lower ticket prices and stop doing these seated gigs so that more people can see them and so that we get this atmosphere back at UK gigs. You can really tell the difference in audience at Twickenham last year and at the IOW and it is this that creates the electric atmosphere that becomes the defining experience of the show - nothing to do with the set list at all! If it was like this, I'd gladly go and see them play satisfaction a hundred times over.

PLEA:
Please Mick - DO MORE CHEAP GENERAL ADMISSION SHOWS IN THE UK. You don't need more money and you will do nothing but enhance your legacy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-06-12 19:03 by sjs12.

Very hard to disagree with those sentiments.

good to hear your report sjs
it seems they nailed it

still, not to be a pain in the ... heart, but about SFTD being "knockout" the question is: How is the Pirate playing guitar solo on that?

because this days there's not much left of that song on stage anymore
1) Sampled percussions
2) Then Charlie comes in
3) Then Chuck
4) Then Mick starts woo wooing
5) Then, if you're lucky after a good 3 or 4 minutes into the song you're supposed to hear Keith play his ornamental game (and lately i could not possibly call it an ornament...if there was any)

sorry, SFTD is the only song i am completely stuck in the forgotton past, live performance wise (i would not tell the same for MR for instance, or SFM..)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-06-12 19:21 by maumau.

To be honest, I was too busy having a good time to notice or even specifically remember what his solo was like. All I can say is it brought a smile to the guy's face who was next to me and no-one mentioned anything about fluffed guitar solos.

I think when you have your own seat you often soak in all the details but when you are in a party you just soak in the atmosphere. I'm not saying he didn't fluff the solo though!

Not seen the video, and I was out of it on a wide variety of levels, but I'm pretty sure it was Ronnie that took the solo

CaledonianGonzo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was out of it on a wide variety of levels

Ha ha... me too.

maumau Wrote:
> yaix gary i see. most of all, all this speculation
> does not touch the fact that they SHOULD take more
> chances no matter what. Anyway i remember an
> interview with Jagger in which he quoted stats
> about stones audience where an impressive high
> percentage were still people who have never
> attended a stone show. I think jagger gives his
> own conservative interpretation to that.
>

I read that, too. Personally, I think hes bullshitting. It basically worked out that for a return visit to the city on the same tour (I think the example given was for Atlanta), it was one-third people who had seen the previous show a few months earlier, one third for whom it was the first time theyd ever seen the Stones, and one third people who had seen other shows

I dont buy his theory that theres a) that big a chunk of the audience who at an average of $165 a ticket were in 2006 seeing their first Stones show and b) that there is such a sizable proportion of the Stones audience who having seen them on this tour and/or on previous tours who have decided not to return - hence the availability of all those tickets for the 'first timers'

last year i developed the theory that Keith plain doesn't like the current arrangement of SFTD
and his playing on it (or lack thereof) is a form of protest.

(later in the European tour he got over whatever was bugging him, though -
i witnessed some really good renditions.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-06-12 19:47 by with sssoul.

What's all this I hear about demands for lower ticket prices?

I thought the Stones were far too important to lower their prices, and that they must maximise their earning potential; and if people didn't like it then they shouldn't go etc.

Perhaps the message is finally getting home, which is namely that vast droves of young people have simply NOT gone to see them in the past because of the silly prices.

Time for the band to see what they've been missing! An audience with some f**king energy. At last.

Well said Logie

The IoW was in theory the bargain Stones show to beat all bargains. I didn't see all 25 acts but I could have done with that ticket costing £100. And that works out at the princely sum of £4 per act! As it was, I saw about 10 acts. So that still works out at only £10 per act. And the Stones played longer (and harder) than any of the other acts I saw.

