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VoodooChileInWOnderl |
Jumping Jack needs no flash
February 22 2003
Size isn't everything, writes Bernard Zuel, it is the intimacy that really counts.
When it comes to a Rolling Stones gig you can't always get what you paid for. Or maybe that's exactly what you get.
There were about 17,000 people who paid between $65 (for nosebleed seats) and $350 (for up close and personal seats) at the SuperDome on Thursday. They got a show that was loud, rocking and geared to hit the back of the room as hard as the front rows.
The gestures were big and deliberately unsubtle. And so were the songs that had a strong presence from the '80s and '90s - the years when the band became permanent residents of stadiums and big indoor arenas. In other words, this was a night for grunt and rhythm rather than intricacy or intimacy.
If it was a song that would take a few minutes to grasp or if it would require close attention, it was left out. Much better to go with big dumb boogie songs such as If You Can't Rock Me and You Got Me Rocking or a style-free number such as When the Whip Comes Down than a slide-guitar-flavoured Dead Flowers. Forget subtlety, the crowd was loving it.
Two days earlier 2000 people paid a flat $60 and got a smaller, much less flamboyant Rolling Stones show at the Enmore Theatre. That show changed pace several times, ventured into rarely tested waters and was geared to their '60s and early '70s output - the years when they might still have been playing indoor venues for a few thousand. A high-quality bar band is what we got.
The differences in the shows were obvious from the opening songs. On Tuesday it was an eight-minute version of the rarely played loose hipped Midnight Rambler followed by the greasy rocker Tumbling Dice. On Thursday it was the Spandex and aerobics strut of singalong favourites Start Me Up and It's Only Rock and Roll.
Who were the winners? You could argue that those who paid the extra dollars got extra show with giant video screens, Mick Jagger occasionally running down a long catwalk into the centre of the room, the band setting up on a smaller stage for the last portion of the night and lots of flashy moves.
So why then did the SuperDome show feel like a cash-and-flash spectacle that left no mark, while Enmore was one of those rare moments in rock that stick with you forever? That can't be right can it? After all, the SuperDome offered us everything; all Enmore offered was a rock band. Maybe sometimes that's all you need.
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corgi37 |
What a weird article. Does this dickhead expect the stones to play a world tour completely in small theatres? Or, does he want them to play to 20,000 people sitting on chairs with 3 4 spotlights? Either way, i bet the fucker didnt pay for his tickets. |
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steel driving hammer |
Roll on Voodoo!
Oh Yeah... |
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