You guys and galls must be feeling like the old days when one returned home black and blue!!

Hi there.I am still in Roma so I will give a review when I return back.By far the best experience in my life.Now I want to ask you something.When they started to move to b stage in the very front I threw Keith my black skull scarf and he took in and thanked towards me but he did not new who threw it exactly.Then he had it to the final bow.Anyone who has pictures holding it plz.I got one photo but it is not a very good photo.Thanks.

I’ve just come back from the best Rolling Stones Show I’ve ever witnessed!!! Great setlist, great crowd, and great sound… the guitars really were “louder than bombs”…!

First off, Keith played so good! He was nothing short of really great! I really didn’t hear any “chord messing” on “Rocks Off”, “She’s So Cold” or “Jumping Jack Flash”. I was so glad to see that Keith really was “on fire”, rocking the house big time! He probably messed a little bit the start of the solo in “You Got Me Rocking”, but that really wasn’t big deal… in short, Keith’s bashers should skip the Rome concert and stick to the Youtube videoclip of “Honky Tonk Women” in Madrid. In Rome Keith was AWESOME!!!

Mick Jagger was fantastic. Best frontman ever. The consistency of his performances are really unbelievable… he just repeated twice the same line in two songs (Ruby Tuesday and Sympathy For The Devil, I think), but once again it’s not the case to make a big deal out of it. Someone wrote that he looked tired… well, the one looking tired now is maybe myself now (I almost haven’t slept), but certainly not Jagger yesterday.

Yesterday’s gig is by far the best Ron Wood performance I’ve seen, also. He’s just the man in this tour. The solo in “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking?” was less similar to the Taylor’s one than the one in Paris, and it was way more rocking. Simply: fantastico.

Charlie Watt’s consistency is as amazing as Jagger’s. Yesterday the groove was in everywhere. The boys are so lucky to have such a drum player playing with them.

The highlights of the night were “She’s So Cold”, “Rocks Off”, “Satisfaction” (the crowd went crazy in that), “Ruby Tuesday” and “Jumping Jack Flash”.

I can’t wait to Budapest. I love this band!!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-07-07 22:46 by Wild Slivovitz.

Good one, Strato.
so he got your skull scarf - I'm sure some pics will appear soon.

yeah, very nice StratoGR! bravo
and thanks everyone for the reviews - good reading, and i'm really happy you all got good & Stoned. :E

Wild Slivovitz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I’ve just come back from the best Rolling Stones
> Show I’ve ever witnessed!!! Great setlist, great
> crowd, and great sound… the guitars really were
> “louder than bombs”…!
>


I should have put a copyright on that one (even though I stole the quote from the Smiths..)..LOL

Nice story about the scarf, StratoGR. Hope someone has a pic of it for you

i forgot to mention the fun moment when the "girls" that is daughters of keith and mick rush in front of the stage in hot pants and bubble gum to cheer the band...!

and er Wild, i will not start an argument here about last night rocks off or ssc. I am not a keith basher at all as is obvious by my review and all my posts. Also it could really be i am wrong and mislead by the "moment". All i can say is that those were the songs less known by the majority of the crowd, so less noise and less pushing so I concentrate more on the sound and, in doing that, was lead to try to focus on the riffman.

Some comments the day after, internet cafe in Rome:

The security thing: because I know a lot of people were concerned about this after the rather strict policing at Frankfurt. In a nutshell, it was completely the opposite. When we entered the stadium, probably 40 minutes before the Stones came on, basically huge numbers of people had congregated in the aisles between the front blocks and in the 2 metre gap between row 1 and the rail. I would say that maybe 20 to 30 minutes before the band came on the local security made one single effort to clear those areas of people, and there might have been a period of perhaps ten minutes when they were relatively free of people. Then they ALL came back again (plus more), at which point security essentially gave up and the rest is history, row 1 seats suddenly became about row 6 or 7 ... because you can fit about 6 to 7 "rows" of people into a 2 metre wide gap. So essentially 90 percent of the occupants of row 1 simply stood on their seats, as did row 2, as did row 3 .. as did etc etc etc !! Mrs PW and I spent the entire show on our seats, had a f f f f f BLAST of the first order. Mrs PW did at one point raise a minor objection to being bombarded by a relentless cascade of empty plastic Bavaria beer bottles from the rows behind, I couldn't say I even noticed ... far too busy not really giving a shite and doing other THANGS !!!

The crowd: young, wild with a CAPITAL "W", and judging by those in our immediate vicinity, mostly out of their heads on anything/everything imaginable that can be smoked, popped or drunk. Very r n' roll, I totally approve !! Seeing as we were at the Colisseum earlier in the day and heard all about "crowds being whipped up into a state of delirium", I personally thought "brilliant, the "Colisseum" is alive and well at the Olimpico in July 2007" !!!

