Rolling Stones 2019 U.S. Summer Tour

Too afraid to watch. Any sax people here? Why couldn't the other sax man, Tim Ries, play the solo? He's quite multi-instrumental. I know one of them is tenor sax and the other is alto sax. Is there no crossover?

 

Hey! "Rocks off" in Santa Clara -- not a trainwreck!!

MVP Award to Sasha!

 

By the way, Vista Kicks are a really great band for those who like indie rock. Seems they're so small that I'm surprised they were even found to support this show, but they deserved it.

 

I'm late coming into this thread, but I attended the August 1 show at MetLife stadium in NJ. It was great to see them do 'She's A Rainbow' (fan vote winner - my vote as well) and to do it so well. You would hardly think that Jagger had had health problems from the way he performed that night. Try and catch them if you can. There is nothing like seeing the Rolling Stones in person.

 

Yes, I enjoyed them - and they said all their friends, parents and grandparents were on hand. Kaleo opens the next 2 shows, having done the honors a few times last year. I think they're from Iceland, sound a bit like Black Keys.

 

There were definitely family and/or friends at the top of my section.

 

I'll be lucking dipping in Pasadena on Thurs.

 

Good luck man!
Last time I saw the Stones it was right after Richards accident, and it wasn't great. He bummed a few of the riffs and it was a sloppy affair. I said to myself that it was the last time.... but now I want to see them more than ever! I'm hopefull that they will tour the old world again next year.

 

Last time I saw them (2013) it took Keith three or four songs to wake up, but it was a great show.

 

I was happy to see the god-awful "You Got Me Rocking" in the Seattle setlist, meaning we probably wouldn't hear it in Santa Clara - which we didn't - only to have them inexplicably pull out "Out Of Control," a not-terrible but certainly mediocre tune from probably their worst album.

But the rest of the setlist was so good, including my first-ever "Let It Bleed," that I was really pleased with the show. Thank god "Rocks Off" won - or should I say "won"? - the vote, as the other choices did not excite me at all.

 

Great show, and I happily settled for Out of Control instead of You Got Me Rocking.

Then again, I probably would have settled for Sing This All Together (extended dance remix) over You Got Me Rocking.

That said, Levi's Stadium remains a total trainwreck. The last McCartney show at Candlestick, when the venue had already begun tearing down some of the amenities before the show was announced, was handled so much better than this so-called "state of the art" stadium.

 

HA! My only problem was the parking and shuttle service back to the parking lot .8 miles away. Definitely beat the Concord Pavillion when I saw Elvis Costello and Blondie two weeks ago. That's a venue I'll never return to.

 

Not really, they sound-checked it twice!

Which they also sound-checked, so I knew my chances of hearing Mercy, Mercy or JMI were gone!

You are not wrong there! This was my first ever time at Levi's. I grew up in Europe, I'm used to all GA shows, and queuing long before the gates open to get the best location. Obviously, with most people having seats, the competition at Levi's was much less, but my wife is short, and I know that she enjoys a show more if she has some sort of view.

Despite a gang of friends wanting to get together to tail-gate, I was adamant that I was going to queue as early as possible. Nobody else, including those who had already attended a bunch of shows, was that eager to go early. However, as I was driving, I managed to arrive at the tail-gate lot with my wife and two friends some time before 3 pm. Only problem, the lot did not open until 4:30!!!!!! WTF?

No way I was sticking around, so I grabbed a banana and a cold bottle of water and headed to the stadium, leaving my wife and friends to deal with the car. After a hike across some wasteland (because all the lots were closed), I made it to the stadium, and saw about half-a-dozen people waiting by a gate. I then asked a female steward if I was in the right place to queue for Pit2 (Keith's pit). She didn't know, so I walked a bit further and found another steward, and he reckoned I needed to be at Gate F (I was by Gate B at this time). To get to Gate F I would have to go back the way I came, cross the tram line, and proceed around the stadium.

It was 85+F, and there was little shade to be found, so I tried to walk as quickly as I could without turning myself into a sweaty mess. I eventually got to Gate F and there were a few people queuing by a fence near the tram tracks. I walked past them, and crossed the tram tracks to get to the stadium gates, where there was a significant number of people milling around. Turns out, this was the entry for the stadium staff! After questioning a few more people I was told that yes, I was in the right place, but I had to go back across the tram lines to the small queue of people I had just passed.

