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Topic: Frustating Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle -era Stones Return to archive Page: 1 2
August 18th, 2004 07:23 AM
padre Just watched through the Atlantic City gig on Steel Wheels tour -89 with mixed emotions.
After gotten used to The Licks tour's Sloppy Stones, it was very refreshing to hear the band so tight. But what's weird is that it seems that while The Stones were at their best they were also at their worst on that tour. How can it be possible?

The good stuff first. Mick sings better than on previous tours and I prefer this "normal" tempo on songs instead of rushed one on -81/-82 Tour. It gives the band more space to play well.
The guitar section especially really concentrates on PLAYING: Ronnie doesn't fool around at all, just plays cool licks and even rhyhtm while Keef seems to avoid all bum notes, keeps the riffs together and holds mean rhythm. Both guitars are very audible (nice to hear Ronnie properly) and Keith has quite a nice distortion instead of the dry sound he prefers nowadays. Of course Charlie's as good as he always is. And no matter what you say about Bill, I think The Stones is MORE Stones with him. Mixed Emotions lacks the over-production the studio version has. Hell, the song rocks. And that Axl sure looks funny with his moves in 2004!
They also had Sugar Blue on harmonica to spice up Miss You on some gig. Cool to have John Lee Hooker as a guest instead of Justin Timberlake.

BUT at the same time the general sound of the band is very keyboard-heavy. Damn that Matt Clifford!! Mick should've been never be let in the same room with him!
There's way too much stuff coming from DAT/synth/whatever to make the sound too slick and loyal to recorded versions. Like the intro on Sympathy or the acoustic gtr on Can't Be Seen (where the hell does that come from?). And I'd really like to hear ol' Ian Stewarts comments on that terrible two-keyboard solo after 2000 Light Years! Also in the beginning of the show (before the back-up singers hit the stage) someone sings with Mick almost throughout Undercover. Is it Darryl behind the curtains or Mick with a tape?

Any thoughts? And which are the best boots from this tour: soundboard, least keyboards, lots of gtrs, a good setlist (with the possibility of Play With Fire, Factory Girl and Almost Hear You Sigh). No, it is not Flashpoint.
August 18th, 2004 07:24 AM
padre I mean frustRating.
August 18th, 2004 07:31 AM
Jumacfly good point Padre.
i agree with all you say. we miss Bill cuz he gave the band a great energy, and that was the time when guitars were still loud....today, the sound of Keith and Ronnie is so thin and so ridiculous...
on keyboards too much matt clifford, for sure!!
but, man,what a come back in 1989!!!

best boots: wembley 90 and atlantic city 89 (the only one i got )
August 18th, 2004 07:36 AM
JaggaRichards
quote:
Jumacfly wrote:

best boots: wembley 90 and atlantic city 89 (the only one i got )



agreed.
and I wish they would do 2000 LYFH live again!
August 18th, 2004 07:43 AM
Bob Tamp yes, Steel Wheels tour was the return after 8 years without touring. Overall, the band played tight, but I always found Jagger very mechanical and stiff on the tour( maybe the stage was too big for him,( or he was rusty after 8 years not touring for a long time) but I thought he was much more Jagger like by the time the Urban Jungle tour started.

and there did seem to be a lot more taped background vocals and instruments than ever. If i remember right, the horn section wasn't even used on Bitch( it was Matt Clifford's synth), the fake harmonica on Miss You, and a pre-recorded Jagger on Undercover of the Night backing vocals.

I really thought the Stones became much more Stonesy again and Jagger back to prime form on the VL tour. I watched Atlantic City 1989 recently, and I thought it was musically good, but visually a little boring. IMHO the 89 tour shows Jagger the least energized of all their tours.
August 18th, 2004 07:58 AM
padre Sounds like on the Steel Wheels' tour it was "Mick's Stones" whereas on Voodoo Lounge -tour it was "Keith's Stones".
And now of course it "Chuck's Stones". Don't you just love the vest Chuck's wearing on that Atlantic City gig (well presented during the band introductions)!
August 18th, 2004 09:02 AM
Phog The Nov. 11 Dallas show is great. It's out on cd and video and has the guitars way up front. One of the gems from this tour.
August 18th, 2004 09:29 AM
M.O.W.A.T. Cold Steel Blue (Tokyo '90) is amazing. Sympathy for the Devil rocks (Keith and Ronnie solo for about 4+ minutes on this!! -- always blows my mind).

