So this was a dream trip for me. Every time I think “This Could Be the Last Time”. But of course it never is. And I hope it never will be. These guys just go on and on for ever. And for me that is just great. The Stones are, without question, my favourite band and worthy of the title “The Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band in the World”. This is my 15th Stones experience since I first saw them in 1971 at Newcastle City Hall for the princely sum of 15 shillings/75p (decimalisation was just coming in and they printed both prices on the ticket. I was 14 and went to the early 6:30 PM show (they played 2 shows a night back in the day) and paid £1 for the ticket outside. From that night on I became a massive Rolling Stones fan.
So we went down: me, Lisa, Elaine and Jan courtesy of Trans Pennine Express on Thursday afternoon and took a short walk to our hotel close to Lime Street station. After a couple of hours rest I was up again and we took a bus to Anfield where we were shown to a nice lounge with food and drink prior to taking our seats for the show, which we did to catch the last couple of songs of Echo and the Bunnymen, the support act. We had nice seats in the disabled area with a good view of the stage and Jan just in front of us.
After a short wait, just before the Stones took to the stage the screens lit up and showed a lovely tribute to Charlie Watts, with video footage from throughout his career showing him, always dapper and cool, back in the 1960s through to his last days with the band. This received a well-deserved cheer from the Anfield crowd. RIP Charlie. Much missed. It was 9 PM and the Rolling Stones took to the stage, starting with “Street Fighting Man”. Jagger was as energetic as ever running up and down the walkway right out in the crowd. Flanked by Keith (as cool as ever and forever my hero) and Ronnie Wood; both looking and playing great. Mick Jagger’s vocals were as powerful as they ever have been. Like a fine wine these guys seem to get better with age. They never cease to astound me and always exceed my expectations. Mick announced “This is our 60th anniversary tour and the first one we have done without our drummer Charlie Watts. So we dedicate the show to Charlie”, followed by a massive cheer from the crowd.
This was a perfect set list for me, drawing heavily from the 1960s: “19th Nervous Breakdown” followed. When I was a young kid I remember buying this single for a shilling or two (or maybe less) from the public house over the road from my home. It would sell ex-jukebox singles and we would go over every now and then to buy classic records from a little box which the barmaid would bring out to the off sales window. Then we were treated to “Get off of My Cloud” and “Tumbling Dice”. Then came the surprise: in tribute to the Beatles Mick introduced their early hit (of course written by the Fab Four) “I Wanna Be Your Man”. This was apparently the first time they had played the song since I saw them perform it at the O2 Arena in London in 2012.
Then another great favourite of mine, which was a charttopping hit for the great Chris Farlowe “Out Of Time”. You can’t beat the old classics. Then another classic “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” followed by the less familiar “Living in a Ghost Town” and then back to the 1960s for “Honky Tonk Women” (I told you this was a perfect set list!) Next, as always, Keith took front of stage for “You Got the Silver” and the less familiar “Connection”. Mick was soon back for a great singalong with “Miss You”, followed by another of my favourites “Midnight Rambler”. He no longer whips the stage with his belt, as he did in the 1970s, but uses his jacket instead. For this song he really turns it up a notch, running up and down the walkway into the crowd singing the chorus again and again. Next another great classic “Start Me Up”.
The next song “Paint It Black” always gets me. For me, the perfect Stones song with Ronnie Wood playing electric sitar bringing back memories of seeing Brian Jones on TV sitting cross-legged with his own sitar. Now I knew we were on the home strait. The stage turns dark red and the familiar chants of “Sympathy for the Devil” start to fill the night air. Another great crowdpleaser. They close with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”.
Next another magic moment. The Anfield crowd spontaneously sing their anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. The band seemed to allow them time to complete it before they return to play “Gimme Shelter” and finish the show, as always, with “Satisfaction”. The perfect end to another great concert by “The Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band in the World”. After a short time queueing we are back on our bus and of to Lime Street. Till the next time.