There were 7 people in front of me, all women. The first two were members of the Shidoobee forum, and were adamant that we were in the right place for GAPIT2. I settled in behind them, got chatting with everyone, then called my wife to let her know the entry gate, and that it was quite a hike so they might want to consider arranging a ride over. My wife, a long-time 49ers fan, had been to Levi's before. When I explained to her which gate, and which bar/restaurant I was outside, she quickly said, "That doesn't sound right!" She thought that we should be at Entry A (which would have been really easy for me to walk to, because I arrived by Entry B!). I started discussing this with the Shidoobee ladies. They were adamant that they had the right info, and they had made friends with two of the more senior stewards (most of them had no idea about anything). I pulled up the TM seating chart on my phone, and then pulled up a schematic of the stadium, and showed them that we were on the wrong side. This only made sense if there was only one entry gate for floor access. As gate opening time was getting nearer, I didn't fancy leaving the queue to go check on Gate A, because I would have had to go back around the entire stadium due to security fencing. The only thing we knew for sure was that there was a Floor Access sign just beyond one of the entry gates.

More people started to show up, and the queue was very good-natured. Some time around 4 pm a huge convoy of police motorbikes and black SUVs showed up -- the band had arrived! They would start sound-check around 4:30, and I was able to hear RO and OOC clearly from my position.

Around the same time, a bunch of other Shidoobee people suddenly appeared at the front of the queue. However, it turned out that security had informed people that they would be escorted over to will-call at 4:30. Not everyone had gotten the memo, because the queue started to react when they saw people crossing the tram tracks to the venue, but the chief steward did a good job of keeping things in check.

Then, around 5 pm, the same guy told us that we could cross the tram tracks, and could take positions by the entry gates, but that we must keep behind the red security tape (think the plastic stuff the police drape between poles at a crime scene). No one was allowed to block the road, nor the tram tracks (trams were running all afternoon!). Due to the number of entry gates, there was now only one of the women in front of me. However, looking around, I noticed that the security line was rather pathetic. There were metal barriers where I was, but just off to my right, there were just isolated metal poles with plastic tape draped between them -- that will really hold a crowd back if they want to surge!

Probably around 5:10 some people are spotted inside the gates, and everyone assumes it is time to enter, so we duck under the tape and head for the metal detectors. A new chief steward starts shouting that the gates are not yet open and everyone will have to back up. Incredibly, this happened without incident (unlike Ahoy, Rotterdam in 2003 where the crowd just surged into the venue, turning over the security barriers in the process!). Turns out that the people everyone could see were 'Friends & Family' so had passes, and were not subject to the same conditions as the rest of us.

Another 10 minutes passed, and then another steward came to our metal detector, and asked us to stand back. I started to have a sinking feeling -- just my luck I get the malfunctioning metal-detector. Turns out that the woman in front of me was too close to it, and now it had to be re-calibrated. This was done by the steward lifting the entire thing above his head, and shaking it a few times. Green lights again, and I cross my fingers that things will go smoothly. The woman in front of me had already had her bags checked, and moved past the metal detector, and my phone and keys were in a bowl ready to go. On the other side of the metal detectors were stewards with wands, but it turned out that if you did not trigger an alarm on the detector then you did not need to be wanded.

Around 5:28 the steward at my entry gate notices the small handbag that the woman behind me has. I think it was a Coach bag, so nothing cheap. Levi's has a strict bag policy. Most of the women had see-through bags. This was not, but it was small. The steward pointed to a piece of paper on the table where the bowls for keys, etc were. There was a rectangle, and the bag had to fit into it. It didn't, but it wasn't bigger by very much. The head steward was summoned, sorry, no, not allowed. She could take it to bag check, or hide it outside, or throw it away. It was now 5:29, and the woman and her husband had a big decision to make. At first she was going to throw the bag, but then she opted to head for bag check, which wasn't far away, but now you would be going against the queue with the gates about to open. Fortunately, she made it there and back in time!

Then we got the sign for the gates to open, and as I had nothing on me, and didn't set off the metal detector, I was through and past everyone in a flash. I followed the signs for the Floor Access and got into a maze of metal barriers so had to run up and down the path until I got to the entry door. There was a large security guy there, but he said, "Wait here, we're not ready for you yet!" WTF? Why would they let us in if they were not ready for us? Was this true of all gates?

Pretty soon the maze of barriers fills up with other people, and the women who had queued in front of me were now behind me. I offered them to go first, but they seemed to be happy where they were. After 10-15 minutes of waiting outside this door we were finally allowed in. I skipped down the stairs, got my first wristband, then marched as quickly as I could onto the field -- yes, we were on the wrong side -- and bolted down to Keith's pit, got my second wristband, and then headed to the rail along the walkway to the b-stage. I could have had the front rail, but it's not my preferred location, and certainly not for my wife given the height of the stage. Tossed my jersey next to me, then sat on the floor and waited for the rest to come!

