Rolling Stones to rock halftime at Super Bowl

September 1, 2005 

BY BRIAN McCOLLUM
FREE PRESS POP MUSIC WRITER

The Rolling Stones will be the featured Super Bowl halftime performer at Ford Field in February, the Free Press has learned. Sources close to the band and its new tour said Wednesday that the Stones have agreed to perform at the Feb. 5 game, the Super Bowl's 40th anniversary.

Vocalist Mick Jagger confirmed to the Free Press last week that the band was asked by the National Football League to play the Super Bowl, but said no decision was set.

NFL film crews were on hand for the band's Wednesday night show at Comerica Park, shooting footage to be aired next week during the NFL's opening weekend, which includes the Detroit Lions' season kickoff Sept. 11.

The Stones also filmed clips backstage before the show, including a teaser to the season-closing extravaganza. The band signed on last month to a season-long promotional campaign with the NFL, which will include use of the Stones' songs and images during football broadcasts.

The Super Bowl has become one of the world's most-watched annual TV events.

Contact BRIAN McCOLLUM at 313-223-4450 or mccollum@freepress.com.

Rolling Stones deliver satisfaction with a bang

BY BRIAN McCOLLUM - FREE PRESS POP MUSIC CRITIC

There's no such thing as a little Rolling Stones show.

As evidenced Wednesday night at Comerica Park, where a near-capacity crowd of about 38,000 gathered for the fifth date on the band's aptly named "A Bigger Bang" tour, these aren't so much concerts as they are manmade wonders.

As they have with every tour going back two decades, the Stones once again have upped the ante on stage production. At this rate, the band's Really Really Big Bang Tour in 2008 will have to play cornfields to accommodate all the frills.

Wednesday night, vocalist Mick Jagger roamed a stage so mammoth it appeared to be part of the Detroit skyline -- a towering contraption with the look of a futuristic parking deck. Along the top four stories were scores of fans who in some cases paid hundreds of dollars for what likely amounted to the strangest front-row seats they'd yet enjoyed.

Beneath them were Jagger, guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood, and drummer Charlie Watts, back for another round of shout-along rock classics, presented with a professionalism and polish to match the dizzying layers of lights and state-of-the-art sound.

As with previous Stones stadium shows -- and any music production of this magnitude -- the flip side of such spectacle is the sprawling distance, literal and figurative, between the band and its audience.

Even from the closest seats, which stretched in long rows across Comerica Park's outfield, it was easy to feel a disconnect. From the back of the stadium -- in this case, behind home plate -- it could feel as if you were viewing someone else's concert.

Jagger did his part to bridge the gap, establishing his personal tempo from the outset as he scampered and strutted from one end of the stage to the other, making clear that fans could rely on at least one source of motion for the night.

Sticking with a convention it helped launch in the '90s, the band headed to an auxiliary stage at the center of floor seating for a four-song midshow set that included a loose, punchy take on "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."

And, yes, there was indeed music. After taking the stage at 9:20 p.m. to a mini fireworks display, the group launched into "Start Me Up," the first in a 21-song set of music spanning precisely four decades. Audience roars went up with each familiar, wiry opening lick -- "Tumblin' Dice," "Beast of Burden," "Sympathy for the Devil."

New tunes from the band's upcoming album, "A Bigger Bang," largely held their own against the time-tested material, with Richards' sizzling riff on "Rough Justice" turning that brisk rocker into a noticeable standout.

While there were few surprises in the set list, the Stones shook things up with their potent cover of "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" -- the obligatory Motown nod in Detroit -- and a heartfelt rendition of Ray Charles' "Night Time is the Right Time."

Contact BRIAN McCOLLUM at 313-223-4450 or mccollum@freepress.com.

Detroit, Michigan, USA - Friday, 31st August 2005, Comerica Park

Fifth night and fourth stand of "A Bigger Bang" World Tour

1 - Start Me UP
2 - YGMR
3 - She's So Cold
4 - Tumbling Dice
5 - Rough Justice
6 - Back of My Hand
7 - Beast of Burden
8 - Ain't Too Proud To Beg
9 - Night Time
Intros
10 - The Worst
11 - Infamy
12 - Miss You
13 - ONNYA
14 - Satisfaction
15 - HTW
16 - Out of Control
17 - Sympathy
18 - JJF
19 - Brown Sugar
Encore:
20 - YCAGWYW
21 - IORR

Twenty-one songs again, but Back Of My Hand is back and Ain't Too Proud To Beg made is debut for this tour!

