Ethel Mertz is angry

[SoCalMan2]

Dear RichieBee

I am a good friend of Joe Hirsch\'s.  He is one of the greatest guys in the world.  He confirmed that story related by Kriegel about his and Namath\'s first meeting.  Joe and Joe were roommates for 10 years.  If you want to understand how good friends they are, you only need to do the following.....do a search in the DRF archives looking for pieces authored by Namath. That is correct, AUTHORED by Namath. You will find the tribute Namath wrote to Joe when the racing form announced Hirsch\'s retirement.  The racing form used this piece on its cover instead of having any racing articles the day it was published. I can ask Joe if the Joplin stuff is true, although i am getting worried that we are getting off the topic of the pilfering of Monkey Man by Gary Mc.  I would also like to add that I have nothing against Gary Mc personally.  He seems like an extremely reasonable poster over there.  And, of course, I share his taste in music (Monkey Man is a terribly underrated song...suffers from being a cut on an album loaded with hits....the Stones did this song fantastically on the 40 licks tour).  Now, does anybody have anything on Dylan and horseracing?

[SoCalMan2]

How was the show last night?  I see they did Gimme Shelter!!  How awesome is Lisa???

[magicnight]

Well, you bet on a horse and it ran on the wrong way
I always said you\'d be sorry and today could be the day
I might need a good lawyer, could be your funeral, my trial
Well, I cried for you, now it\'s your turn, you can cry awhile

Dylan - Cry A While - from Love And Theft - 2001

Also, I had been waiting for the opportunity ... I finally saw Festival Express on DVD some months after Jerry touted it here ... besides some excellent numbers from the Band, the Janis Joplin numbers - Tell Mama, in particular - are among the best you have ever seen of her.

And, re the Stones, I know it is probably not live, but, in the tradition of \"I don\'t care if my horse wins so long as the price is right\", I can\'t believe no one here cast a vote for Dead Flowers.

[TGAB]

Against a video backdrop of projecting asteroids, the curtain parted at about 9:40pm with Keith Richards stepping out stage left, mid-front launching into the first few chords of Jumping Jack Flash. The rhythm section kicked in, Mick pranced out center stage and voila---The Rolling Stones.

This was the first arena concert I\'ve seen in many, many years and it seemed to me from what little I recall that much has changed, mostly all for the better.

After Let\'s Spend the Night Together, song two, the Stones and sound engineers seemed to have tweaked the sound to optimal tone and volume. Indeed, it was surprising how clear it sounded to me up in the not-so-cheap seats of section 304.

The band was tight. Mick and crew were in fine form with Mick prancing around left,  right, center stage, up and down the catwalks engaging the audience, and likewise Keith to a slightly lesser extent.

The backup singers were located stage right back, keyboardist and exotic wood grower Chuck Leavall, stage right center back, guitarist Ron Wood stage right center front, drummer Charlie Watts plexiglass  sidewalled off, center back, equipment, horns stage left back, bassist (didn\'t catch his name) stage left front, Keith stage left center front and Mick center stage roaming about.

Good set-up, good sound, big stage with a lots of room for Mick, Keith and Ron to move about. I don\'t think they played much if anything from their new album. Instead it was the usual suspects so-to-speak in no particular order--Sympathy For The Devil, Brown Sugar, Happy, Honky Tonk Women, Miss You, Love Is Strong, Start Me Up, You Can\'t Always Get What You Want, Midnight Rambler, Tumbling Dice and about an hour in Gimme Shelter.

Gimme Shelter was a highlight especially the third verse sung by Lisa Fisher, who with her power and energy amply delivered the vocal intensity the verse and song demanded. Good stuff, thrilling, goose-pimple rushes, and yet for one who remembers and/or still listens to the original, there\'s no way ever to replicate the serendipitous voice crackle, cracking Merry Clayton vocalized.

Mick mentioned mid-show they were playing the Super Bowl and he promised to bare both t*ts--some humor.

They a solid 1h50m before leaving the stage only to come back with Satisfaction as the encore.

Altogether they played 2h. It was very professional. The sound was clear, crisp, the band was tight and engaging. It was a multigenerational audience--saw some moms and pops with their tots, and lots of young adults, obviously second or third generation Stones fans.

My sight lines were good, no auras of smoke hovering, although I did smell some of that funny stuff, not much, 15 or 20m in. It dissipated only to return an hour or so later. Oh the good old days. A friendly, well behaved, responsive of not overexuberant crowd. At this point in time, the urgency, either from this audience member nor from the band itself, I would say, although as I said they were engaging, energetic and professional, isn\'t the same.

As Jagger-Richard wrote but did not sing or play last night, Time Waits For No One.
     

     
     

[SoCalMan2]

Alan

Thanks for the great review!  I almost feel like I was there!  Oh, that Lisa!!

SCM2

[SoCalMan2]

If the Superbowl were in Memphis or somewhere in Texas, then a country song (possibly Dead Flowers but more likely Faraway Eyes (even though it is Bakersfield-style)) would make sense.  The reference in Dead Flowers to being in the basement with a needle and a spoon would not go over big with the NFL. In Detroit, a country song is just not going to fit so well.

A cover of a Motown song is definitely in the realm of possibility for Detroit.  \"Ain\'t Too Proud to Beg\" and \"Everybody Needs Someone to Love\" are two strong candidates.  I would say if one of them goes in, they replace Satisfaction.  Hard to imagine Start Me Up and Jumping Jack Flash not being there.  \"Ain\'t Too Proud to Beg\" suffers from having been performed by the Stones in Detroit the last time they were there (Aug 31, 2005). \"Love Train\" is another possibility.

Of course, Dead Flowers would be a favorite of the board due to the Kentucky Derby reference, but I do not think we carry too much weight.