Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
The shows at the Madison Square
Garden had been rumored for many months, the expected dates were around December
14, 1997.
My friend in New York contacted the MSG box office and spoke with his contact
there, no dice. The travel companies in London were already offering December
1997 trips to New York to see the shows, but according to a very good source
at the MSG, nothing was booked?
Another friend even booked his own trip to anticipate the shows happening.
The in late November the rumors were January. This seemed more real, and it was.
My New York buddy queued all night and still got only average tickets, I managed somehow to get mine via Ticketmaster and, thank you God, got great tickets for Jan 14 and Jan 17, nothing for Jan 16. Well I thought what the hell, got for it anyhow, hopefully I will get a Jan 16 ticket but if not, no problem. Then on Jan 4 Tickemaster sold more seats for all shows, that really screwed the touts, what a shame for them, ha ha.
I traveled with a long-time real
Stones fan Jem Brown and enjoyed all the free drinks possible on the flight.
I got to New York on the Tuesday and stayed up very late to soak up the atmosphere,
but where were the banner, the touts, the full monty?
Showday arrived and New York as a Stones city took over. T-shirts, programs
and of course touts were in full display. Our first night seats were superb,
on the floor, 4 rows from the front.
The
shows
Wednesday
Jan. 14, 1998
Fiona Apple was on at 8:10 pm as a warm-up. She seemed a bit confused, asking if there were anybody out there, and if people did care. By then the arena was only filled like 1/3. She finished her set at 8:50.
At 9:32 pm the lights went off again. Charlie climbed his drum kit. Keith could be seen wandering around the stage a bit, for some short few seconds. He probably needed to be ready. Then it was on to the famous riff of Satisfaction, and the show was on.
I was worried about Mick and his voice. Sure he was declared ready to rock'n'roll for the Montreal show, but even today he had trouble with his voice. Not that the show was affected by it, but I do know Mick, and he wasn't 100% still when it comes to his voice.
They went into great versions of Let's Spend The Night Together and Flip The Switch. Then they did Gimme Shelter, with Lisa walking around the stage, as they have a walkway behind Charlie, in order to walk all around the stage, to make close encounter with the fans behind the stage. What a great song. Next was Low Down, performed for the first time ever. A version true to the album version. Not perfect, but still quite good.
Saint Of Me was next. Another BtB track. The 3rd for tonight, and more to come. Then they did Bitch. Following was BtB song number four of tonight, Out Of Control. At first it was developing like usually, great crowd pleaser. But then something magic happened during Mick's harmonica playing. The song was taking off, virtually, and I was feeling they took the whole song into a new dimension... The crowd was cheering and got into it as well, and Mick was topping it with his crazy kinda duckwalk all over the stage from left to way right.
Mick was totally wasted after Out Of Control. He sure had given us all of himself, and he needed a slow song. Memory Motel was the one, and I send all my greetings to all the great fans at the AOL web-chat room, for voting for it. The song was slowing down the tempo, but every time Keith was on with his backing vocals, the crowd reacted with massive cheering.
Then they did Miss You, ok version. Keith did How Can I Stop, first time ever live, and the 5th BtB song of tonight. PS. They never played Anybody Seen My Baby tonight. That would have made it 6 BtB songs... Wanna Hold You closed Keith's set.
Then it was on to the small center stage. Well, it was smaller than the main stage, but the main stage was small itself, compared to a stadium show... I was lucky to have a seat 2 chairs away from Darryl and Charlie, and I made sure to be on the small stage fence by the time they started. Front view, what more can I ask for?
They did It's Only Rock'n Roll first. The sound was really muddy, but it improved, and the song itself was great. Then they were about to do The Last Time, which was in the pre-printed setlist. But Ronnie could not get any guitar to work properly. Ronnie tried out another guitar, then another guitar. He looked really disappointed. Mick was wandering around like a mad dog. Did a quick conversation with Keith. Keith stood calmly on his side, and then Keith just started to play a blues. Hey, we are getting extra blues while Ronnie is fixing his guitar! Then Ronnie is taking off his jacket, and I expect him to beat up somebody, or freak out. But the blues riffs Keith is doing suddenly develops into Little red Rooster, a spontaneous choice made by Keith this very moment!