Setlist: Street Fighting Man; 19th Nervous Breakdown; Get Off of My Cloud; Tumbling Dice; I Wanna Be Your Man; Out of Time; You Can’t Always Get What You Want; Living in a Ghost Town; Honky Tonk Women; You Got the Silver (Keith vocals); Connection (Keith vocals); Miss You; Midnight Rambler; Start Me Up; Paint It Black; Sympathy for the Devil; Jumpin’ Jack Flash.
Encore: Gimme Shelter; (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Thanks to Lisa for the photographs and to Wikimedia Commons for the image of Lime Street Station.
a kid, maybe 10 or 11, the public house over the road “The Colliery Inn” would sell off the jukebox copies of recent hit singles when they left the charts, or when the locals lost interest in them. My mates and I would regularly go to the side entrance of the bar, where there was a little hatch and ask the barmaid to look at the records. She would bring out a box of 45 rpm singles, each with their centres pushed out for operation in the jukebox. We would, with delight, look through the pile of records including The Rolling Stones, Small Faces, The Who and others. I can still smell the beer that wafted out of the bar; lovely! There were never many Beatles singles; someone must have held on to them. I remember buying copies of “19th Nervous Breakdown”, “Little Red Rooster”, “Have You Seen Your Mother Baby (Standing in the Shadow)” and “Paint It Black”. I had to buy plastic centres for the records in order to play them on my old record player. I would stack up the records and play them again and again; particularly “Paint It Black”. My lifelong obsession with the Rolling Stones began then.
A few years later, I was a young teenager sitting in awe in Newcastle City Hall in 1971, watching in disbelief at my hero Mick Jagger. I couldn’t believe that I was actually saying the Rolling Stones, in real life, in front of me! From then on, I have seen the Stones many times; joining 200,000 fans at Knebworth Park in 1976, many shows in football stadiums around the country, and more recently, concerts in London’s plush O2 arena and at the Glastonbury Festival.
Before my accident, buying tickets was very different, and much easier. I would go to my computer; a few clicks and I had my tickets! Ticket buying is very different now I need a wheelchair space. I need to locate the accessible phone line and phone that number, only to be put into a queue, listening to music until I finally got through to an operator. I am then allocated my spot in the stadium and a free ticket for my carer. Sometimes I could be in the queue for over one hour, hoping to get tickets. This is admittedly much easier than queueing for tickets which I did many times in the 1970s. I once queued 28 hours outside Newcastle City Hall to buy tickets for the Rolling Stones! The logistics of travelling to a major gig have changed since being in a wheelchair. I need to plan ahead carefully. I book an accessible taxi to the train station, accessible seats on the train and two hotel rooms (one disabled room for me, one twin room for my carers). I take two carers with me, for different shifts during the night. Booking the train involves phoning the accessible travel line and then another number to book train tickets. I need to arrive at the station early and look for the friendly guys with a ramp who assist me on to the train.
“Gimme Shelter “and (of course) “Satisfaction”.
I am sitting on the 06.15 train out of London, returning home after an amazing concert.
First song was “I Wanna Be Your Man”, with Mick wearing a black and white jacket and matching trilby. We were back in the 60s, and the sound and playing was superb. From where I sat I could hear every word clearly, and it was crisp and quite loud. A screen at either side of the stage and at the back, in the heart of the mouth, showed images of the band in their youth. Next was “Get Off My Cloud”, followed by “All Over Now”. Mick was in a playful mood asking “How is it up in the cheap seats?” and adding “Oh they aren’t really cheap are they?”, and joking about how the band missed out on the Queen’s jubilee and the Olympics ceremonies, but just made it “under the wire” for these gigs. He took off his jacket, all dressed in black for an amazing version of “Paint It Black” and the whole arena sang along; Ronnie and Keith sharing guitar parts, with Ronnie on an electric sitar. Ronnie Wood really shone in those first few numbers, taking on most of the lead parts. However, Keith came more to the fore as the show went on. “Gimme Shelter” saw the band welcome their first guest of the night, who was Mary J Blige, taking the vocals alongside Mick Jagger: “It’s Just a Shot Away”; great. The tone and the pace were then lowered a little for a beautiful version of “Wild Horses”. “All Down the Line” was accompanied by a video of the Stones’ influences and heroes: John Lee Hooker, James Brown, Howling Wolf, Elvis, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, and a host of others appeared on the screen. The next guest to appear was “one of our contempories” Jeff Beck who led the band through “Going Down”, playing some amazing guitar; very flashy, loud, and for a few minutes outshining the band who were clearly loving it. The next song was “Out of Control” from Bridges to Babylon, which was less familiar to me. 
