When Mick Jagger appeared on the Dick Cavett Show in 1972, the host asked the singer about the concept of growing old in rock ’n’ roll.
“Can you picture yourself at age 60 doing what you do now?” he queried.
“Yeah, easily, yeah,” responded the Rolling Stones frontman, without a hint of hesitation.
Clearly, Mr. Cavett, who remains with us at age 87, never expected Jagger, on the cusp of turning 81, to be still recording and touring in 2024. But here the singer comes with two dates at MetLife Stadium, along with lead guitarist Keith Richards, who turns 81 in December, and rhythm guitarist Ron Wood, the youngblood of the core trio, at 76.
Together, they’re joined by their private wrecking crew of established musicians who’ve been playing with them for decades, including longtime bassist Darryl “The Munch” Jones, former Allman Brothers Band keyboardist Chuck Leavell, and Steve Jordan — of Richards’s solo project, the X-Pensive Winos — who was the handpicked choice of the late Charlie Watts to replace him on the drums. Onstage, this version of the band is augmented by exceptional sax players Tim Ries and Karl Denson, along with background singers Bernard Fowler, on board with the Stones since 1989, and new vocalist Chanel Haynes, who replaced Sasha Allen in 2022.
Early reports of the tour have been exemplary, with critics astounded by the energy on display from Jagger, Richards, and Wood, on the road in support of their very good new studio album, Hackney Diamonds, which was released last October to a groundswell of positive-to-mixed reviews.
You know that old joke about how the only things that will survive a nuclear war are cockroaches and Keith Richards.
“Their movements are by now familiar, only with more sensible footwear,” Andrew Dansby wrote in Mojo magazine about the tour’s April 28th opening night in Houston, adding, “Jagger remains a perpetual motion machine; Richards hangs back by the drum kit.” Danby also noted that Jagger told the crowd, “the Stones first visited Texas 60 years ago: ‘Our first rodeo.’”
What is promised in such write-ups is the assurance that the group, even at the advanced age of its stalwart nucleus, remains a well-oiled machine that can still get their ya-ya’s out as blithely as they did in 1965, at New York City’s Academy of Music, or in 1969, when they were introduced everywhere from Madison Square Garden to the Bay Area’s Altamont Speedway as “The greatest rock ’n’ roll band in the world.” Most critics at the time didn’t argue with that sobriquet, and many still agreed when the Stones hit the road 43 years ago to promote their Tattoo You album, 35 years ago on the Steel Wheels tour, and 30 years ago while supporting their 1994 classic Voodoo Lounge. Then five years ago when they last played MetLife, and Charlie was still with them — and us.
What I’m trying to convey here is that these men are clearly wizards. You know that old joke about how the only things that will survive a nuclear war are cockroaches and Keith Richards. Bless his soul, the Human Riff is turning that into prophecy. Jagger, meanwhile, remains the active son of a gym teacher, as he continues to eat healthy and get the right amount of exercise that allows him to prowl the Stones’ giant stage with ease. The fact that the tour is going so well in the weeks leading to these MetLife shows is a testament to the band’s spiritual, mental, and physical longevity against the odds and the naysayers.
This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the Stones’ release of their self-titled debut. Within those six decades, the band released 31 studio albums, each one adding its own mark to that “greatest” legacy. Hackney Diamonds, an album certainly on par with their prior studio LP A Bigger Bang (2003), is represented three times during the two-hour show. Based on what I’ve surmised while perusing through prior dates on Setlist.fm, the album’s lead single, “Angry,” is normally the fourth or fifth song in the show, while either “Mess It Up” or “Whole Wide World” is played seventh and the Lady Gaga-assisted soul ballad “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” makes an appearance during the encore.
As for the rest of the concert, the Stones are delivering pure fan nirvana in their nightly selection. Based on previous gigs on this tour, forever favorites like opener “Start Me Up,” “Get Off My Cloud,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “Miss You,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” and closing number “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” are bedrock. But there are also sly changeups in the setlist sure to please the hardcore fan, like when they broke out “She’s So Cold,” in Glendale, Arizona, or “You Got The Silver,” with Keith on lead vocals, in Las Vegas, or “It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll (But I Like It),” in Seattle. One can only imagine what gems they might deliver over these two nights in New Jersey.
As per the norm with Stones tours, a carefully curated cadre of opening acts are selected to warm up the crowd for the shows, with such buzz acts as The Linda Lindas, Gary Clark Jr., Tyler Childers, and The War and Treaty securing the coveted assignment. For MetLife, they are so far keeping Wednesday’s opener a surprise, while Sunday’s show will feature New York City soul-pop duo Lawrence, whose jubilant new single “Guy I Used To Be” sounds like it could be the cousin of the classic Go West song “King of Wishful Thinking.” A cool choice, and these talented siblings, whose dad was the guy who directed the 2000 Sandra Bullock comedy Miss Congeniality, will have to work their eight-piece live band hard to impress the metro area Stones crowd, the way Living Colour did in ’89, that’s for sure.
It might be easy to chortle at the idea of these old geezers touring the United States in their golden years. But speaking as a kid who first heard the Stones when “Beast of Burden” was inescapable on New York radio in kindergarten, having the chance to see them still do their thing as happy and healthy pensioners is a mitzvah that transcends snark. ❖
Ron Hart is the editor in chief of Rock and Roll Globe. As a freelancer, he has contributed to numerous publications, including Billboard, Spin, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Vice, and Relix, among others. Find him on X at @mistertribune.
R.C. Baker
Source link
