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| Mathijs |
O.k, here it is, a review of the best ever Stones show I have witnessed! We arrived at about 3 O� Clock in Utrecht, as we all had decided to take it easy. At the Olympia show we waited in line for about 6 hours, to find out people who came 1 hour before the doors went open were standing in front of us! Being in front is mostly a case of luck, as the security is one major factor. We met up with about 20 people whom we all knew through Dirty Work and through other concerts, had a bite in Utrecht city, and went to the Vredenburg venue about 17.30 hour. We met many, many people we knew by name through internet, and a certain Hendrik Mulder proved very busy with having me meet many IORR and Rocks Off contributors who wanted to get acquainted with �The Critic Prince of Sarcasm� (literally the words of you know who!). It was nice to show that in real life I can be a nice person as well! Anyway, I have never seen such an easy crowd. Nobody was standing, pushing or arguing -everybody was just relaxing and waiting patiently for the doors to open. At about 6.30 the doors opened and the crowd went into the corridors in a relaxed manner. We had to wait for another half-hour, and then groups of about 150 people were let in. Some tour director told us the rules for the concert: no running, no pushing, no arguing, no nothing. If you did, you were going to be thrown out. The security was strict as hell. I never ever have been strip-searched so thoroughly �even my laces were checked two times! I entered the hall in the second group of 150, and felt relieved it was possible to achieve my desired spot on the floor: the floor section exists of two part: an inner pit right in front of the stage, and a levered ridge of about half a meter above the pit. This means that I was standing about 4 meters in front of Keith, but nobody in front of me and I was able to see the deck of the stage. A perfect spot! During the opener The Vue Keith and Jo wood were standing for about 5 minutes on the stairway to the dressing rooms. Keith made some strange moves, like he was falling over �and we started to worry about the show�.
But, at the first tones Jumping Jack Flash it was clear: this concert was going to be special! I never have seen the Stones perform with so much eager, energy and thrive. Jumping Jack Flash rocked like I never haven seen it rock, with a much longer ending than normal, a bit like the ending of Street Fighting Man from Brussels: faster, faster and faster, with Charlie doing four on the floor with his snare!. Live with Me sounded so much better than at the Olympia, raw, energetic, and a brilliant sax solo by Bobby. The first proof of a historic night was Hand of Fate: at the Olympia this song litterally crashed within a minute, but now it was fast and mean, with two perfect Wood solo�s, a Mr. Jagger who could remember the lyrics, and most important: Keith remembering the chord changes! Even the C �G turn around at �I should have known it was a one-horse town� were played by Darryl and Keith �something not easy to do! At the Olympia Ronnie had difficulties to stop his head from crashing into his lap steel, now he played the most beautiful and haunting slide I have ever heard of this man. This was literally bringing tears in my eyes! Worried About You is a song I could hear for the rest of my life on any Stones concert. I do think that the version at the Olympia was slightly better, mainly due to an improvising Jagger, who his to fill up some mistakes. Now the song went perfect, taking some of the brilliance (for me) away. Saint of Me was excellent. For the entire concert the crowd completely out of his mind, blowing the roof of off the building, and Saint is the perfect vehicle for having crowd participation. The song ended, but the crowd went one and one, and Ronnie started to jam with us �the first time Jagger would correct him! IORR rocked harder than ever, and again Ronnie continued with the rhythm guitar, making Jagger say �are you finished now Ronnie?�. Jagger and Ron started to talk and laugh, Keith put his arms around Mick, and Charlie started smiling; a most beautiful site to watch! Dance was excellent, and it was really nice to see 2000 people singing every line of the track �this concert was for Stones die-hards! I do think that the Olympia version was slightly better, but this could also be because there it was the first time I heard it being played live. Everybody Needs still doesn�t work for me, it is too much like a cheap Vegas band. The high point of the evening was That�s How Strong My Love is, no doubt about it. But, at the intro Charlie couldn�t find the right beat, somewhat distracting Mick. He went a little early to the �take it down slow� part, but delivered such a beautiful vocal performance �this man is not from this earth! I do think however, if I had to choose a version for a feature release, it would be the Olympia version. Going To A Go Go was a lot better than at the Olympia, it really had that 1981 swing. Thief In The Night was a disappointment for me. This crowd was eagerly waiting for anything special, and Nearness would have been a perfect choice. Instead, we got a little lame version of Thief. Happy was excellent, with a prominent role for Ronnie. I Can't Turn You Loose poses the same problem for me as ENSTL, it�s too much Vegas style, with a too big reliance on the horns. Can't You Hear Me Knocking started out strong, and proved to be the best version I have heard so far. A long �very long- sax by Bobby, who given more and more time to wail away. Ronnie�s solo was good, but a bit too much fiddling with the tremolo for my taste. Jagger�s harp was breathtaking, with long low phrases. Simply beautiful. Start Me Up was rocking harder than I have ever seen, but with Tumbling Dice it became clear they had given it all. The band started to sound sloppy. Brown Sugar was the worst ever version: Keith started the intro in C, and after that was clearly completely lost. He turned to jagger, gave him a sign the verse would start, and Jagger immediately began to sing �two bars too early! It took them after the solo before it started to fall together again. Satisfaction was lame, and I don�t understand why they would play it other than for reasons of filming it.
