Saw the Rolling Stones last night (some spoilers!)

[arturs]

Really a good show in Philly last night. I’m not their biggest fan, far from it, but the show rocked hard. Mick at age 80 can work the crowd; he sounded, moved and looked great. Keith and Ronnie locked in their guitar parts and have a uniquely satisfying sound together. Almost as good as the Wishbone Ash 2-guitar attack

The songs were almost all good. Almost all hits. A couple of new ones that held up. The high point was a duet with the female backup singer on Gimme Shelter. Hugely powerful.

The only downside: they should absolutely not let Keith sing three songs in a row. One is charming, two tolerable. Three? Horrible. I realize Mick needed a break, but still, they could have just done an instrumental jam, an intermission, a mini-set by the backup singers... Anything... Well a second downside: a 10+ minute version of Midnight Rambler that went nowhere and put many in the audience to sleep.

I feel like I have completed a necessary pilgrimage of life by having been to this show.

Someone already filmed the whole thing and put it up on YT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggEV3Tz5_T0

[Mister Triscuits]

The only downside: they should absolutely not let Keith sing three songs in a row.

Personally I don't think they should let Keef sing one song in a row...

[SteveSly]

Really a good show in Philly last night. I’m not their biggest fan, far from it, but the show rocked hard. Mick at age 80 can work the crowd; he sounded, moved and looked great. Keith and Ronnie locked in their guitar parts and have a uniquely satisfying sound together. Almost as good as the Wishbone Ash 2-guitar attack

The songs were almost all good. Almost all hits. A couple of new ones that held up. The high point was a duet with the female backup singer on Gimme Shelter. Hugely powerful.

The only downside: they should absolutely not let Keith sing three songs in a row. One is charming, two tolerable. Three? Horrible. I realize Mick needed a break, but still, they could have just done an instrumental jam, an intermission, a mini-set by the backup singers... Anything... Well a second downside: a 10+ minute version of Midnight Rambler that went nowhere and put many in the audience to sleep.

I feel like I have completed a necessary pilgrimage of life by having been to this show.

Someone already filmed the whole thing and put it up on YT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggEV3Tz5_T0

Nice review!

[rich]

Personally I don't think they should let Keef sing one song in a row...

Well said Triscuits!

[Jerjo]

Big time Stones fan here, so I envy you. Three in a row for Keef? That's unusual. He usually gets two, so something is up. He was recovering from COVID at the opening of the tour so he only sang one tune in the earliest shows. So either Jagger needed a longer break for some reason or Richards' ego (which is not smaller than Mick's) got revved up. I don't mind Richards' voice; I thought his last solo album was pretty good.

The word on a few sites is that indeed, the guitars are meshing and weaving like they haven't since the late 90s/early 00s (before Keith fell from the tree). I would like to hear whatever live album comes off this tour.

[Mister Triscuits]

I don't mind Richards' voice; I thought his last solo album was pretty good.

He’s got some awesome songs in the Stones catalog, but they’re mostly ballads like “You Got the Silver” and “All About You” that aren’t really stadium rock material. The crowd pleasers like “Happy” and “Little T & A” I could do without. Exception: “Before They Make Me Run.”

[arturs]

The crowd pleasers like “Happy” and “Little T & A” I could do without.

Yeah, those were the two Keith sang in Philly, plus a new one. I like the studio versions of both of those songs. In the controlled environment of the studio Keith apparently could do a far better job than he did singing them live. Interesting to know that the 3-song Keith mini-set was not normal. Being my first Stones show I assumed they always did that.

Anyway, it was a great performance in spite of the 15 minutes of Mick's absence. Even my wife was thrilled with the show, probably more so than for any rock show we have seen together since McCartney about 20 years ago. She and I agreed to try and see them again if they manage to get it together for yet another tour.