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| TheSavageYoungXyzzy |
Ohhhhhhhhhh baby!
Just got back from watching this one.
Observations, song-by-song, Stone-by-Stone:
THE PRESHOW: Mick doing scales as the band arrives. "He cannot do this in my earshot..." is in Keith's contract for a reason. I was laughing the whole way through.
START ME UP: Yes, yes, and yes. Keith *nails* this. Ronnie's solo's nothing special, but it really doesn't matter because Keith nails it so well. Seeing the two of them "get the weave" is mesmerizing.
LIVE WITH ME: Again, Keith and the Weave come back. Ronnie is down in the mix and the camera cuts away frequently from him... it makes me think he might have had his part from another show flown in, because it sounds fine when you can hear him. Chuck is mercifully even lower in the mix. Mick is perfect. I can't get over how *loud* and *good* Keith is. He's on guitar, all the time. Math was right - Keith is Glimmering like it's 81 all over again.
NEIGHBORS: People complained about this? It sounded fine. Doesn't have the spunk that earlier versions had, but Ronnie actually shone on this. The weave during this solo is excellent. Again, makes me think a part might've been cut in. The two of them playing in tandem, one driving up while the other cuts down... they've got to do this more often.
HAND OF FATE: No question - Ronnie's part has been redone here. He gets a handle on the song about halfway through it, because suddenly the camera cuts back to him doing his little mini-solo breaks, which sound just fine. Keith just amazes me. Mick forgets the words, but is just as happy to snarl along. Chuck's piano does not bother me! Wow! Low in the mix, it worked *well* in this song! Holy shit! Maybe this should be what should've *actually happened live*!
NO EXPECTATIONS: Umm... is Ronnie even playing the slide? It's been mixed out of existance, it seems, 'cause when you can hear it, it's terrible. By contrast, Mick and Keith were *incredible*. Unlike at Fleet '03 where Mick's guitar just sounded like it was taking up space, without the slide it felt essential. Keith's growling guitar throughout really added to it. Turn Chuck *off* for this song, please.
WORRIED ABOUT YOU: Mick's falsetto was better on "Beast Of Burden", but it works just fine here. Finally, Ronnie unleashes a good solo... that gets promptly buried in the mix. Damnit! Keith... what can I say? I haven't heard him play this good all tour. When Mick comes out from behind the piano, it's heartwarming.
HEARTBREAKER: Chuck Leavell does not realize that Billy Preston's clavacle is different from his *PIECE OF SHIT ELECTRIC PIANO*. As a result, this song falls flat. Ronnie's wah solo is OK, nothing Brussels-worthy. The song isn't angry without the real keyboard part. It's just stupid.
STRAY CAT BLUES: Wow. Wow. Wow. I was never a fan of the version of this tune on the tour - it always felt like they were phoning it in - not this time. Keith and Ronnie were both *ridiculously good*. Mick jumped and snarled with absolute conviction. When Darryl's solo came round, the camera cut to Keith and Ronnie, who were crouching next to each other. They look at each other... Ronnie grins... and they start sneaking towards Darryl. Like cartoon characters. Keith gets right up next to Darryl and yells something with a goofy grin on his face, Ronnie sneaking in behind. Darryl laughs and the solo gets better and better and better and the guitars cut back in. Wow.
DANCE: Not as good as the Roseland boot - Ronnie again tuned out of the mix, which was a pity, because when you could hear him, he was doing some cool stuff behind Keith. Maybe when you couldn't hear him, he was fucking the song up, so whatever. Darryl's bass just a *touch* too high in the mix to obscure Mick's vocals. When he goes "If I was a drummer, I would never miss a beat", Ronnie, who's directly behind him, turns to Charlie and unleashes a "Haaaaa!" so loud the drum mics pick it up. Charlie grins.
EVERYBODY NEEDS SOMEBODY TO LOVE: Ronnie down, Keith up. I actually think the roles are kinda reversed in this whole concert - Keith, always kinda percieved as the rhythm guitarist of the band, plays lead most tunes, with Ronnie filling in some occasionally rhythm parts. I just wish we could hear the rhythm better, and not leave it to Chuck the Fuck! On the plus side, in this concert I noticed Chuck's annoying piano maybe twice or three times other than on "Heartbreaker", and when you don't notice it, it works really really well in filling out the sound, giving it that Stonesy feel. There were pianos on a lot of stuff the Stones did, so far in the background you never quite noticed it... but that's what made it so good. A quasi-crowd-pleaser, this song, but nothing could prepare them for what came next.
THAT'S HOW STRONG MY LOVE IS: Again, lacking the sheer *energy* of the Roseland show where Mick's "head looks like it might come off", it's still moving enough to reduce the audience to tears. The guitars really work well, and the bit where, right after Mick tells the band to getsofter and softer, the horns blow the door down and he goes crazy is worth thirty bucks. A hundred bucks. Whatever amount of dollars you want to pay. It's that good.
GOING TO A GO-GO: I never liked this song, but this rendition really made me want to get up and dance. (I did. No one was home, except the dog, who looked at me like I was crazy.)
THE NEARNESS AWWWWFF YOU: Maybe Keith does need to do those scales that "he cannot do within my earshot", because for the first half of the song his voice sounds gurgly and half-spoken. He actually plays some great guitar, though, in the breaks, and the backup singers do an okay job of filling in for him. Then he gets his voice, that deep croon, and he hits it. He hits the high notes, he hits the low notes, he's got it, he lets his guitar go with it, and the crowd gets into it without him having to tell them "It's a love song, huh?" Again, worth another thirty dollars. We're up to sixty so far on just two songs.
BEFORE THEY MAKE ME RUN: Ronnie returns, with a vengance! What a solo! Again, not high enough in the mix, but hearing it where it was was good enough. Keith gives him a nice little peck on the head for it. "Good boy, Ronnie!"
LOVE TRAIN: What? Funny, but didn't make me want to dance like "Go-Go" did. Mick losing his hat is the best part of this. The double ending here just pisses me off.
RESPECTABLE: The one time Mick's voice fails him. He can't sing this song anymore, which is a pity because behind him, it's obvious that Keith and Ronnie can both play it. (They did write it, after all.) Bernard tries to cover the high parts, but it's painfully obvious that Mick just doesn't know what he's supposed to do during the chorus.
HONKY TONK WOMEN: A beautiful little rave-up, the weave once again weaving. Ronnie needs to be turned up! For the second time since Fleet '02, even Chuck's piano solo is noted for its absence of suckage. Except when he hits the keyboard with his foot. That's just dumb. I wished he'd broken it.
BROWN SUGAR: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Wooooo! Excellent. Mick lures Bobby out and Bobby plays into Mick's mic. I don't know if it's this song or the last, but Mick brings out a handheld and starts filming the crowd, and we get shots from his camera. Pretty cool. Keith nails it, again, as usual. Why can't he play like this all the fucking time? Why can't he play like this on albums? I miss this Keith. Someone make sure we have him more often. Why does he wind up forgetting how this song starts some nights but nails it here?
JUMPING JACK FLASH: I wish Ronnie's sitar was turned up like it was at the end of MSG, because then it might be one of the best versions of this song recorded. As it is, the version here is just fine, and believe me, Keith's guitar is Keith's guitar. Unstoppable. Unkillable. The Rolling Stones!
MICK: Except for "Worried About You" and "Respectable", a 10 outta 10.
KEITH: The ruler of this concert. Bow before Keith. He is forgiven for keeping his shirt open at all times.
RONNIE: I wish I could've heard more of him, because sometimes he was as unstoppable as Keith. Other times, it was painfully obvious that he wasn't as there that night as the others. I would've taken that over just not having as much of him at all. The solo on "Before They Make Me Run" convinces me that we won't be seeing Taylor in his spot anytime soon.
CHARLIE: "I'd like to sing a song... but he won't let me!" That was the best moment of the concert.
THE STONES: Mick and Keith actually hugged at the end of "Stray Cat Blues", I think. (Maybe it was "That's How Strong My Love Is." I forget.) They were the Glimmer Twins again. God bless 'em. When Ronnie was on, Ronnie was *on*. When the three of them tried to pull Charlie down (Keith maniupulating him like a robot to the screams and chanting), it was like the greatest shows of the seventies all over again. They were pals, cracking jokes, talking, throwing their arms around each other (Keith and Ronnie especially seemed like they were having a great time together, but all four of them were laughing constantly). These are the Stones we should be remembering from this tour. On their great nights, like this, they're the greatest goddamn motherfucking rock'n'roll band in the world, and they love it. They've had their "bumps in the road" this tour for sure (does "Munich" ring a bell?), but these nights and the interviews we've seen convince me - something *good* is coming. Something *goooooooood*.
I can't stop smiling. Gold rings on you all!
-tSYX --- Ev'rybody, needs somebody... |
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| luxury1 |
Thanks Savage! A good read. I always enjoy your writing/perceptions. |
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| Child of the Moon |
That is a fucking great DVD, isn't it? I agree with your assessment whole-heartedly.
And by the way, it's a "clavinet," not a "clavacle." ;-) Although hearing Billy Preston play his own clavacle might be worth a gander or two!
Now that I think about it, y'know which version of "Dance" really got me on this tour? The Aragon version. Any time I listen to that one, I can't help but get up and shake my arse until I can't shake it anymore. They nail the intro *perfectly* on that one.
Gold rings on you too, my friend. |
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| Miss U. |
I think it would have been better to show the Halloween L.A. gig, with the audience in costumes....It's still great though. |
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| FPM C10 |
I have slightly differing opinions - but I certainly don't wanna come off like a nitpicker because every second of Four Flicks is AMAZING.
The main differences of opinion in my first gander at the Olympia set is that I thought Keith was a bit subdued - not OFF as some people have said, but in a mellow mood (all of which leads up to his BEAUTIFUL reading of "The Nearness of You" which I found to be ragged perfection.) It seemed to ME like it made Ronnie pull a little harder. But I really give the highest marks for the Olympia to Mick and Charlie. They really ARE the greatest front man and drummer who have ever walked the earth.
Mybe it was the Dolby surround-sound, but I had NO problem hearing Ronnie's lapsteel in "No Expectations", and I found it to be subtle, atmospheric, and MASTERFUL. You know, a lot of their stuff doesn't lend itself to "Hey look at ME" displays, but whatever it takes to put the song across. And Woody is nothing if not a team player and a Stones FAN.
The other disagreement I have is in rating "Worried About You" as less than a 10; for me, it was the best song of the set, and one of the best performances I've ever seen by ANYBODY.
But hey, I'm splitting hairs. Four Flicks is the greatest.
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| Miss U. |
I loved watching Ronnie shine on the Select A Stone for Monkey Man and Can't You Hear Me Knockin. At the beginning of Monkey Man though he seemed to be lower in the mix compared to the other SAStones.
Was also struck by how much more EMOTIVE Charlie is in the studio while playing on Well Well and Western Grip, compared to how he is onstage........
Watching Disc 3 now... |
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| TheSavageYoungXyzzy |
That's interesting, FPM. Maybe it's my sound system, but Ronnie was *buried* in the mix for me, so I didn't get a chance to hear him 'pull a little harder'. What I heard from him for the most part was pretty fantastic, and in comparison to some of the boots from '99, he's on a whole 'nother planet. Keith sounded great that night, I thought - it was that roughness that made him all the more endearing.
Clavinet (keyboard instrument), clavicle (bone in the body), whatsa difference? The noise was awful.
Again, maybe it's just my sound system, but my review for Twick is very short.
Chuck: SHUT THE FUCK UP.
Ronnie: TURN THE FUCK UP.
Is it just my sound system? Some songs, the weave was so good... sooooo goood I couldn't stop from jumping up and down, but then Chuck and his staccato arpeggiated bullshit came in and ruined everything. "Street Fighting Man" might be one of the best live versions they've ever done. Ronnie and Keith looked like they were going to need someone to put them out afterwards. Towards the end, Ronnie swung his sitar off and played his solo *while holding the sitar over his head*. Now *that's* incredible. More like that, please!
I had a dream about Chuck in which I met him in the mall... but the mall, for some reason, was in Disneyland. So here I was, walking through a mall with stores like "Curry R' Us" and "Bob Dylan Limited" and "Space Mountain" with a crappy little diner in place of where they usually have stuff like Macy's in the malls - big deparmtnent stores.
"So, Chuck," I said, "Why'd Ronnie sound so bad on some nights? Some people told me he was boozing again."
"Well, you have to understand," he said, "He wasn't boozing. Most of the time it was the food! I mean, c'mon, Indian food sober? The guy couldn't take it!" He started laughing. I was going to go into the Bob Dylan store, but Chuck was walking very fast, so I had to follow him to ask him to turn his volume down. I never got the chance. We got to this little diner store, where there was a kind of ante-room where they keep you waiting, but it had a strobe light that occasionally turned on for no reason while the room went black. He turned to me and said, "well, y'know, I came here for a reason!" and as the strobe light went off, tried to get away from me. I saw him leaving, and as he walked out, I grabbed his arm and shook hands with him, said "Thanks for talking," and walked away from him, instead, so it didn't seem like he was giving me the slip.
So, that dream is pretty fucked up! And I didn't get to ask him to turn down! That is all!
-tSYX --- Don't say motherfucker, motherfucker! |
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| SirMuddy |
Great reading!
Thanks!
Just remember that Heartbreaker is Keith smoking joint time (we saw it just after the first note of the intro, watch Keith and watch is big-J! So maybe that's why Stray Cat Blues is so wild... and why Keith eye's so red on Nearness of you-ONE LUV) Everybody seems to have a great time, except Ronnie sometime looking lost... But when he's on, you're right, he's on!
Don't miss backstage pass between BTMMR and Love train... The glimmer twins are on... it's so good to see them having fun BACKstage... thanks Jah for Olympia... always my best stones live (remember 1995, 1967, 1966, 1965...)
The guys are there for having fun, and they gave it to us... the best we could have...
Mmmmmm I'm gonna roll another one and watch it again!
Stones Rules!
Jah Bless!
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| marko |
I can�t hear Ronnie at the HBO,,,nearly at all.Only few times,,,,i think it was the same problem in last january. |
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| scratched |
quote:
TheSavageYoungXyzzy wrote:
They've had their "bumps in the road" this tour for sure (does "Munich" ring a bell?)
What happened in Munich? |
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| T&A |
Not a bad review, Savage....although your ravaging of CL is completely over-the-top. He's a GREAT addition to the band, IMO. Nicky Hopkins practically wrote NE and you don't want Chuck (a NH disciple if there ever was one) on the song? Huh?
Love Train - well, I wished they would have started it up a couple of more times - one of the two or three best tunes on the disk.
Stray Cat was nails almost every time out on the tour. This one is better than average, but there better (Orph, Cleveland and Wiltern come to mind). |
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| beer |
If ya wanna see a real interesting difference, watch the Stones Marquee '71 video of the song "Bitch". Then watch the version of "Bitch" performed on the 4F DVD. This shows Ronnie and Taylor as RYTHM guitar players, because Keith plays it the same way with lead lines. Taylor plays the killer rythm riff the whole way through the song of "Bitch".
I'm not really sure what Ronnie does because the horns carry him through the song.
PS, i dont know how to spell "rythm" |
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| jb |
I agree 100% with Beer. The real problem with all these songs is the snail-like tempo that they are played/sung at. For example, do any of yoy disagree that Mick's rendition of CYHMK(from MSG) was appallingly slow? |
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| Moonisup |
true
bitch was most of the time OK, but I can't understand why ronnie played so bad most of the time in Europe! ON 08-13 I could barely hear him, but on the boot I can hear him and he did some nice licks, maybe if your front row, you can't hear everything, very strange... |
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| glencar |
Interesting review, Savage. Your dislike of Leavell colors your opinion of his parts but at least you're upfront about it. |
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| Moonisup |
quote:
glencar wrote:
Interesting review, Savage. Your dislike of Leavell colors your opinion of his parts but at least you're upfront about it.
he's right |
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| glencar |
Me or Savage? Or you? |
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