Other good boots from this tour:

Salut Montreal (not quite as good as Tokyo)
7th of July (Wembley)
August 18th, 2004 10:19 AM
Gazza That Tokyo show (26.2.90) for me is the greatest stadium show the Stones ever played, and one of the best concerts they've ever done.

Theres a burst of songs in the middle third of the show where they do "Almost hear you sigh", "Midnight rambler", "Happy", "Sympathy" and "Gimme Shelter" and each performance of those songs is a serious candidate for it's best version EVER.

Every fan should have this show and everyone should have the video/DVD of it (theres 2 versions I know of..I have one broadcast of the full show on video in decent quality and another in perfect quality which has all but a couple of songs - one of those cut is "Sympathy" which is a shame. If anyone has a DVD of this show, ideally the FULL recording in great quality. I'd love to hear from you). The version of "Sympathy" is the same recording that's on "Flashpoint" but unfortunately they heavily edited two wonderful solos by Keith for the official release.

To be honest, the high point of the tour for me was the start of the first show I saw in Paris. I had only seen the Stones once before, in 1982 and like most fans who kept the faith during the dark days of the 80's NEVER thought I'd see them on a stage again. When they sprinted onstage to the opening chords of "Start Me Up" in the Parc des Princes that night, I could have left five minutes later and swum the channel back home again, I was that glad to see them again.

I know other people prefer the rawness of 81-82, but I think their playing was like night and day by the time of this tour. The band were in better physical condition, they were tight, Mick was concentrating more on singing rather than running for ten miles every night and getting breathless (even though he still DID cover a lot of ground) and had toned down the pouting and arse wiggling that had made him something of a parody on the previous tour at times. Yeah, I'll agree there was a bit too much reliance on synths and keyboards but overall it was an improvement. Plus it was the first tour where they changed the setlists around a bit (relatively minor compared to subsequent tours but a step in the right direction) plus the choices of songs they selected to dig out for this tour were superb and in some cases unbelievable (who would ever have thought we'd hear "2000 Light Years From Home" in concert - plus it was fantastic). Other long forgotten gems not played since the mid 60's included "Ruby Tuesday" (a highlight every night), "Paint It Black", "Play With Fire" plus never before performed nuggets like "Factory Girl" and "2000 LYFH" to name a few.

Whilst I think the 3 world tours since then have been better, I'd never seen a show on that scale and so spectacular in my life at that time.

I got to see five shows (the first two stadium shows in Paris, Glasgow and - thanks to the postponements when Keith bust his finger - the final two shows of the tour at Wembley Stadium, which turned out to be Bill's swansong with the band (theres a great picture from that final show in one of the photo books published to commemorate that tour which some of you may have seen, which has Bill playing bass whilst sitting on Matt Clifford's shoulders, standing beside Keith, who is busy singing "Before they make me run" totally oblivious to the surreal scene five feet away)
August 18th, 2004 10:21 AM
Gazza >The Nov. 11 Dallas show is great. It's out on cd and video and has the guitars way up front. One of the gems from this tour.

yep thats a very good one, taken from a proshot video with unmixed soundboard sound. The guitars are very up front indeed as are the vocals - and you can clearly see and hear Mick mouth "fuck off you c**t" right in Keith's face just before they play "Ruby Tuesday"!!
August 18th, 2004 03:04 PM
marko Padre,call me during weekend,i�ll let u know,whats good,and whots not.
August 18th, 2004 03:27 PM
Mel Belli I've said it a million times - that tour was a peak for them musically. They scaled back the supporting cast on subsequent tours, but they've never been as tight.