Thanks to Green Lady, Beast, sjs and everyone posting reviews/comments--

It's so interesting to have the other pov, people disappointed because they didn't get *more* warhorses!!

maumau Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> good to hear your report sjs
> it seems they nailed it
>
> still, not to be a pain in the ... heart, but
> about SFTD being "knockout" the question is: How
> is the Pirate playing guitar solo on that?
>
> because this days there's not much left of that
> song on stage anymore
> 1) Sampled percussions
> 2) Then Charlie comes in
> 3) Then Chuck
> 4) Then Mick starts woo wooing
> 5) Then, if you're lucky after a good 3 or 4
> minutes into the song you're supposed to hear
> Keith play his ornamental game (and lately i could
> not possibly call it an ornament...if there was
> any)
>
> sorry, SFTD is the only song i am completely stuck
> in the forgotton past, live performance wise (i
> would not tell the same for MR for instance, or
> SFM..)

Well put! Skip the song, till it gets a decent frame.

Beast, BarRoomQueen and I had weekend non-camping tickets. We got to the Isle of Wight on the Saturday early afternoon and decided that all we really wanted to accomplish over the rest of the day was get into the site and then spend a few hours checking out the essentials: entrances, exits, locations of bars, toilets and merchandising stands !! After doing exactly that we adjourned to the “HipShaker” tent/marquee and spent the rest of the evening having a few drinks and playing silly buggers on the dance floor and on the dodgems! On our way out we asked about three or four different ushers or security personnel what time the gates opened the following day, and everyone we spoke to confirmed it was 11:00 a.m.

We decided that we couldn’t be bothered to be at the gates for opening time at 11:00, we’d settle for around midday. What actually happened on the Sunday was remarkable luck. We were walking towards the gates a few minutes before midday when we noticed that there were queues. Sure enough, they hadn’t opened them up yet. As we approached, we noticed that there were maybe a dozen gates or so in total, with quite long lines at most of them. Just as we were about to join one particular line, one of the security guys told to go down to one of the other gates, they were going to open up in a few minutes. So within two minutes of turning up at the gates, we literally found ourselves at the head of the line on one of the gates. And within about 10 minutes the security guys got calls from within the site on their VHF radios that they could open up, so I was actually the first person through. I ran as fast as I could straight down to the stage. On my way, I couldn’t help but notice that during the night they’d obviously been busy with a bit of “construction” … there was the Rolling Stones’ catwalk and B stage !! When I got down to the main stage there were already a few people down there staking out their precious places. They had come in from the camping area actually within the festival site; that was how come they’d gotten there before me. Still, it was only a few people, and they were basically gathered in the corners where the front barrier meets the catwalk. So I was able to stake out a place for us three about 5 or 6 metres to the right of the catwalk along the front rail, which put us virtually slap bang in front of Keith’s part of the stage. The others were alongside me in about 5 minutes.

Between a few minutes after midday and perhaps 4:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon it was relatively easy to leave our places one at a time to go off and get food or water or whatever and then get back, the crowd was only about 8 or 10 people deep before it thinned out considerably. But after that the depth of the crowd down near the stage increased dramatically, and after about 6:00 in the evening we abandoned any thoughts whatsoever of leaving that crucial stretch of handrail for any reason … so we didn’t.

The slight delay in the start of the Stones’ performance - they were SUPPOSED to come on at 20:45 but actually came on about 21:10 – probably elevated what was already an eager sense of anticipation to something approaching fever pitch. From 20:45 onwards, whenever the song playing over the sound system started to fade out, everyone thought “this is it”, and then when the next song started, all you heard was an enormous collective groan of despair from the assembled masses. The “groan” seemed to get louder on each of the five or six occasions this happened, before finally … the screen lit up, the ABB video ran, and then there it was … the opening riff of Start me Up. The combined effect of that great riff and the burst of light that preceded by a second or two Keith’s arrival on stage made for a fantastic visual impact. They hit the stage running, it was a classic Stones opening, a true “grand entrance”.

Looking around at all the youngsters in our immediate vicinity in those first couple of minutes, I caught an extraordinary variety of looks upon faces. Some sported huge grins from the outset; others exhibited bemusement, followed within minutes by even wider grins … perhaps because they recognized the song, perhaps because it just took a couple of minutes to take in and absorb the spectacle of sight and sound that was unfolding in front of them, perhaps for other reasons ? I personally didn’t notice anyone at that wasn’t singing along with most if not all of the words. A few others quite frankly looked stunned. I’d have given more than a penny for their thoughts at the time. They looked like they’d just been hit by a thunderbolt. It could be argued that indeed they had !!

