RSFCO

November 12th the Oakland Arena in the near of San Francisco, California welcomes The Rolling Stones.

Set list:
Street Fighting Man - It's Only Rock'n'Roll - If You Can't Rock Me - Don't Stop - Ain't Too Proud To Beg - Heart of Stone - Sweet Virginia - Loving Cup -All Down the Line - Tumbling Dice - Thru and Thru - You Don't Have to Mean It - Start Me Up - You Got Me Rockin - Honky Tonk Women - Can't You Hear Me Knockin' - Satisfaction - Mannish Boy - When the Whip Comes Down - Brown Sugar - Sympathy for the Devil - Jumping Jack Flash

Jagger mesmerizes on well-known tracks; moves like his paycheck is based on the number of wiggles

For their 40th anniversary tour the Rolling Stones have been playing three different sized venues, using three different stage designs, and performing (at least) three different set lists.

On Friday and Saturday, fans got the stadium show when the self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Rock'n' Roll Band" performed at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco.

Friday's show was good, not great, as the Stones played like it was just another day at the office. Reports were that the Saturday concert was much better.

On Tuesday, fans got the slightly scaled-down show when the Stones performed at the Oakland Arena.

It's too bad that the Bay Area didn't also get a small club date with the Stones, like New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. Could you imagine how great it would be to see the Stones at the Fillmore?

Still, I had high hopes for the Oakland show. The chances of the Stones having two off-nights in a single four-day span seemed slim.

And, indeed, the Stones delivered big time on Tuesday in Oakland and adequately compensated for the less-than-stellar showing on Friday.

The band members were much more energetic, in tune with each other and ready for the crowd. The musicianship was sharp and steady. The set list was inspired, containing a delightful mix of the familiar and the unexpected.

In all, it was what one would expect to get after paying as much as $315 for a ticket.

If one had to single out the main reason for Tuesday's successful showing it would be, as expected, Mick Jagger.

Rock's great front man had a terrific night. His voice, which was hit or miss on Friday, was flawed perfection on songs such as "Tumbling Dice," "You Got Me Rocking" and "Brown Sugar" in Oakland.

At 59, Jagger doesn't have the prettiest or strongest voice. But when he's on, he still has one of the most compelling voices in the genre. He was simply mesmerizing on tracks like the joyous "Loving Cup" and the snarling "Street Fighting Man."

Plus, for 22 songs and more than two hours, Jagger hosted a one-man aerobics class, moving, grinding, dancing and jumping like his paycheck was based on how many times he wiggled.

Friday's concert was a fairly poor showing for the two guitarists, Ron Wood and Keith Richards, who seemed to spend at least as much mugging for the camera as they did picking the six-string guitar.

Wood made up for it in Oakland by delivering some scalding, though tuneful, guitar parts on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Start Me Up."

The set list was terrific. Starting off the show with a double shot of "Street Fighting Man" and "It's Only Rock'n' Roll," the Stones drew freely from a number of musical pots. They went from their classic hits like "Start Me Up" and "Honky Tonk Woman" to album tracks from 1972's "Exile on Main Street."

The stage was more compact than what was seen at Pac Bell. That was a good thing for Jagger. Although no one works a stadium better than Mick, the smaller stage size allowed him to focus his efforts and spend more time leading the band.

Like the outdoor set, there was a small runway that ran from the front of the main stage out to a small platform where the band performed a three-song set.

The concert ended with an excellent triple shot of "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Brown Sugar." The lasting image was of Jagger leading the crowd in a sing-along on the last line of "Brown Sugar: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, woo!

STONES SHUFFLE THINGS UP A TAD IN OAKLAND

The Rolling Stones finished their three-night Bay Area run Tuesday at the Oakland Arena with a powerful set of rarely played classics, many from the salad days surrounding "Exile on Main Street."

The Stones did fantastic versions of "Sweet Virginia," "All Down the Line," and "Loving Cup," as well as Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy" and a dead-on jam on the big test "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'." The Stones are touring behind new greatest-hits record "40 Licks," and are pulling out oldies they've never tackled on previous tours, as well as standards such as "Satisfaction," "Brown Sugar" and "Sympathy for the Devil."

Opener Sheryl Crow again emerged to duet with Mick Jagger on "Honky Tonk Woman," and, unlike Friday's outdoor show at Pacific Ball Park, managed to avoid having relations with Jagger's leg. After all, it's a long tour.

The show was much looser than Friday's, with Jagger setting the pace from one end of the stage to the other. Keith Richards was a bit stiff at times, but his playing on "Sweet Virginia" earns him forgiveness. That and the fact that he's a 109-year-old former junkie. You tour the entire world a few times and try looking spunky every night.

The Stones will give the Bay Area a few months to save up more ticket money before heading back Feb. 4 for a show at the HP Pavilion at San Jose.