Mick then introduced the two new songs “One More Shot” and “Doom and Gloom”. I must say that these two new tracks are not my favourite Stones’ songs, but they sounded pretty good last night.
The band left the stage to a tremendous reception; they had delivered 100%, the last two hours had just flown over, and everyone in the arena cheered for more. They were quickly back, accompanied by a choir for a sweet version of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, followed by closer “Jumping Jack Flash”, with the voices of the crowd almost drowning the band. They left the stage for the last time at 11pm, the crowd clapping and shouting for more; then the tongue logo appeared with the words “Thanks for coming; have a safe journey home” and we knew that it was finally over. Apparently the set list had also included “Satisfaction” as the last song, but the strict curfew prevented them from playing it. So that was it. You have to give it to them; they showed all their critics that they could still deliver, and at a level that I haven’t seen for a long, long time. This was one of the best times I have seen The Rolling Stones; much, much better than the last time I saw them at the O2 in 2007. I can honestly say that I can’t think of any band to match last night in terms of performance, energy and the rich back catalogue that they have to draw from. And yes Mick’s voice held out, Keith can still play (and well too), Ronnie was great, and I mustn’t forget to mention Charlie, who sits quietly at the back, keeping the beat. And you could tell that they were all enjoying it. The self-styled Greatest Rock n Roll Band in the World retains its crown for a while yet.
Last night was the premier of the Rolling Stones new documentary Crossfire Hurricane, and we all got the chance to be part of the event, which was screened live from the Odeon Leicester Square to 300 cinemas around the world. I attended the screening at my local Cineworld cinema at Boldon. To my surprise it wasn’t too well attended with 20 or so people in the audience. The screening started with a live simulcast (just picked up on that word) from the red carpet outside the Odeon, where we saw the four current members of the Stones arrive alongside past members Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor and celebrities such as Liam Gallagher and members of the Stones wider family such as Jerry Hall, Anita Pallenberg and Jade Jagger. There were some interesting interviews with Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger and Bill Wyman who each commented on the documentary, and some plugs for the upcoming 50th anniversary concerts in London and Newark. The documentary itself is pretty good. It focusses on the Stones at the height of their success in the 60s and 70s, with nothing at all after that period. There is lots of previously unseen footage, and for me the film highlighted a few things: how important Brian Jones was to the early band, how crazy the 60s concerts were, and just how great the Stones are as a live band and as a musical force. A nice early evening’s entertainment.
