|
|
| Soldatti |
Can't Miss 'Em
(July 3, 2004) Three of the four Stones -- Mick, Keith, and Ronnie -- were recently holed up at the Amstel Hotel in Amsterdam, where they gathered in early June to discuss the band's future. They resolved to get a new album out and a concert tour underway in early 2005, perhaps by February.
In the meantime, Stones fans haven't lacked for opportunities to see the individual Stones onstage. In fact, if you live in Los Angeles or London, you'd have been (and will be) hard pressed to avoid Keith and Ronnie in your neck of the woods.
Keith will guest at two concerts in Los Angeles next week, to celebrate the life and career of his friend, Gram Parsons. "Return to Sin City: A Tribute to Gram Parsons" will take place at the Santa Barbara Bowl on Friday, July 9, and again at the Universal Ampitheatre on Saturday, July 10. A performance of "Wild Horses" could be in the offing. (And perhaps "Love Hurts.")
Keith was previously in L.A. during May, to partake in the Willie Nelson & Friends concert at the Wiltern Theatre. There, he performed a duet with Willie on "We Had It All," before teaming up with Merle Haggard and Jerry Lee Lewis on "Trouble In Mind" and "Whole Lotta Shakin'." That was May 5.
But two days earlier, on May 3, Keith surprised 200 fans at a small L.A. nightclub called the Joint, by jamming with his old pal (and former X-Pensive Wino) Waddy Wachtel, on "Honky Tonk Woman." Waddy has a Monday night residence at the club and Keith has shown up there before (in 2002), so the event might not have been a complete surprise for some.
The intimacy of the Joint, however, paled in comparison to that of the Box Car, a small bar in Southport, Connecticut. Not far from Keith's house in the town of Weston. On May 21, Keith stumbled into the place and jammed with local ax man Rocky Lawrence and 89-year-old blues man Honeyboy Edwards. The trio improvised a couple of 12-bar blues numbers, as Keith came up with lyrics on the fly. About 80 people were present.
Not to be outdone, Ronnie has taken the art of the guest spot to new heights. He'll be in Los Angeles on August 31, to back Rod Stewart at the Hollywood Bowl. And, closer to his home in London, it's been hard keeping him off the stage lately.
Just the other night, June 30, he turned up at the Eel Pie Club in Twickenham (a suburb of London), to sit in with the house band. He ran through chestnuts like "Midnight Special," "High Heeled Sneakers," "Kansas City," and "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love." It should be noted that Ronnie's brother, Art, is a member of the house band. And that the Leah Wood Group, led by Ronnie's daughter, Leah, and son, Jesse, were the featured act that night.
Earlier in the week, on the 26th, Ronnie joined Rod on the Mall in London, as part of a special concert to celebrate the Olympic Torch relay. They treated the patriotic crowd to "Stay With Me," a tiny tune-up for their Hollywood Bowl concert next month.
On June 23 and 24, Ronnie jammed with another former bandmate, Jeff Beck. It was at London's Royal Albert Hall. Ronnie hopped onstage to play "Cissy Strut" (the old Meters classic) and "People Get Ready" (the Curtis Mayfield gem).
Ronnie's also had a thing for the Charlatans lately. On June 4, he played three songs with them ("Stay With Me," plus two of their originals) at London's Hammersmith Apollo. (The Leah Wood Group was the opening act.) Then he played with them again on June 20 at the Fleadh Festival in London's Finsbury Park. ("Stay With Me" again.)
After the Charlatans' set, however, he became a temporary band member for the Fleadh Festival's headlining act -- Mr. Bob Dylan. Ronnie sat in for fifteen songs, including "Highway 61" and "Like A Rolling Stone."
While Mick and Charlie's recent diaries can't compare to Keith and Ronnie's, they haven't quite been shunning the spotlight, either. Mick was sighted on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, taking in "Fahrenheit 9/11" on May 16. And Charlie has been plugging his new jazz CD, "Watts At Scott's," all over the British press.
The disc was recorded at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London, during the Charlie Watts Tentet's 2001 residence there. The CD contains several Ellington and Miles covers, as well as a jazzified version of "Satisfaction," cleverly dubbed "'Faction." Highly recommended.
As reported in the previous installment of this page, Charlie and his band were again at Ronnie Scott's three months ago, where they put in a 12-night stint. They were scheduled to play several European dates throughout August, but Charlie canceled them so he could work with the Stones.
Stay tuned. |
|
|
| Mottrush |
This is one source you CAN rely on!!!
Cheers,
Mottrush |
|
|
| IanBillen |
quote:
Mottrush wrote:
This is one source you CAN rely on!!!
Cheers,
Mottrush
Yes, Bill German does know the inside scoop. Wonder how they will do it this time? Maybe indoor shows in late Febuary through the late spring then maybe stadiums in early summer huh? Wonder what the stages will be this time? Wonder if their will be a theme or concept as with Steel Wheels, Voodoo, Bridges, and No Security? Licks didn't have a theme. That was cool. It was just The Hot Stones on tour. I loved it.