Start It Up: Rolling Stones Come To Detroit

'A Bigger Bang' Set For Tonight At Tigers' Home

Mick Jagger arrived at the Oakland County Airport in Waterford Tuesday night. He had less than 24 hours to get his groove on before he and his band, the Rolling Stones, perform at Comerica Park to a near sell-out crowd.

If you're going to the show tonight, you had better get there early. With almost 40,000 concertgoers expected, it's going to be crowded.

"A Bigger Bang" tour features opening act Maroon 5. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.

The Stones are expected to play new music from their album bearing the same name as the tour. It'll be in stores Sept. 6.

Still not sure about going? Some seats are still available for $60 to $400 at the Comerica Park box office or by calling (248) 645-6666. The ticket limit is 12 per person.

Scripting out the Stones
Earl McRae hits the Streets of Love with the music video's screenplay
By EARL MCRAE, Ottawa Sun
August 30, 2005

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/Ottaw...193563-sun.html" title="http://www.ottawasun.com/News/Ottaw...193563-sun.html" target="_blank"http://www.ottawasun.com/News...

THE FOUR-EYED Lippy Little Shin Kicker is in the crowd outside Zaphod Beeblebrox on York St. wondering when the Stones are arriving to shoot their video in the bar and on the barricades, and cops, and the hours pass and the Shin Kicker looks for clues.

The Shin Kicker's been over at the Westin Hotel where he planted himself in a chair in the lobby with his head drooped on his chest to make it look as if he was sleeping but behind his sunglasses his eyes were wide awake and darting all over the place on Stones Stakeout.

Now, a couple of doors west of Zaphod Beeblebrox, the Shin Kicker sees a small door and sign saying Angie's Talents and Talents Inc. and he says to himself, hey, wait, didn't the Stones record a song called Angie? Indeed, they did.

Angie, Angie, when will all the clouds disappear

Angie, Angie, where will it lead us from here?

Angie the Stones' song, Angie's the talent agency smack dab in video central -- can't be coincidence, so the Shin Kicker sneaks away, makes a phone call, one Angie Seymour answers, and the Shin Kicker asks if, by chance, she's hiding the Rolling Stones upstairs in her office, awaiting the video shoot?

LOCAL TALENT

"No," she laughs. And then the blockbuster: "But they're using seven of my clients in the video. Maxine Brown, Katerin Dovas, Jerome Xavier, Chafic Mrad, Rebecca Carly, Eade, and Andrew Rochon. Andrew is the male lead. He gets to fight Mick Jagger. I don't know whether, with the name of the song and our name, this is all coincidence or a higher spirit."

Angie Seymour lets drop that the filming of the video began around the city Sunday evening without the Stones, and went until 4:30 a.m. Monday with Maxine Brown's scene shot on Gladstone Ave. at around 2:30 a.m., Maxine a hooker in a phone booth getting harassed by a cop.

The Stones have never shot a video in Ottawa, the script is top secret, but the Shin Kicker unearthed a copy -- here, ladies and gentlemen, the transcript for Streets Of Love:

"We open on a cool hole-in-the-wall type bar filled with smoke and local people drinking away another night. The space has obviously seen better days, but the crowd is hip, but undeniably real world. These are not plastic models, but genuine faces with a certain edgy style and a slight retro edge.

"We soak up the atmosphere as we push through the haze to see ...

"The Rolling Stones on the intimate stage. They perform the first lines of the track as the hand-held camera catches stylish angles. Mick, Keith, Ron, and Charlie look iconic, but this is not a typical performance. It feels like we are truly in this down and dirty bar soaking up the performance.

"The Stones just seem to fit here ... Effortlessly cool and understated. Mick never sings right to the lens ...There are no 'music video' cliches ...These are grabbed moments of reality -- every wisp of smoke and bent guitar string filling the frame with charismatic attitude.

"We see people silhouetted against the smoky light or hanging out in one of the worn, vinyl booths -- vibing off the Stones. The vibe is effortless, authentic -- like we are voyeuristically watching the performance."

The scene shifts to a small city apartment, a young man staring at himself in a mirror over a bathroom sink, and the man seems "broken" as he runs his hands through his tousled hair and stubbled jowls.

"These moments feel surreal and oddly intense, capturing the emotional depths of the lyrics and the music itself ... like the early Scorsese short film The Shave every gesture and move seems infused with meaning, but we are not sure what it is ... we continue to cut back to the Stones in the small bar, inter-cutting the music with the young man in the apartment."

