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Welcome to the Live Archive, where Andy (aka Concert Boy) regales you with a recap of one of his many concert experiences through the years. Feel free to review his overall list and make a request for a future Live Archive post.
THE ACT: The Rolling Stones
THE SCENE: Sullivan Stadium in Foxboro, MA - football stadium with stadium and field seating (09/29 & 10/03/1989)
In 1989 the Rolling Stones announced their first tour since 1981/82. They were touring in support of their new album “Steel Wheels”, their first since 1986’s “Dirty Work”. The album was released on August 29th and the tour began on the 31st in Philadelphia. I was fortunate to score tickets to 2 of the 3 shows in Foxboro, MA on 09/29 & 10/03.
As a longtime Stones fan I was psyched to be finally seeing them in concert since I was too young to see them when they toured the States last in 1981. I remember waiting in line at the Sears Ticketron outlet all day and sweating it out but finally getting my precious tickets just minutes before they sold out. I think the tickets went on sale a couple of months before the show so I had to sit on them all summer – although, the summer of 89 was a good one for stadium shows at Foxboro as I already had seen the Who’s reunion tour in June and the Grateful Dead made a stop at the stadium on 7/2. All that was left was the Stones.
The Stones’ setlists are pretty similar night to night – they might mix up a few songs but they generally play the same set on a particular tour. They opened the show with Start me Up and played a few songs from the new album but one of the highlights for me was Ruby Tuesday, Play with Fire and Dead Flowers – 3 classic songs early in the show. Keith does a couple of his songs, Happy & Before They Make Me Run.
A surprise version of 2000 Light Years From Home and then the show heads into the home stretch and we get the classics Sympathy For The Devil, Gimme Shelter, It's Only Rock 'N' Roll, Brown Sugar, Satisfaction and Jumpin' Jack Flash to round out the show.
9/29/1989 Sullivan Stadium - Foxboro, MA:
1 Start Me Up
2 Bitch
3 Shattered
4 Sad Sad Sad
5 Undercover Of The night
6 Harlem Shuffle
7 Tumbling Dice
8 Miss You
9 Ruby Tuesday
10 Play With Fire
11 Dead Flowers
12 One Hit (To The Body)
13 Mixed Emotions
14 Honky Tonk Woman
15 Rock and a hard place
16 Midnight Rambler
17 You Can't Always Get What You Want
18 Little Red Rooster
19 Before They Make Me Run
20 Happy
21 Paint It Black
22 2000 Light Years From Home
23 Sympathy For The Devil
24 Gimmie Shelter
25 It's Only Rock 'N' Roll
26 Brown Sugar
27 (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
28 Jumpin' Jack Flash
PICKS (out of 5):
THE SCENE: Fenway Park in Boston, MA - baseball park with stadium and field seating (08/21/2005)
Since the Steel Wheels tour the Stones have released new albums and toured regulary and I have seen them again on the Voodoo Lounge tour in 1994, Bridges to Babylon in 1997 and the Licks Tour in 2002. All those shows were stadium shows but then they opened their 2005 Bigger Bang tour at Fenway Park in Boston. Of course going to that show was a must. They have been hosting concerts at Fenway since 2003 and I have been to a bunch of them – it’s more of an event as the venue was not originally built in 1912 for concerts.
The Stones’ stage at Fenway was HUGE. For this tour you could actually have seats on the stage in private boxes that flanked each side of the stage. I was not sitting in those seats. Our tickets were located on the side of the stage but we moved around the ballpark during the show.
Just like the first time I saw the Stones in 1989, they opened the show with Start me Up. The show was good but it was kind of a letdown too. They didn’t surprise me with any of the songs they played and since it was the first show of the tour they were not firing on all cylinders, I think. You always expect too much when you think you are seeing a “special” show because it’s a one time event in a place like Fenway. To the band it’s just another show in another town. Of course I had a great time at the show but I think it may be the last time I will see the Stones since Mick & Keith are pushing 70 now!
08/21/2005 Fenway Park - Boston, MA:
1 Start Me Up
2 You Got Me Rocking
3 Shattered
4 Tumbling Dice
5 Rough Justice
6 Back Of My Hand
7 Beast Of Burden
8 She's So Cold
9 Heartbreaker
10 Night Time
11 The Worst
12 Infamy
13 Miss You
14 Oh No Not You Again
15 Satisfaction
16 Honky Tonk Woman
17 Out Of Control
18 Sympathy for the Devil
19 Jumpin' Jack Flash
20 Brown Sugar
21 You Can't Always Get What You Want
22 It's Only Rock-n-Roll
PICKS (out of 5):
3 comments:
The Who, The Stones and The Dead in one summer? Holy crap. I don't think my little heart could have endured all that fun. I'd have to agree though that these boys are getting old, even though they are fighting it. Even the best of them have to slow down sometime. (Clapton has to take naps throughout the day now.)
I know many older people who still rock out with the Stones. Grew up with them. And I don't blame them with starting out with Start me Up. Hearing that, who isn't all started up.
That Fenway Park set is fantastic! The last time I saw the Stones was in 1994, the Voodoo Lounge tour. I was 5 months pregnant and going crazy. No wonder my daughter is such a huge music fan!
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