So, was this show better than Olympia? Absolutely. Some songs were played musically better at the Olympia, but to me, the sheer excitement of the crowd, the energy and especially the joy of the band was so much better at Vredenburg than at the Olympia. I have never been at a show were the band and the crowd were so much one in enjoyment of the atmosphere, in the awareness of a historical night. This night was one to never forget, and I can only fully agree with a reporter�s comment that �if you were at this show, you never need to go to any Stones show anymore�.
Mathijs
Ps I ran into Pierre de Beauport in Amsterdam, he was looking for a grocery store. We had a nice chat, and asked me what I thought of the sound at Vredenburg. I told him that I thought Keith was too low in the beginning and Chuck too loud at most shows. He then said �f ucking Chuck is always too f ucking loud�! He also said the Stones were having arguments about the PA used at these club gigs, as the Stones crew thought the PA was much to large for such a small venue.
Ps 2 Jagger picked up a girl from the crowd, about 5 meters away from me. It was a beautiful South- American looking girl, and Mick was staring at her for a couple of songs. He then mouths "gimme your phone number" to her, and two songs later she throws her number at him. He picks it up quickly, goes to the back of the amps, and about three minutes later the girl is picked out of the audience by two guys with headphones�..
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| Lazy Bones |
Nice review. Thanks, Mathijs! |
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| telecaster |
One of the great mysterys of life to me is how Keith cannot
hit the opening to "Brown Sugar" anymore. He must be bored with it
Another great mystery is how Denmark can create such a great vodka as Fris. No hangover. Nice |
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| jb |
Yes Tele...fucking amazing that he can't get it right...almost as amazing at the complete lack of guitars in any of their performances this tour...was watching a dvd from 1/16 and the lack of any real guitar playing is really disturbing. |
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| montana |
about Ps2 from Mathijs, yeah i noticed that too!!!
that girl in the VIP tribune, right side of the stage, threw mick something during one song but it fell in the crowd...so mick went again to her and said something (that i understood as well as gimme your phone number) then after a couple of songs mick went again, she threw him again a paper, this time it fell in stage floor as mick went again to the center of the stage, he noticed, turned, and picked up the paper and put it in his pocket. after a few songs the girl disappeared of the tribune with his 2 friends.
BTW the show was simply AMAZING!!!!! i really enjoyed it! Hand of fate was played very loud, so strong!!! it was GREATTTTTTT, for me one of the best of the show!!! let's say my highlight! LOL that's how strong my love is, worried about you, were fucking great too!!!
and saint of me it was a real surprise!!!!! when mick picked up his hummingbirds' guitar i thought they were gonna play dead flowers but then mick said something about singing...so my friend told me...SAINT OF ME!!! and yeah!!!
the crowd was fantastic!!!! we sang again and again....it seems the song wasnt going to finish!! very cool!!
that's all for now, i'm still recovering from this week in holland
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