It's Only Rock'n Roll
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It's Only Rock'n Roll |
I think my face was probably very ridiculous at the start of Honky Tonk Woman, but there was magic in the air. I got completely struck with Keith's playing, with that music filling the space of the stadium. Damn, now I know I need to hear it again, some day. What a touch, what a sound. If Keith ain't God, he would be my sweet representation of him. And I managed to make it to the small stage, Keith's side....��Incredible!! Will I have the chance of seeing them that close ever again? Impressive to the top! Keith, Mick, Ron, and Charlie, all four up to my face!!!! I got collapsed by Keith and Charlie presence.
Right from the start it seemed to me I was at the right time in the right place. With the sensational explosion after the intro, Keith started Satisfaction and appeared at stage right platform, moving as he was 25 years old. Even their dressing showed nice taste: Mick weared a befautiful bright blue jaquet and a light-green scarf, and Keith with his leopard coat, with a beautiful black shirt with sparkling white lines under it. Also I have to mention the accurate sound of all complementary instruments like Bobby's saxo (perfectly clear appreciable on Flip the Switch with all its rythm parts), and all percussion instruments played by Blondie. Also the maracas played by Mick at the begining of You got me rockin'. I compared now and then this concert with their previous at the same venue in 1990. No doubt this was certainly on a very higher place.
Mick was non-stop from the start through the end. I'm sure they were feeling very, very good with the audience, and that they enjoyed the show to the top. People's singing forced Keith to wait a lot before making it into Thief in the night (one the best moments in the night). Leah Wood joined them on backing vocals, sharing the mike with Lisa. I got completely astonished with her beauty. I fell in love with her :-) And beautiful voice too! Once the song was ended Keith introduced her saying "Let me introduce to you 'senorita' Leah Wood"! Maybe the best song of the night (have I already said that?:-).
ASMB got a strange and curious begining: the bass sound went far away and Mick had great trouble to hear it, so he started out of tune, and thorugh the whole of the first verse he changed from one to another tune trying to find the right one. Even Keith played the vocal line on the guitar, but noway he suceeded, until it came to the part when he sings ("close my eyes, it's three...") when all instruments enter and there's no difficult to get the right tune. It seemed to me Lisa Fisher wasn't in his best night when singing Gimmie Shelter. She had trouble to maintain her classic yell at the climax of her part. Great moments with she and Mick during Miss You. She climbed and sat at the right platform (horns place); then it comes Mick and starts caressing her leg, then he takes her sandal off, then he starts to lick her feet, ��and then he starts to suck her big toe!! Amazing! Great ovation! All of this and many more, perfectly seen through that incredible center screen. I think I don't need better quality screens in any other concert. It was simply perfect.
We got Paint it black as the web choice. Not my favourite to choose from the web list, but it sounded great. Specially interesting now that Keith plays it on the electric Tele, not that acoustic Roger Sadowsky model played on the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle. Long singing by the audience on Saint of Me. After it was ended, Mick still engaged us to keep singing it for a while. Keith put on a silver shirt for his solo songs. As I said, beautiful TITN and powerful Wanna Hold you, but I noticed very few of it because that was the time to reach center stage.
There I was able to listen to the real sound of the beat of the snare drum when Charlie kicked it, right before it came to me from the PA. Also the same with his China cymbal (with a circle of nails knocked in all its back side). The sound was quite worse specially Little Queenie where Mick's mike went off for a while. People got nuts around center stage. Great You got me rocking (though many people tells me they did some huge mistakes I can't remember). I was so glad to hear them play it (I wanted to know how different it was from Voodoo tour). Like a Rolling Stone turned us crazy singing all through the song.
Mick started Sympathy dancing to us on the small stage into the dark before walking to main stage. The hits ending was simply fabulous, with that great new intro by Keith into Start Me Up, repeating the single riff three times before the complete one. The big wondeful surprise came with the unexpected YCAGWYW. Keith changed into a turquoise jaquet for the encores. Marvellous version of You Can't. Big ending with Brown Sugar. I'm sure I've missed many things and memories from the gig, but the general idea is "TREMENDOUS". If you read this and still haven't had the chance to see them, stop hesitating. Satisfation guaranteed.
Start time: 22:10 End time : 00:35
The set list:
The Olympic Stadium could hold may be 65,000 people, but tonight only 45,000 or so were there. Still it was a big, good and entousiastic crowd. And the temperature was good, may be too hot for queuing all day at +35 C or so, but in the evening it was 20-25, perfect for the show.
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It's Only Rock'n Roll 1998 -
© The Rolling Stones Fan Club Of Europe |