LONELY STREETS

The man leaves his apartment and is seen walking the lonely, dark, after-hours streets taken over by drug addicts and hookers and all-night workers and the mood is one of menace and he's filmed from the window of a parked taxi or the 'stoop of a darkened storefront.'

"Down a dimly lit alley, we see a sleazy couple kissing, but it does not seem sexy at all. Our guy passes, caught up in his loneliness ... other faces pass by in the darkness, headed home or still out looking for another after-hours adventure. These are the streets of love, but it is not a welcoming place."

He's seen peering with "dead eyes" in the window of the bar at the Stones, and the door opens, and someone lurches out and into him, and "a fist slams into our guy's cheek. As the guitar solo kicks in, we see our guy turn and start to run ... we catch his face as it bounces with every step, gasping for oxygen in the night air."

He ends up lying on the sidewalk "staring straight up at the sky ... his eyes stare past our lens as we see the rain starting to fall. The guy slowly stands up ..."

Once again, in the falling rain, he's at the bar, staring into the window at a girl who's watching the Stones. "We realize that she is who our lead was looking at last time he was here ... we catch the final performance moments from the Stones as we see the guy make eye contact with the girl. He mouths some unheard words (was it 'I'm sorry?').

"The last notes of the track drift away as we hold on the moment. The girl does not react and we are left wondering the resolution. The Stones hold the last note as we ... fade to black."

Official site, official preview. Just aim your browser at http://rollingstones.com/abiggerbang" title="http://rollingstones.com/abiggerbang" target="_blank"http://rollingstones.com/abig... and you'll be served the dish the whole world is waiting for. No snippets. The entire 16 tracks, from "Rough Justice" to "Infamy". Just the way the Stones want you to hear them (to quote the neat guys at rs.com).

And who would you be to rebel to their deeds?

Ciao, Chris

If you're into torrenting, today brought a couple good opportunities for you. First of all, a new source for the Boston opening night show. This time it's complete, but no comments on quality, especially compared to the actually available (good) version, so far. You can check it at:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=57522&" title="http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=57522&" target="_blank"http://www.dimeadozen.org/tor...;hit=1

The taper states he has availability of the second gig too, in even better quality, and he'll torrent it in the next days. Same place!

Then, if solo Ronnie is your bread, here you'll find what's defined as a very good audience recording of his 16th November 1992 show in San Diego:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=57527&" title="http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=57527&" target="_blank"http://www.dimeadozen.org/tor...;hit=1

Ciao, Chris

Are you planning a travel to NYC in September, in order to attend shows there? Well, if so, consider two meetings already sculpted in your agenda.

1st - Place: Pop International Galleries. Day: Thursday, September 8th, 2005. Time: from 7 to 9pm. Event: Opening of "A 1970's Review Of The Rolling Stones - Through The Lens Of Ken Regan".

2nd - Place: Pop International Galleries. Day: Friday, September 16th, 2005. Time: from 7 to 9pm. Event: Opening of Ronnie Wood's paintings exhibition.

Pop International Galleries are located at 473 West Broadway, New York, NY 10012. Tel:   212-533-4262 / Fax:   212-533-6553. Opening hours are: Monday to Saturday 10am to 7pm / Sunday 11am to 6pm. You can also visit Pop on the triple w at http://popinternational.com" title="http://popinternational.com" target="_blank"http://popinternational.com.

Ah, don't forget to send yours truly a postcard from the Big Apple! Ciao, Chris.

With many thanks to the sharp soul who posted them over at Rocks Off (link on the left), here are the song-by-song credits for "A Bigger Bang". Don't read the lines below if the trivia "who played what?" isn't for you. Surprises are, in fact, there. Some examples? Well, no Ronnie on "Back Of My Hand" and Don Was at piano in "This Place Is Empty". Scroll down for the rest!

