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Guitarist Ron Wood says the Stones are rolling on ... with vigor
By Brian McCollum | Detroit Free Press
Posted October 14, 2002
The Rolling Stones, insists guitarist Ron Wood, are playing better than ever.
Hmm. Sounds like a line, a standard sales pitch. The sort of feel-good routine that's rolled out every tour.
So we're skeptical.
We press him: You're saying this aged band rocks harder today than in 1976, when you came on board and the Stones were a young outfit playing sinewy rock 'n' roll?
Wood doesn't hesitate.
"Yep," he says. "It is a better band now. We're thinking more as a unit, from my point of view, instead of the old 'eyes-down, I'll meet you at the end' approach to songs. There's a lot of thought going into it, a lot of creative energy. And a lot of feedback from the audience."
He specifically cites the interplay between lead guitarist Keith Richards and himself.
"Keith and I are weaving together better than normal," he says. "I know it sounds corny, but there's something magic that's kicked in on this present tour. . . . We've raised the bar musically. You'll notice a big difference."
He attributes the improved standards to two developments: The band is more physically fit than it has been in ages, and rehearsals leading up to this tour were comprehensive and exacting.
Wood -- who at 55 is the youngest in a core Stones unit that includes Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts -- has ditched drugs. "It's my new outlook on life," he says. "I'm cleaned up for the first time in 40 years. Throughout the whole band, everyone's tightened up their act, so it seems to be a thing that's going through all of us."
In several cities the Stones are playing multiple dates -- a series of theater, arena and stadium shows that the band has playfully dubbed the Fruit of the Loom Tour ("small, medium and large").
Driven by the need to shake things up for each date, the band rehearsed more than 140 songs.
"It's more challenging to us, and more rewarding to us and the audience," Wood says. "We're changing up to 10 songs every night."
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| sammy davis jr. |
"we're changing up to 10 songs every might"....That's stretching it just a bit don't you think Ronnie? The point is well taken though. They are doing some songs we've all been dying to hear, even if some are quite raggedy- despite SIX WEEKS of rehearsal. |
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