I credit Charlie. His kit never sounded better than on that tour. I mean, that snare drum sounded so crisp. It has sounded more and more like a thud on every tour. The things he did with his left foot on that tour still astound me.

JB calls it the beginning of "Vegas Stones," which is true up to a point. But underneath all the glitz was a Stones more professional and consistent than they'd ever been before or since.

One of my highlights is the Atlantic City pay-per-view version of "Midnight Rambler" -- better than Ya Yas. Also, there's a smoking version of "It's Only Rock and Roll" from a show in Germany that was televised on the American Music Awards. Does anyone know which night that was and if there's a recording of it?
August 18th, 2004 03:59 PM
marko The broadcasted IORR,wasn�t actually from Germany,even the
guy on the program says so.Its from Toronto,very early of the tour.
To me,Urban Jungle was mostly boring,94-95 was a lot better.
There was no groove at all.But still,Gothenburg-90,was the
best stadium show i�ve seen.With bremen-98 and stuttgart-99.
August 18th, 2004 04:19 PM
Mel Belli No, it was definitely Germany, or at least Europe. The Stones were playing in daylight; it was the Urban Jungle stage; and Lisa Fischer wasn't there.
August 18th, 2004 04:31 PM
marko Ah really?,,,they did MANY shows in Germany that year.
First in june,then more in august.Most cities got 2 shows.
Hannover,munich,berlin,frankfurt,cologne.I should see the
vid,so then i could tell u the show.
August 18th, 2004 04:56 PM
The_Worst
quote:
Gazza wrote:
That Tokyo show (26.2.90) for me is the greatest stadium show the Stones ever played, and one of the best concerts they've ever done.

Theres a burst of songs in the middle third of the show where they do "Almost hear you sigh", "Midnight rambler", "Happy", "Sympathy" and "Gimme Shelter" and each performance of those songs is a serious candidate for it's best version EVER.

Every fan should have this show and everyone should have the video/DVD of it (theres 2 versions I know of..I have one broadcast of the full show on video in decent quality and another in perfect quality which has all but a couple of songs - one of those cut is "Sympathy" which is a shame. If anyone has a DVD of this show, ideally the FULL recording in great quality. I'd love to hear from you). The version of "Sympathy" is the same recording that's on "Flashpoint" but unfortunately they heavily edited two wonderful solos by Keith for the official release.

To be honest, the high point of the tour for me was the start of the first show I saw in Paris. I had only seen the Stones once before, in 1982 and like most fans who kept the faith during the dark days of the 80's NEVER thought I'd see them on a stage again. When they sprinted onstage to the opening chords of "Start Me Up" in the Parc des Princes that night, I could have left five minutes later and swum the channel back home again, I was that glad to see them again.

I know other people prefer the rawness of 81-82, but I think their playing was like night and day by the time of this tour. The band were in better physical condition, they were tight, Mick was concentrating more on singing rather than running for ten miles every night and getting breathless (even though he still DID cover a lot of ground) and had toned down the pouting and arse wiggling that had made him something of a parody on the previous tour at times. Yeah, I'll agree there was a bit too much reliance on synths and keyboards but overall it was an improvement. Plus it was the first tour where they changed the setlists around a bit (relatively minor compared to subsequent tours but a step in the right direction) plus the choices of songs they selected to dig out for this tour were superb and in some cases unbelievable (who would ever have thought we'd hear "2000 Light Years From Home" in concert - plus it was fantastic). Other long forgotten gems not played since the mid 60's included "Ruby Tuesday" (a highlight every night), "Paint It Black", "Play With Fire" plus never before performed nuggets like "Factory Girl" and "2000 LYFH" to name a few.

Whilst I think the 3 world tours since then have been better, I'd never seen a show on that scale and so spectacular in my life at that time.

