ROCKS OFF - The Rolling Stones Message Board

Song Vote is now up.

Respectable
Live With Me
Whip
Silver Train

Cast your vote for SILVER TRAIN here
http://www.rollingstones.com/2014/11/17/stonesbrisbane-song-vote/

Silver Train gets my vote!!!

Big ask for it to win, but it'd be nice to see it back.

Would be even nicer if they brought Mick Ta...ah fuck it, never mind.

" Silver Train gets my vote !!!!! "

< ----- Yes .... I just voted for Silver Train .

Hell , I would vote for the band to play ALL of Goats Head Soup .........

... and you's ?!

'kins ™

Hell , I would vote for the band to play ALL of Goats Head Soup .........

I would like to nuzzle you. :nicetits

I voted Silver Train .........more Mick T needed.

I still don't get the logic of having him back stage when they perform numbers he was an integral part of.........SAL, Dead Flowers, SV,ADTL,Wild Horses,Rocks Off, Dice....the list goes on , yet have him play on Slipping away and Streets of Love ? It's bizzare !

sc uk

According to Wikipedia, Live With Me was the first song recorded with Mick Taylor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_with_Me

From Sam Cutler's facebook page a few days ago (Sam now lives in Byron Bay, New South Wales)

GOT TO ADMIT I'M THRILLED:
I received a phone call from dear Charlie Watts who invited me to take my sons to the Rolling Stones performance in Brisbane on this coming Tuesday - Charlie is SUCH a gentleman, a truly sweet soul, and the fact he remembered to call me has me feeling GREAT, because one of my BUCKET LIST fantasies is that I should take my sons to see the Stones. Well it's happening in a few days and I couldn't be more pleased - I'm curious to hear what they think !!!

Gazza wrote on Nov 17^th, 2014 at 3:07pm:

Very cool. Good on Charlie.

Cool poster, it looks like a wave. Interesting concept! Is Brisbane a surfing town?

I know it's early and I hope I'm not dreaming but.....................

SILVER TRAIN WITH MICK T IS THE SONG VOTE WINNER!!!!

From RS.COM: "Tonight, we’re playing a song that we put online, the favorite song of the audience is SILVER TRAIN.
It’s a bit of a train but we’re going to ask Mick Taylor to join us on this number, as we try to remember the arrangement!"

The Rolling Stones
Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Brisbane, Australia
Tuesday November 18, 2014

1. Jumpin' Jack Flash

2. It's Only Rock'n'Roll

3. You Got Me Rocking

4. Tumbling Dice

5. Silver Train (Winner Song Vote, with Mick Taylor)

6. Bitch

7. Paint It Black

8. Honky Tonk Women

-- Band Introductions --

9. You Got The Silver (Keith)

10. Before They Make Me Run (Keith)

11. Happy (Keith)

12. Midnight Rambler (with Mick Taylor)

13. Miss You

14. Gimme Shelter

15. Start Me Up

16. Sympathy For The Devil

17. Brown Sugar

-- Encore --

18. You Can't Always Get What You Want (with Vibrancy, the Choir of the Cuskelly College of Music)

19. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

LadyJane wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 5:06am:

I predicted this, earlier in the thread.

Actually, on reflection, no I didnt.

Gazza wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 6:23am:

LadyJane wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 5:06am:

I predicted this, earlier in the thread.

Actually, on reflection, no I didnt.

You are actually entitled to half credit according to Australian rules for such hopeless longing...nice work G!

Once in a blue moon being a cynical bastard comes back to sit on your face instead of biting you on the ass. :-)

Sam Cutler, the man who coined the description of the Stones that we've all lived by since 1969....

"Absolutely floored, amazed and delighted - the Rolling Stines were so kind and loving and special, I am gobsmacked and so grateful. To take my two sons to see them was a dream come true for me, and when we went backstage Ronnie, Charlie, Mick Taylor and Keith could not have been more hospitable. The GREATEST rock n roll band in the world? By a feckin' country mile"

Keith to Bodhi Cutler (Sam's son)
"Take care of that motherfucker"....

