It's Only Rock'n Roll
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It's Only Rock'n Roll |
The web choice was "Under My Thumb", really popular among the average fans, as it seems. Campaigning for "Star Star" made some competition, and it was close...
Oakland was freezing cold. Rain had been around for the night and with showers during the day, but luckily it was clear by the evening.
Pearl Jam did a great job in warming up the crowd, given their reduced part of the staging, i.e. limited lights and no main monitor. There were, however, two smaller monitors for Pearl Jam, one on each side of the stage, facing the crowd (not like the sideways monitors for limited view seats...).
"Anybody Seen My Baby" sounded great for tonight, probably due to minor changes in the backing vocals.
Just one encore for tonight, i.e. no "You Can't Always Get What You Want".
I am heading home now, too bad, but to all those of you who have the pleasure of seing more shows, please send reviews and setlists as soon as possible. Thanks!
Show start time: 9:15 pm Show end time : 11:30 pm
The set list:
Good, very good, the sond is really better than yesterday, the sono is working! They ain't laughing tonight, must be a business reason. Except Miki, he enjoy it!
All the songs are well perform with taste and style, they also are Powerfull!
Roni fall on the floor and Lisa is laughing to much about him, he handle it very well and run in front of the public for a good Solo! I don't know why but when he plays he always watch his friends playing!
Keith is a good pianist on Honky Tonk Women! He kiks ass on Wanna Hold You! He has a tremendeous power when he is doing a Riff! The sond of his guitars are Magic!
Lisa, I think I am in Love!!
Bernard, when he hide himself under the keyboard, smokes non filter cigarettes.
Charlie is boum boum patch, boum boum patch, he is awesome and has a good style! But sometimes I feel like to see a little rascal smile on his face when he is watching is little friends doing the business in front of the public?!
The sond of all instruments are just perfect! They are living each of their songs, the small stage for 3 songs makes them the BEST EVER Rock Band of all the TIME period!
The final is awe-inspiring!
I will go again they so cool! Because they as perfect as the life! And I want more!!!!YEAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE ARE THE BEST BAND I EVER HEARD! GO ON GUYS!
Sound was clear, but unfortunately not loud enough for me up on the top deck. That's alright though because we know that getting the delay's just right is a "Bitch."
I will plan on going Tuesday or Wednesday making sure I get down close. These guys still know how to perform and Mick is just as good as ever!
Saturday night. I was sitting center stage on the floor, the Web Site choice was Under My Thumb. The center stage numbers were Little Queenie, Crazy Mama and The Last Time. The Last Time was huge, the highlight of the show for me, at least until a few minutes later when I just missed Ronnie Wood's high five as he strolled by. I waited for Mick and he was just past me with 20 feet to go as he started Sympathy for the Devil. Suddenly Jagger turned and caught my eye, leaned back and nailed my outsretched hand with a high five before taking six more strides to the stage. Wow!
No sound problems on Saturday. Probably the best Stones show I have seen that did not include Paint it Black or Love in Vain.
By the time the stones took the stage at 9:10 the skies were once again clear and a full moon was hanging over head. Some highlights for me besides the two incredible performances were as follows:
11/14 Mick tells the crowd they are playing 4 shows and it's going to start feeling like home. They seem to enjoy hanging out in the Oakland/San Fransisco area as Keith told the crowd "I left my heart in Humboldt County". A clear reference to what Mother Nature grows in that area. Lisa Fischers vocals during Gimmie Shelter were once again very powerful. Keith after singing "All About You" tells crowd he was in a good mood when he wrote that one.
On the B stage, there was an abundance of womens apparell being thrown up on stage. Ronnie threw a bra at Mick. He is holding true to being the comedian of the band During "Anyone Seen My Baby, Bernards vocals and changing of the rap sequence to Northern California cities. They seem to really enjoy that part of the song.
Keith playing the initial chords to Brown Sugar on the wrong fret was a first for me. There professionalism shines through in how quickly they can recover from a missed chord and not miss a beat. The show was once again up to stones standard and it was good to get a double encore. You Can't Always Get What you Want" works well as a first encore, but it's not played often enough.
11/15 Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder makes a reference to the building tensions over the Iraq situation and tells the crowd that Sadam Hussein and Bill Clinton need to sit threw a live version of Brown Sugar to solve there differences. Mick states to the crowd he sent a fax to Bill Clinton asking him to hold off at leat threw tuesday for any military action..It's Only rock n Roll gets dropped from line up and Flip The Switch gets played in the 3rd spot.
It was great to hear Dead Flowers as the web choice for 11/14. Under my Thumb took the web choice vote on 11/15. Chuck Leavell is once again letting Keith take over a cool jam during Honky Tonk Woman. Keith had to do the intro to Honky Tonk Woman twice because Mick came in late on vocals. Ronnie and Keith got a good laugh. The minicam on Ronnies guitar during Tumbling Dice is a great effect. When the Whip Comes Down makes the second song on the B stage and unlike in L.A. was not a web choice song. Hopefully this will stay in for a while. The show pwered out with the standard golden oldies, but they seem to keep gaining momentum as the tour winds on. It's Only Rock n Roll!!!
