 Frank Clair Stadium, Ottawa
on Sunday, August 28th. 2005.
43000 fans attended, some few technical problems disturbed a little part of
the show.
Set list:
Start Me Up - You Got Me Rocking - Shattered - Tumbling Dice - Rough Justice - Back Of My Hand - Beast Of Burden - She's So Cold - Night Time - Intro - The Worst -Infamy - Miss You - Oh No Not You Again - Satisfaction - Honky Tonk Women - Out of Control - Sympathy For The Devil - Jumping Jack Flash - Brown Sugar - You Can't Always Get What You Want (encore) - It's Only Rock'n'Roll
(encore)
Reviews:
Stones Big Bang on! by Denis Armstrong
OTTAWA -- Going out with a bang wasn't good enough for the Rolling Stones,
who delivered an even bigger bang in front of 43,000 fans last night at
Lansdowne Stadium.
After months of anticipation, the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world
surpassed all the hype to deliver one of the greatest concerts the city has ever
seen.
Everywhere you went before the concert, young and old proudly wore their
Rolling Stones merchandise, a sea of lips and tongues, a few going so far as to
model themselves after the Glimmer Twins -- Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
You could feel the electricity everywhere in and outside the stadium as
thousands who couldn't get tickets crowded Bank St. just to be able to say they
were there.
Running a half hour late only made their wait more delicious. When the house
lights finally dimmed an hour after Our Lady Peace cleared the stage, a
deafening cheer accompanied the animated video and fireworks that set the fans
back on their heels.
Jagger, dressed head-to-toe in blue satin, might have looked older than he
did when he last played the city 40 years ago, but his energy level was through
the roof.
"We haven't been here much, if that isn't an understatement," joked
Jagger. "We've added a few more songs since then."
The Stones stuck close to the set they premiered last week in Boston, opening
with Start Me Up, You've Got Me Rocking and Shattered.
Jagger seemed to be particularly pumped for the show, using every inch of the
ample floor space to strut and stomp like an angry ballet dancer while working
the catwalk to get close to his fans on Tumblin' Dice.
While Jagger posed and preened, Richards and Ronnie Woods settled into a jam
with a trio of soulful singers and a four-piece brass section. It was as dirty
and sexy as I've ever heard the band.
Halfway through the two-hour show, it was beginning to look like the band
would play all night, settling into a funky groove with Rough Justice, and the
traditional-sounding blues tune Back of My Hand, featuring Jagger playing slide
guitar.
The concert's biggest surprise was the hydraulically-fitted stage, which
lifted and then extended halfway down the tarpaulined field while the band
played Beast of Burden, She's So Cold and Missed You.
In the final few moments, the Stones paid tribute to their blues hero, Ray
Charles, with Night Time Is The Right Time before playing their own classics,
Satisfaction, Sympathy For the Devil, Jumping Jack Flash and their encore, I
Know It's Only Rock n' Roll (But I Like It).
Thanks to a spectacular sound system, the old classics sounded like brand new
tunes, and Jagger soon had the crowd on its feet singing along.
As good as the Stones sounded, the Bigger Bang gig proved to be a massive
rock 'n' roll experience, a spectacle easily surpassinging any other concert.
From the elaborate staging, which resembled a hi-tech parking garage lined
with three levels of balconies where standing-room-only fans looked down on the
band, the entire structure looked as if it would take off like a brilliant space
ship.
It was an unforgettable show, proving once again that though they might not
cut as many hit records as they used to, the Rolling Stones are still one of the
best live acts in rock.
 
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