THE "ROCKS OFF" ROLLING STONES SETLISTS PAGE

BY GARY GALBRAITH (with Gerardo Liedo)

American Tour 1981

Warming up for the tour as "The Cockroaches" at Sir Morgans Cove, Worcester, MA - 14th September, 1981 © Ron Pownall

1981 US Tour Overview

After a three-year break from touring and with Keith’s legal hassles behind him, the Stones (or rather Mick, Keith, and producer Chris Kimsey) cobbled together an album of leftover songs dating back to 1972, added some overdubs and released it in August ahead of a massive 3-month trek across the US. The new album, ‘Tattoo You’, would end up being their final US chart topper, selling 4 million copies in the States alone, and in ‘Start Me Up’ spawned what would be their last major hit single to date.

Following a warmup club show in Worcester, Ma, the tour proper kicked off with two shows at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia in front of 90,000 people each day. The tour was a mix of stadium and arena dates, with the stadium shows usually taking place in the afternoons. The Stones usually played about 25-26 songs in shows which ran for around 135-140 minutes each. The setlist was considerably revamped from previous tours. On most nights, it would feature around 13 songs from the last three albums spanning 1978-81, a couple of unreleased covers and a smattering of songs covering the period from 1964-72. Save for a few outings for ‘Starfucker’, the mid 70’s trio of albums (‘Goats Head Soup’, ‘Its Only Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and ‘Black and Blue’) were ignored completely. Long lost songs from the ‘60’s such as ‘Time is On My Side’, ‘Let It Bleed’ , ‘Lets Spend The Night Together’ (only recently played at Knebworth and the El Mocambo club shows in 1976 and 1977) and show opener ‘Under My Thumb’ were featured on a nightly basis. It may have been the biggest tour conducted by any act to that point, but the Stones certainly couldn’t have been accused of just taking the easy option and playing an unadventurous setlist for the masses.

The tour has been well documented on audio and video. A 10-song live album, ‘Still Life’ was released in June 1982 and Hal Ashby’s concert movie ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’ released to cinemas in early 1983 and later on home video features footage of the band at Sun Devil Stadium in Arizona and at the Brendan Byrne Arena in New Jersey. Whilst visually spectacular (especially the Arizona concert), it’s a frustrating watch as 25 songs are edited into a 90-minute movie. The film was released a few months earlier in Germany under the title ‘Rocks Off’ (a bizarre choice of title as the song of that name isn’t performed) with an extra song (‘When the Whip Comes Down’) and some slightly different footage. It has never been released in this version on home video or DVD. It would be great – if highly unlikely – to see an original cut of this movie released with the performances fully intact.

The essential record of the tour, however, is the concert at Hampton Roads Coliseum on December 18^th, originally shown as a closed-circuit TV and pay per view event across the US and subsequently heavily bootlegged, it was eventually released in 2012 as an official download and then as a DVD and 2-CD package in 2014. It’s a performance that’s every bit as stunning as the whack Keith gives a stage invader with his guitar during ‘Satisfaction’ .

Additionally, Mick, Keith, and Ronnie’s guest appearance with Muddy Waters in Chicago on 22^nd November was released officially on CD and DVD in 2012 as ‘Muddy Waters & The Rolling Stones – Checkerboard Lounge’. It’s an incredible and indispensable piece of musical history.

Number of shows – 51

Number of shows in circulation - 50

(Only the club show in Worcester, Ma on 14 September is missing. Even the setlist is unconfirmed)

Recommended shows – Hampton 18^th December (see above). Parts of shows on the tour featured on KBFH FM broadcasts which have been heavily bootlegged (the ‘Still Life’ album is taken from the same shows) and there are also at least 35 soundboards (most of them mono) in circulation in excellent quality. The best performances are subjective but personally I find the shows later in the tour (Tempe, Hampton #2, Largo, Pontiac etc) to be superior although the earlier shows on the tour feature some rarely played songs that were soon dropped. The concert in Kansas City on December 14^th features a guest appearance by Mick Taylor (who happened to be on tour with The Alvin Lee Band at the time). on most of the show

Personnel: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts. Ronnie Wood and Bill Wyman with Ian Stewart (piano) and Ian McLagan (keyboards), Ernie Watts (sax - from 7^th October onwards), Bobby Keys (sax – from 24^th October onwards)

