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The Rolling Stones
May. 29th, 2013 11:12 pmThe Stones were on Cyn's bucket list, so we had to go. Yes, it was expensive. Don't ask. I'd passed up seeing them, a few times, due to expense, and the feeling that I was okay with never seeing them. Their only midwest date on their farewell tour was in Chicago, which is only a couple-hour drive.
The last time we went to the United Center, we left at 5:00. There was some construction, in the way this time, and we wanted to be sure we didn't miss anything, so we left at 4:30. Actually, that was my decision, since Cyn had the afternoon off, and Steve had the day off, so they would have preferred to have left earlier. The trip down took for freaking ever. Several construction delays, including a truck broken down, and then the obligatory Chicago traffic was a little worse than usual. It made for somewhat of a tense ride. But it turned out we were in our seats around 7:45, so the timing worked out well anyway. The guys next to us, who had come from Cleveland, were there by the time the doors opened. Unfortunately, the band didn't start until 8:45, for some reason, so that was a long wait - especially for the guys next to us. The audients were well in their seats by 8:30, but they were reasonably well-behaved.
The band came out under giant lips, and opened with "Get Off of My Cloud". That's a rather unconventional opener, for them. But it was fun, and that was the theme of the show! "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" and "Paint It Black" followed. These songs had a stripped down sound, that put me in the mind of their early and mid-sixties sound. This was true even for "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll", despite it being from 1972, and despite the band being a seven piece, not including the backing singers, and the two occasional saxophones and the two occasional guests.
The band was Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Charlie, plus Darryl Jones on bass and longtime sideman Chuck Leavell on Keyboards. Bobby Keys and Tim Ries on sax, an Lisa Fischer and Bernard Fowler sang backing vocals.
The fourth song was "Gimme Shelter." Fischer sang that one, of course. She could really wail, but I would have preferred a little less wailing on this one. Keys's sax solo was similarly over the top. It was kind of a mess, actually.
A couple more of their early hits were followed by "Emotional Rescue." Disco. Not a favorite, but it was danceable, so ended up being fun anyway. Same for "Miss You," later on. I went to the restroom during that one. Anyway, after "Emotional Rescue," they brought out Taj Mahal, as their special guest. That was pretty cool. He can rock it, old school. They did an old Dave Dudley song, "Six Days on the Road". Taj and Mick traded lead vocals, and Taj played lead (steel) guitar.
That was followed up with a brand new song, "Doom and Gloom." It rocks. Next was their next single, from December, "One More Shot." After "Honky Tonk Women," (was that the song Leavell had a solo?) Mick introduced the band, finishing up with Keith, who sang "You Got the Silver." He and Ronnie played acoustic slide guitars. It's a beautiful song, and it was in my head the whole way home. After that, was "Before They Make Me Run," another of Keith's songs (Steve was unhappy they didn't play "Happy.") And then...
Mick came back with... Mick! Mick Taylor joined the band for "Midnight Rambler." It was a great jam. And fun to see the Micks interacting. Taylor's kinda low-key. They rounded out the main set with "Start Me Up," "Tumbling Dice," "Brown Sugar," and "Sympathy for the Devil." While "Brown Sugar" isn't one of my most favorite Stones songs, it may have been my favorite of the night. They rocked that one.
After a short break, the Roosevelt University Conservatory Chorus opened up "You Can't Always Get What You Want." One of my favorites, and it sounded good. Then "Jumpin' Jack Flash," which rocked, of course, and the finale, "Satisfaction," where Taylor returned to the stage. Not my favorite of the night. This one was a little bit of a mess, too.
So... The Rolling Stones. These guys are old. And it shows. But that's by comparison to their earlier days. Mick was still prancing around the stage, much like ever, though he didn't run like he used to, and his feet shuffled a little bit more than they used to. But he still had more energy than most sixty-nine-year-olds that I've seen. Even if he does look like someone's (homely) granny. Keith was looking rather run down, to be honest. Ron Wood seemed to be holding up pretty well. Charlie looked as great as ever. He can still hit 'em. In fact, one of his cymbals was bent! They replaced it during the encore. Mick Tayor sat down cross-legged in front of the drum riser, during "Satisfaction." Cyn said he was a big slow to get back up, but he's a big guy. I guess that's why this is (supposedly) their final tour. I just saw a video from ten years ago, and difference is striking. I'd be surprised if they could do it again, even three years from now.
