What a week it has been. I flew to New York City a week ago today and then drove over to Hartford, Connecticut for a weekend at Farm Aid as I am a long time supporter of the cause and the artists. I am going to blog some photos from the 8th row center there as time permits. I ended up hanging in New York until Monday and got to pick up a couple of cool vinyl albums at Rough Trade for future listening and do some visiting with my daughter as well as an old friend. After coming home Monday night I hit the road to Durham on Tuesday for the Bruce Hornsby show at the Carolina Theater and had a great time. By Thursday I was back on the road again headed to Charlotte for the Rolling Stones. That show completely blew my wig off. As a lifelong Stones fan and a veteran of all the tours that started in the late 1980’s I just had to be at the celebration of Charlie’s life from the stage and the spectacle that comes from a live Stones show. This show ended up being what I would call close to my favorite concert ever after thousands of shows from over five decades of live music.
For the show this week Mick decided to show up at a local dive bar fresh in from St. Louis and create a Twitter frenzy having a beer and pimento cheese at “The Thirsty Beaver” on Wednesday night. As he said from the stage it was nice having some pimento cheese with some “banker bros.” By Thursday the band was ready to rock a stadium full of people from as far away as the middle of America. I remember Mick at one point last night showing off his knowledge of the state of North Carolina by asking what cities people had traveled from to see the show. As he stood 10 feet from me he looked in my direction he started calling out the larger cities. The first one he called was “Greensboro” and I threw my fist in the air. He looked straight at me and smiled. He then proceeded to call off half a dozen cities as he never misses a detail of entertaining the local audience. By the time he called out Charlotte last it seemed more people were from out of town than not!
What can I tell you about this show that has not already been written a thousand times? Well when the show started after an excellent “Ghost Hounds” opening act I started watching the Charlie photos as best I could overhead. I was so close it was hard to see the video screens but I will not complain about my location as this was close as you could be at a Stones show so you can’t see everything. I would honestly like to see another show from 20-30 rows back to watch the video and the music. I thought the tribute to Charlie Watts was emotional and you can sense that from what was going on across the stage watching the body language of all the band members.
The Stones came out with “Street Fighting Man” and after two songs Mick came out and said a few things with Ron and Keith at his side. Mick took the microphone as Ron and Keith stayed close. I had seen a similar video of the St. Louis show from a few days ago and honestly I shed a tear when I saw the ruff and tumble Keith Richards grab Mick by the hand as he spoke about Charlie. Mick said: “It was great to see those great images of Charlie up there on the video at the beginning, and it always reminds us of all of the times and all the shows that we did together. I’m sure lots of you will have memories of seeing Charlie play as well. And I want to thank you for sharing those things with us, and all the things you’ve said and posted. It’s really great. This is our first tour without him in 59 years, so we’d like to dedicate this show to Charlie!” During the whole show you could sense the band was closer than ever. There were lots of smiles from everyone and it was like the entire band knows the clock is ticking. They were there to do what they have done for five decades. They were there as brothers and not as individuals like in the past. They had lost one of their own but they are trying to carry on. They did it well. As a lifelong fan and observer this was a bit surreal to me. I am still trying to believe Charlie is gone. I can only imagine how the band on that stage feels. Steve Jordan is great but Charlie will be missed from this point on.
The Stones proceeded to follow that speech with “Tumbling Dice” and they rocked it. This band was taking no prisoners as the 70-something wrinkled rockers show you how they could kick as like a bunch of 30 year old players. I have never seen a 78 year old vocalist move the way Mick still does and sing without stopping for anything. I honestly hope he sings even when he has to sit on a chair. He has earned his place along with his band mates as the “Worlds Greatest Rock and Roll Band.” At this point I see no one ever taking that away from this gang. Ever. Long live the Rolling Stones. Here are just a few of my photos from the show in Charlotte.
Charlotte, North Carolina September 30, 2021 Set List
1. “Street Fighting Man”
2. “Let’s Spend the Night Together”
3. “Tumbling Dice”
4. “19th Nervous Breakdown”
5. “Trouble’s a’ Comin’”
6. “Let It Bleed”
7. “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
8. “Living in a Ghost Town”
9. “Start Me Up”
10. “Honky Tonk Women”
11. “Before They Make Me Run”
12. “Slipping Away”
13. “Miss You”
14. “Midnight Rambler”
15. “Paint It Black”
16. “Sympathy for the Devil”
17. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
Encore:
18. “Gimme Shelter”
19. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
Until next time I’ll see you, down the road.