Highlights: After the intros, KR coming up to the mic and saying "Good Morning" in Italian. A classic. He then corrected himself, but boy was it funny ?

Songs: ANOTHER scorching solo by RW on CYHMK, howling versions of She's so Cold and Rocks Off, and THE most extraordinary version of Brown Sugar as the encore, heard all sorts of little licks in there that I've NEVER heard before, and although I know about 10 guitar chords (that's it) I'm sure I heard notes and little runs that sounded almost jazz like in flavour. I THINK they were courtesy of one Mr RW's guitar, Keith was too busy thrashing and generally carrying on in that "I'm really enjoying myself ... how about we keep playing this till 2.00 am ?" humour !!

Sympathy. Memorable for the fact that BOTH guitars went silent at one point, BOTH guitarists huddled up close and even squatted on their haunches briefly whilst Chuck did a piano solo, and then later during the "woo woos" Blondie came and stood right in front of CW's drumkit and Bernard and Lisa came and flanked Mick and all three went right up to FOS for about 90 secs to 2 mins. VERY different to anything I've seen on previous shows so far this leg Europe 07.

Merchandising: Holy shit what to say ? On our way TO the stadium the unofficial stuff was EVERYWHERE but perhaps no closer than maybe 75 to 100 metres away from the stadium entrance, but when we CAME OUT ... it was RIGHT OUTSIDE the exits. Staggering range of stuff. And as for the OFFICIAL stuff, it was limited to two little booths looking very sad and forlorn down on the edges of the pitch. Extraordinary. And before anyone asks ... I couldn't resist, I bought the G string !! It'll look Soooooooooooooooooooooooo good under me FROCK !!!!!

In conclusion, not perhaps THE MOST inventive or revolutionary setlist we've had on this tour so far, but a killer show, great crowd, Stones on fine form and not a single error or deficiency picked up ANYWHERE (and I do keep a keen ear cocked for these and report with some degree of "objectivity", and finally ... WHAT a bus ride we had back to the central bus/train terminal ? About 30 percent of the bus was in "singing" mode, we got Shattered, Beast of Burden, Faraway Eyes, Rocks Off ... to name but a few.

I will post a few pics when I get back home to London.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-07-07 21:52 by paulywaul.

One of the best shows ever seen!
can't describe my feelings! And we got Can't you hear me knocking!!! Very very long version, with STUNNING solos, first by Bobby Keys, then Mick harp, then Ronnie (he was on top-form, really all over the show). That song was the show highlight to me.
Mick voice was perfect as always, and he was really nice learning all those italian words..I finally got Happy (yeah never seen that one live!). Keith sang great and clean, and it was great to hear the crowd singing along You got the silver.

P.s. Keith playing is great. Now I know that all Keith bashing was crazy. And he didn't forget one single word of his two songs.

Tumbling Dice from video screen - and Keith at the end - gotta love this man!

Great reviews from what seems a gas of a show!!!!!!!!!!!! Realy wish I had been there.Shame about some fans in the front row seats but the masses who would rather have FOS won this battle.So glad I have got FOS for Brno and GA for Budapest.Not long to go now!!!! Hope I Bump into you Paul before I leave and hear about all your highlights and thanks again for all the great pix by Paul and many others!!!!!!!!!!!!.See some of ya in Budapest.

Ladies & Gentlemen.................The Rolling Stones.
Can you hear in the back?.........Can you hear in the back at all?.......Can you hear anything?

I just wanna mention You Got The Silver,played only by Ron, with a great acoustic slide that filled up easily the whole song.Marvellous.

I thank thee, Pauly, for this energetic & precious review!

Sounds like a gas of a show! Thanks for all the reports, Viva Italia!

Seems like a good setlist and show.............I wonder if they will get more conservative with the setlists as they start the Eastern European leg of shows?

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

I would imagine so. A lot more "Stones virgins" in many of those places.

Couldnt that demographic virginity also lead to
a few more daring & un-precautious chance-takings, Gazza?
Just wonder; I fear ya might be right ....
Or could Back to the 60s be the formula?
(Not that I would mind too much...)

Those two five-letter-words "Chuck & Berry" comes to mind.

