I hadn't originally planned to see The Rolling Stones on this tour. Actually, I had never seen them, and neither had my wife, and we figured, if we've made it this far without going to one of their shows, well ... But one of our neighbors was able to get tickets at a good price, and invited us to join her. So we decided, maybe it's time.
And we're really glad we did. It turned out to be a great show, and an altogether fun evening. The weather was perfect for an outdoor gig, with mostly clear skies and temps just below 60°F. And the Stones definitely delivered the goods.
Nobody would suggest they're immune to aging, of course, but Mick and Ronnie still carry themselves with an undeniable cool and charisma. As for Keith, well, I don't know the story behind that big headband he insists on wearing these days, but honestly, the look doesn't do him any favors. (My wife laughed and said, "It makes him look like somebody's Aunt Millie!") But he was obviously having a good time, and he was in decent voice when he sang lead on "You Got the Silver" and "Little T&A."
After the awkward discomfort of watching Adam Ant onstage last week, trying even to pretend to do his old stage moves, it was genuinely exciting to see Mick (12 years older than Adam) move and dance and shimmy, and even break into a run. He was in pretty good voice too -- not as much range as his younger self, but with eyes closed, it was still unmistakably Jagger. He told the crowd that he still remembers the Stones' first Seattle gig, from 1965. "We played for 25 minutes ... the highlight was seeing a girl in the front row punch a cop in the face, and break his glasses." Big laugh from the audience. "Of course, I'm sure that won't happen here tonight, because you're all far too polite."
The band as a whole was terrific. Steve Jordan was an ace fit in Charlie Watts' old spot, and Darryl Jones -- by now, having more tenure as the Stones' bassist than Bill Wyman had -- did a great funky solo during "Miss You." And Chanel Haynes brought down the house singing Merry Clayton's lines in "Gimme Shelter," and carrying Lady Gaga's part in "Sweet Sounds of Heaven."
Altogether, a great evening, made even better by splurging to get a hotel room in Seattle, rather than fighting the big traffic crunch to get home.
SETLIST:
Start Me Up
Get Off of My Cloud
Let's Spend the Night Together
Angry
It's Only Rock 'n' Roll
Wild Horses
Whole Wide World
Tumblin' Dice
You Can't Always Get What You Want
You Got the Silver
Little T&A
Sympathy for the Devil
Honky Tonk Women
Miss You
Gimme Shelter
Paint It Black
Jumpin' Jack Flash
ENCORE:
Sweet Sounds of Heaven
Satisfaction
As it was with the U2 show at Seattle's NFL stadium, seven years ago, the difficulty of getting into the stadium meant that we missed most of the opening act. In this case, it was Joe Bonamassa. We heard only his last two songs. Speaking only for myself: what a bore.