Rough Justice
Mick: vocals, guitar
Keith: guitar
Charlie: drums
Ronnie: slide guitar
Darryl: bass
Chuck: piano

Let Me Down Slow
Mick: vocals, guitar
Keith: guitar, backing vocals
Charlie: drums
Ronnie: slide guitar
Darryl: bass

It Won't Take Long
Mick: vocals, guitar
Keith: guitar, backing vocals
Charlie: drums
Ronnie: guitar
Darryl: bass
Chuck: organ

Rain Fall Down
Mick: vocals, guitar, keyboards, vibes
Keith: guitar
Charlie: drums
Ronnie: guitar
Matt Clifford: keyboards, vibes, programming
Darryl: bass

Streets of Love
Mick: vocals, guitar
Keith: guitar
Charlie: drums
Ronnie: guitar
Darryl: bass
Matt: piano, organ, strings, programming
Chuck: piano, organ

Back of My Hand
Mick: vocals, slide guitar, harmonica, percussion, bass
Keith: guitar
Charlie: drums

She Saw Me Coming
Mick: vocals, bass, percussion
Keith: guitar, backing vocals, piano
Charlie: drums
Ronnie: guitar
Blondie Chaplin: backing vocals

Biggest Mistake
Mick: vocals, guitar
Keith: guitar, backing vocals
Charlie: drums
Ronnie: guitar
Darryl: bass
Chuck: organ

This Place Is Empty
Keith: vocals, guitar, piano, bass
Mick: slide guitar, backing vocals
Charlie: drums
Don Was: piano

Oh No, Not You Again
Mick: vocals, guitar
Keith: guitars, bass
Ronnie: guitar
Charlie: drums
Darryl: bass

Dangerous Beauty
Mick: vocals, guitar, bass
Keith: guitar
Charlie: drums
(No credit for organ; probably Chuck)

Laugh, I Nearly Died
Mick: vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion
Keith: guitar
Charlie: drums
Darryl: bass

Sweet Neo Con
Mick: vocals, guitar, bass, harmonica, keyboards
Keith: guitar
Charlie: drums

Look What the Cat Dragged In
Mick: vocals, guitar, bass
Keith: guitar
Charlie: drums
Ronnie: guitar
Darryl: bass
Lenny Castro: percussion

Driving Too Fast
Mick: vocals, guitar, guitar
Keith: guitar
Charlie: drums
Ronnie: guitar
Darryl: bass
Chuck: piano

Infamy
Keith: vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, percussion
Mick: guitar, backing vocals, harmonica, keyboards, percussion
Charlie: drums
Blondie: backing vocals

Tracks 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 15 mixed by Jack Joseph Puig. Great producer!

The rest were mixed by Krish Sharma, who's credited with recording all tracks in France and St. Vincent, West Indies.

From the Usenet newsgroup alt.rock-n-roll.stones:

Reports from fans say a frustrated Charlie Watts walked away from his drum kit during "Sympathy For The Devil" at the Ottawa show, and an angry Keith Richards yelled at roadies to fix the technical problem that had rattled the normally unflappable drummer. Apparently a taped percussion track was inaudible to Watts, who kept getting out of sync as a result. The band members with in-ear monitors could hear okay, but Charlie could not, and Keith's and Chuck Leavell's repeated demands of the roadies that the tape track either be turned up or turned off were not acted on, Keith finally went backstage to yell at the roadies at closer range. Mick Jagger went into overdrive to distract the crowd from what was happening, leaving Ronnie, Darryl and Blondie to keep playing as best they could. Some fans speculated that the tape track could not be turned off because it is synched to the light show, if so, this demonstrates what happens when you let computers run a musical performance. The Stones have apparently had "click track" problems on previous tours, but nobody can remember Charlie being unable to hold down the beat before, very disturbing.

Yes, disturbing enough. Not for the fact that you paid 450$ and what you get a percussion tape (in a song where this is the basic part of the "evilish" atmosphere), but for the light it shone on our favourite drummer. After 40 years of a marvellous career, a tape (that can't be stopped, due to the fact is synched with stage lights!) first made Charlie fall out of beat, and then provided frustration, leading him to leave the stage. Maybe a real conga player would have been easier! Were you there, did you notice anything? Let's comment on this Charlie Ottawa incident... Ciao, Chris

Live Review: Rolling Stones in Ottawa

Lansdowne Park, Ottawa - August 28, 2005

By DENIS ARMSTRONG -- Ottawa Sun


OTTAWA -- Going out with a bang wasn't good enough for the Rolling Stones, who delivered an even bigger bang in front of 43,000 fans last night at Lansdowne Stadium.

After months of anticipation, the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world surpassed all the hype to deliver one of the greatest concerts the city has ever seen.

Everywhere you went before the concert, young and old proudly wore their Rolling Stones merchandise, a sea of lips and tongues, a few going so far as to model themselves after the Glimmer Twins -- Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

You could feel the electricity everywhere in and outside the stadium as thousands who couldn't get tickets crowded Bank St. just to be able to say they were there.