The sound was crisp and clean, and it sounded to me as if they took care to play a version reasonably faithful to the original. This was one of two songs that was featured on the Isle of Wight highlights Channel 4 program later that night, and I was somewhat relieved to notice that however it had sounded to me at the time is pretty much how it sounded when I watched/listened to it later. They nailed it!

No surprises with the next song. I personally dislike YGMR, but I have to say that it was a sensible set-list choice and they did it well. Again, people in the crowd immediately around us all seemed to know it and sang along with it, at least the chorus for sure.

Rough Justice worked well in terms of maintaining the pace/keeping the momentum, although it would be fair to say that it seemed to be a lesser known song, judging by the reaction of people around us. What I personally thought was a masterstroke was the next song, Love in Vain. Any possible detrimental effect caused by the dramatic change of pace was more than adequately offset by them bringing out Paulo Nutini. That guy has got oodles of stage presence, a great voice, and consequently it worked really well. People were pretty much spellbound. A lot would either have not known the song at all, but it was the fact that Paulo was up there duetting with Mick that held their attention.

The 5th song was CYHMK. I nearly lost it completely when I realized what they were doing. Possibly because I was half concentrating on the Stones and half concentrating on taking in the reactions a lot of the young folk in the crowd, I was nothing short of stunned when they started this. I remember thinking “is this a wise move boys” ? Maybe because of some really great camera work for the projection screens that complimented the sax and guitar solos, but it worked fantastically. Ronnie absolutely surpassed himself on this song. I have a vivid recollection of remarking to Beast that out of the various versions of this song that we’ve heard to date, Ronnie’s solo on this was the closest thing to that which Mick Taylor laid down all those years ago. Taylor really would’ve been proud, because Ronnie emphatically nailed this song. He shone. And the crowd recognized it for sure, because the whistles and applause from our area of FOS spoke volumes.

Then … as if I hadn’t been stunned quite enough within the first 5 songs, they steam ahead with Ain’t Too Proud to Beg. As I was having the same thought as when they started CYHMK; namely “was this wise” … Amy Winehouse appears on stage. All such thoughts were immediately banished. Another genius move. A song that would delight Stones fans, a song that would quite probably be unfamiliar to a lot of the crowd … but bring on Amy and you’ll get their attention ! Very astute indeed. I personally love this song and enjoyed it tremendously, the guitars were great on it, but it would be fair to say that Amy’s contribution to it vocally was a bit weak. I read somewhere else that it looked as if they hadn’t rehearsed it, or more specifically – SHE hadn’t. I couldn’t disagree with that.

The 7th song; and time to pick it up again. Tumbling Dice. Fantastic. They kept it going for ages, Keith went walkabout from one end of the stage to the other grinning like an idiot throughout, the riff kept repeating and repeating; and the crowd were howling the chorus and clapping and swaying in time following Mick’s lead. A perfect song to play at that point in time during the set.

The band intros were noteworthy for the absolute enormous cheer that the “Rembrandt of Rock” got. I remember wondering why Ronnie had gotten this enormous cheer, and what it was that a lot of people in the crowd would actually know him from or for, maybe for that exquisite solo in CYHMK … I don’t know. Whatever it was for, he loved it, and responded to it with all the usual Ronnie facial expressions and hysterical arm and hand gesticulations.

Keith’s set was noteworthy for one of the best renditions of Slipping Away I’ve ever heard, it must be said. By the same token, I think the limitations of his voice were a little too much in evidence on the first of his two songs; Wanna Hold You.

Miss You. This song introduced a little bit more than just a “change of pace”. This introduced something that with the exception of Stones fans there, most everyone else had no clue about, and that was the fact that a section of main stage detached itself and went for a spin down the catwalk to form a B-stage. When the section of that stage started its journey, the crowd went completely nuts. Consequently, two warhorses in succession on the B stage and on the way back to the main stage, Satisfaction and HTW … hit the spot perfectly.