1. Jumpin' Jack Flash

2. It's Only Rock'n'Roll

3. You Got Me Rocking

4. Tumbling Dice

5. Silver Train (Winner Song Vote, with Mick Taylor)

6. Bitch

7. Paint It Black

8. Honky Tonk Women

-- Band Introductions --

9. You Got The Silver (Keith)

10. Before They Make Me Run (Keith)

11. Happy (Keith)

12. Midnight Rambler (with Mick Taylor)

13. Miss You

14. Gimme Shelter

15. Start Me Up

16. Sympathy For The Devil

17. Brown Sugar

-- Encore --

18. You Can't Always Get What You Want (with Vibrancy, the Choir of the Cuskelly College of Music)

19. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

My " Hog " is STILL sticking out ----- Stones Is Stones Baby !!!!! ... this Thing is bigger than ALL of us .......... BEST STONES YET !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

" We have reached ' Unbelievable Stones ' ® , Ronnie Cakes !!!!!! "

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJacky Cakes ©

Gazza wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 8:01am:

when we went backstage Ronnie, Charlie, Mick Taylor and Keith could not have been more hospitable.

It's sad that Mick is always left out of these things. God forbid he ever shows any affection for anyone from the Stones past.

Amazing show. Keith's set was on fire he actually played every note and didn't miss any verses.

I got my 3rd drumstick from charlie tonight, heading to Auckland soon for my 8th show of this leg.

parachuteman wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 9:05am:

Amazing show. Keith's set was on fire he actually played every note and didn't miss any verses.

I got my 3rd drumstick from charlie tonight, heading to Auckland soon for my 8th show of this leg.

You sir...are an animal!!!
A rock-n-roll animal fo'sho'!!

The Wick wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 8:40am:

Gazza wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 8:01am:

when we went backstage Ronnie, Charlie, Mick Taylor and Keith could not have been more hospitable.

It's sad that Mick is always left out of these things. God forbid he ever shows any affection for anyone from the Stones past.

Who knows what was going on. Mick shouldn't be chit chatting before a show as it stands. He needs to rest up for the paying ticket holders.

And who gives a fuck. This asshole got a call from Charlie, got free tickets for the family, and got to hang out with everyone except Mick Jagger.

I'm home jerking off to crappy YouTube cell phone videos from the show.

Looks like he wins.

Steel Wheels wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 12:47pm:

WOW! If this show was back at the Hope Estate...
I would say this was a case of SOUR GRAPES!! :shutthefuckup

Paranoid Android wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 1:34pm:

Steel Wheels wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 12:47pm:

WOW! If this show was back at the Hope Estate...
I would say this was a case of SOUR GRAPES!! :shutthefuckup

Haha!

"Silver Train"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydfSwUejnXY#t=296

Different angle, slightly better sound

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

parachuteman wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 9:05am:

Amazing show. Keith's set was on fire he actually played every note and didn't miss any verses.

I got my 3rd drumstick from charlie tonight, heading to Auckland soon for my 8th show of this leg.

Parachuteman absolutely romping the MVP vote for this part of the tour.

Silver Train with MICK T ~ wow that's a rare treat!

Very cool that Charlie reached out for his old buddy Sam Cutler, but I forget who he is. Anybody want to sum it up for me?

Also, great pics of the boys and MICK looks so cute hugging a Koala!

parachuteman wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 9:05am:

Amazing show. Keith's set was on fire he actually played every note and didn't miss any verses.

I got my 3rd drumstick from charlie tonight, heading to Auckland soon for my 8th show of this leg.

Where did you sit or stand during the show? That's awesome you got his drum stick. Can you post a pic?

Cutler was a road manager and the infamous "will you welcome the greatest rock n roll band in the world" he wasn't wrong. Fantastic gesture from Charlie

Here's his general Wiki page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Cutler

Interesting, never new he had some kind of involvement with The Band that's my guys...

Silver Train........lucky fuckers.

Great job keeping us informed. Thanks again for all your hard work, Lady Jane

Rick

Drink responsibly.......and often.

parachuteman wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 9:05am:

Amazing show. Keith's set was on fire he actually played every note and didn't miss any verses.

