Reviews
 Keep It Simple
Van Morrison
Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
Another Country
Tift Merritt
Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward
Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
Juno – Music from the Motion Picture
Various Artists
Yes - Their Definitive Story
Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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I suppose the most striking thing about seeing the Stones in 2002 is suddenly becoming aware of the fact that they have managed to age gracefully. I mean, I know that isn’t such a unique observation, but think about it for a second. Ten years ago, twenty years ago, hell, even thirty years ago, it was almost expected that these guys wouldn’t live long enough to be respectable. But here they are, and they’re able to sing about being “Respectable” without a trace of irony. Hell, even Keith has gotten it together, and NOBODY had Keith pegged for a guy who’d grow old, at least not in one piece. I guess that the human body is one hell of a resilient organism.
And there they were, onstage, looking fine and sounding pretty much exactly as we’ve come to expect. The Rolling Stones are old hands at this ‘rock and roll’ business, and they’ve been going about it in much the same way for the past ten or twenty years. Ronnie Wood still looks and sounds a lot like Keith – there are times when it’s almost impossible to discern who’s playing what – and Mick still shakes his booty. Charlie Watts? He just sits back there and gets the job done, night after night after night. Tonight was probably much like every other night on this tour, or like any other stadium show, anyway. (They are also hitting smaller venues, purportedly with a less hit-oriented setlist).
Here at the Garden, the area above and to the sides of the stage was festooned with signs that read “E-Trade Presents the Rolling Stones,” and it struck me that it was a little like saying “The ACLU Presents Adolf Hitler.” Granted, the Stones have cleaned up their bad boy image, but an affiliation with a stock trading company would have seemed absurd thirty years ago.
The Pretenders were the opening act, and I felt almost sorry for them. I mean, opening for the Stones is an honor and all that, but walking out to a near empty Madison Square Garden is not all much fun, especially with the typical unpleasantness of bad sound and general disinterest. The sound was awful for the first half-hour, and it didn’t help that their performance was lackluster, either. As you’d expect, just seeing the Stones take the stage sent a jolt of electricity through the air. Their set list? Okay…
1) Street Fighting Man (very strong)
2) It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (done faster)
3) If You Can’t Rock Me (not one of their best, but it was done well)
4) Don’t Stop (newer material. Perfunctory, no surprises)
5) Live With Me ( this was hot, and it still sounds dirty)
6) Wild Horses (true to the studio version) and then four songs from “Exile…
7) Loving Cup (also true)
8) All Down the Line (even truer – this kicked ass)
9) Rock This Joint (Jesus!!!)
10) Tumbling Dice (even better than Linda Ronstadt’s version…..I’m kidding, I’m kidding….)
11) Through and Through (a Keith tune)
12) Before They Make Me Run (klassik keith), into….
13) Love Train!!!! (yup, the O’Jays tune)
14) Start Me Up
15) Honky Tonk Women
16) Can’t You Hear Me Knocking (flat out perfect rendition)
17) Satisfaction (this had me dancing in the aisles with my 10-year old son)
Then to the small stage…
18) I’m a Man (the Muddy Waters tune)
19) Shattered
20) Brown Sugar
Then the encore:
21) Sympathy For The Devil, and finally…
22) Jumpin’ Jack Flash
-- Thomas Ryan
 
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