But it was The Rolling Stones! I've seen a lot of shows, and this was the first time I ever felt like I was in the presence of a legend. I was happy to just be there; to see them in person. Cyn, on the other hand, was practically giddy!
Our seats were not bad. Not great, but not bad. We were on the right side, the first section off the floor, where the curve starts towards the back. We were in the back row of the section. Not only was there no one behind us, but were were over the entrance tunnel for the section, so there was no one in front of us. We weren't close enough to make out facial expressions, but we were close enough to feel like we were there.
The stage had a big inflatable upper lip over it, with a screen behind it. They showed only graphics for the first few songs. Then the lip rose up, and they showed video. Later they removed the lip, and showed video on the whole big screen. They alternated live video of the band, with a few music video footage. They played an old song by request from some sort of online poll. For that one, they showed vintage footage of the old blues, country and motown predecessors. They had a catwalk going in a loop out from the stage. It was shaped like the tongue, to complete the lips logo. Mick went out on it quite a bit, but not much during the first half. Keith walked around it a couple of times, later in the show. I don't think he had the energy to do it any more than that. And Ronnie went onto it just a little ways, once. Steve remarked that they brought the lights down in between songs. I thought the pause between songs was longer than usual. I wonder if they just needed more of a rest than usual.
Steve said the top level - the "cheap" seats - made the most noise. That muse have been where all the young people were sitting. Steve said Keith threw an empty water bottle across the stage, and hit Leavell in the head. That's a pretty good shot.
Setlist:
Get Off of My Cloud
It's Only Rock 'n' Roll
Paint It Black
Gimme Shelter
Wild Horses
Rocks Off
Emotional Rescue
Six Days on the Road - with Taj Mahal
Doom and Gloom
One More Shot
Honky Tonk Women
You Got the Silver
Before They Make Me Run
Midnight Rambler
Miss You
Start Me Up
Tumbling Dice
Brown Sugar
Sympathy for the Devil
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Jumpin' Jack Flash
Satisfaction
The last time we went to the United Center, we left at 5:00. There was some construction, in the way this time, and we wanted to be sure we didn't miss anything, so we left at 4:30. Actually, that was my decision, since Cyn had the afternoon off, and Steve had the day off, so they would have preferred to have left earlier. The trip down took for freaking ever. Several construction delays, including a truck broken down, and then the obligatory Chicago traffic was a little worse than usual. It made for somewhat of a tense ride. But it turned out we were in our seats around 7:45, so the timing worked out well anyway. The guys next to us, who had come from Cleveland, were there by the time the doors opened. Unfortunately, the band didn't start until 8:45, for some reason, so that was a long wait - especially for the guys next to us. The audients were well in their seats by 8:30, but they were reasonably well-behaved.
The band came out under giant lips, and opened with "Get Off of My Cloud". That's a rather unconventional opener, for them. But it was fun, and that was the theme of the show! "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" and "Paint It Black" followed. These songs had a stripped down sound, that put me in the mind of their early and mid-sixties sound. This was true even for "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll", despite it being from 1972, and despite the band being a seven piece, not including the backing singers, and the two occasional saxophones and the two occasional guests.
The band was Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Charlie, plus Darryl Jones on bass and longtime sideman Chuck Leavell on Keyboards. Bobby Keys and Tim Ries on sax, an Lisa Fischer and Bernard Fowler sang backing vocals.
The fourth song was "Gimme Shelter." Fischer sang that one, of course. She could really wail, but I would have preferred a little less wailing on this one. Keys's sax solo was similarly over the top. It was kind of a mess, actually.
A couple more of their early hits were followed by "Emotional Rescue." Disco. Not a favorite, but it was danceable, so ended up being fun anyway. Same for "Miss You," later on. I went to the restroom during that one. Anyway, after "Emotional Rescue," they brought out Taj Mahal, as their special guest. That was pretty cool. He can rock it, old school. They did an old Dave Dudley song, "Six Days on the Road". Taj and Mick traded lead vocals, and Taj played lead (steel) guitar.