I got my 3rd drumstick from charlie tonight, heading to Auckland soon for my 8th show of this leg.

Good for you PMan. Thanks for the reports.

Bitch wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 6:59pm:

he's the first person you hear on "Get yer Ya-Ya's Out!"

Gazza wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 4:46pm:

"Silver Train"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydfSwUejnXY#t=296

Come on Mick!!! Did you have breakfast? Where's the fucking energy of the opriginal song?

ShiT!

Let's sing with me Mick!! Loud!!! no not that loud...

LOUDER

Silver bells is a ringin’, ringin’ up inside my brain, ding dong oh yeah.

The first few rows were pretty god damned dead...at least that's what the video shows.

Hey Gazza, is he not also Hyde Park 69 & Altamont Speedway? Think he is....

Gazza wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 4:54pm:

Different angle, slightly better sound

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

Jagger looked really pleased at the end...almost nostalgic...and Keith's hug looked sincere as well...along with the fist bumpish move

Steel Wheels wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 12:47pm:

And who gives a fuck. This asshole got a call from Charlie, got free tickets for the family, and got to hang out with everyone except Mick Jagger.

I could care less about how Sam Cutler or Mick Jagger feel. I care because, as a fan, I want Mick to embrace the Stones past a little more. If he did, we may get more of not only 60s and 70s era Stones songs, but also efforts at dipping into the rarer post 70s songs. He simply wants to do the hits and can't be tossed with anything too remote. He has shown it time and time again. Perhaps, if he did embrace the rich Stones past a little more, we would have more of this magic, except he would get more than a 30 second solo, his sound would be turned up throughout the whole song and he wouldn't have to plead constantly to have the sound turned up, and, as Voodoo pointed out, Mick might have a little more passion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZgRfnTFIPU

Great backstage story Gazza. Here is Stonesmonth podcast reporting the Brisbane show from the tongue pit perspective.

http://stonesradio.podomatic.com/entry/2014-11-19T00_14_30-08_00

Silver T in Brisbane was pretty much a cat's-after-me, shirley?
Personally - just personally - I'd take (almost) any GHS track over that one.

Steel Wheels wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 7:46pm:

The first few rows were pretty god damned dead...at least that's what the video shows.

I was texting with a diehard who was at the show who was thrilled to hear Silver Train. The guy standing next to him said "Never heard this one before". :forfucksake

And THAT is why we get the same damned setlist!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crazyhorse wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 7:52pm:

Hey Gazza, is he not also Hyde Park 69 & Altamont Speedway? Think he is....

Yes. All the '69 shows. But I was just emphasising his best known 'iconic' quote.

Steel Wheels wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 7:46pm:

The first few rows were pretty god damned dead...at least that's what the video shows.

Pretty standard outcome when your ticket price for that part of the venue is aimed at a demographic which will mostly be celebs, older people or event junkies with a huge disposable income. The % of diehards in that area for whom the Stones playing "Silver Train" with Mick Taylor isnt a "meh!" moment is pretty small.

200 million plus in record sales would suggest that they do exist in sizeable numbers. Most of them have been long priced out of the best seats or attending multiple shows, though. Especially when you can consider that you can attend any major music festival for an entire weekend for far less than the price of even a half decent Stones ticket.

Most people I know who were at these gigs and would have been down front would have been going apeshit with delight at this one being dusted off, but people like us are getting fewer and farther between no matter where the band plays.

That's why I always loved the B stage. It seemed all of us die hards would rock the fuck out like crazy, dancing and singing and cheering. Outside of the few die hards that do get into the pit, the place to be for me will always be the B stage.

Steel Wheels wrote on Nov 19^th, 2014 at 7:59am:

They ruined that in recent years too by making it a 3-song warhorse fest.

Lets face it, if youre ten feet from the Stones , they could be playing "Three Blind Mice" and everyone should be going apeshit. Filling it with stuff like IORR, Satisfaction and Start Me Up was a sign that it had long outstayed its welcome.

