Hello all;

Why was Let it Loose never played live?  Did they ever rehearse it?

Factory Girl wrote on Jan 25^th, 2026 at 10:11am:

Why was Let it Loose never played live?

I think (it's my guess) that it is impossible to reproduce with the magic of the studio version



Factory Girl wrote on Jan 25^th, 2026 at 10:11am:

Did they ever rehearse it?

Yes, several times, at least 8 times, before the "1972 North American Tour", check this great website by Nico Zentgraf: https://www.nzentgraf.de/books/tcw/1972.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpHb2KtMvqM&list=RDYpHb2KtMvqM&start_radio=1

was rehearsed...never played in concert however.

Both times during Howard Stern's Interviews with Mick and Keith, he asked about Let It loose, a personal favorite of Howard's.
Jagger likely does not remember rehearsing it...when asked about why it has never been played, his reply was simply " No one ever really asked to play it" or something like that.

When Keith was asked about it, Keith returned with "why is that song so important to you" ( or similar)...Howard explained its one of the few
songs that makes him cry and his further explanation really impressed Keith regarding the songs lyrics and music.

It is one of my all-time favourites of the Stones - perhaps Top 5 - so I don't mean to sound negative when I say this, but nothing really happens in the song. That is to say that it's pretty much the same chord progression throughout. On record, it's all about the atmosphere of the song - the hypnotic swirling effect of Keith's guitar through the Leslie, the instrumental dynamics, Charlie's deep tom fills, and most of all, Mick's emphatic yearning.

I imagine it's always been difficult to replicate, and perhaps not exciting for the band to play something so repetitive on stage.

But yeah, it's definitely our loss to have never heard it live!

There is an instrumental

Lip Service wrote on Jan 26^th, 2026 at 9:40am:

It is one of my all-time favourites of the Stones - perhaps Top 5 - so I don't mean to sound negative when I say this, but nothing really happens in the song. That is to say that it's pretty much the same chord progression throughout. On record, it's all about the atmosphere of the song - the hypnotic swirling effect of Keith's guitar through the Leslie, the instrumental dynamics, Charlie's deep tom fills, and most of all, Mick's emphatic yearning. I imagine it's always been difficult to replicate, and perhaps not exciting for the band to play something so repetitive on stage. But yeah, it's definitely our loss to have never heard it live!

I agree...but I also place songs like Memory Hotel, Moonlight Mile and Worry About You in the same category and they all sound terrific live.
Sure, the pace is brought down a bit during the live event, but you can't take your eyes off of Jagger during these songs....I defy anybody to.
I think the same would go with LiL, no matter the live arrangements becomes.