- Holy shit, the Rolling Stones fucking rocked.
The crowd was very eclectic. And huge. Huge and eclectic. I expected a lot of older folks, and there were plenty, but there were also a lot of disinterested teens there WITH those older folks. Interspersed were bikers, middle-aged teachers, and wealthy-looking guys with much younger, much more attractive girlfriends. Oh, and they were all white. The only black people I saw all night were checking purses at the gate or selling tickets before you got to the stadium.
- Mick Jagger dueted with opener Ed Sheeran on “Beasts of Burden.” I love “Beasts of Burden” and I’m glad they played it, but it’s kind of a strange song to hear two dudes sing to each other.
Jagger actually SOUNDED good, too. Like, the whole night. He sounded like normal-ass Mick Jagger.
- It’s hard to believe they’re all over 70. (Well, except for Ronnie Wood who is a positively youthful 68.) Jagger’s energy is INSANE. I got tired just watching him. I’m still tired, 12 hours later. (Maybe the moral here is that I need to work on my fitness.) He pranced and clucked and kicked the entire time, like some sort of heavenly, spastic chicken.
Speaking of Ronnie Wood, he dresses like a 10-year-old boy. It’s very bizarre. At one point, he was wearing a too-tight t-shirt with some kind of horsey on it.
- And on the topic of fashion, they were ALL wearing too-tight clothing, as per usual. They can do this because they are all impossibly skinny. They all changed clothes a couple of times, I think.
Keith Richards smiles a LOT. He seemed to be having a great time and it was infectious. Maybe there’s something to be said for longevity as it relates to happiness.
- He also has giant, fake teeth which make him look a little like a muppet. An incredibly bad-ass muppet, though.
But at least he doesn’t bother dying his hair. Mick and Ronnie both have alarmingly unnatural, young-looking hair, and it makes for a strange optical illusion. That said, at least none of them have fucked with their face, a la Paul McCartney. I love McCartney, but his appearance these days is jarring. He looks like a wealthy older woman.
- It’s hard to pick a highlight, song-wise. They went for a solid two hours, playing almost everything you’d expect them to play. For “Sympathy for the Devil,” the screens all appeared to be ablaze and Mick came out in a fiery red, giant feather coat. It was outstanding. “Satisfaction” closed the show, and it sounded like they hopped in a time machine and went back to 1965. (Or brought 1965 back to the future.) It was that fresh. They used a local choir for “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and it was gorgeous. “Wild Horses” was simple and beautiful.
Oh, and the next time you need to get somewhere and you’re drunk, go Uber. Taxi cabs are the fucking worst. We took Uber there and it was excellent– $28 to go from Liberty to Arrowhead. Leaving the show was some sort of real life nightmare. There were hundreds of cabs waiting, but thousands of people who wanted them. After finally getting one, it ended up taking twice as long as the Uber and ended up costing $65 to get FROM the venue to northern Overland Park due to what I can only assume was Yellow Cab’s “Extreme Price Gouge Because of Heavy Traffic Rate.” Seriously, fuck you, Yellow Cab. No wonder that industry is so afraid of peer ride-sharing services.
- This was a tremendous concert. No, it probably wasn’t like seeing them in the mid-70s when they were all whacked out of their gourds on narcotics and I guess at the height of their powers. But seriously, it’s hard to imagine them ever having as much energy and enthusiasm as they did last night. It seems unlikely that they’ll come back through again, but if they do–or if you happen to have the chance to see them elsewhere– do it. It is well worth the exorbitant price. Just don’t take a cab to the show. Fuck cabs.
Here’s the setlist:
Start Me Up
It’s Only Rock and Roll
Tumbling Dice
Doom and Gloom
Beast of Burden (w/ Sheeran)
Kansas City
Bitch
Wild Horses
Street Fighting Man
Honky Tonk Woman
Before They Make Me Run (Richards on vocals)
Happy (Richards on vocals)
Midnight Rambler
Miss You
Gimme Shelter
Jumping Jack Flash
Sympathy for the Devil
Brown Sugar
–Encore–
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
I blame the Confederate Flag. Damn Rebel flag.
With uber surge-ride after concert to op was $250. I would have been happy to pay $65
YIKES. Totally take back what I said, then. That’s ridiculous and I’m sorry to hear it. Wow.
Don’t be sorry. That is how the free market works. Sometimes Uber will be cheaper (most of the time since events like this aren’t as common), and sometimes a metered cab will be cheaper.
Sounds like the market worked perfectly, and you did exactly what you should have done. Because NO cab will get you from Liberty to Arrowhead for $28.
Yeah, I just felt bad for the dude who spent $250 on Uber… but I suppose it ultimately WAS his choice. Just a lot of $$$. I was ready to hang myself in the barn because of my $65 cab ride. But I’m a bit cheap. Like you said, free market in action.
thought uber was cheaper…called them once an a pickup truck showed up to
drive us….not good.
but lefty congrats…u got to see the worlds greatest rock n roll band in history.
Been around for over fifty years and still going strong. Great show.
Glad you got to experience them. They are ageless and they love touring because
its their life. Probably at this point its not about the money…its about the music.
I have never used Uber in Kansas City. But I do travel alot, and I exclusively use Uber in towns that have it. I have never had an issue. The best benefit to me is that the wait time is usually less than that of a cab. But to each their own. Thats the beauty of options, the consumer gets to choose.
I had read that the band was totally ready for this tour, ripping it up in baton rouge for two rehearsal shows, a couple of surprise small venue appearances in L.A. after that. Richards had said they were really energized and excited about this tour. guess so…
as to how jagger stays fit? well, he ain’t no David Crosby…. (article is 3-yrs old, but I’m sure his routine hasn’t changed much)
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/fitness/how-mick-jagger-keeps-fit-at-69/story-fneuzle5-1226662410478
Thanks for sharing that link. Absolutely crazy dedication. RUNNING EIGHT MILES A DAY, plus all of the other pilates/ballet/yoga? It shows for sure, and it’s no wonder he can keep up the energy level.
Is there a drug shortage in KC metro after this ‘concert’?
Great review, Brandon. Makes me (almost) wish that I would’ve gone. But after seeing the Stones three times before—hey that’s plenty.
Thanks Jack. Yeah, if you’ve seen them before– three times, even– you’ve seen them before. I feel bad for people I know who’ve never seen them and were kinda on the fence but ultimately passed, though.
3 times you saw the Stones. Wow. Saturday night was my 26th Stones show dating back to the early 70’s. And their show here after 50 plus years, was top 10 of the 26 that I have attended.
They were fantastic and worth the ticket price. Amazing too, 50,000 plus people, all white, and no trouble other than the cycle clowns trying to play Billy Badass. Great night. One for the years. Saw them three days before in Milwaukee and they were great there too. Hopefully they will tour again. Would like to cover 30.