And when you were really up close, whilst the visuals were great , the sound was often awful and delayed. For anyone between the b-stage and the stage, it was a 12-minute part of the show where the momentum just dies. Everything's happening 40 yards behind you, and you can see nothing as the video screens are off.

One of the most welcome things about this tour for me was that they dropped it.

But when it was used properly, by Christ it was fantastic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsztU4RWk1k

...and the first time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS7QkXwiN_0

Gazza wrote on Nov 19^th, 2014 at 7:43pm:

Steel Wheels wrote on Nov 19^th, 2014 at 7:59am:

unlike this (however a cool feat of engineering I think): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goLIKQwGNGg

Now with this take of Silver Train I see why Mick sung with such a lack of energy... that audience could be a cure for chronic insomnia on an overdose of amphetamines!!!

http://youtu.be/dZgRfnTFIPU

Gazza wrote on Nov 19^th, 2014 at 6:39am:

Yes I was struck by the lack of excitment amongst those right at the front during Silver Train. A very underwhelming response.

As you say Gazza the die hards and ardent fans have, shamefully, been priced out of that real estate.

I don't mean to gloat but it only makes me more thankful that I was able to see the Enmore show in 2003 from the front row for AU$60.00 ! (thanks due of course to Rocks Off and in particular two members who haven't been around for awhile- moonisup and fmk438j).

Lastly i must say I agree with Voodoo - the performance of Silver Train was disappointlingly perfunctory.

Perhaps they need to hire Scorsese's young busty blonde bimbos to line the edge of the stage again.

stonedinaustralia wrote on Nov 19^th, 2014 at 8:57pm:

Gazza wrote on Nov 19^th, 2014 at 6:39am:

Yes I was struck by the lack of excitment amongst those right at the front during Silver Train. A very underwhelming response.

As you say Gazza the die hards and ardent fans have, shamefully, been priced out of that real estate.

I don't mean to gloat but it only makes me more thankful that I was able to see the Enmore show in 2003 from the front row for AU$60.00 ! (thanks due of course to Rocks Off and in particular two members who haven't been around for awhile- moonisup and fmk438j).

Lastly i must say I agree with Voodoo - the performance of Silver Train was disappointlingly perfunctory.

Nice of you to remember that :)!
Been a while since I posted, but still lurking offcourse :)

Rik, how are you, my clog-wearing friend?

Hey Gary,

Doing very well, thanks. And you?
Nice to read those familiar faces on this site :)!

All good, thanks. Dont be a stranger!

More posters than lurkers wanted!

Moonisup wrote on Nov 20^th, 2014 at 7:46am:

Nice of you to remember that

No worries Rik. Good to hear from you again.

I hope Sam Cutler doesnt mind me re-posting this review from his facebook page, but I think it merits a wider audience :

TICKING OFF THE BUCKET LIST - ONE STEP AT A TIME - TAKING MY SONS TO SEE THE STONES:
You know how it can sometimes be with buck-list things. You wait so long for the damned things to eventuate that when they finally come around they can appear to be anti climactic. One finds oneself thinking stuff like did I REALLY wait seventeen years for this? That was how it was for me last night, outside the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, as I sat with my two sons waiting for ‘the tickets to come downstairs’ to the box office from the Rolling Stones organisation.

We had purposely arrived early in order to avoid the crush and as a consequence we were virtually alone at the venue. Early is good, too early is ridiculous! We sat outside the entrance and I gloomily observed the few straggling punters that were arriving - they seemed to be exclusively middle aged and all the women appeared to be wearing those impossible fuck-me shoes designed by sadistic shoe-manufacturers to torture the slightly over-weight into wobbling and looking slightly ridiculous. Most of the men had those tell-tale rolls of flesh which illustrate belts tugged a little too tight around spreading waists. I counted a pony tail or two wandering behind the fuck-me shoes.
For an inexplicable reason I felt gloomy. I wanted to kick myself! I wandered to the box office and there was the ‘magic envelope’ with instructions hand-written on the front: go to VIP lounge and wait! We wandered into the venue which was rapidly filling up, I could see no-one as young as my kids. Everyone, it seemed, was over fifty. I asked how much a program was, and I was told thirty dollars. I decided to save the money for a future meal. We wandered to the VIP lounge and to my sons delight there were sausage rolls and free beer - by the look on their faces you’d have thought they’d died and gone to heaven. A tip for the parents of teenaged boys - feed them beer and sausages and you’ll have friends for life! My sons tucked into the tucker with relish.