I was 10th row center (which I easily hoaxed my way to) and then literally touching the small stage as many people just don't know what's happening and we simply walked up to it.
I threw my girlfriends white bra and it hit Keith's feet during Crazy Mama. He picked it up and then Mick later tossed it back into the crowd.
I can't remember Mick being more cool. His moves are classic Jagger with a new twist. Highlights: Sister Morphine, Last Time, Miss You, All About You, Out of Control.
Keith started the intro to Honkey Tonk and Mick wasn't ready so he kept playing and then repeated the intro again and looked at Ronnie like, "Who knows....not my fault?" and just laughed.
There was about an hour break before the lights went out and Keith played the open of Satisfaction. From then on it was rock n' roll for the next twenty-one songs. Anybody Seen My Baby doesn't count because in my opinion since it is a sub-standard song and doesn't deserve to be called a Stones song. The highlight, for me at least, was Sister Morphine, which I didn't except to hear, but prayed that I would. Also, Out Of Control off their new album was very good live. They didn't make a mistake by adding Saint Of Me to the list as this one also shines live. Of course they played their classics, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Start Me Up, Tumblin Dice, and Brown Sugar (encore) just to name a few. No classic even came close to shinning as much as Gimme Shelter with Lisa Fischer though. She is just incredible. The whole stadium loved her.
In case you haven't heard, around song twelve the Stones travel out to their little stage via a bridge that emerges from the stage. From there they perform three songs, which included Little Queenie, Crazy Mama, and Last Time. This was very cool except sitting at the top of the stadium I felt real bad that I couldn't be close to the center stage. Everyone surrounding the center stage seemed to be jumping up and down and rocking quite a bit. The people I was next to, minus my buddy and myself, were all sitting down.
The crowd in the balconies seemed very quiet and not very enthusiastic. It would probably of taken something like Mick walking all the way up to the balcony to excite them. I was up there and was told several times by several different people to sit down. That caused me to change seats many times because I refuse to sit during a Stones concert and the people telling me to sit were bigger than myself.
In conclusion, the Stones were on. Only huge mistake I saw was I think Keith slipped when he ran to the left side of the stage during Brown Sugar. I didn't get a good look so maybe he was slidding, but it didn't look planned. The music was great, as always. Hopefully, a couple set list changes are in order for next year's shows. I could do without Miss You, Honky Tonk Women, and It's Only Rock N' Roll (which was left out for the first time tonight). Wild Horses, Just My Imagination, Sway, and Waiting On A Friend would be better choices, but probably not as well known. Please don't make this "The Last Time." I think the year 2002 sounds good for another tour including the return of Bill Wyman. Until then, hope to catch up to you in New York, if MSG ever gets confirmed or Portland.
One final note, thanks to everyone who didn't vote for Under My Thumb. Unfortunately it still managed to win th web vote as it has done so many times. Please people stop voting for this one. Even Mick sounded a little disappointed that he had to play it again. There is so much better on that voting list, but people just keep voting for Under My Thumb. WHY??!?
our seats were originally stadium seats, nothing to special, straight back and one level up from the stage. pearl jam looked like little dots and we talked through most of their show. my particular seat sucked, we were under the edge of the roof and the gutter was directly above my chair and dripping something fierce(it had been raining heavily the nite before) these big drops of water kept hitting me on the head, landing in my beer, on my clothes, etc. i was the only person requiring a rain poncho in the whole audience. my friend went over and complained to management about the defective seat, he happened to run into an employee of Bill Graham Presents that he knew from college. They ended up trading our seats for seats out on the field. We were 30 rows back from the stage. At one part, the stones were on this moving sidewalk and came out to a stage in the middle of the field. they performed 3 songs 2 rows in front of me!!! it was awesome!! i don't remember dancing, singing, applauding so much in my life..
one of my friends had to go the bathroom, she left right before the stones came out onto the stage in the field, she didn't get back until they were done and back on the main stage. we elected not to tell her what she missed, she'd be crushed.
i think they played too much of the new album. didn't know the stuff, didn't care too much about it. they didn't play anything from "some girls." "Sympathy for the Devil" was really good, along w/"under my thumb," and of course "gimme shelter." oh, i just found more of those gold plastic flakes that were flying around after the show in my coat pockets.
when mick introduced the band, the audience went wild for Charlie Watts, he looked really surprised as the clapping went on for a couple minutes and the video camera was right on him, he may have cracked a smile even.
sitting right behind us were some high school boys who obviously went there just to see pearl jam. they didn't even know any stones songs. it was funny, they didn't think they would stay through the stones concert. as the show progressed, i kept turning around to see if they were still there-- they were becoming awe struck by the whole thing, trying to sway back and forth (the way white boys with no rhythm do) listening to the lyrics and thinking the lines were cool.
well, that's my stones story this time. i'd say it matches in fun to the last time i saw them in concert in '89(even if i didn't get invited to a backstage party this time)
Read all about the 1997 tour in the It's Only Rock'n Roll magazine issue IORR 30 out Oct. 15, 1997.
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It's Only Rock'n Roll 1997 -
© The Rolling Stones Fan Club Of Europe |