Despite all the issues, I got the spot we wanted. My wife found me after the support act had played (I remained sitting through their set -- I wouldn't want to hear them again) and brought food and water (but not in a bottle, despite the fact that they were selling bottled water on the stadium floor!).

As for the Stones, I've seen a lot of shows over the years, and have friends who have seen a lot too, including several shows on this tour. I deliberately stayed away from the YouTubes, but have heard nothing but praise from everyone about this year's shows. In short, I thoroughly agree with everyone. This show far exceeded my expectations. The first thing I noticed was the sound quality. Compared to the likes of McCartney, Roger Waters, etc. the Stones have never seemed to have great live sound. I don't know whether they are using a different audio company, or a different FoH engineer, but the sound was excellent. The next thing I noticed was Mick's voice, which was both much better and clearer in the mix. On top of that was the great guitar tone from Keith and Ronnie. As a result, I even found myself enjoying the warhorses, even the ones that I normally do not care for.

Having heard the sound-check, the only real setlist surprise was LIB. It was great to see Mick and Keith sharing a microphone on several occasions, and I don't recall Keith singing background vocals on so many songs. Mick stopped right by us every time he took to the walkway, so the ladies around me were very happy.

Darryl probably played more notes in his Miss You bass solo (which seemed much extended compared to previous tours) than Bill played in all his years in the band. At the end, Mick said to him, "What does Miles Davis think about that?" in his best Miles Davis voice:



solo starts at 4:20, Mick talks at 5:55 (pretty good for a YouTube!)

While Keith did look rather pasty, and played much less than in the past, what he did play sounded great -- and there were only a few clams! Ronnie seemed to relish his role as the main guitarist, and I'm inclined to say that Mick may have played more than Keith on a couple of songs (LIB especially).

Although OOC has never been one of my favorite songs, I must admit that I really enjoyed this version. It was also the only song where I really noticed the video screens, as they used some cartoon skyscraper imaging, but, sadly, no cage! The advantage of being close enough that you can hear Mick's voice directly is that you don't need the screens!

Rambler, as usual, was the high-point, and we got more of You Gotta Move than I expected from show reports. Silver was done slowly and sublimely. Afterwards Keith said, "This is a lot fun. I wouldn't do it if it wasn't!"

My criticisms are very minor. I have no idea why they feel the walkway has to be so high. My wife, who is 5 ft and a fart, could not see over the walkway despite being on the rail. So when Mick went over to the backing singers, or out on the wing of the stage, she could not see anything.

The opening was nothing spectacular. The No Security video is still my favorite, but when you think back to Fanfare For The Common Man, the Voodoo Lounge Cobra, etc., this start was just meh!

The backing band seemed especially spaced out -- more than I remember from previous tours. I know Matt Clifford was on the same side during Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle, but he seemed quite detached from everything, as were the horns, who I only recall noticing during 3 songs (Rocks Off, Brown Sugar, and, I'd have to think about it -- the one where Tim Ries does a solo). Similarly, Bernard and Sasha are way off on the other side. (Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy for the Stones to tour without the backing musicians, but if you are going to have them, it seems like they should feel like part of the show, and not in a different zip code.)

Hard to know whether it was the mix or her voice, but Sasha didn't seem to have the power for Gimme Shelter.

It was clear from the outset that the Stones were going to bust through the 10 pm curfew, so the after show fireworks were nixed. Not a big deal for me, but probably does take away from the occasion for some.

When the show was over, it was a bit of a slog to get out -- the architects knew the stadium was going to host concerts so they should have thought about field exits! Then to cap it all off, the police were giving us the hurry up to leave the parking lot, even though there was a long line of cars already queued up to get out. We waited until the lot was virtually empty before starting the engine!

My gold medal award goes to the stage designer who put a fan on the walkway right in my line of sight of Chuck. Genius, just genius!

If this turns out to be the last time for me to see the Stones, I can say that I saw an excellent final show by a band that appeared to be in great spirits. If the camaraderie between Mick and Keith is just a show, well, they had me fooled. I enjoyed myself far more than I expected -- despite all the hassles with the stadium and its staff!

Here's the Santa Clara litho:

 

I freakin' TOLD you!

Sounds like a nightmare of a day leading up to the big shoo, but glad it all worked out for youse guys.

