The Rolling Stones – London Hyde Park One Saturday 25th June and Sunday 3rd July
Review written for Record Collector magazine
View: Diamond VIP both nights (Keith’s side)
Merchandise: Stones At Hyde Park T Shirt (£35) and Lithograph (£60)
The Stones were visibly delighted to be back in London as part of their Sixty (years) tour. Out Of Time has been disinterred for these dates and inspired the first audience singalong, masterfully orchestrated by showman supreme Mick Jagger, in his element in front of 65,000 enthusiastic fans. An early highlight of the June 25th gig was a delicate She’s A Rainbow, whilst the rarely performed Can’t You Hear Me Knocking was a wonderful surprise and the spare rhythms of lock-down single Ghost Town worked well. New drummer Steve Jordan did not attempt the jazzy fills that his much-missed predecessor Charlie Watts brought to the track but his more straightforward style is now well-assimilated within the band and his slightly faster tempos gave several venerable tracks a crisper feel. Keith Richards was on great form, sharing the guitar parts more equally with Ronnie Wood. Richards solo spot combined an elegant and understated Slipping Away with a rousing lurch through Connection. A lengthy Midnight Rambler featured a snatch of Come On In My Kitchen whilst Jagger added a snappy coda to You Can’t Always Get What You Want.
The following week saw six different songs played, a welcome gesture to fans who attended both gigs. Get Off Of My Cloud was an urgent set-opener: following with 19th Nervous Breakdown delivered a great ‘60s double punch. A reflective Angie was beautifully sung, You Got Me Rocking and Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone were rapturously received. Keith changed his solo spot so we got an acoustic duet with Ronnie on You Got The Silver and a raucous Happy. Sympathy For The Devil made for an effective encore: the Satisfaction that followed went on for too long as Jagger worked the crowd one last time. I could do without Darryl Jones’ bass solo on Miss You but any criticisms are minor: overall these were two great performances from a band that just won’t quit, and for as long as they keep performing at this stellar level nor should they.
Setlist – 25th June
Charlie Watts Tribute
01. Street Fighting Man
02. 19th Nervous Breakdown
03. Tumbling Dice
04. Out Of Time
05. She’s A Rainbow
06. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
07. Living In A Ghost Town
08. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking
09. Honky Tonk Women
10. Slipping Away
11. Connection
12. Miss You
13. Midnight Rambler
14. Paint It Black
15. Start Me Up
16. Gimme Shelter
17. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
18. Sympathy For The Devil
19. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Setlist – 3rd July
Charlie Watts Tribute
01. Get Off Of My Cloud
02. 19th Nervous Breakdown
03. Tumbling Dice
04. Out Of Time
05. Angie
06. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
07. Like A Rolling Stone
08. You Got Me Rocking
09. Honky Tonk Women
10. You Got The Silver
11. Happy
12. Miss You
13. Midnight Rambler
14. Paint It Black
15. Start Me Up
16. Gimme Shelter
17. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
18. Sympathy For The Devil
19. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Only Rock 'n' Roll 
Spot on review Simon. My fave song last night? Slipping Away – blew me away. Next week I’ll get there earlier.
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