I got to see five shows (the first two stadium shows in Paris, Glasgow and - thanks to the postponements when Keith bust his finger - the final two shows of the tour at Wembley Stadium, which turned out to be Bill's swansong with the band (theres a great picture from that final show in one of the photo books published to commemorate that tour which some of you may have seen, which has Bill playing bass whilst sitting on Matt Clifford's shoulders, standing beside Keith, who is busy singing "Before they make me run" totally oblivious to the surreal scene five feet away)



Can anybody tell me what the best DVD's are of this tour? I keep hearing Atlantic City but I've also seen a few different versions of the A.C. show. Does anybody know which one is the best?

Any info would be appreciated!!!
August 18th, 2004 04:57 PM
The_Worst
quote:
Gazza wrote:
That Tokyo show (26.2.90) for me is the greatest stadium show the Stones ever played, and one of the best concerts they've ever done.

Theres a burst of songs in the middle third of the show where they do "Almost hear you sigh", "Midnight rambler", "Happy", "Sympathy" and "Gimme Shelter" and each performance of those songs is a serious candidate for it's best version EVER.

Every fan should have this show and everyone should have the video/DVD of it (theres 2 versions I know of..I have one broadcast of the full show on video in decent quality and another in perfect quality which has all but a couple of songs - one of those cut is "Sympathy" which is a shame. If anyone has a DVD of this show, ideally the FULL recording in great quality. I'd love to hear from you). The version of "Sympathy" is the same recording that's on "Flashpoint" but unfortunately they heavily edited two wonderful solos by Keith for the official release.

To be honest, the high point of the tour for me was the start of the first show I saw in Paris. I had only seen the Stones once before, in 1982 and like most fans who kept the faith during the dark days of the 80's NEVER thought I'd see them on a stage again. When they sprinted onstage to the opening chords of "Start Me Up" in the Parc des Princes that night, I could have left five minutes later and swum the channel back home again, I was that glad to see them again.

I know other people prefer the rawness of 81-82, but I think their playing was like night and day by the time of this tour. The band were in better physical condition, they were tight, Mick was concentrating more on singing rather than running for ten miles every night and getting breathless (even though he still DID cover a lot of ground) and had toned down the pouting and arse wiggling that had made him something of a parody on the previous tour at times. Yeah, I'll agree there was a bit too much reliance on synths and keyboards but overall it was an improvement. Plus it was the first tour where they changed the setlists around a bit (relatively minor compared to subsequent tours but a step in the right direction) plus the choices of songs they selected to dig out for this tour were superb and in some cases unbelievable (who would ever have thought we'd hear "2000 Light Years From Home" in concert - plus it was fantastic). Other long forgotten gems not played since the mid 60's included "Ruby Tuesday" (a highlight every night), "Paint It Black", "Play With Fire" plus never before performed nuggets like "Factory Girl" and "2000 LYFH" to name a few.

Whilst I think the 3 world tours since then have been better, I'd never seen a show on that scale and so spectacular in my life at that time.

I got to see five shows (the first two stadium shows in Paris, Glasgow and - thanks to the postponements when Keith bust his finger - the final two shows of the tour at Wembley Stadium, which turned out to be Bill's swansong with the band (theres a great picture from that final show in one of the photo books published to commemorate that tour which some of you may have seen, which has Bill playing bass whilst sitting on Matt Clifford's shoulders, standing beside Keith, who is busy singing "Before they make me run" totally oblivious to the surreal scene five feet away)



Can anybody tell me what the best DVD's are of this tour? I keep hearing Atlantic City but I've also seen a few different versions of the A.C. show. Does anybody know which one is the best?

Any info would be appreciated!!!
August 18th, 2004 05:27 PM
Phog 1) Dallas
2) Tokyo
3) Atlantic City
4) Barcelona (incomplete, but nice)
August 18th, 2004 06:14 PM
Gazza >One of my highlights is the Atlantic City pay-per-view version of "Midnight Rambler" -- better than Ya Yas. Also, there's a smoking version of "It's Only Rock and Roll" from a show in Germany that was televised on the American Music Awards. Does anyone know which night that was and if there's a recording of it?