The guy next to me had been screaming for Like A Rolling Stone for a long time by now, and he finally got it. Sure it sounded good. Mick got a bra thrown up on stage for him, and put it in his pocket. It will go into the collection of 20 or so bra's they had decorated the small stage with, probably souvenirs from previous shows like St. Louis, having lots of bra tossing.
Then it was back to the main stage, and into the five big ones that opens with Sympathy and ends with J. J. Flash. They all sounded just great, and the crowd was singing, dancing and enjoying every bit of it. Even the girl next to me, who had been sitting down with her VIP badge in her $300 seat (seeing less than those "behind" the stage) was up on her chair and dancing. Sure it was rock’s roll!
Then they did two encores, You Can't Always Get What You Want (some bits went wrong in that song, but did it matter?), and ever greatest Brown Sugar. It was an excellent show for sure, and I must say, going to a stadium show after this one will sure very, very different!
The set list:
Satisfaction
Let's Spend The Night Together
Flip The Switch
Gimp Shelter
Low
Down
Saint Of Me
Bitch
Out Of Control
Memory Motel (web choice)
Miss You
-- Introductions --
How Can I Stop (Keith)
Wan Hold You (Keith)
It's Only Rock’s Roll (center stage)
Little Red Rooster (center stage)
Like a Rolling Stone (center stage)
Sympathy For The Devil
Tumbling Dice
Honky Tonk Women
Start Me Up
Jumping Jack Flash
You Can't Always Get What You Want (encore)
Brown Sugar (encore)
Friday
Jan. 16, 1998
We had a terrific time at the Rolling Stones show Jan. 16 at Madison Square Garden. The band changed the lineup of tunes a bit and did six songs Friday that they did not do at the Wednesday show. It appeared that they skipped the cyber vote song (what happened to Waiting on a Friend? That one was leading in the cyber vote by late Friday afternoon.) They did, however, do two numbers that were on the cyber ballot, so perhaps one of those ones was the winner. In any event, they never acknowledged from the stage that they were doing a requested song.
It was the best version of Satisfaction that we have ever heard them do. Keith played a high note on that one and held it there while Mick danced, and later in the song Keith had an excellent, lengthy guitar solo. Let's Spend the Night Together was second, with the opening on piano, but we like it better when played with more guitars. Flip the Switch sounded great, and that's when the sparks set in. (I had the turkey and the stuffing too, I even saved a little bit for you.) The crowd got really riled up during Gimme Shelter. (Mad bull, lost its way.)
The first surprise of the evening came when they did a very tight version of Respectable, with Mick on guitar. Sounded hot. The Stones did the slow number Already Over Me next, and just like with Lowdown on Wednesday it was the first time the band performed this number on the tour. We thought the song was beautiful. It had a slow acoustic groove with Keith playing a very emotional Neil Young-esque guitar solo. Charlie did great by accentuating the peaks toward the end of the song. He really is an incredible drummer.
Bitch was next, a good rocker, and we especially liked the double take they did at the very end. Saint of Me went well, and many in the crowd were singing along on that one. Ronnie punctuated that one at the end. Out of Control with Mick on harmonica really cooked. Mick was all over the stage like a firefly as swirling circular lights decorated the stage floor. Miss You was next, performed very casually, with the band members coming on the back runway for that one behind the stage, Mick with his guitar. When Mick was strumming the guitar, you couldn't hear anything. Was it plugged in? After Miss You, Mick said something like, "You're much better singers than the crowd on Wednesday."
Band introductions followed, as usual, leading up to Keith's chance to take center stage. All About You shows that Keef is really a sentimental guy at heart. Then for his second number, Keith told the crowd he was going to do Wanna Hold You, then he changed his mind and instead started into You Don't Have to Mean It. I think that was only the second time they have done that one on this tour, so that was good. Not one of our favorites on record but somehow very appropriate on stage.