I’m writing a chapter for a text on the Rolling Stones, focussing on my recollections of the Stones in concert. As part of that I’m also reflecting on the recent Shine A Light film, which Laura and I went to see in 2008. A strange one this in several ways. The cinema was pretty empty, which surprised me a little. There obviously wasn’t a great appetite for a Stones movie in the North East. Technically the film was outstanding, and the film sported some great guests playing with the band. However the set list was not a normal Stones show, and a little disappointing for me. I enjoyed the film, but wasn’t knocked out by it. Setlist: Jumpin’ Jack Flash; Shattered; She Was Hot; All Down the Line; Loving Cup (with Jack White); As Tears Go By; Just My Imagination; Champagne and Reefer (with Buddy Guy); Tumbling Dice; You Got the Silver; Connection; Sympathy for the Devil; Live with Me (with Christina Aguilera); Start Me Up; Brown Sugar; (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction; Shine a Light
I saw the Stones in Sheffield in 2006 on the first leg of the Bigger Bang tour, which was the 9th time I’d seen the band, and convinced me I should take every chance I could to see them so, when they returned to the UK a year later in August 2007 to finish the tour at the O2 Arena London, I decided to go and see them again, and bought myself a ticket. Having already paid top prices for David and I to go to the Sheffield gig, I couldn’t justify paying for a seat down the front, so I bought a cheap(?!) £75 ticket up in the heights of the arena in the top balcony at the side of the stage. I figured it would be interesting seeing them from that part of the arena anyway. On the night of the gig I arrived in time for support The Kooks, who played to a pretty empty arena, and a largely uninterested crowd. I knew their hit “She Moves in Her Own Way”, which is pretty neat. However the crowd was very much there to see the Stones, and everyone was waiting for the main act. During the interval I wandered around the arena, exploring the place, taking in the crowd and sharing in the atmosphere of a Stones gig. 
As I came down an escalator, an official with a pile of tickets asked me if I would like to upgrade my seat. He offered to swap my ticket for a seat “right down the front”. Great I thought. The deal was done, and with around 15 minuutes to show time I walked downstairs to take my new seat. My eyesight is not so good these days and not having my glasses with me I couldn’t read the row and seat number, so asked a steward for help in locating where I was to be sitting. “Oh you are in the middle of the front row of the front block, continue down to the very front” I was told! So, excited as a little kid, I took my place in the middle of the front row, in a prime £150 seat. The band/promoter/arena had clearly kept some fromt row seats back, presumably to give out to surprised fans on the night! 10 minutes later and the band took to the stage, with Keith, Mick and the rest of them only a few feet in front of me. I never thought I’d ever be as close to the Stones again. Jagger was prancing up and down the stage, incredibly lean and fit. They kicked off with Start Me Up, and went through a set of usual favourites. It was great being so close; the sound was loud yet crisp, the band so energetic, particularly Jagger. Awesome. I was buzzing for days after. Setlist: Start Me Up; You Got Me Rocking; Rough Justice; Rocks Off; Let It Bleed; Beast of Burden; Can’t You Hear Me Knocking; I’ll Go Crazy; Tumbling Dice; You Got The Silver; Wanna Hold You. B-Stage: It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It); Respectable; (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction; Honky Tonk Women; Sympathy for the Devil; Paint It Black; Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Encore: Brown Sugar.
This was David’s first Stones experience. We had tickets on the pitch pretty near the stage. It was the second time I’d seen the Stones in Don Valley, and my 9th Stones concert experience. Support came from Paolo Nutini, who put in a respectable performance. He had just released the single New Shoes which I remember him singing. This was The Bigger Bang tout. I’d bought the new Bigger Bang album, and had played it a few times; there are a few OK tracks on the album, but overall nothing startling. The set up was as usual with am impressive stage set up and a B stage in the middle pitch. This time there was the added attraction for some, of being able to have a seat on the stage, looking down over the band. 
Ticket prices for the seats above the stage were exorbitant, as were all seats. We paid the princely sum of £150 a ticket for good seats on the pitch, plus I paid fan club membership for the privelege of being able to buy such good seats in a presale. Still it was worth it to be quite close up to the band. The Stones played great that night; however towars the end of the show it started pouring down with rain, which truly and literally put a damper on the occassion. The set was standard Stones, no big surprises. It was good to hear Lets Spend the Night Together, which was a favourite of mine at the time. Setlist: Jumpin’ Jack Flash; Start Me Up; She’s So Cold; Let’s Spend the Night Together; Sway; Streets Of Love; Bitch; It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It); Tumbling Dice; Slipping Away; Before They Make Me Run. B-Stage: Miss You; Rough Justice; Get Off Of My Cloud; Honky Tonk Women; Sympathy for the Devil; Brown Sugar. Encore: You Can’t Always Get What You Want; (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
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