All thriller, no filler, as the Stones (age 294!) roll home
LIVE: THE ROLLING STONES (London Stadium) Verdict: Satisfaction guaranteed ★★★★✩
THERE was the palpable sense of a grand homecoming this week as the Rolling Stones returned to London for the first time in five years. Milking the occasion, as the road-hardened veterans opened a Uk stadium tour, Mick Jagger waxed nostalgically about their ties to the capital.
‘We used to play not far from here at Dalston Baths,’ he said. ‘and we did our first London show at the Marquee club in 1962.’
He could have added it was only 12 miles away, at Dartford railway station in 1961, that he and keith Richards first bonded over some old blues LPs to set in motion a partnership that would rock the world.
at 74, Jagger remains a force that defies nature. Skinny as a teenager, and decked out at the star in a silver bomber jacket, he began the night by sprinting along an extended walkway, arms flailing as he sang Street Fighting Man. His energy barely dipped from that point on.
The Stones are calling their current outing, which takes in eight Uk stadium shows plus European dates, the No Filter tour. No Filler might be more appropriate, as this was largely a greatest hits set rooted in a love of chicago blues.
Special effects were minimal. There were splashes of disco neon during a spectacularly funky Miss You and a few fireworks for (I can’t Get No) Satisfaction, but the Stones are too set in their ways to embrace modern visual gimmicks.
They remain the world’s biggest bar band, sometimes rough around the edges, and it suits them fine.
They started brightly, with an opening that also included It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll (But I Like It) and Tumbling Dice.
The piratical Richards, 74 — dressed in an odd, mix ’n’ match outfit of bandana, green cardigan and high-topped trainers — let fellow guitarist Ronnie Wood, 70, take most of the big solos, although his signature dish of bluesy chords played in strange, open tunings was evident during Honky Tonk Women.
Shorn of the pre- recorded backing tracks that are used to enhance many stadium shows, some songs sounded raw to the point of almost falling apart.
ANORTHERN soulinflected Under My Thumb appeared underrehearsed. It was, admittedly, played on request after an online poll.
But the band were held together throughout by drummer charlie Watts. The epitome of cool in a blue shirt with a buttondown collar, the silver-haired Watts, 76, drums with the upright stance of a jazz man and performs with an air of cultured detachment, but he anchors the Stones superbly.
among the night’s surprises were a cover of chicago bluesman Eddie Taylor’s Ride ’ Em On Down, from 2016’s Blue & Lonesome, and Fool To cry, a ‘ sweet and romantic’ ballad sung in a convincing falsetto by Jagger.
Re- energised after a breather during keith’s low-key solo interlude, Mick returned as darkness fell to sing Sympathy For The Devil. Discussing last weekend’s Royal Wedding, he quipped: ‘We had a street party on Saturday. keith made the sandwiches, Ronnie sang some of his gipsy songs and charlie was on the tea urn.’
The late- set highlight was Midnight Rambler, the ‘ blues opera’ from 1969’s Let It Bleed that defines this incarnation of the Stones as much as their big hits.
It was played complete with tempo changes, improvised solos and Jagger on harmonica as he ran along the walkway again before tossing his jacket into the crowd. There was nothing new here. and, with a combined age of 294, one can’t help but wonder how much longer the Stones can keep on rolling.
But by remaining so engaged with their staggering back catalogue, and by refusing to go through the motions, they continue to be the masters of live rock ’n’ roll.
The No Filter tour continues tonight at the London Stadium (rollingstones.com)