Saturday, January 14, 2006
Posted at
05:57
by
Carly Carioli
Photos by Eric Antoniou.
(today's guest OTD post is from Matt Squadcar)
First the Ameriquest Mortage signage flanking the striking curtain mural that
hung in front of the stage came down. Then, after a few random guitar chords
echoed through the Garden, the scrim disappeared, as the big screen behind them
let off a blinding flash, the Stones were back in town on the second leg of
their “Bigger Bang” tour. At one point, a bemused Keith did manage to mumble
something about “déjà vu,” but — to their credit — this was no rehash of the
August 21 gig that got the tour off to celebratory start back in August. Yeah,
they opened with a loose and swinging “Jumping Jack Flash” that took a few bars
to come into focus, which is saying a lot for such a familiar song. But that
Keith and Ronnie’s style: whether they’re toying with crowd or each other, they
seem to enjoy stumbling into their bloosier rockers rather than nailing the hook
right away. Maybe it pisses Mick off, though he seemed his usual happy self as
he half-sung/half-shouted a chorus as fully etched in our collective cultural
memory as the lips-and-tongue Stones logo that adorned all the merch the
capacity crowd had already feasted on, from the $15 faux laminate ticket holders
the guy in front of me wore around his neck, to a $600 leather jacket that one
couple were debating about as I’d made my way into the venue. Hell, what’s six
bills when you’re shelling out up to $450 for tickets.
The show
may have started in similar fashion to the Fenway gig, with Keith’s freeform
soloing and beefy Chuck Berry licks fighting with Mick’s flashy moves for the
spotlight during “Jumping Jack Flash” and “It’s Only Rock And Roll.” But then,
with keyb man Chuck Leavel leading the way, they launching into “Let’s Spend the
Night Together,” setting the tone for a set that featured almost a dozen tunes
they didn’t play that hot August night at Fenway. From a perilously loose
“Midnight Rambler” and a shambling “Happy” to a smooth “As Tears Go By” that
featured some nice 12-string acoustic strumming by Keith.
After seeing about a dozen Stones shows in the past dozen or so
years, I’ve admittedly started looking for something — anything — critical to
report. But when you consider how easy it would be for the “Greatest Rock and
Roll Band in the World” (or, at least, to judge from all the 18-wheelers parked
out back, one of the biggest) to just go through the motions, it’s truly
remarkable to watch Ronnie wait for Keith to give him the nod before breaking
into the lap-steel solo on “Happy,” or look on as Keith makes eye contact with
Mick before glancing back at Charlie to mark the end of “Tumblin’ Dice.” Yeah,
they’ve got a couple of keyboard players, a four piece horn section, three
background vocalists, and a monster of a bassist in Daryl Jones to keep some
semblance of order. But there aren’t even many club bands left who deliver the
level of spontaneity that distinguishes the Stones as dinosaurs in the very best
sense of the word.