CONCERT LISTING

No.	Date	City	State	Venue
1	14-Sep	Worcester	Massachussetts	Sir Morgan’s Cove
2	25-Sep	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	JFK Stadium
3	26-Sep	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	JFK Stadium
4	27-Sep	Buffalo	New York	Rich Stadium
5	1-Oct	Rockford	Illinois	Metrocenter
6	3-Oct	Boulder	Colorado	Folsom Field
7	4-Oct	Boulder	Colorado	Folsom Field
8	7-Oct	San Diego	California	Jack Murphy Stadium
9	9-Oct	Los Angeles	California	Memorial Coliseum
10	11-Oct	Los Angeles	California	Memorial Coliseum
11	14-Oct	Seattle	Washington	Kingdome
12	15-Oct	Seattle	Washington	Kingdome
13	17-Oct	San Francisco	California	Candlestick Park
14	18-Oct	San Francisco	California	Candlestick Park
15	24-Oct	Orlando	Florida	Tangerine Bowl
16	25-Oct	Orlando	Florida	Tangerine Bowl
17	26-Oct	Atlanta	Georgia	Fox Theater
18	28-Oct	Houston	Texas	Astrodome
19	29-Oct	Houston	Texas	Astrodome
20	31-Oct	Dallas	Texas	Cotton Bowl
21	1-Nov	Dallas	Texas	Cotton Bowl
22	3-Nov	Louisville	Kentucky	Freedom Hall
23	5-Nov	East Rutherford	New Jersey	Brendan Byrne Arena
24	6-Nov	East Rutherford	New Jersey	Brendan Byrne Arena
25	7-Nov	East Rutherford	New Jersey	Brendan Byrne Arena
26	9-Nov	Hartford	Connecticut	Civic Center
27	10-Nov	Hartford	Connecticut	Civic Center
28	12-Nov	New York City	New York	Madison Square Garden
29	13-Nov	New York City	New York	Madison Square Garden
30	16-Nov	Cleveland	Ohio	Richfield Coliseum
31	17-Nov	Cleveland	Ohio	Richfield Coliseum
32	19-Nov	St. Louis	Missouri	Checkerdome
33	20-Nov	Cedar Falls	Iowa	Unidome
34	21-Nov	St. Paul	Minnesota	Civic Center
35	23-Nov	Chicago	Illinois	Rosemont Horizon
36	24-Nov	Chicago	Illinois	Rosemont Horizon
37	25-Nov	Chicago	Illinois	Rosemont Horizon
38	27-Nov	Syracuse	New York	Carrier Dome
39	28-Nov	Syracuse	New York	Carrier Dome
40	30-Nov	Pontiac	Michigan	Silverdome
41	1-Dec	Pontiac	Michigan	Silverdome
42	5-Dec	New Orleans	Louisiana	Superdome
43	7-Dec	Largo	Maryland	Capital Center
44	8-Dec	Largo	Maryland	Capital Center
45	9-Dec	Largo	Maryland	Capital Center
46	11-Dec	Lexington	Kentucky	Rupp Arena
47	13-Dec	Tempe	Arizona	Sun Devil Stadium
48	14-Dec	Kansas City	Missouri	Kemper Arena
49	15-Dec	Kansas City	Missouri	Kemper Arena
50	18-Dec	Hampton Roads	Virginia	Coliseum
51	19-Dec	Hampton Roads	Virginia	Coliseum