That was followed up with a brand new song, "Doom and Gloom." It rocks. Next was their next single, from December, "One More Shot." After "Honky Tonk Women," (was that the song Leavell had a solo?) Mick introduced the band, finishing up with Keith, who sang "You Got the Silver." He and Ronnie played acoustic slide guitars. It's a beautiful song, and it was in my head the whole way home. After that, was "Before They Make Me Run," another of Keith's songs (Steve was unhappy they didn't play "Happy.") And then...
Mick came back with... Mick! Mick Taylor joined the band for "Midnight Rambler." It was a great jam. And fun to see the Micks interacting. Taylor's kinda low-key. They rounded out the main set with "Start Me Up," "Tumbling Dice," "Brown Sugar," and "Sympathy for the Devil." While "Brown Sugar" isn't one of my most favorite Stones songs, it may have been my favorite of the night. They rocked that one.
After a short break, the Roosevelt University Conservatory Chorus opened up "You Can't Always Get What You Want." One of my favorites, and it sounded good. Then "Jumpin' Jack Flash," which rocked, of course, and the finale, "Satisfaction," where Taylor returned to the stage. Not my favorite of the night. This one was a little bit of a mess, too.
So... The Rolling Stones. These guys are old. And it shows. But that's by comparison to their earlier days. Mick was still prancing around the stage, much like ever, though he didn't run like he used to, and his feet shuffled a little bit more than they used to. But he still had more energy than most sixty-nine-year-olds that I've seen. Even if he does look like someone's (homely) granny. Keith was looking rather run down, to be honest. Ron Wood seemed to be holding up pretty well. Charlie looked as great as ever. He can still hit 'em. In fact, one of his cymbals was bent! They replaced it during the encore. Mick Tayor sat down cross-legged in front of the drum riser, during "Satisfaction." Cyn said he was a big slow to get back up, but he's a big guy. I guess that's why this is (supposedly) their final tour. I just saw a video from ten years ago, and difference is striking. I'd be surprised if they could do it again, even three years from now.
But it was The Rolling Stones! I've seen a lot of shows, and this was the first time I ever felt like I was in the presence of a legend. I was happy to just be there; to see them in person. Cyn, on the other hand, was practically giddy!
Our seats were not bad. Not great, but not bad. We were on the right side, the first section off the floor, where the curve starts towards the back. We were in the back row of the section. Not only was there no one behind us, but were were over the entrance tunnel for the section, so there was no one in front of us. We weren't close enough to make out facial expressions, but we were close enough to feel like we were there.
The stage had a big inflatable upper lip over it, with a screen behind it. They showed only graphics for the first few songs. Then the lip rose up, and they showed video. Later they removed the lip, and showed video on the whole big screen. They alternated live video of the band, with a few music video footage. They played an old song by request from some sort of online poll. For that one, they showed vintage footage of the old blues, country and motown predecessors. They had a catwalk going in a loop out from the stage. It was shaped like the tongue, to complete the lips logo. Mick went out on it quite a bit, but not much during the first half. Keith walked around it a couple of times, later in the show. I don't think he had the energy to do it any more than that. And Ronnie went onto it just a little ways, once. Steve remarked that they brought the lights down in between songs. I thought the pause between songs was longer than usual. I wonder if they just needed more of a rest than usual.
Steve said the top level - the "cheap" seats - made the most noise. That muse have been where all the young people were sitting. Steve said Keith threw an empty water bottle across the stage, and hit Leavell in the head. That's a pretty good shot.
Setlist:
Get Off of My Cloud
It's Only Rock 'n' Roll
Paint It Black
Gimme Shelter
Wild Horses
Rocks Off
Emotional Rescue
Six Days on the Road - with Taj Mahal
Doom and Gloom
One More Shot
Honky Tonk Women
You Got the Silver
Before They Make Me Run
Midnight Rambler
Miss You
Start Me Up
Tumbling Dice
Brown Sugar
Sympathy for the Devil
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Jumpin' Jack Flash
Satisfaction