Monday, November 07, 2005

It’s Only Rock & Roll, But I Love It!

Even when it was easy, music's patterning shaped the emotions... Music proclaimed an orderly universe, promised a better place.
Ellen Hunnicutt, writer


The Rolling Stones at the Hollywood Bowl. (photo from LATimes.com)

The Rolling Stones are amazing. They performed with energy and enthusiasm for a bit longer than two hours Sunday night at the Hollywood Bowl. Mick Jagger said, “We have not been here [Hollywood Bowl] since 1966 and tickets were $4. A lot has changed since then, except our song list.” He was obviously joking, sort of. Two of the songs from the night were from that period, “Get Off My Cloud” and the closing number “Satisfaction.” In between the kings of rock and roll played "Jumping Jack Flash," "Dead Flowers," "You Got Me Rocking," "Wild Horses," "Slipping Away," "Sympathy for the Devil," "Midnight Rambler," "Honky Tonk Woman," "Brown Sugar" and several others. They also played "Oh No Not You Again," "Back of My Hand" and "Infamy" from the new "Bigger Bang" CD. My particular favorite is Oh No Not You Again. It's a rocker with a playful message about someone who keeps returning to make one's life hell.

The sound was every bit as good as I expected it to be. I have never heard the Stone's music with such clarity live before. Sympathy for the Devil’s arrangements were slightly altered with a bit of jazz under current, which made the brooding rocker much more upbeat song, which they accented with fireworks.

If you were there, you may have spotted me way in the back; I was my neighbor’s worse nightmare because I know all the words to all the Stones songs and I sound like a wounded animal singing. Worse still, she had to endure my dancing which makes Al Gore look as nimble as Michael Jackson.

Joss Stone opened the evening with a four-song set that opened with “Super Duper Love” and ended with “Right to Be Wrong.” It’s amazing to think she is either 21 or 22 years old with an incredible voice and a long career in front of her. She just has to look at the band she opened for; the Stones, who are all in their 60s, started around the same age as Joss Stone.

2 comments:

B2 said...

You were singing along and dancing? Now that would be some show!

Chandira said...

Glad you guys enjoyed it!! My BIL is trying to persuade Robert to fly out to St Louis to see them. R is also a huge Stones fan. I'll let him know they still rock.