I drank a coke and began a conversation with the man sitting beside me, a Mr. Daisuke Miya who with his wife had flown in from Tokyo. I told him that I was bringing my sons to see the band, and to my astonishment he told me that he knew who I was! How was this possible? He had read my Facebook page that very morning and he even knew the names of my sons - a lovely circularity ensued when I introduced a diminutive Japanese gentlemen to two hulking Aussies with beers in their hands and beards on their chins. Mr. Miya seemed thrilled, as if he were being introduced to the Rolling Stones themselves, and he insisted upon photos being taken - an elaborate dance of the i-phones began with various permutations of phones and subject-matter and after a while everyone seemed satisfied. I reckoned about thirty pictures were taken by the time the gentleman was happy.

I was about to go back to being strangely gloomy when Charlie Watts appeared in what was by now a crowded VIP lounge. He wandered up to me with a grin, a tiny figure between two decidedly chunky security guards, and I introduced him to my sons Bodhi and Chesley, and we were instructed to ‘follow me’ by a Charlie who keep staring up at my giant sons with an expression of detached bemusement. We followed behind him and entered a massive freight elevator which descended down to the back stage area of the auditorium and we were soon following Charlie through steel cages of equipment and all the detritus that accompanies a contemporary show-on-the-road. Just the empty show cases would require a couple of trucks to move them - acres of containers made walls of black behind which various technicians toiled - it looked like a strange vision of hell. I tried not to feel gloomy. Charlie led us to his dressing room.

In a small room the drummer for the Rolling Stones looked at my youngest son, who had been named in honour of a beloved friend of Charlie’s and mine (Chesley Millikin) and he asked if the two had ever met. Chesley (my son) explained the circumstances of his birth in Oxford England and drummer and son hit it off famously. Charlie stared up at Bodhi (six foot five) and asked how old he was, and shrugged with that bemused-Charlie look when he was told nineteen. Charlie’s sweet granddaughter appeared dressed in a little white chiffon number barely bigger than a handkerchief and the vibe noticeably improved amongst the teenaged contingent. Smiles got broader, eyes got sparklier, grins were grinning. Charlie asked us if we wanted to “go somewhere louder” and of course we agreed, and off we traipsed following his diminutive form across the corridor to a large room.

As we walked into the room there stood Keith, looking a trifle unsteady on his feet, and I wondered what he would say. Last time we had met (in 2003 at the same venue on their last Australian tour) he has said “Fuck me Sam Cutler, or should I say Fuck you?” I told him to ‘take your fucking choice,up to you” and things kind of settled down. This time was to be different. Keith pointed to me from across the room, he wobbled, he focussed, he blinked and he focussed some more as he pointed a wobbly finger towards me. “Sam Cutler! Well isn’t this lovely” and he stumbled forward and planted a solid kiss on what was more or less my cheek. He looked at my sons without knowing who they were and said to no-one in particular: “he talks a lot of bullshit you know, but it’s lovely bullshit and we love him”. He hung round my neck as I introduced him to my sons and they looked down on a tiny Keith. “Big boys” he said, “What you feed ‘em on”, and Charlie rolled his eyes whilst Keith the perfect host introduced us to his wife Patty and “my rottweiller” Jane Rose (his assistant/manager) who immediately started taking pictures of everyone in those endless i-phone-sharing variations that we’d been through with the Japanese in the VIP lounge.

