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Madison Square Garden

One of the most popular places for the FORTY LICKS US tour is no doubt Madison Square Garden. 

Tonight show setlist and review can be found here on Friday Sep. 27.

 

Set list:
Street Fighting Man -  It's Only Rock'n'Roll -  If You Can't Rock Me -  Don't Stop -  Live With Me - Wild Horses -  Loving Cup -  Rocks Off - Rip This Joint - Tumbling Dice - Thru and Thru - Before They Make Me Run -  Love Train - Start Me Up - Honky Tonk Women -  Can't You Hear Me Knockin' - Satisfaction -  Mannish Boy - Shattered - Brown Sugar -  Sympathy For The Devil - Jumpin' Jack Flash

Review 

Stones up to their old licks

After a four-month tease, the Rolling Stones finally arrived in New York last night, playing a soldout show at Madison Square Garden that left little doubt why the band's legacy is so revered.

For more than two hours, Mick Jagger and the Stones delved into their catalogue of rock 'n' roll classics and burnished them like cherished heirlooms.

More than 40 years after it started cranking out hits, the group has given up on expanding itself and is content to simply extend a storied career that has no equal in pop music.

Even though albums failed, sales plummeted and their creative juices dried to a trickle, the Stones continued to make their concerts among the most memorable in the pop world.

For most bands, a holding pattern is the kiss of death as concerts begin to calcify and fans grow tired of the same regurgitated hits.

But the Stones have been granted a sliver of magic that allows them to revitalize even chestnuts such as "Street Fighting Man" - the opening number last night - and "Satisfaction," "Brown Sugar" and "Sympathy for the Devil."

From Keith Richards' first nonchalant strum to Jagger's predictable if inimitable stage swagger, the band performed with the kind of energy that musicians a third their age would envy.

Jagger and company took the stage with a warm sense of efficiency. Charlie Watts' deceptively simple playing provided a propulsive drumbeat. Richards and Ron Wood twinned their rhythmic leads together as gracefully as two longtime dance partners.

As promised, the Stones focused on a single album, playing a handful of songs from "Exile on Main Street" that included the rare "Loving Cup" and the well-known "Rocks Off" and "Tumbling Dice."

The show was the first of three in the New York area on this leg of the "Licks" tour. The band is at Giants Stadium tomorrow night, and Monday they'll fill a much-anticipated club date at Roseland Ballroom.

The Roseland gig is such a rarity that tickets have become something like Willy Wonka's golden ducats. Demand has boosted scalpers' prices north of $4,000. That doesn't even get you a seat, because Roseland has been standing room only since the golden age of big bands came to an end.

The Garden show was considered the group's "midsize" date, and tomorrow's gig at Giants Stadium promises to be its usual, hits-only spectacle of massive video screens and enormous stage props.

Last night's show proved there's a reason fans shell out big bucks - it took a $350 face value ticket to see Jagger's craggy mug up close - for a group that released its last significant album in 1980. The Rolling Stones do something rare among pop culture icons. They live up to the legend. 

 

STONES' NEW 'LICKS' STILL HAVE FANS LAPPING IT UP

By DAN AQUILANTE NYPOST


September 27, 2002 -- THE genius of the Rolling Stones' Licks tour - which celebrates the band's four decades in rock - is that the package is simple and uncomplicated.

At Madison Square Garden last night, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts knew it was only rock 'n' roll - but they like it, and in turn, they made the sold-out house love it.

From guitarist Richards' opening slash 'n' burn chord change-ups for "Street Fighting Man" through the encore, the band pulled tight the string of original and cover songs - and never let up the tension.

The band is too old to sweat over the music, but still young enough at heart to pump blood into ancient songs.

As you might or might not expect, these Brits played a pounding rock show that cemented their title as the greatest rock band in the world.

The band played hits such as "Honky Tonk Woman," "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" and their much-loved ballad "Wild Horses" with enough edge to make up for the lack of freshness.

The tunes kept rolling for two hours and held the house in velvet chains. After the music started, hardly anyone left their seat for beers, dogs or even pit stops.

Sure, there were occasional signs that time isn't always on their side - such as when the band played a cover of the O'Jay's "Love Train," complete with Mick in pimpadelic glory. But the stumbles were few.

Ignore when Richards and Wood stepped on Jagger's vocals during "Rocks Off." Forget that Watts' backbeat was too powerful in the sonic mix on "Honky Tonk."

Those slight missteps were acceptable. In fact, it made the show seem like it was crafted for New York rather than a high-polish choreographed concert that plays like a carbon copy at every tour stop.

For New York, the Stones snatched familiar favorites, but as it was at the Boston opener earlier this month, the mini-set from the band's masterpiece "Exile on Main Street" featuring "Lovin' Cup," "Rock Off," "Wreck the Joint" and "Tumblin' Dice" was the heart of this concert. It was in this quartet of songs that each band member best showed off their stuff.

Do they still have stuff to show off?

Yes, they do.

Although the show Saturday at Giants Stadium and Monday at Roseland are sold out, there's still a couple more chances to check out the Stones' licks when the band returns to the Garden Jan. 17 and 18.

Forty Licks

The new Forty Licks tour is over. Read the reviews here.

Stones Planet
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