It's The Rolling Stones!

I, like my father before me (but not his father before him) am a Rolling Stones fan. Once upon a time I did, in fact, own a few dozen Rolling Stones albums on vinyl. Alas, they did not make the international trek with me, but my love of the music has remained.

The last Stones album I ever bought on vinyl was Dirty Work in 1986. I was 14 years old when it was released and remember, upon buying it, feeling almost repulsed by the cover. Talk about epic 80s! I was also slightly disappointed with the album, but received more than enough satisfaction with Keith Richard's solo Talk is Cheap album. That one was, arguably, the best Stones album since Tattoo You.

I do remember in the mid 90's thinking they should retire on the grounds of being "dinosaur rockers." Well, here we are now, 2024, and I'm the same age now that they were then, and they're still rolling.

And, frankly, so am I. And we did, last night, in Philly.

Yes, for the first time ever, I got to see the Rolling Stones in concert. Yes, they're old. But man, they put on a helluva show.

(anyone remember when Keith Richards used to look young?)

The Setlist:

• “Start Me Up”

• “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (but I Like It)”

• “Let’s Spend The Night Together”

• “Angry”

• “She’s A Rainbow”

• “Monkey Man”

• “Tumbling Dice”

• “Mess It Up”

• “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”

• “Tell Me Straight”

• “Little T&A”

• “Happy”

• “Sympathy for the Devil”

• “Honky Tonk Women”

• “Midnight Rambler” w / “You Gotta Move”

• “Gimme Shelter”

• “Paint It Black”

• “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”

• Encore : “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

Keith is 80, and has always been my favourite Stone. Mick is also 80. Ronnie is 76. They are slower than they once were but that didn't seem to bother them. Mick kept moving, Ronnie kept playing, and Keith was even able to still sing the way Keith sings!

Before the concert, when they seemed to be running a little late, I had a few thoughts come to mind:

Maybe one of them died backstage. It would have been Ronnie. Mick is in too good of shape.

Mick: Oh no. Keef. Keef! I think Ronnie just died.
Keith: Ooooh. Bummer. Should we wheel him out on a chair? Think anyone will notice?

Suffice to say, no one died. However, it did take them some time to take the stage. I suspect they were either napping or taking oxygen.

Every time one of the roadies came to the stage the crowd would get excited. Sadly, they were not the Rolling Stones but, rather, the Roadie Stones. They should have broke into song. That would have been epic.

I'm a big Keef fan. Honestly, I think Keith makes the Rolling Stones. His solo albums are, in my mind, head and shoulders above Mick's and, arguably, better than most of the Stone's albums. Plus, the man cannot be killed by conventional means. Seriously. He fell out of a tree and needed cranial surgery. Then what did he do? He went back on tour. It was nice to see that he got a three song set; I really enjoyed that.

All told, it was a great concert and I'm glad I got to see them for the first and, probably, last time.

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(c) All images and photographs, unless otherwise specified, are created and owned by me.
(c) Victor Wiebe

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