We got that broadcast in Europe too. Its from the show at Waldstadion, Frankfurt on 26th May. Every show from 1990 is in circulation, apart from Lisbon 10th June.

Marko is confusing it with the 1989 MTV VMA Awards show, which was broadcast live on 6th September 1989 and where they show a version of "Mixed Emotions" (as well as a very brief clip of "One Hit") which they suggest is a live feed from that evening's show in Pittsburgh, but which actually comes from the show in Toronto on 3rd September (theres an excellent pro shot video of the first 90 minutes of this show in circulation which was filmed specifically for use on the MTV show - a couple of minutes of "Dead Flowers" from this show was also broadcast on MTV's "Week in Rock" a few days later)

On the MTV Awards show, there IS a backstage presentation by Jagger of an award to Living Colour from Pittsburgh, which is a live satellite feed. The funniest bit of that is when after giving them the award, the band all do an obviously rehearsed black power type salute before they do their speech, and on seeing this Mick immediately pulls this hilarious face, like hes going to vomit)
August 18th, 2004 06:18 PM
Gazza 1) Dallas
2) Tokyo
3) Atlantic City
4) Barcelona (incomplete, but nice)

The 24.2.90 Tokyo show is also available as a pro shot as well as the first 90 minutes of Toronto 3.9.89 that I referred to in the previous post.

I like that Toronto one as it contains a few songs they didnt play much on the tour and which were mostly just in the early shows, such as Play With fire, Dead Flowers and One Hit.
August 18th, 2004 06:26 PM
MarthaMyDear HI!!! Check forms of communication!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!! :P
ROCK ON!!!

*** Martha ***
August 18th, 2004 07:53 PM
Soldatti The Steel Wheels tour was a monster, it was the last time that the Stones were so well received by both critic and crowd, of course that the 8 years break helped a lot but musically the band sounded very good and clean.
August 19th, 2004 03:08 AM
padre Have they played One Hit since that tour? They really should replace YGMR as a keeper with that one.
August 19th, 2004 04:59 AM
Gazza No. Last played Oakland 5.11.89.

YGMR is okay but I cant see how its been such a regular in the set for the last 3 tours.

One Hit is a masterpiece.
August 19th, 2004 05:10 AM
Moonisup
quote:
Gazza wrote:

YGMR is okay but I cant see how its been such a regular in the set for the last 3 tours.




Maybe the stones really like to play, and well, they can't fuck up that song, at least, I didn't hear them do it (or am I wrong??)
Although I never understood why they opened a show with that song.
It's not my fav. song too
August 19th, 2004 05:23 AM
padre I've never heard a live take on One Hit. Did they fuck up the last time they played it or do you have any idea why they dropped it from the set?
And if they wanna keep something from VL in the set, I wish they'd take Love Is Strong instead. Mean harmonica there...
August 19th, 2004 05:24 AM
Jumacfly the studio version of YGMR is ok, but sucks big time on stage...
August 19th, 2004 05:34 AM
Gazza >I've never heard a live take on One Hit. Did they fuck up the last time they played it or do you have any idea why they dropped it from the set?

No idea. I thought it was very good in concert. They played it for about the first three weeks of the tour, dropped it for a month and then when they got to LA in mid-October brought it back in, alternating it with "Harlem Shuffle". By early November it was gone and "Harlem Shuffle" remained for the rest of the tour.

>And if they wanna keep something from VL in the set, I wish they'd take Love Is Strong instead. Mean harmonica there

Indeed! Although personally I thought of all the VL rockers, "I Go Wild" worked best in concert.
August 19th, 2004 07:09 AM
Juha According to Matt Clifford "Keith can�t play One Hit To The Body".

My friends met Matt in England during the Urban Jungle tour and asked him why they dropped One Hit.
August 19th, 2004 07:12 AM
Gazza From what I've heard, that pretty summed up what happened in the studio when they were recording it. They couldnt get the solo at all until they got Jimmy Page in.

I still think the live versions in '89 were pretty decent
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