Next, the band pranced out to the small center stage. No bridge so they had to walk the runway. Little Queenie was first, and it sounded fantastic. The sound was much, much better for this first song on the small stage than it was on Wednesday night. Let It Bleed was next, and they played that one for a very long time and really got into it. Mick added some acoustic guitar riffs to this one. Mick winced when there was a feedback screech during that one. Like a Rolling Stone is a big crowd pleaser, and it looks like the Stones are going to keep that one in the set for the rest of the tour. It climaxed with Mick wailing on harp. By this point in the show everyone in the whole place was on their feet and stayed standing for the rest of the show. Dylan was not there as had been rumored, but Mick did acknowledge that he was playing next door at the MSG theater.
Next came the big hits, beginning with Sympathy for the Devil, and for the rest of the show the band worked the crowd into a frenzy. Tumbling Dice followed. Then Honky Tonk Women with Keith jamming wildly on piano toward the end. The line "I met a divorcee in New York City" brought wild cheering from the crowd. Start Me Up was up next, and the sound was very thunderous and you could really feel Charlie's bass drum in between the familiar riff parts. Some flashpots along the back of the stage exploded in a fiery flash before the start of Jumping Jack Flash, and Mick stayed at the mike in the center of the stage for most of that one, it seemed.
The encore opened with You Can't Always Get What You Want, then the awesome Brown Sugar finale, and the glitter shower brought the whole thing to a close. It was a terrific show.
The set list:
Satisfaction
Let's Spend The Night Together
Flip The Switch
Gimme Shelter
Respectable
Already
Over Me
Bitch
Saint Of Me
Out Of Control
Miss You
-- Introductions --
All About You (Keith)
You Don't Have To Mean It(Keith)
Little Queenie (center stage)
Let It Bleed (center stage)
Like a Rolling Stone (center stage)
Sympathy For The Devil
Tumbling Dice
Honky Tonk Women
Start Me Up
Jumping Jack Flash
You Can't Always Get What You Want (encore)
Brown Sugar (encore)
Saturday
Jan. 17, 1998
"Tonights our last of night here," Mick told the 18,000 in attendance, "And we're gonna make it our best!" And once again, Mick and Co. lived up to their words. Delivering a fast paced show filled with plenty of highlights and surprises. Those that were lucky enough to have caught one of or both of the previous two shows here were treated to a fresh set list carefully mixed with classics and new material.
As if seeing the world's greatest rock & roll band in an intimate (by Stones standards) setting wasn't enough of a thrill, the band made sure to deliver plenty of songs that had not been previously performed not only during their stay at The Garden, but also a number of tunes that hadn't been performed ever!!
After running through the standard first four numbers Satisfaction, LSNT, Flip The Switch and a powerful and moving version of Gimme Shelter things started to get REALLY interesting. Here are some highlights:
When The Whip Comes Down previosly played maybe twice prior to tonight on the current tour. Performed very loose. They don't quite have a grip on this one yet. Interesting version though, much faster paced that the Some Girls version the fast, three attack - guitar riffing sounded closer to Lies than the heavy guitar crunch of Whip. Still, great to see the Stones transformed back into a bar band right before our eyes!
Might As Well Get Juiced the debut performance! Each night at MSG they've managed to play at least 2 tracks off of Bridges to Babylon that hadn't been performed previously. Juiced was SO COOL! It featured Mick at center stage on a synthesizer with Keith and Woody on dueling slide guitar. The video on the two jumbo screens showed an effect similar to when they did 2,000 Light Years during Steel Wheels. The pyschadelic images worked perfectly with the songs hypnotic feel. Charlie kicked the beat amazingly by using almost exclusively his symbols.