It seems to be the best show so far.

paulywaul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Some comments the day after, internet cafe in
> Rome:
>
> The security thing: because I know a lot of people
> were concerned about this after the rather strict
> policing at Frankfurt. In a nutshell, it was
> completely the opposite. When we entered the
> stadium, probably 40 minutes before the Stones
> came on, basically huge numbers of people had
> congregated in the aisles between the front blocks
> and in the 2 metre gap between row 1 and the rail.
> I would say that maybe 20 to 30 minutes before the
> band came on the local security made one single
> effort to clear those areas of people, and there
> might have been a period of perhaps ten minutes
> when they were relatively free of people. Then
> they ALL came back again (plus more), at which
> point security essentially gave up and the rest is
> history, row 1 seats suddenly became about row 6
> or 7 ... because you can fit about 6 to 7 "rows"
> of people into a 2 metre wide gap. So essentially
> 90 percent of the occupants of row 1 simply stood
> on their seats, as did row 2, as did row 3 .. as
> did etc etc etc !! Mrs PW and I spent the entire
> show on our seats, had a f f f f f BLAST of the
> first order. Mrs PW did at one point raise a minor
> objection to being bombarded by a relentless
> cascade of empty plastic Bavaria beer bottles from
> the rows behind, I couldn't say I even noticed ...
> far too busy not really giving a shite and doing
> other THANGS !!!
>
> The crowd: young, wild with a CAPITAL "W", and
> judging by those in our immediate vicinity, mostly
> out of their heads on anything/everything
> imaginable that can be smoked, popped or drunk.
> Very r n' roll, I totally approve !! Seeing as we
> were at the Colisseum earlier in the day and heard
> all about "crowds being whipped up into a state of
> delirium", I personally thought "brilliant, the
> "Colisseum" is alive and well at the Olimpico in
> July 2007" !!!
>
> Highlights: After the intros, KR coming up to the
> mic and saying "Good Morning" in Italian. A
> classic. He then corrected himself, but boy was it
> funny ?
>
> Songs: ANOTHER scorching solo by RW on CYHMK,
> howling versions of She's so Cold and Rocks Off,
> and THE most extraordinary version of Brown Sugar
> as the encore, heard all sorts of little licks in
> there that I've NEVER heard before, and although I
> know about 10 guitar chords (that's it) I'm sure I
> heard notes and little runs that sounded almost
> jazz like in flavour. I THINK they were courtesy
> of one Mr RW's guitar, Keith was too bust
> thrashing and generally carrying on in that "I'm
> really enjoying nyself ... how about we keep
> playing this till 2.00 am ?" humour !!
>
> Sympathy. Memorable for the fact that BOTH guitars
> went silent at one point, BOTH guitarists huddled
> up close and even squatted on their haunches
> briefly whilst Chuck did a piano solo, and then
> later during the "woo woos" Blondie came and stood
> right in front of CW's drumkit and Bernard and
> Lisa came and flanked Mick and all three went
> right up to FOS for about 90 secs to 2 mins. VERY
> different to anything I've seen on previous shows
> so far this leg Europe 07.
>
> Merchandising: Holy shit what to say ? On our way
> TO the stadium the unofficial stuff was EVERYWHERE
> but perhaps no closer than maybe 75 to 100 metres
> away from the stadium entrance, but when we CAME
> OUT ... it was RIGHT OUTSIDE the exits. Staggering
> range of stuff. And as for the OFFICIAL stuff, it
> was limited to two little booths looking very sad
> and forlorn down on the edges of the pitch.
> Extraordinary. And before anyone asks ... I
> couldn't resist, I bought the G string !! It'll
> look Soooooooooooooooooooooooo good under me FROCK
> !!!!!
>
> In conclusion, not perhaps THE MOST inventive or
> revolutionary setlist we've had on this tour so
> far, but a killer show, great crowd, Stones on
> fine form and not a single error or deficiency
> picked up ANYWHERE (and I do keep a keen ear
> cocked for these and report with some degree of
> "objectivity", and finally ... WHAT a bus ride we
> had back to the central bus/train terminal ? About
> 30 percent of the bus was in "singing" mode, we
> got Shattered, Beast of Burden, Faraway Eyes,
> Rocks Off ... to name but a few.
>
> A few pics when I get back home to London.

Fun!!~!

Baboon Bro Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Couldnt that demographic virginity also lead to
> a few more daring & un-precautious chance-takings,
> Gazza?
>

I wouldnt think so. I'd imagine its less likely the poetntial audience will know anything outside of 40 Licks in somewhere like Bucharest than in other markets where they play more regularly. I'm sure it'll be fun, tho. Enjoy it.

sarahunwin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey Paulywaul - hope you had a wonderful concert
> to make up for El Ejido hassles. Where were you
> sitting and how was security? Looks like an
> absolutely awesome show! Rock on....
>
> Sparkly Top

I was in the 2nd row of one of the front blocks on Keith's side, fab it was ... spent the entire show standing on my chair whilst total and utter chaos of the finest rock n' roll order prevailed all around, in front of me, behind me, to the left, to the right ... even UNDERNEATH me in fact, when someone who looked liked they'd drunk Keith's entire lifetime consumption of JD to date and dropped all Jimi's lifetime consumption of acid ALL in the one night collapsed right under my seat !! WHAT a crowd, I tell ya !!

