The Rolling Stones June 21st Soldier Field, Chicago
This was my 18th Rolling Stones concert. Each of the last three times I saw them (2013 and twice in 2015), I was thinking “this is the last time I’ll get to see this band.” But the ageless wonders proved me wrong again. This was opening night on the American leg of their No Filter Tour. I believe the original scheduling had them closing the tour with their two dates in Chicago. However, with the postponement due to Mick’s health, they flipped it around, keeping the same Chicago dates to open the tour instead. I attended the show with my wife and my brother. My brother flew into Chicago that afternoon, having seen Electric Light Orchestra in Los Angeles the previous evening. We had some pre-concert libations at Kitty O’Shea’s on Michigan Avenue before making the twenty-minute walk to Soldier Field. That walk down Michigan Avenue and through beautiful Grant Park is always fun. Thousands of Stones fans, all decked out in Stones gear, heading to the lakefront to see their Rock ‘n’ Roll heroes. The stage, as usual, was set up on the north end of the football field. Our seats were on the south end in the upper deck. While the view of the stage is not great, sitting there was by design. Having seen the band 17 times before, I’m just there for the music and experience so I am not going to pay top dollar to be near the stage. Soldier Field is a large football stadium, so there really are not too many seats that are going to be near the stage. And the sound is always best straight away from the stage. So even sitting on the opposite end of the field in the cheapest seats, the sound quality for us was better than what most of the fans experienced. As for the view, the giant video screens compensate for the distance from the stage. They also incorporated a “B Stage” this time. When they have used that in that in the past, it has extended at least half-way into the audience, but this time is was a bit shorter and maybe one-third of the way in.
The set list was better than I expected. I’m never disappointed with a Rolling Stones show and I understand at this point, 57 years into their career, most fans are there to hear their favorite songs. However, they did go a bit deeper into their catalog than I thought they wood. I was pleasantly surprised that they played Sad Sad Sad, a song I have never heard them play live. I did not see the Steel Wheels tour when they played it regularly. It was the first time since 2002 that they played it. They also did two acoustic numbers on the B Stage, Angie and Dead Flowers. As they were making their way out to the B Stage, their instrumental song 2120 South Michigan Avenue was playing over the PA system. The song is a dedication to the old Chess Records recording studio at that Chicago address, just two miles south of Soldier Field. They recorded two of their early albums there as it was the home studio some of their Chicago Blues heroes including Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. During Midnight Rambler, they also played a snippet of You Got To Move from Sticky Fingers. The one song they did not play, which surprised me, was It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll. I think that was only the second Stones show I went to where I did not hear that song. Mick looked great on stage, making no verbal reference to his recent health issue, nor showing any sign of weakness. He was his usual energetic self, singing, dancing and running around stage. Age seemed to be catching up with Keith a bit more. He looked like he had all he could handle concentrating on his guitar playing. While Ronnie did most of the heavy lifting on lead guitar, Keith did play an excellent lead on Gimme Shelter. Ronnie played and looked great and of course Charlie kept a rock solid beat on the drums. I thought the stage show and video was very well done; not overstated and a perfect compliment to their music. I’m a bit late in writing this as it has been a month since the show and they have played several shows since. While I have not seen much feedback from shows in other cities, the first Chicago show did get very good reviews from both the media and fans. I don’t know how long the boys can keep going, but I’m going to hold out hope that I can see them again.
1. Street Fighting Man
2. Let's Spend the Night Together
3. Tumbling Dice
4. Sad Sad Sad (first since 22 Sep 2002)
5. You Got Me Rocking (by request)
6. You Can't Always Get What You Want
7. Angie (B-stage, acoustic)
8. Dead Flowers (B-stage, acoustic)
9. Sympathy for the Devil
10. Honky Tonk Women (followed by band introductions)
11. You Got the Silver (Keith Richards on lead vocals)
12. Before They Make Me Run (Keith Richards on lead vocals)
13. Miss You
14. Paint It Black
15. Midnight Rambler (with ‘You Gotta Move’ snippet)
16. Start Me Up
17. Jumpin' Jack Flash
18. Brown Sugar
19. Gimme Shelter (encore)
20. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (encore)