 

Here are the Pasadena song vote choices.

When The Whip Comes Down

She's A Rainbow

She's So Cold

Live With Me

I vote Live With Me

 

Live With Me!

 

Play “She’s A Rainbow.”


.........but since I’m not going to Pasadena, “Live With Me” is fine too.

 

Hey, no one likes a know-it-all -- unless it's me!

Probably the most disorganized show I have attended -- and I went to festivals in the 1970s! I understand that a lot of the staff on a game/concert day are low-paid, and are there to do a specific task (the yellow-jacketed security guy near us said that he didn't even live in the area, but a few hours away), but they should have had more chief stewards who knew the set-up. Also, would it have killed them to print the gate information on the ticket!?!?

There was also only one entrance for LDs apparently, and it had a line a mile long according to my wife. Of three sets of friends who had LDs, two got first elevated section, Ron's side, and the other got pit, Keith's side. So that wasn't too bad. The young German couple who ended up next to me managed to get pit with their LDs in Seattle and Santa Clara! Some people have all the luck!!

 

Yeah, we had trouble getting into the venue as well (and we were also in Pit 2). When the gates opened, nearly all of the metal detectors were malfunctioning where we were at, so lots of folks in other queues were able to get in well before us. We eneded up front in that little pocket where the main stage veers out to the side ramps. Concession lines were already a mess 45 minutes before the opening act went on, and we were forced to hike all the way up to the 100 level at the stairs on the back of the floor just to get access to anything. Lame. My wife had seen Coldplay there a couple of years ago and they had full concessions (and access to several bathrooms) on the floor, so she was surprised that the folks paying the highest ticket prices didn't even have an opportunity to purchase a bottle of water nearby in the middle of summer.

I'm a lifelong Niner fan, and (my family and I) had season tickets at Candlestick for decades, but once they decided to build this stadium in Santa Clara (again, lame), we walked away from our tickets. We went to one game the first season they played there, and it was such a let-down. I wasn't planning on ever returning, but I couldn't resist one more chance to see the Stones.

 

They did have a guy selling popcorn and bottles of water in the area behind Pit2. That was why it was so surprising when my wife turned up with glasses of water, as she was told no bottles allowed!

My wife took over her boss's Candlestick season tickets for a number of years (excellent seats close to the halfway line), but she decided to skip it after the move to Levi's. The 49ers organization kept contacting her for a while with all kinds of offers to get her to reconsider, but she has stuck to her guns.

 

If the lyrics are uncensored, then Live With Me gets my vote. Otherwise, my vote goes to Whip ( uncensored as well - )

 

Successful "Rocks Off" == Sasha + horns + KEITH - when I saw early in that video that Keith was going to be doing the heavy lifting all by his lonesome for the familiar riff, I briefly clenched my butthole, but what a really magnificent job as that unfurled. That song has gone wrong live so many times, in so many ways.

Yes, KR played ONE extra round at the end, but Charlie cut him off.

 

I was at the Seattle show and You Got Me Rockin was one of the hoghlights to me. Why do u hate it? Is it too new for u? I welcome the Stones taking chances and wish they had actual
New material for this tour.
I so wish they mixed up their sets more in general.

Other highlights from Seattle were Beast of. Burden,Mis You, Midnight Rambler and Paint It Black. Gimme Shelter and Satisfaction as over played as they are were still the top highlights of the night. The Stones know how to have a finale thats for sure

 

10th Stones show in my life and the best.USA tours 75, 81, 97 England 99, 03, 12 USA 13, 15 19x2 SEA and Santa Clara



Santa Clara show was a force of nature! Mick was in beyond fine form, and his vocals strong and on point! Ron Wood is an amazing guitar player and he was on fire Sunday night!!! They played like a band playing their lives and they live to play another show and many more from that performance!! Let it Bleed was a thrill to see live and Rocks off Rocked!! I think the show was only 20 minutes though at least it seemed to be over in the blink of an eye. They played at a speed and with perfection that few, if any, rock band can or has played. Ladies And Gentlemen THE ROLLING STONES!!!!

 

Just as an aside regarding the earlier discussion of Keith's guitar contributions these days, I recently found myself in a YouTube rabbit-hole and came across a three-part Steven Van Zandt interview with Keith. Below is a link to Part 1 and the remaining parts are easily found on YT for those inclined. Anyway, 0:40 of the linked video below gives the watcher a glimpse of Keith's gnarled fretting fingers. Holy crap... no wonder he's soft-pedaling the guitar.