Mick Taylor wandered in and gave me a bear hug. He looked at my sons and after I introduced them said: “Sam was the first one to call us the greatest rock n roll band in the world” and we all laughed when I said “yeah and you still haven’t paid me”. We talked of Hyde Park, and Mick and I winced as we remembered how embarrassingly out of tune the guitars had been, and Mick said he was stunned by the half a million people that greeted the band as they stepped on stage. It had all possessed a strangely ethereal air, the musicians couldn’t hear one another, the sun was baking hot, everything was ‘difficult’ and yet the audience received the whole event with a gratitude bordering upon rapture. Ronnie appeared, and it was as if each successive Stone was smaller than his predecessor. Everybody laughed when i said that the Rolling Stones were the only band I had ever worked with that were to a man shorter than me !
Ronnie wobbled towards me in his bright green-suede shoes and we laughed about the lyric originally being green-suede shoes but how it sounded naff and was changed to blue. He put down his drink on the floor between his feet and leant dangerously forward and gave me a hug remaining remarkably careful not to kick over the drink and then wandered off to who knows where. Keith was friendliness personified and we talked of people who had worked with him in the past, notably Tony Funches and Phil Kaufman, and Keith remembered them both clearly and demonstrated it by relating anecdotes covering both of the men. I was impressed. He looked fabulous. We are the same age and Keith looked as healthy as I have ever seen him, and more than that, he looked blissfuly happy. He told me he had six grandchildren and we spoke of his son Marlon who’s a long-distance friend of mine. Amiable, content, warm and gracious, erudite with a memory as sharp as ever, Keith was in the kind of shape that would make every one of his fans radiant with happiness and so pleased that he was obviously healthy and well. As we left he told my sons “look after the old motherfucker” which was what I had done for him so many years before.

We wandered back to Charlie’s and lounged about whilst Charlie held his drum sticks and did some desultory warm ups. I stepped outside to chat quietly with Mick Taylor and the years rolled away. He wanted contact details and we exchanged E Mails and he told me how much it meant to him to be back in action and involved with The Stones. I felt so happy to be talking to him and we remembered a conversation we had back in the sixties about the difference between a road manager and a tour manager! We laughed and Mick once again told my sons as they emerged that I had named the band “the greatest” and we all giggled at the absurdity of it all. We left him puffing furiously on his cigarette in a room full of young ladies - so that was where they all were! Having a fag with Mick ! Charlie was talking to Jeff Thompson a famous Australian cricketer, Keith was getting ready, it was time to head up to the auditorium, and to smiles and with hugs all round we departed to find our seats and enjoy the show.

Having been 'generously feted' with my sons backstage by the Rolling Stones, I must admit I needed to sit down, take a deep breath, gather what was left of my senses, and generally 'get it together'. I was more or less hornswoggled, and very slightly dizzy. My two strapping sons escorted the poor old fella (me) down into the bowels of the huge auditorium to our seats that were spectacularly close to the front - if they had been any closer we'd have been on stage! We were right against the barrier surrounding the walkway down which Mick would later prance his dance, and I was amused by the security as we sat down who instructed me and my sons (and some rather plump ladies) not on any account to mount the barricades. I mean! Who did they think we were? Revolutionaries? The audience that were closest to me looked barely capable of crossing a road, and the thought of them attempting to jump the barricade was patently absurd. Still, fair enough, middle-aged women have been known to do the most unlikely things when Mick is close by, though the high jump (I doubt) is one of them! We settled down. I regained my equilibrium. My sons went to the toilets to get rid of all the free beer they'd consumed. I looked around. Needless to say there wasn't an empty seat in the house. The show was about to begin. My sons returned in the nick of time.
A man came out on stage, and at ear-splitting volume he screamed into the microphone, The Rolling Stones! The place went nuts, I sneered to myself at the amateur introduction that sounded like the pearly scream of an overly excited schoolgirl, and before any further thought was possible the band launched into a particularly ragged beginning to Jumping Jack Flash. Jumping Jack Crash more like it I giggled to myself, but no matter, The Stones were here, on stage, in front of us all, and what Samuel Taylor Coleridge called "the willing suspension of disbelief" kicked in with a happy vengeance.

Who cares if it’s slightly wonky, who cares if it's struggling to get going? It's The Rolling Stones and we love them I could feel thousands of people saying to themselves, as a positive wave of generosity swept from the audience to the stage engulfing the musicians in joyful gratitude for their very presence. The audience were all smiling, the musicians were all smiling, hell even I was smiling! The beginning of the show felt like a form of mass inoculation where we were all once again protected from the cares of the world (if only for an evening) by a big shot of the medicine that is rock and roll.