Running a half hour late only made their wait more delicious. When the house lights finally dimmed an hour after Our Lady Peace cleared the stage, a deafening cheer accompanied the animated video and fireworks that set the fans back on their heels.

Jagger, dressed head-to-toe in blue satin, might have looked older than he did when he last played the city 40 years ago, but his energy level was through the roof.


"We haven't been here much, if that isn't an understatement," joked Jagger. "We've added a few more songs since then."

The Stones stuck close to the set they premiered last week in Boston, opening with Start Me Up, You've Got Me Rocking and Shattered.

Jagger seemed to be particularly pumped for the show, using every inch of the ample floor space to strut and stomp like an angry ballet dancer while working the catwalk to get close to his fans on Tumblin' Dice.

While Jagger posed and preened, Richards and Ronnie Woods settled into a jam with a trio of soulful singers and a four-piece brass section. It was as dirty and sexy as I've ever heard the band.

Halfway through the two-hour show, it was beginning to look like the band would play all night, settling into a funky groove with Rough Justice, and the traditional-sounding blues tune Back of My Hand, featuring Jagger playing slide guitar

The concert's biggest surprise was the hydraulically-fitted stage, which lifted and then extended halfway down the tarpaulined field while the band played Beast of Burden, She's So Cold and Missed You.

In the final few moments, the Stones paid tribute to their blues hero, Ray Charles, with Night Time Is The Right Time before playing their own classics, Satisfaction, Sympathy For the Devil, Jumping Jack Flash and their encore, I Know It's Only Rock n' Roll (But I Like It).

Thanks to a spectacular sound system, the old classics sounded like brand new tunes, and Jagger soon had the crowd on its feet singing along.

As good as the Stones sounded, the Bigger Bang gig proved to be a massive rock 'n' roll experience, a spectacle easily surpassinging any other concert.

From the elaborate staging, which resembled a hi-tech parking garage lined with three levels of balconies where standing-room-only fans looked down on the band, the entire structure looked as if it would take off like a brilliant space ship.

It was an unforgettable show, proving once again that though they might not cut as many hit records as they used to, the Rolling Stones are still one of the best live acts in rock.

Good ole' postmaster, who would resign since yours truly got to live in this neighborood, due to the sensible increase of parcels and packages to be delivered everyday, came today with something I feel the need to suggest to genuine rock lovers.

Burning guitars and pirate flags are your thing? Well, so you can't miss "The Valerie Masters". Don't start crying, I'm not trying to plug an obscure newcomers band, which just sent me their promo. First, I paid for the cd, and then a  reason is there to talk about them, and that's what you'll read next.

Singer and bassist for this combo, Paul Karslake is, in fact, Ronnie Wood's brother-in-law (being Jo's brother). "The Valerie Masters", recently recorded their debut album in Woody's home studio. You know how these things go, and it won't be difficult to guess that Stones guitar joined in for two numbers: "Concrete Jungle" and a cover of Bobby's "Seven Days" (yes, Woody freaks, it's a different version than the one already part of his solo discography).

The cd will have a professional, but privately sold, release of 500 copies. No more will be issued once it will be gone! The drummer of the band, Mark Hall, is selling "The Valerie Masters Live featuring Ronnie Wood" directly through Ebay's "Buy it now" option. He puts out little lots, rising the price as the overall quantity decreases. Now, we're still at an affordable rata. If I were in your shoes, I'd not miss this release.

Here's the link to the current sale on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/Collectors-Ronnie-Woo d-album-Very-Rare-run-of- just-500_W0QQitemZ7540836 876QQcategoryZ445QQssPage NameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZView Item" title="http://cgi.ebay.com/Collectors-Ronnie-Woo d-album-Very-Rare-run-of- just-500_W0QQitemZ7540836 876QQcategoryZ445QQssPage NameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZView Item" target="_blank"http://cgi.ebay.com/Collector...

And, for the ones willing to know more, here's the band's website: http://www.thevaleriemasters.com" title="http://www.thevaleriemasters.com" target="_blank"http://www.thevaleriemasters....