Back on the main stage, Sympathy was an excellent choice for the final run down to the last song and the encore. Mick put on a long red coat with tails; the visuals on the screens are an integral part of the song and after the “surprise” of the B stage – kind of brought everybody’s focus back to the main stage. A great version, with Keith at least stretching himself a little bit more than he has been known to do on countless versions of this song that we’ve all heard within the last few years. As good a bit of guitar “weaving” between Keith and Ronnie as you’re ever going to have heard on SFU within probably the last 15 years.

To finish the set … Brown Sugar. The crowd went wild; I on other hand was amazed and in fact a little concerned about mistakes I heard in it. I can’t recall exactly where within the song they lost it, but they most certainly did lose it. Vocals and guitars went off in different directions, and it was a case of Mick giving Keith certain looks; and I couldn’t help but notice that Ronnie himself offered up a look or two in addition. Needless to say, the crowd didn’t notice a thing; they were too busy jumping up and down to one of the classic Stones warhorses.

Much to my further amazement, that was it. No surprises for their choice of encore, JJF. Another classic warhorse. Once again, the crowd went nuts, and once again I picked up on mistakes in the song. Same thing, vocals and guitars (driven by Keith it must be said) going off in different directions. But to be honest, when this happens, and I for one can recall countless occasions on which the vocals and guitars lose each other (I’m remembering in particular one of the Wembley Arena shows on the licks tour when they totally lost it on Street Fighting Man), they recover reasonably quickly and reasonably well … and it would be fair to say that we’ve all come to accept those kind of mistakes as part and parcel of Stones shows.

Before the crowd stared dispersing, we spent quite a few minutes chatting with a bunch of youngsters down at the front there, it was really interesting hearing their points of view. Here’s a couple of the more memorable comments that emerged from that conversation:

“Well f*** this then, there’s no point in going to any more rock concerts; I mean how the hell are you going to improve on that” ?

“Jagger sets the standard fronting a band, if you wanna know how it’s done … look no further”

Of the ones we spoke to, they loved it. We didn’t really get into it in any great detail, talking about the set-list etc, but all in all they expressed the view that the Stones had hugely impressed, had by and large met their expectations, and successfully lived up to this colossal reputation that they have. Perhaps more poignantly … a good few of them said that they’d love to see them again, but that ticket prices being what they were … well you can imagine the rest !!

I’ve come away from that show thinking it surpassed my own expectations. The Stones unquestionably got it right. OK, shortish set-list, but WHAT a set-list for that setting and that audience ? And although 11 hours hanging out at the rail front of stage did have us all at various stages in the day flagging a bit, no sooner than the Stones left the stage for the last time and we started reflecting on what we’d just seen and heard … we all thought as one. It had absolutely been worth every minute.

The festival site itself was great, the facilities were varied and really good, the weather more than obliged – 25 deg C and bright blue skies, and special praise must be reserved for the security company; those guys down at FOS were FANTASTIC.

The Rolling Stones at the Isle of Wight 10th June 2007 … this one will live with me for a LONG time. It was f f f f f f f f f f f f ***ing GREAT !!

The main stage from the FOS rail



Looking back ... early afternoon before it started filling up



Virgin VIP tent and Rattlesnake Inn location



Taken by one of the security guys FOS



A rock chick fuelling up before showtime ... !!



Keith's manager Jane Rose out front, about 5 minutes before showtime



ABB video running ...



Keith on Start Me UP



Same



Mick and Paulo Nutini



Mick and Amy



Miss you ... down to B stage



Elizabeth Jagger and one of Keith's daughters playing around with inflatables that the crowd were throwing around ... this was during the encore JJF



Same



Rock chick and youngsters down at FOS at the end of the show



And again



Isle of Wight ... the "aftermath"



We were there ... might as well have the T-shirt ?



Some of the "Rembrandt of Rock's" art for sale in a gallery on the Isle of Wight





Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-06-13 01:31 by paulywaul.

very fine pictures pauly
thanks

-----------------------------------------------------
Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away

great Paulwaul! So nice to see the T-shirt at a show for the first time!

See you in Madrid - section 214, first row, seat 15! Sarah