Before I could get too analytical The Stones launched into It’s Only Rock n Roll and it was a perfect reminder that this is happy escapism writ large – it’s fun, it aint that serious, and yes we like it, yes we do! I studied Mick’s face in glorious color on the video screen – he looked a little unwell to me. A trifle stressed, but then that goes with the territory – it’s a stressful job being someone like Mick. Before going on stage he isolates himself for several hours, sees no-one, and does the things that all singers have to do, namely warm ups (the voice is a muscle and needs to be cared for) and that search for the energy which is a necessary part and parcel of being a world famous entertainer. For years I have had my differences with him but I have never failed to admire him – he is a giant amongst contemporary artists and where he gets the energy from is beyond me.
Mick strutted around on the stage, cajoling the troops and encouraging everyone and The Stones lumbered into You Got Me Rocking and they were actually doing some rocking! Keith kept punching the air triumphantly and blocking out massively overpowering chords and grinning at Ronnie, whilst the impish Ronnie blasted away quite happily with a fag between his lips. (That’s a cigarette for you Americans reading this!)

By the time they hit Tumbling Dice the band was together and sounding hot with the guitars at blistering volume and the keyboards cutting through everything and driving it crisply forward. Then Mick, in a slightly unconvincing explanation, announced that ‘the audience’ had chosen for the band to perform Silver Train, and off they went out of the station and I was happy as Larry. I have never heard them perform it live and whilst it was ragged it was wonderful, made more so by the presence of Mick Taylor invited on stage to add to the overall scrunching levels of the guitars. It was, needless to say, deafening!
Bitch, and Paint it Black, rolled around the auditorium making me feel slightly dizzy, and with my sons exhorting me to “get up and shake my bootie”, I confess to feeling a trifle drained. Then the magic opening chords of Honkey Tonk Woman electrified the building, re-energized me, and off we went with the whole audience merrily joining in the chorus and band and everyone else grinning happily. I have never seen the Stones look so happy, feel so happy, and make it so obvious to one and all that they were genuinely having a ball.

Mick departed the stage and Keith stepped forward to the microphone to thunderous applause and we were treated to You Got The Silver – Keith really is loved by the fans, and sings with a soulfulness that belies his sometimes overly cynical public persona. Feeling and warmth oozed from his vocals and he seemed genuinely gratified by the response he got. Keith, beneath it all, is actually a humble and decent guy, who never takes anything for granted, his smile when the audience applauded wildly was a million miles wide. His three songs were really special and the audience and band showered him with well -deserved affection. He reciprocated (again) with monumental grins and backslapping and hugs all round and it was obvious he was having a wonderful time.

Meanwhile, the enigmatic and ever-stylish Mr. Charlie Watts sat behind his diminutive drum set smiling ever so slightly at one and all and supervising the proceedings with that air of quiet authority that comes from long years of not only being the reliable anchor for the music but equally the foundation upon which the whole edifice of the Rolling Stones rests. One can just see Charlie as the person in the outfit to whom the others turn in times of need – he has about him that certitude of the inherently good person, of the noble and the fine. It is so obvious that all the guys in the band not only love Charlie but rely heavily on him on so many levels, and as he plays you can see him giving subtle encouragement to his mates with a slight inclination of his head, a shy smile, and even to Keith at one stage a shit-eating grin as they brought a number to a miraculously coordinated halt.

Sir Michael arrived back on stage and the band went into as raunchy a version of Midnight Rambler as I have ever heard, with Mick sportingly inviting Mick Taylor up on stage. The Stones with three guitar players chugging along sounded as tight as a duck’s bum. Everyone knows a duck’s bum is watertight! Mick (the knight of the realm) seems to have cut back on the ‘theatricals’ in Rambler, and did a harp duet with Mick ‘Lord’ Taylor that would have rocked the aristocracy to its almost withered roots. It was stunning, with Mick blowing the harp and staring into his guitar player’s eyes with something that looked like adoration. He too cracked a smile as wide as the Nile when the collaboration ended and he resumed his front man duties, and M.T. simply returned to playing with the air of a man that CAN get some satisfaction.

