Ford Field, Detroit
It's Stones time again on Saturday October 12 in Detroit.
Almost 60.000 fans will be there, and here you can read the review and setlist
and see some great photos from Sunday morning European time.
Set list:
Brown Sugar - It's Only Rock'n'Roll - Start Me Up - Don't Stop - Tumbling Dice -
Undercover - Wild Horses - You Can't Always Get What You Want - Can't You Hear
Me Knocking - Love Train - Slipping Away - Happy - Sympathy For The Devil - You
Got Me Rocking - Let It Bleed - Like A Rolling Stone - Gimme Shelter - Honky
Tonk Women - Street Fighting Man - Jumpin' Jack Flash - Satisfaction
Review Hard-driving Stones concert proves Ford Field rocks well
By Wendy Case / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- It's no
mistake that the Rolling Stones were the first major concert event to christen
Ford Field in Detroit Saturday night -- the folks at the brand new stadium
wanted something over the top for the Field's debut. They got it.
Around 9 p.m. as the strains of Slim Harpo's "I'm a King
Bee" faded from the P.A., the "world's greatest rock 'n' roll
band" burst onto the stage with their 1971 hit "Brown Sugar."
What followed was a lean and powerful retrospective set of the band's
astonishing catalog.
Singer Mick Jagger strutted like a bantam rooster as Keith
Richards hunched over his trademark Telecaster guitar, grinning like a Cheshire
cat. The venue sounded terrific and the band, sporting stacks of low-wattage,
vintage amplifiers, made excellent use of it.
Waiting until "Tumbling Dice," the fifth song in, to
employ a full brass section and longtime Stones sidepeople like Blondie Chaplin
and Chuck Leavell, the Stones began the set as a five piece, ripping through
"It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" and "Start Me Up" like they were
still playing the clubs.
Later-era tracks like "Undercover" mingled
effortlessly with classics like "Wild Horses" and "You Can't
Always Get What You Want," both of which had the 40,000 capacity crowd
singing along. Guitarist Ron Wood, newly sober, never looked or sounded better
-- his slide work on the Richards vocal nugget "Happy" was sexy and
raw. Drummer Charlie Watts held down the fort with understated grace, as always.
And, this time out, bassist Darryl Jones -- who replaced Bill Wyman in 1994 --
really came off like a fully-integrated member of the band.
Set highlights included "Can't You Hear Me Knocking,"
a cover of the O'Jay's "Love Train" -- which featured Jagger in a
white fedora and silver satin jacket, and a smoke and fire themed performance of
"Sympathy For the Devil."
Smirking TV hosts can make all the cracks they like about the
Stones' "elder statesmen" status, but the fact remains that no one
does it better. This is a band flexing it's muscle just to remind you who's
boss. True, "it's only rock 'n' roll." But to see it performed so
deftly by the guys who brought it to the world 40 years ago can take your breath
away.
Stones
sparkle at Ford Field Concert
by Brian McCollum
The age jokes are getting old, so let's just get that part out of the way:
Yes, the Rolling Stones have been around forever. And yes, Saturday night they
played their best Detroit show in years.
Inaugurating the concert career of the new Ford Field, the band was in top form,
sporting a renewed energy, even a new poise, that had been missing in other
recent Motor City visits.
Grizzled guitarist Keith Richards was first to emerge, cutting into the
chunky riff of "Brown Sugar," launching a show comprised mostly of
classic hits. Joining him on the expansive, sleek steel stage were the rest of
the world's most durable rock band: Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Ron Wood,
along with a set of backing musicians that included saxophonist and Tecumseh
native Tim Ries.
A capacity crowd of 45,000, about 70 percent what the stadium holds for
football, did its part, waging a 2-hour workout on middle-aged hips and vocal
cords -- the kind of night that gave more than a few weekday office workers
license to scream themselves hoarse.
But it was the Stones who did the real legwork. On this tour, which launched
last month in Boston, the band is juggling set lists, working from a stock of
more than 11 dozen songs. While that may have led to occasional ragged moments
--like a sloppy "You Can't Always Get What You Want" midway through --
it was also apparently responsible for the show's relaxed feel.
The band's excursions during the '90s often felt dismayingly telegraphed, a
sort-of Stones On Broadway, but Saturday night felt refreshingly like a rock
concert.
Jagger was as wiggly and limber a 59-year-old as you'll find. And Richards
was cool as ever, delivering lithe licks ("It's Only Rock 'N Roll")
and steamy leads ("Gimme Shelter"). He's still a joy to watch,
casually drawing sounds from his guitar as if tapping the primordial ooze of
rock 'n' roll were as natural as breathing.
While built primarily of familiar songs from the Stones' own catalog, the set
list contained a sprinkle of surprises, including a ramped-up run through the
O'Jays' "Love Train." It could have been a ridiculous moment - indeed,
Richards grinned throughout -- but really, it was simply the Stones doing what
the Stones have always done best: finding mojo in great old R&B, whether a
1973 pop classic or vintage Howlin' Wolf.
Other songs took on new life on the Ford Field stage: "Can't You Hear Me
Knocking" was treated to a slinky, extended breakdown; the new "Don't
Stop" got a shot of adrenaline lacking in its recorded version; and "Undercover
of the Night" provided a tasty revisitation of an overlooked '80s single.
Ford Field sparkled in its concert debut. Granted, it wouldn't take much to
top the creaky Pontiac Silverdome, but veteran music fans seemed largely
impressed by the new venue, quick to comment on the bright look and friendly
staff -- and the abundant restrooms.
Acoustically, the stadium held its own. Extensive sound baffles are ribboned
across the mammoth ceiling, helping to dilute the washed-out echo that plagues
older domed stadiums like the 1975 model in Pontiac. And while Ford Field wasn't
transformed into the Fox Theatre -- sound at the back of the stadium couldn't
escape the cavernous effect -- it was a vast improvement on the Silverdome.
More reviews:
I went to the ford field concert in Detroit. I enjoyed the songs they
played at this concert . The era that is the best is the late sixties
thru 1974. They looked and sounded great! Geri in St. Clair shores,
Michigan
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