SETLISTS

Part 1: 14^th September to 18^th October

	14-Sep	25-Sep	26-Sep	27-Sep
	Worcester, Ma	Philadelphia, Pa	Philadelphia, Pa	Buffalo, NY
1	Everybody Needs Somebody To Love	Under My Thumb	Under My Thumb	Under My Thumb	1
2	Mona	When The Whip Comes Down	When The Whip Comes Down	When The Whip Comes Down	2
3	Under My Thumb	Neighbours	Let’s Spend The Night Together	Let’s Spend The Night Together	3
4	When The Whip Comes Down	Just My Imagination	Just My Imagination	Shattered	4
5	Neighbours	Shattered	Shattered	Neighbours	5
6	Shattered	Let’s Spend The Night Together	Neighbours	Black Limousine	6
7	I Just Want To Make Love To You	Black Limousine	Black Limousine	Down The Road Apiece	7
8	Let It Bleed	She’s So Cold	Down The Road Apiece	Just My Imagination	8
9	Hang Fire	Time Is On My Side	Mona	Twenty Flight Rock	9
10	Miss You	Beast Of Burden	Twenty Flight Rock	She’s So Cold	10
11	She’s So Cold	Waiting On A Friend	She’s So Cold	Time Is On My Side	11
12	Tumbling Dice	Let It Bleed	Time Is On My Side	Beast Of Burden	12
13	Satisfaction	You Can’t Always Get What You Want	Beast Of Burden	Let It Bleed	13
14	All Down The Line	Tops	Waiting On A Friend	You Can’t Always Get What You Want	14
15	Honky Tonk Women	Tumbling Dice	Let It Bleed	Tops	15
16	Start Me Up	Hang Fire	You Can’t Always Get What You Want	Tumbling Dice	16
17	Brown Sugar	Let Me Go	Tumbling Dice	Little T & A	17
18	Jumpin’ Jack Flash	Little T & A	Little T & A	Let Me Go	18
19		Start Me Up	Hang Fire	Hang Fire	19
20		Miss You	Start Me Up	Start Me Up	20
21		Honky Tonk Women	Miss You	Miss You	21
22		All Down The Line	Honky Tonk Women	Honky Tonk Women	22
23		Brown Sugar	All Down The Line	All Down The Line	23
24		Jumpin’ Jack Flash	Brown Sugar	Brown Sugar	24
25		Street Fighting Man	Jumpin’ Jack Flash	Jumpin’ Jack Flash	25
26		Satisfaction	Street Fighting Man	Street Fighting Man	26
	Secret warm-up club show.	Live debuts for songs 7,11,14,17-18	Live debut for song 10.
	No circulating recording	Song 9 last played ca. 9-Oct-1966.	Song 8 last played ca. 18-Mar 1965.
	The Stones were billed as ‘Blue Sunday
	& The Cockroaches’ . The number of songs,
	setlist and running order are unconfirmed,
	other than the first three and last three songs.
	The ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine review of
	the show (29.10.81) mentions songs 3-10, 14-15
	and 18 and stated that it ran from just after
	midnight until 1.40 am, which would
	suggest a setlist of around 17-18 songs.
	An article on worcestermag.com on the show’s
	40^th anniversary mentions 14 of the songs listed
	above (1-6, 8 – 11 and 15 – 18)
	Songs 12 – 13 have been listed by other reliable
	sources, so the above list should be reasonably
	accurate in terms of what songs were played
	(if not the sequence).
	Some reports list a 22-song setlist and a
	supposedly bonafide handwritten setlist
	belonging to Ian McLagan appeared online
	but these claims are unquestionably bogus.
	Live debuts for songs 5, 8,9,11,16
	Song 1 last played ca. 5-Dec 1965
	Song 2 last played ca. spring 1964
	Song 3 last played 21-Dec 1969
	Song 7 last played 2-Apr 1965.

	1-Oct	3-Oct	4-Oct	7-Oct
	Rockford, Il	Boulder, Co.	Boulder, Co.	San Diego, Ca
1	Under My Thumb	Under My Thumb	Under My Thumb	Under My Thumb	1
2	When The Whip Comes Down	When The Whip Comes Down	When The Whip Comes Down	When The Whip Comes Down	2
3	Let’s Spend The Night Together	Let’s Spend The Night Together	Let’s Spend The Night Together	Let’s Spend The Night Together	3
4	Shattered	Shattered	Shattered	Shattered	4
5	Neighbours	Neighbours	Neighbours	Black Limousine	5
6	Black Limousine	Black Limousine	Black Limousine	Neighbours	6
7	Just My Imagination	Just My Imagination	Just My Imagination	Just My Imagination	7
8	Twenty Flight Rock	Twenty Flight Rock	Twenty Flight Rock	Twenty Flight Rock	8
9	Let Me Go	Let Me Go	Let Me Go	Let Me Go	9
10	Time Is On My Side	Time Is On My Side	Time Is On My Side	Time Is On My Side	10
11	Beast Of Burden	Beast Of Burden	Beast Of Burden	Beast Of Burden	11
12	Waiting On A Friend	Waiting On A Friend	Waiting On A Friend	Waiting On A Friend	12
13	Let It Bleed	Let It Bleed	Let It Bleed	Let It Bleed	13
14	You Can’t Always Get What You Want	Tops	You Can’t Always Get What You Want	You Can’t Always Get What You Want	14
15	Tumbling Dice	You Can’t Always Get What You Want	Little T & A	Little T & A	15
16	Little T & A	Tumbling Dice	Tumbling Dice	Tumbling Dice	16
17	She’s So Cold	Little T & A	She’s So Cold	She’s So Cold	17
18	Hang Fire	She’s So Cold	All Down The Line	All Down The Line	18
19	Miss You	All Down The Line	Hang Fire	Hang Fire	19
20	Start Me Up	Hang Fire	Miss You	Star Star	20
21	Honky Tonk Women	Star Star	Start Me Up	Miss You	21
22	Brown Sugar	Miss You	Honky Tonk Women	Start Me Up	22
23	Jumpin’ Jack Flash	Start Me Up	Brown Sugar	Honky Tonk Women	23
24		Honky Tonk Women	Jumpin’ Jack Flash	Brown Sugar	24
25		Brown Sugar	Street Fighting Man	Jumpin’ Jack Flash	25
26		Jumpin’ Jack Flash		Street Fighting Man	26
27		Satisfaction			27
	Lee Allen guested on sax during this show	Lee Allen guested on sax during this show	Lee Allen guested on sax during this show	Ernie Watts joined the lineup on sax
				from this show onwards for the rest of
				the 1981 tour.