All Down The Line 1st time performed on Babylon Tour. Woody decided to show up on this one and rocked. His slide playing was right on. When he concentrates on what he's doing instead of waving to the crowd, he can be great. Otherwise, Keith has seemed to be mostly carrying the show. All Down The Line also featured a great arrangement from the horn section that really kicked in at the end. This would be a perfect song to segue with Bitch.
Miss You extensive jam with everyone taking a solo. I noticed Keef, Ronnie and Bernard sharing a smoke during this one. Keith later mumbled something about "weed" and "not having to work tomorrow" during his set.
Theif In The Night 1st time played. Really cool to see Keith and the band feel their way through this. It took 2 takes to get the intro going. And then they worked over the intro into a long steady groove until Keith felt comfortable enough with the way the song was going to begin the vocals. Then things really took off! This song just seemed to keep building up momentum. With pulsing chants of "come on, come on, like a thief now" Great groove. Really funky feel to it. Afterwards, Keith joked about "its nice to try it out in front of some friends!" Keith seemed very jovial and spirited tonight.
You Don't Have to Mean It Time for Jah Keef to lay down the reggae! This was the 6th and final Babylon number. It featured Woody on keyboards and Blondie on guitar. Jah Keef really transformed the city into "Jamaica on the Hudson"
Little Queenie the Chuck Berry classic was back as the intro at center stage replacing IORR. The song really took off as Keith was in "the zone". Keith licks burried his hero and the band indulged him with an extended solos and longer version.
I Just Want To Make Love To You 1st time played in the U.S.!!! It was time for some blues. They performed this as a true slow-burning blues number. Much different from the fast paced style of their very first album. It started out with just Mick mumbling out random lines. Then Charlie and Keith kicking off the slow groove. The song concluded with Mick assuming the persona of Muddy Waters and calling out "Don't hurt me. Don't hurt me, baby. Don't hurt me, child."
Like A Rolling Stone Is he here? Is he showing up? We wondered .... Mick started out this final number from the center stage by mentioning that "their good friend was playing next door tonight." All the members seemed to turn back to the main stage to see if he was coming. Woody gestured for him. But no dice. After the show I caught up with legendary slide guitarist Warren Haynes (of Gov't Mule, formerly with the Allman Bros.) who told me that Bob was there standing at the side of the stage but didn't feel comfortable coming out. Mr. Dylan's funny like that. Haynes also told me that there were two set lists one if Dylan showed and one if he didn't show. Well, guess which one we got. I can only imagine what might of been on the "Dylan Shows Up" list!!!
Sympathy for the Devil the red and yellow lights set the perfect mood. But the band sets the real fire! Mick and the backing vocalists have developed a call and response toward the end of this during the "tell me baby" "whats my name" part. Interesting ending as the band seemed to be out of synch with each other. It came to a semi stop then started up again. This actually sounded really great. And as it started to get going again Mick shouted "Stop - NOW"
You Can't Always Get What You Want the 1st of 2 encores. Looking down on the smaller, less ornate stage, during this song in particular, I was transcended back into the 1981 tour. Yes, The Stones were back performing indoors, to a smaller audience, playing loose and free. Letting the chips fall where they may. The departure from the 60,000 capacity football stadium to the 18,000 seat Garden truly made it feel like I was seeing them in the El Mocombo or The Marque Club. Yes, for 3 amazing nights the Stones were once again The Greatest Bar Band and MSG was their bar. Grateful to have been there.
The set list:
Satisfaction
Let's Spend The Night Together
Flip The Switch
Gimme Shelter
When
The Whip Comes Down
Might
As Well Get Juiced
All
Down The Line
Saint Of Me
Out Of Control
Miss You
-- Introductions --
Thief In The Night (Keith)
You Don't Have To Mean It (Keith)
Little Queenie (center stage)
I Just Wanna Make Love To You (center stage)
Like a Rolling Stone (center stage)
Sympathy For The Devil
Tumbling Dice
Honky Tonk Women
Start Me Up
Jumping Jack Flash
You Can't Always Get What You Want (encore)
Brown Sugar (encore)