Ian |
|
|
| IanBillen |
Well,
By the way Billy German puts in in the read we do know for pretty sure that they will definately hit The studio within or by August.....(far cry from May 20th eh, oh-well).
It also may be interpeted as if the album could come before the tour. Let's hope.
Ian
|
|
|
| Gazza |
>Wonder how they will do it this time? Maybe indoor shows in late Febuary through the late spring then maybe stadiums in early summer huh?
well..it depends where the tour is. Youre assuming I think that those shows will be in the US. If theyre in the southern hemisphere in February, then THAT is summer time. Also, if they're touring Europe then they can ONLY use stadiums from around late May/early June until August
|
|
|
| FotiniD |
quote:
Gazza wrote:
If theyre in the southern hemisphere in February, then THAT is summer time. Also, if they're touring Europe then they can ONLY use stadiums from around late May/early June until August
With all these decades of touring, they should have built their own stadiums, arenas and clubs by now, where they could play gigs any time of the year. They'd be called "Stones Venues" and only feature the Stones and similar acts (e.g. Charlie's jazz band). When the band would be resting, the venues could be used for Stones parties, selling merchandise and showing Stones movies etc.
 Please pardon my silly ramblings, I'm still not over yesterday!!
(Not to mention that YES, my boss has me working today while I know other employers let their employees stay home  No-one in Greece slept last night!) |
|
|
| FotiniD |
Oh, and great news by Bill German. Finally one 'rumour' that has enough credit to actually win the title of "insider information".
|
|
|
| Main Offender |
Let's not forget Bill's word "perhaps" before the month of February. Bill is really a true source, but he's anything but stupid. He covered himself with that word...PERHAPS!! |
|
|
| LadyJane |
I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that we will get a new album and a new Tour in '05.
I don't care about the logistics. Just tell me when the tickets go on sale.
LJ.
|
|
|
| Scottfree |
OK, American Football contests can hold me till February..... |
|
|
| Angiegirl |
As we already knew all of this, I wonder what the news is then?? Not being sarcastic, just wondering. |
|
|
| IanBillen |
Well,
It is the first confirmation of an inside source.
All the other stuff might of been hear-say, or there might of been some truth to it. We don't know.
This piece and the source that says they spoke with Ben Elliot who is Keith's engineer, and the other source that saw and spoke to Don Was, are as close to an inside source as you can get. There are confirmed. Even they have been off. But atleast we know these people, at times, do have access to the Stones plans and that is a sure thing.
Ian |
|
|
| glencar |
February seems like such a long time away. |
|
|
| IanBillen |
quote:
glencar wrote:
February seems like such a long time away.
Yeah,
But I wouldn't care if it was March, as long as we get a new album within this year. I would rather see the Stones in spring than the dead of winter to be honest. But who knows where they will start? If I get the new studio album I can surely wait till spring or even summer to see em. What I think we all really want is a new studio release before anything.
I think they know that after this long.
A new Stones album in early December would be cool. But again I really hope it is released within this year. 8 years between studio albums is bullshit. We have had two tours since the last studio release. It is time to get to it.
Ian |
|
|
| glencar |
Amen brudda! |
|
|
| Diedre |
I don't think the Stones have plans. Life is what happens when you're busy making plans, as they say. I'm also still convinced that the Stones constantly feed disinformation in order to throw people off their trail. Folks follow them way too closely these days, especially with the Internet. Let alone from a personal standpoint (and that's a major one), from a business standpoint they need to maintain an element of surprise.
The Bill German thing is not exactly a scoop. It's old news that's been around for weeks now. Nothing new in it at all. |
|
|
| scratched |
quote:
IanBillen wrote:
Yeah,
But I wouldn't care if it was March, as long as we get a new album within this year. I would rather see the Stones in spring than the dead of winter to be honest. But who knows where they will start? If I get the new studio album I can surely wait till spring or even summer to see em. What I think we all really want is a new studio release before anything.
I think they know that after this long.
A new Stones album in early December would be cool. But again I really hope it is released within this year. 8 years between studio albums is bullshit. We have had two tours since the last studio release. It is time to get to it.
Ian
They won't release an album that far in advance of a tour. They'll probably both happen at around the same time. |
|
|
| FotiniD |
quote:
Diedre wrote:
I don't think the Stones have plans. Life is what happens when you're busy making plans, as they say.
Diedre, that's a really nice point (life indeed happens while we're making plans) but I wouldn't be so idealistic about it with the Stones... Let's not forget this is not just a band on the road; their tours nowadays involve them plus technicians, stage designers, stage builders, merchandising, venues, promotion, advertising and a million other things - so even a basic level of planning has to be there for us to be able to attend world tours and stuff. So I do think there's a lot of planning going on.
And Glencar, February is mighty fine! My credit card status sucks big time and I need all the time I can get to raise money for the gigs / accommodation etc. February it is!  |
|
CHAT
ROOM aka THE FUN HOUSE] [
RESTROOMS]