Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones performance at 02 Arena on November 25, 2012 in London, England.
I honestly cannot believe it has been fifty years that The Rolling Stones have held it together. Through insane amounts of drugs and women, and all those bloody cigarettes it is close to impossible that half a century later they are still rocking.
Also, I’m sorry I have to interject here, but has anyone ever thought it is weird that no one is curious if Rolling Stone Magazine came before or after The Rolling Stones band? I am so confused. If you know the answer, help a girl out!
Anyway….
“The Rolling Stones began their 50th anniversary tour with the biggest possible bang on Sunday night, as a host of special guests joined them for a hit-packed show in London’s O2 Arena. Former Stones comrades Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor returned to the ranks, while Mary J. Blige and Jeff Beck were also on hand to help with the celebrations.
Wyman – who left the Stones in 1992 – was greeted with warm applause and a handshake from Keith Richards as he returned to play bass on “It’s Only Rock and Roll” and “Honky Tonk Women.” But the biggest cheers came for Taylor, who hasn’t been a Stone since 1974 – he played trademark blues guitar solos on an extended version of “Midnight Rambler” and looked like he was enjoying every second of the reunion.
Blige brought a gospel feel to “Gimme Shelter,” trading vocal acrobatics with Mick Jagger, and Beck did a flashy guitar turn on 1969’s “I’m Going Down.” But, despite the headline-grabbing special guests, the evening remained very much about the Stones’ core members and their remarkable career, with the set spanning from their second-ever single, 1963’s “I Wanna Be Your Man” to their latest, 2012’s “Doom and Gloom.”
That said, the evening began half an hour later than billed, at 8.30 p.m., with a video in which stars from Iggy Pop to Elton John and Johnny Depp to Nick Cave revealed how their first time hearing the Stones impacted them. Then a host of drummers wearing gorilla masks – a nod to the cover of their new hits compilation, GRRR! – paraded around the arena before “I Wanna Be Your Man” kicked things off.
Jagger, however, was in vintage showman form. In between pumping up the crowd with regular forays down a runway that ran around a central “lips” pit full of hardcore fans, he brought plenty of funnies, at one point even joking about the controversy over the cost of tickets for the show, which started at £90 (some were re-sold for thousands of pounds online). The other members also took their moment in the sun, Wood milking the applause to such an extent that Jagger was moved to jokingly warn him that people “had to catch the last tube.” In contrast, drummer Charlie Watts only reluctantly stepped to the front of the stage to take his bow. The set closed with a peerless run of classics, including “Start Me Up,” “Tumbling Dice” and “Brown Sugar,” before Jagger donned a feathery cloak for an epic “Sympathy for the Devil” to close the main set.
After a brief break they returned with not one, but two choirs for a stunning “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” before a final “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” with Richards’ kinetic riffing center stage, ended the evening with a massive crowd singalong. True, even after 50 years, the Stones still couldn’t get any “Satisfaction” – the 1965 hit was the most notable absentee from the set, despite appearing on the set list handed to the media. But as Jagger left the stage, still jogging and shaking his maracas after two and a half hours and 23 songs, it was clear that even at these ticket prices, the Stones’ 50th anniversary shows deliver value for money.”
The Set list from the night was as follows:
“I Wanna Be Your Man”
“Get Off of My Cloud”
“It’s All Over Now”
“Paint It, Black”
“Gimme Shelter”
“Wild Horses”
“All Down the Line”
“I’m Going Down”
“Out of Control”
“One More Shot”
“Doom and Gloom”
“It’s Only Rock and Roll”
“Honky Tonk Women”
“Before They Make Me Run”
“Happy”
“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
How amazing right? I would have done a lot to have attended that show.
Image and story Via Rolling Stone