The only bad news, some mother-trucking ROMAN BASTARD stole my inflatable parrot !! HOWEVER, I always carry spares you'll be no doubt thrilled to know ... so I will not be parrotless in Copenhagen nor the O2 shows !! But it's the principal man, ya just don't steal a man's inflatable parrot goddamit !! It ain't the THANG to do !!

maumau Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> and er Wild, i will not start an argument here
> about last night rocks off or ssc. I am not a
> keith basher at all as is obvious by my review and
> all my posts. Also it could really be i am wrong
> and mislead by the "moment". All i can say is that
> those were the songs less known by the majority of
> the crowd, so less noise and less pushing so I
> concentrate more on the sound and, in doing that,
> was lead to try to focus on the riffman.

Ciao Maumau, ci deve essere un equivoco... there'e clearly a misunderstanding going on. Yes, according to me "She's So Cold" and "Rock Off" were terrific, and yes, according to me Mick seemed far from looking tired. But aparte from that statements, I didn't make any further reference to your post. It's clear to everybody that you are not a Keith basher by any means, and of course I wasn't thinking about you. I hope we've sorted this misunderstanding out. Cheers!

little queenie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> just a quick note from the internet cafe in rome,
> before i catch the train to make my way to
> budva...
>
> great show, keith was fine!! the crowd was crazy -
> each side of the stadium make warcries from the
> nosebleed seats before they decended and formed an
> FOS section. luckily the security pushed the back
> enough so i could reposition and get to the front
> rail during the 2nd rush forward! i wanted to
> experience the italian crowd and it was great.
>
> ronnie was on fire! i have never heard him play
> such a solo for CYHMK (compared to Licks).
>
> paulywaul, what happened to you? i thought we had
> plans!?
>
> i cannot wait for budva!

<<< paulywaul, what happened to you? i thought we had plans!? >>>

Hi LQ, really sorry we didn't manage to meet up but time kinda ran away with us on show day and by the time we got to the stadium it was barely 40 mins before showtime. I recall you saying you were leaving for Budva the following morning; we're here in Rome till Monday. So it just remains for us to wish you BON VOYAGE and have the greatest of times there and at the other shows you're attending. Once again, apologies.

paulywaul wrote:

"I always carry spares you'll be no doubt thrilled to know ... so I will not be parrotless in Copenhagen nor the O2 shows".

lol.

and we don't want to hear the parrot or anybody else squawking "pieces of hate", because we're 'the Love Crowd' here.

Ain't that the truth?

For God's sake hang on to that parrot, Paulywaul!

Another thing to remark on this show attendance: 17 years ago they played 2 shows in Rome at the (smaller)Flaminio stadium. 12.000 and 6.000 was the total crowd,so yesterday they just about doubled that figure in one show.(35.000).That's remarkable to me and I think had they played earlier (in June) when more local Romans would have been in town, and fairer ticket prices, there could have been more persons.(not just fans)

Wild Slivovitz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> maumau Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > and er Wild, i will not start an argument here
> > about last night rocks off or ssc. I am not a
> > keith basher at all as is obvious by my review
> and
> > all my posts. Also it could really be i am
> wrong
> > and mislead by the "moment". All i can say is
> that
> > those were the songs less known by the majority
> of
> > the crowd, so less noise and less pushing so I
> > concentrate more on the sound and, in doing
> that,
> > was lead to try to focus on the riffman.
>
> Ciao Maumau, ci deve essere un equivoco... there'e
> clearly a misunderstanding going on. Yes,
> according to me "She's So Cold" and "Rock Off"
> were terrific, and yes, according to me Mick
> seemed far from looking tired. But aparte from
> that statements, I didn't make any further
> reference to your post. It's clear to everybody
> that you are not a Keith basher by any means, and
> of course I wasn't thinking about you. I hope
> we've sorted this misunderstanding out. Cheers!

tutto ok wild, sorry for this kind of overreaction, but all this stuff on keith this and keith that made me nervous as i had to make some remark on him that were somehow critical.

but actually he was great last night. i am still baffled by his first solo on sftd. and pib... oh man ... and the intro to satisfaction...

riccardo99 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Another thing to remark on this show attendance:
> 17 years ago they played 2 shows in Rome at the
> (smaller)Flaminio stadium. 12.000 and 6.000 was
> the total crowd,so yesterday they just about
> doubled that figure in one show.(35.000).That's
> remarkable to me and I think had they played
> earlier (in June) when more local Romans would
> have been in town, and fairer ticket prices, there
> could have been more persons.(not just fans)

Ticket prices were crap in 1990 because of the World Cup in Italy that year.

But in 1990 they played at the end of July,an absurdity since less and less Romans are out of town in July and especially in August.

on a different note

i think this is the first time in ages that the reviews of a show in the forum are a lot more positive that the one published in the official review section of the site...