Gimme Shelter shone with a rare distinction aided by Lisa Fischer’s belting and impassioned vocals. I remembered being in Los Angeles and hearing Merry Clayton sing the vocals as an overdub some forty six years ago, and to hear a woman of equal vocal dynamism backing Mick in a live venue was a treat that I’ll never forget. All the sense of impending disaster and of potential doom inherent in the song’s lyrics were emphasized with a frightening passion – one thing the Rolling Stones have learnt is that “it’s just a shot away”. The dividing line between success and catastrophe is indeed a fine line, sometimes so fine as to be virtually invisible.

The music rolled on, the years slipped away. Between Chuck Leavel on keyboards and Charlie on the drums this very special rhythm and blues band were as tight and purposeful as any I have ever heard. It was a masterful performance. Brown Sugar and Satisfaction were my particular favorites, but then I loved it all. For all those who sneer at Keith and Ronnie’s relative skills on guitar all I can say is that you should have witnessed THIS performance. Ronnie’s slide guitar work on Midnight Rambler, Keith on Honky Tonk Woman and Gimme Shelter, were as good as I have ever heard them. Mick Taylor was sublime, and it was noticeable that whenever he was on stage everyone ever so slightly ‘lifted the game’.

To borrow and slightly change a phrase of Picasso’s (referring to painting) I have to say that, “Talking about music is like dancing about Architecture”. You had to have been at this particular gig to dig where the music was coming from. To summarize this is what I reckon. I have never seen the musicians looking healthier or happier or sounding better. It was a highlight of my life to have heard the concert and to have been able to introduce my sons to the band. (Thanks Charlie for arranging things). This ‘report’ would have been posted sooner but for the fact that today was my son’s High School graduation ceremony. Now how many sons can say they met the Rolling Stones AND graduated from High School all in the same week? And how many fathers can say they attended those two events and feel so grateful that they’re no longer sure as to whether they’re coming or going? As that other wonderful band used to say: “what a long strange trip it’s been!”

'a little white chiffon number barely bigger than a handkerchief'

The Poster Girl
Charl The Darl

Here's a much better Silver Train video than what I've seen so far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydfSwUejnXY

parachuteman wrote on Nov 18^th, 2014 at 9:05am:

Amazing show. Keith's set was on fire he actually played every note and didn't miss any verses.

I got my 3rd drumstick from charlie tonight, heading to Auckland soon for my 8th show of this leg.

Nice going! I would love to see your photos and read your comments!

stonedinaustralia wrote on Nov 19^th, 2014 at 8:57pm:

As you say Gazza the die hards and ardent fans have, shamefully, been priced out of that real estate.

Those folks look like pensioners who were paid to fill empty seats...

paid with cheap beer and cigarettes, at that.
That's right...I said it...i don't see one ounce of RnR in that crowd...do you?!?

Steel Wheels wrote on Nov 21^st, 2014 at 2:29pm:

Here's a much better Silver Train video than what I've seen so far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydfSwUejnXY

Thats the first one posted on page 2 yesterday

I think the second one has maybe better sound (and the sidestage view is interesting to see the band interaction) but this first one has better video quality

Paranoid Android wrote on Nov 21^st, 2014 at 8:48pm:

Those folks look like pensioners who were paid to fill empty seats...

If they were paid, they would've been twenty-something, blonde & busty.

Could be there was a nearby casino that wanted to unload some points. :nooslajaleisk

ROCKS OFF - The Rolling Stones Message Board
http://rocksoff.org/cgi-bin/messageboard/YaBB.pl GENERAL >> MAIN BOARD >> Brisbane, Australia, Nov 18 2014, setlist, pics, vids, etc http://rocksoff.org/cgi-bin/messageboard/YaBB.pl?num=1416232430 Message started by LadyJane on Nov 17^th, 2014 at 7:53am