The tour first indoor arena show took place
yesterday. The 18.000 seated big arena had some few problems, technically.
Charlie and Keith tried to solve it out.
Wait a minute! Let me check my Rolling Stones ticket
stub. It doesn't say Northrop Auditorium. It says Xcel Energy Center.
But the Stones' show Tuesday was the kind of intimate, low-frills, just
plain ol' rock 'n' roll that I'd been dreaming about for years from the
world's greatest band. I'd swear I was at Northrop -- except for that floating
stage bit (more on that later).
Most importantly, Mick Jagger didn't have stories of scaffolding and
endless ramps on which to run around, as we've seen on just about every
post-1972 Stones tour. This was just a large, bare-bones stage -- perfect for
manic Mick and his mincing moves and his spotlight-shy backup band.
Indeed, this was the Mick Jagger show (he took his own curtain call at the
end). Dressed in a red leather fedora, red T-shirt, black jacket (with red
sequined Stones tongue-logos) and black jeans, he carried on like a hyper
Prune Face on a Stick. Some 2,000 light years on, he remains an unparalleled
frontman and athlete. While Jerry Rice is retiring from pro football at age
42, Jagger, 62, is still at the top of his game, prancing and primping for
nearly two hours and, more significantly, singing with sass and consistent
conviction.
Maybe this was sweeter, as Jagger put it Tuesday, because he said the
Stones skipped the Twin Cities on their last tour, three years ago, for no
apparent reason. Plus, after six concerts in mammoth outdoor stadiums, this
was the Stones' first arena concert on this tour.
There was an undeniable freshness to their performance as well as a
consistency not witnessed at previous Stones' shows in the Twin Cities. The
group started strong with "Start Me Up,"You Got Me
Rocking,"She's So Cold" and "Tumbling Dice." Jagger was
aerobicizing at the prospect of getting laid (the theme of many of his songs)
and guitarist Keith Richards seemed happily lost in his voodoo licks.
Two songs from "A Bigger Bang," which was released Tuesday, kept
the party rocking -- the furious "Rough Justice" and the stinging
blues "Back of My Hand." A loose "Rocks Off" got the
sell-out crowd off. Another crowd-pleaser was the stadium-ready Ray Charles
tribute, "The Night Time Is the Right Time," featuring screaming
backup singer Lisa Fischer.
More intimate was the small stage set when a portion of the main stage
traveled to the opposite end of the arena for a four-song segment (with a
separate sound system) that gave "Satisfaction" -- both the song and
the emotion. Then came the usual flurry of Stones classics, peaking with the
closing "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" featuring guitar fireworks and
then actual post-show fireworks.
Once again, Jagger proved that he is one of rock's greatest performers. No
one in rock enjoys dancing more to his own music than Sir Mick. The Stones may
not rank as rock's greatest artists; they've never shown the growth and range
of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Prince, to name a
few. But that's OK. It's only rock 'n' roll. And it was enough to make a grown
man smile.
Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN.