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| Lazy Bones |
Ready to roll
Stones start world conquest in Boston
tonight
By JANE STEVENSON -- Toronto Sun
BOSTON -- The Rolling Stones are polishing
their Licks while getting in some kicks in
Beantown.
The veteran British bad boys of rock launch
their latest road trip at the Fleet Center tonight
for a sold-out crowd of 17,000 fans. It's called
the Licks 2002-2003 World Tour, to promote
their double CD retrospective, Forty Licks (due
out on Oct. 1).
It's the first of three shows this week the band
will perform in this historically rich New England
city with two more sold-out gigs -- Thursday
night at the 60,000-capacity, brand new Gillette
Stadium and followed by an intimate
performance on Sunday at the Orpheum
Theatre, which holds about 2,800 people.
Tonight's launch will see frontman Mick Jagger,
guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood, and
drummer Charlie Watts joined by bassist Daryl
Jones, a keyboardist, three backup singers and
a four-man horn section on stage.
The Pretenders open for the band tonight.
Others given the same slot on the 27-city North
American tour include Buddy Guy, Dr. John,
Jonny Lang, The Strokes, No Doubt, Elvis
Costello, Shaggy, and Sheryl Crow. The Stones
head to Europe, Australia and the Far East in
2003.
About 1,000 lucky concertgoers -- including
yours truly and such celebrities as Sharon
Stone, Dennis Quaid, Kate Hudson and James
Spader -- got a scaled-down preview of what
this latest Stones tour will be like when the
group performed a surprise club show in
Toronto at the Palais Royale on Aug. 16 after
they had been rehearsing in the city for about a
month.
That night they played such classics as It's
Only Rock And Roll, Honky Tonk Woman, Wild
Horses, Jumpin' Jack Flash, and Brown Sugar,
along with more obscure tunes like Sad, Sad,
Sad, Straycat Blues and Torn & Frayed.
Don't Stop, the first single from Forty Licks, had
its debut, while three other new tunes, Stealing
My Heart, Keys To Your Love, and Losing My
Touch, are bound to make their way onto future
set lists.
Naturally, the intimate Toronto show, which will
be followed by two official dates at the Air
Canada Centre on Oct. 16 and the SkyDome
on Oct. 18, was a much more private affair than
most of the Stones dates will be.
But this tour is unique for the band since it's the
first time they will play stadiums, arenas and
theatres or clubs -- sometimes all three in the
same city.
The band's performing space is also bigger
than those for the mammoth Bridges To
Babylon and Voodoo Lounge tours.
It measures 54 metres wide, 26 metres deep
and 25 metres high with a smaller b-stage on
the floor, accessible by a catwalk.
Big videoscreens and a 252-thousand-watts
soundsystem will also help concertgoers see
and hear the Stones.
While rehearsing at both the Fleet Centre and
Gillette Stadium for the last week, the various
band members have also managed to squeeze
in some local fun.
Jagger reportedly visited the Boston Ballet and
Watts was sighted shopping on the famed
Newbury Street, while Wood visited the F1
Boston race track with both his own children
and Jagger's in tow. |
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| jb |
The Canadian press has been very kind to the Stones...I guess that's why they always rehearse there. |
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| TheSavageYoungXyzzy |
Ha ha! Ronnie's following in George's footsteps!
You da man, Ronnie!
-tSYX --- GOT TO SCRAPE THE SHIT RIGHT OFF YOUR SHOES. |
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