	9-Oct	11-Oct	14-Oct	15-Oct
	Los Angeles, Ca	Los Angeles, Ca.	Seattle, Wa	Seattle, Wa.
1	Under My Thumb	Under My Thumb	Under My Thumb	Under My Thumb	1
2	When The Whip Comes Down	When The Whip Comes Down	When The Whip Comes Down	When The Whip Comes Down	2
3	Let’s Spend The Night Together	Let’s Spend The Night Together	Let’s Spend The Night Together	Let’s Spend The Night Together	3
4	Shattered	Shattered	Shattered	Shattered	4
5	Neighbours	Neighbours	Neighbours	Neighbours	5
6	Black Limousine	Black Limousine	Black Limousine	Black Limousine	6
7	Just My Imagination	Just My Imagination	Just My Imagination	Just My Imagination	7
8	Twenty Flight Rock	Twenty Flight Rock	Twenty Flight Rock	Twenty Flight Rock	8
9	Let Me Go	Let Me Go	Let Me Go	Let Me Go	9
10	Time Is On My Side	Time Is On My Side	Time Is On My Side	Time Is On My Side	10
11	Beast Of Burden	Beast Of Burden	Beast Of Burden	Beast Of Burden	11
12	Waiting On A Friend	Waiting On A Friend	Waiting On A Friend	Waiting On A Friend	12
13	Let It Bleed	Let It Bleed	Let It Bleed	Let It Bleed	13
14	You Can’t Always Get What You Want	You Can’t Always Get What You Want	You Can’t Always Get What You Want	You Can’t Always Get What You Want	14
15	Little T & A	Little T & A	Little T & A	Little T & A	15
16	Tumbling Dice	Tumbling Dice	Tumbling Dice	Tumbling Dice	16
17	She’s So Cold	She’s So Cold	She’s So Cold	She’s So Cold	17
18	All Down The Line	All Down The Line	All Down The Line	All Down The Line	18
19	Hang Fire	Hang Fire	Hang Fire	Hang Fire	19
20	Star Star	Star Star	Star Star	Star Star	20
21	Miss You	Miss You	Miss You	Miss You	21
22	Start Me Up	Start Me Up	Start Me Up	Start Me Up	22
23	Honky Tonk Women	Honky Tonk Women	Honky Tonk Women	Honky Tonk Women	23
24	Brown Sugar	Brown Sugar	Brown Sugar	Brown Sugar	24
25	Jumpin’ Jack Flash	Jumpin’ Jack Flash	Jumpin’ Jack Flash	Jumpin’ Jack Flash	25
26	Street Fighting Man	Street Fighting Man	Satisfaction	Satisfaction	26
27		Satisfaction			27
	with special guest Bobby Keys on songs 24-25.	with special guest Bobby Keys on songs 24-25.	Circulating recording omits song 20.

	17-Oct	18-Oct
	San Francisco, Ca	San Francisco, Ca.
1	Under My Thumb	Under My Thumb
2	When The Whip Comes Down	When The Whip Comes Down
3	Let’s Spend The Night Together	Let’s Spend The Night Together
4	Shattered	Shattered
5	Neighbours	Neighbours
6	Black Limousine	Black Limousine
7	Just My Imagination	Just My Imagination
8	Twenty Flight Rock	Twenty Flight Rock
9	Let Me Go	Let Me Go
10	Time Is On My Side	Time Is On My Side
11	Beast Of Burden	Beast Of Burden
12	Waiting On A Friend	Waiting On A Friend
13	Let It Bleed	Let It Bleed
14	You Can’t Always Get What You Want	You Can’t Always Get What You Want
15	Little T & A	Little T & A
16	Tumbling Dice	Tumbling Dice
17	She’s So Cold	She’s So Cold
18	All Down The Line	All Down The Line
19	Hang Fire	Hang Fire
20	Star Star	Star Star
21	Miss You	Miss You
22	Start Me Up	Start Me Up
23	Honky Tonk Women	Honky Tonk Women
24	Brown Sugar	Brown Sugar
25	Jumpin’ Jack Flash	Jumpin’ Jack Flash
26	Satisfaction	Satisfaction

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