 Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles
on Monday 4th. of November 2002. The little exclusive concert this time was
Wiltern Theatre. With an audience of 1800 people you can't almost be nearer your
stars.
Set list:
Jumping Jack Flash - Live with Me - Neighbours - Hand Of Fate - No Expectations
- Beast of Burden - Stray Cat Blues - Dance - Everybody Needs Somebody To Love -
That's How Strong My Love Is - Going to A Go Go - Thru and Thru - You Don't Have
to Mean It - Can't You Hear Me Knocking? - Rock Me Baby - Bitch - Honky Tonk
Women
Start Me Up - Brown Sugar - Tumbling Dice
Big stars shine at small Stones show
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rolling Stone Mick Jagger's star power was put to the
test Monday as the cream of Hollywood turned out to see his veteran rock band
play its first theater show in Los Angeles in more than 30 years.
Rock stars among the 2,200 fans at the Wiltern Theatre included Tom Petty and
the Heartbreakers, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek,
Fleetwood Mac co-founder Mick Fleetwood, Dwight Yoakam, Kiss singer Paul
Stanley, former Rage Against the Machine singer Zack de la Rocha and Eagles bass
player Timothy B. Schmit.
The film and TV community was represented by Anjelica Huston, Benicio del
Toro, writer/director Cameron Crowe, comedian Dennis Miller, Peter Boyle of
"Everybody Loves Raymond" and Reese Witherspoon.
Jagger joked at the outset that he would allow all the famous people --
"and everybody that thinks they're famous" -- to come up on stage and
join hands.
The Wiltern stop marked the final show of the Rolling Stones' Los Angeles
trilogy. They played at the 20,000-capacity Staples Center last Thursday and the
45,000-capacity Edison Field Saturday. The last time they played such a small
venue in Los Angeles was in 1972 at the Hollywood Palladium, an old ballroom
that holds about 3,500 people.
The Rolling Stones have played four other small shows since their "Licks"
world tour kicked off Sept. 3: in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York.
They have one more left in Las Vegas Nov. 29. The rest of the tour is divided
between stadiums and arenas, with the song selections notably different among
the venues.
For almost two hours, Jagger, guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood and
drummer Charlie Watts mixed old tunes like "Stray Cat Blues" and B.B.
King's "Rock Me Baby" with crowd-pleasing classics like "Start Me
Up" and "Honky Tonk Women."
The Wiltern marked the first club show where all the songs had been
previously performed on the tour. On previous club stops the Stones dusted off
rare ballads such as 1967's "She Smiled Sweetly" and 1981's "Worried
About You."
Surprisingly, given the high-wattage crowd, the Stones deigned to share the
spotlight with only one guest, opening act Solomon Burke. The rotund soul icon
staggered on stage to make a cameo appearance as the band covered Burke's 1960s
tune "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love."
One of Burke's sons draped Jagger in his father's elaborate cape, much to
Jagger's delight, while Burke Sr. declared the band to be "the true kings
of rock 'n' roll."
Jagger responded, "Keith said you can fit three of us in that cloak!"
Tickets were priced at just $68, and the show was an instant sellout. Prices
for the other venues are as high as $350, but most dates have sold out.
 Stones
truly gather no moss at Wiltern
by Fred Shuster, Music Critic
OK, Mick and Keith dye their hair. So did Duke Ellington and Muddy
Waters, and they weren't vilified for going on stage past the age of 25.
Musical treasures like Ellington and Waters came easily to mind Monday when
the Rolling Stones made the last of three local tour dates one to remember at
the Wiltern Theatre, where 2,500 fans heard a rough 'n' ready 20-song set that
drew upon the group's mythicized history.
With just six numbers repeated from the Halloween show at Staples Center
and about 300 partying ticket-holders jammed in front of the stage, the Stones
were out to have fun. When sparkling confetti fell from the ceiling and the
group kicked into such great-sounding gems as "Brown Sugar' and the
wondrous "Tumbling Dice,' the two-hour show felt like New Year's Eve.
The pure joy of the event was personified in Keith Richards, who clearly
loves every second of the job. And while the band has been molded into shape
for the road by tour musical director/keyboardist Chuck Leavell, there was
room for raggedy interplay between the musicians, especially on the r&b-soaked
"Can't You Hear Me Knocking' from 1971's "Sticky Fingers' album.
And the sly eight-note guitar riff from the Freddie King classic "Hideaway,'
thrown in as a casual aside between numbers, signaled that Richards and his
crowd-pleasing sidekick Ron Wood never forgot the Chicago blues that
originally inspired the band to form 40 years ago in London and lift its name
from a Waters tune.
Mick Jagger was a kinetic blur in what appeared to be 27-inch-waist black
jeans, sounding just fine on a midset segment of r&b classics that took in
Otis Redding's "That's How Strong My Love Is,' the Miracles' "Going
to a Go-Go' and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love,' where the strutting
frontman was joined by the song's original singer, Woodland Hills' own
larger-than-life gospel-soul legend Solomon Burke, who also opened the show
with his sprawling musical revue.
Although the best tunes Monday were older than Pink -- "Stray Cat
Blues,' "No Expectations,' "Live With Me,' "Beast of Burden' --
a sense of nostalgia never pervaded the joint. Watching these rock 'n' roll
road warriors honestly deliver some of the greatest pop songs ever written --
and retaining some mystique in the process -- left one feeling grateful, not
resentful because Jagger probably doesn't own a GameBoy.
The sentences, "I wish I'd seen Puddle of Mudd instead,' or, "Why
didn't they use samplers?' weren't audible to these ears on the way out.
Despite playing two-dozen tour dates across the country before touching
down at the Wiltern, the Stones performed like they were fully involved: moods,
missed cues, ragged endings and all.
Among many genuine moments was the look of appreciation on Richards' face
when Bobby Keys stepped up to reprise his original tenor sax solos on
"Brown Sugar' and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking.' And a final group
hug in which Jagger, Richards and Wood gathered around rock-steady drummer
Charlie Watts, the true engine of the ensemble, illustrated their bond.
The refurbished Wiltern, incidentally, worked like a charm for the event.
While seats were generally considered the most-sought-after and tightly
controlled of the entire Stones tour, the venue apparently allowed a group of
nearly 100 fans -- who'd been waiting outside all day -- to purchase tickets
at their $57 face value moments before the group came on stage.
That's satisfaction.
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