‘Welcome To Shepherds Bush’ World Premiere

Leicester Square Vue, November 21^st 2024

The Rolling Stones

Hard to believe that it is 25 years since I was scurrying around central London in the early hours, looking for clues as to where tickets for the Stones’ Shepherds Bush Empire June 8th 1999 gig would be going on sale. A lorry unloading crash barriers outside the Tower Records Piccadilly store at 6am was all the clue I needed, and I joined my fellow Stones fanatics in a makeshift queue. Having got the all-important wrist band I had an anxious 36 hours whilst I ensured I did not lose it, including a shower with the relevant wrist carefully positioned outside the shower stall. Finally show time. Apparently Sheryl Crow supported but I remember nothing of her set. Somehow by the time the Stones emerged I had weasled through the crowd and was one row back from the front on Ronnie Wood’s side.  

Seeing the band at such close quarters was fantastic, an experience I relived on Thursday night at the Leicester Square Vue where the 90 minute concert movie Welcome To Shepherds Bush had its premiere. We had just found our seats when Sara texted that there were free drinks in the bar upstairs so we took a quick detour. Veteran Stones PR Bernard Doherty introduced the screening, highlighting some of the high spots from the gig and passing swiftly over the after party.

Shattered was an uncompromising opening number and served notice that the band were going to be operating in “uncharted territory” to quote Mick Jagger. This was only partly true. The closing duo of Brown Sugar and Jumping Jack Flash were  played as if the band had already migrated up the road to Wembley Stadium. Whilst Tumbling Dice had a rolling rhythm it has not achieved in recent years, Honky Tonk Women was distinguished only by a Crow / Jagger duet.  Although the rest of the set was built around rarely played live numbers, I remember being disappointed at the time that they included recent tracks like Brand New Car and Moon Is Up. Saint Of Me justified its inclusion through the audience continuing to sing the refrain way after the band had stopped playing.

Other choices were more satisfying. Melody had only been played once before at the El Mocambo gig whilst Route 66 had a snap, crackle and pop that could have been transported from 1964.  The highlight for me was I Got The Blues, where the band played with restraint and the  four-piece brass section were the perfect foil to Jagger’s Otis Redding-style vocal. Keith’s You Got The Silver was a rarity then and was played beautifully by him and Ronnie Wood. The ensuing Before They Make Me Run featured Leah Wood on backing vocals, a fact that I had not noticed at the time.

Watching the film of the gig is bittersweet. Keith plays a lot more solos than we have seen in recent years. Lisa Fischer is no longer part of the band, and I miss her sassy interplay with Jagger. An even bigger hole has been left by Charlie Watts but there are lots of great shots of him in action, always looking bemused and slightly distracted as he nails another number without breaking sweat. The sound in the cinema was well balanced with even Chuck Leavell’s piano audible in the mix. Split-screen imagery is used a lot but it works, frequently highlighting how what is happening onstage is being received by the audience.

A show of hands revealed a fair few of the Leicester Square audience had actually been at the gig. As we clutched our goodie bags and headed out into the cold London night, the evening felt like a celebration that both we and the band are still upright after all these years.