Grrrrrrr!

 ----Intro: Sympathy For The Devil
01. I Wanna Be Your Man
02. Get Of Off My Cloud
03. It's All Over Now
04. Paint It Black
05. Gimme Shelter (with Mary J. Blige)
06. Wild Horses
07. All Down The Line
08. Going Down (with Jeff Beck)
09. Out Of Control
10. One More Shot
11. Doom And Gloom
12. It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It) (with Bill Wyman)
13. Honky Tonk Woman (with Bill Wyman)
----Band Introductions
14. Before They Make Me Run
15. Happy
16. Midnight Rambler (with Mick Taylor)
17. Miss You
18. Start Me Up
19. Tumbling Dice
20. Brown Sugar
21. Sympathy For The Devil
----- Encores
22. You Can't Always Get what You Want (with full choir)
23. Jumpin' Jack Flash

 

Well, there it is. Last night's set list from the Rolling Stones first show of their 50th Anniversary Tour. 

With the exception of "I Wanna Be Your Man," and of course, the addition of Bill and Mick, what about this "special" set list is so special? Maybe it's the brass balls addition of "Out Of Control," a song from "Bridges To Babylon," or Mary J. Blige, the most overrated and inept R&B singer to ever fool the masses taking Merry Clayton's role in "Gimme Shelter?"  What I see here is one of the most standard set lists of the Stones' last 10 tours.

I think about the hype and of course, the exorbitant ticket prices---for the hell of it, I tried for a single at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and pulled the very last section on the floor, about 150 yards away (probably smarter than sitting close enough to see Keith), all the way to the right for a grand total of $831---and it just gets my knickers all tangled. Is this truly the best Mick & Keith can offer on the last go around?

I won't begrudge the boys for playing both new songs from the new ripoff hits collection. That makes sense. But considering the depth of this band's material and the fact that they have always thrown no less than 5 nuggets into each tour, this set seems very pat to me.

Is it me? Am I just a cynical crank? Am I jaded? Please say no.

CAN YOU RECALL YOUR OWN PERSONAL "WORST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK" CONCERT EXPERIENCE?

 

 

Time It Was, It Was

A couple of years ago, my friend Jeff told me I should listen to The Galaxies, a power pop band that was really knocking him out. I did and I loved it. Great melodies, solid harmonies, and enough hooks to snag a flounder.  But one song in particular did something to me.

I had been riding a train home from Jersey, iPod on shuffle, and "An Ocean Between Us" started to play. By the end of the first chorus, I found myself blubbering. Second and third times through were no better. I had to slink down in my itchy seat, fearing an unnecessary concern from a conductor and worried I might have to explain. I didn't want to. I just wanted to listen to the song again, if you can believe it.

 



Might have been my frame of mind at the time, but I found that subsequent listens, while not as powerful, still left me weak. Time has passed and this song found its way to last week's "Weekend Mix." During playback of that set, it happened again. That song and that chorus triggered that ride, among other things inside of me. I guess that's the way it will forever be with "An Ocean Between Us."

I wrote to Jeff simply to thank him for suggesting The Galaxies and I told him what I just told you.

He replied:

"Great idea for Burning Love? Songs that really get to you in ways that are really wonderful or really awful."


Another one for me is Simon & Garfunkel's "Old Friends/Bookends," a masterpiece of music and storytelling if there ever was one.  Of course, the backstory of Paul & Art adds to the drama. Their happiness, their sorrow. Everyone can relate. But it's the strings that really say it all, beginning at the very end of "Old Friends" and continuing into "Bookends." That moment of chaos, the swelling of emotion that slowly and sadly winds down and resolves, is one of the most powerful stretches of pop music ever recorded. In less than a minute and without one word sung, we live a lifetime. It never fails to tear me up.

Any songs and stories you'd like to share on this subject? Wonderful or awful, feel free.

Who's Irreplaceable?

I am a little more than halfway through the recently released Pete Townshend memoir. Nothing too revelatory as of yet, but it has been very entertaining. One thing though that has been mentioned a number of times was Townshend's on again/off again affair with Keith Moon's playing. A recent documentary about the making of "Quadrophenia," which aired chopped to bits on VH-1 last week, shows Pete expressing the same feelings.

Basically, Roger loved Keith as a drummer and Pete thought he overplayed. While Pete was constantly hearing "boom BAP boom BAP," Keith was forever playing "boom da TING biddily BASH BOO BOOM, dugga-dugga-CRASH." (Actual Townshend quote, I swear.)

I've been on a Who kick for what seems like months now, playing everything from the early records to Roger Daltrey's lame solo work to bad sounding bootlegs. I also managed to find a soft-spot for some of the material on "It's Hard," particularly the Entwistle tracks. But, the difference between the band with Keith Moon and with Kenney Jones is like the difference between firing a bullet and throwing one, as the expression goes.

 (I do want to give props to Zak Starkey, who I think is closer in spirit to Keith Moon than Kenney Jones. I guess it helps when Keith Moon is your teacher.)

This is not to say Kenney isn't a fine drummer. Just listen to the Small Faces and the Faces. Stellar. But the two records with Jones, "Face Dances" and "It's Hard," the former released just a little over two years after Moon's death, have a vibe-change that is hard to ignore. Can one man make that much of a difference?


Are there other bands you consider completely different animals after replacing just one member?

Lead vocalists should not be considered, or bands like Foreigner, a band touring with NO original members.