I promise a full review when I'll have heard the cd (ok, guys, I'm sincere: who would find the time for something else than "A Bigger Bang" in these days?). Meanwhile, secure yourself a copy. To support the debut of a band it's always a fair-play move, and I know readers of this blog are made of that kind! Ciao, Chris

As usual, 11.30pm news bring the first glance on the show that just ended. Follow this http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/st ory/CTVNews/1125272958908 _33/?hub=TopStories" title="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/st ory/CTVNews/1125272958908 _33/?hub=TopStories" target="_blank"http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/Art... to read CTV's "The Stones Rock Ottawa With Spectacular Show" and, by clicking the link on the right, to see "Chris Day On The Stones Show" 1:49 report. Ciao, Chris

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada - 28th August 2005, Lansdowne Park

Fourth night and third stand of the "A Bigger Bang Tour"

1. Start Me Up
2. You Got Me Rocking
3. Shattered
4. Tumbling Dice
5. Rough Justice
6. Back of My Hand
7. Beast of Burden
8. She's So Cold
9. Night Time [Band Intros]
10. The Worst (KR Vocals)
11. Infamy (KR Vocals)
12. Miss You (Moving out to B Stage)
13. Oh No Not You Again
14. Satisfaction
15. Honky Tonk Women (B-Stage Retreats to Main Stage)
16. Out of Control
17. Sympathy for the Devil
18. Jumping Jack Flash
19. Brown Sugar
20. You Can't Always Get What You Want (Encore)
21. It's Only Rock & Roll (Encore)

21 songs, like in Hartford. Setlist the same as the Boston shows, but without Bitch/Shattered.

(Picture by Nursejane @ Shidoobee).

Forget the mp3's sourced from radio broadcasts, forget also any "audience recording" (even if they were highly appreciated), forget of everything in the next hour, because "A Bigger Bang" is now available in its entirety. Sixteen tracks, 64:50 of music. You'll need a Winamp player installed on your pc. Then, just follow this http://www.winamp.com/music/browse.php?mtype=M&" title="http://www.winamp.com/music/browse.php?mtype=M&" target="_blank"http://www.winamp.com/music/b...;genre=2 and scroll down the screen. Below Dylan (sic!), you'll find the Stones. Go for the "full cd" option, click on "lo 16" if you have a dial-up, or "hi 64" if you're on DSL or broader. Put up your earphones, close your eyes, it's the Stones baby... you're about to bang, and it'll be just bigger than ever! Ciao, Chris

Fenway II recording, altough -judging from first downloaders comments- not the best one you could dream of, is being torrented at Dimeadozen. Here is the URL:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=57061&" title="http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=57061&" target="_blank"http://www.dimeadozen.org/tor...;hit=1

An honest advice: if you're not into torrenting, read some manuals, first. It is embarassing to spend hours downloading what you can't see the time to listen, and then not being able to, because you're a newbie!

Ciao, Chris

For each Stones fan, Primrose Hill means much more than a spot on a map. There, young photographer Gered Mankowitz took the shots that delivered to history the "rebel" and "maudit" look of the lads. Think, for instance, about the visual impact of front covers for "Between The Buttons", or Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra's "The Rolling Stones Songbook", and you'll have an easy idea of what we're talking.

Across the years, many shots from those sessions, and all the others the photographer undertook in his years of collaboration with the band, surfaced, but the vault carries more. Have you ever dreamt of a "Definitive Mankowitz Collection"? Well, the waiting is almost over. In a mail greeting "Stonesland" comeback, here is what Mr. Gered announced, and I couldn't be happier to share with you all:

"[...] my new book of my Stones archive is planned for November this year. It will be published by Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf (http://www.schwarzkopf-schwarzkopf.de" title="http://www.schwarzkopf-schwarzkopf.de" target="_blank"http://www.schwarzkopf-schwar...) in Berlin, in both English and German and will include around 1100 of my photos in a huge 2 volume box set. This is an opportunity for me to expand on everything I have ever done with my photographs before and finally present them in a form that I believe will show them off to their best advantage and will be a real treat for Stones fans everywhere! I will keep you posted as we get closer to publication!"

To have a bit of an advance taste from this outstanding work (including the results of a rare session that happened in 1982, only partly covered in the deluxe edition of Mankowitz's last paper gallery: "The Stones '65-'67"!), as well to place pre-orders at a reduced price (publishing date is set for november, actually), head to the "Soundtrack distribution" website, through this http://www.soundtrack-distribution.com/europe/music/50168496 150c4961d.html" title="http://www.soundtrack-distribution.com/europe/music/50168496 150c4961d.html" target="_blank"http://www.soundtrack-distrib... . I higly recommend visiting this site

With the tour still in the US, could you ask for something better to spend the days separating us from the band rolling over Europe?

Ciao, Chris

Forty-three years after, it's still Beat, Beat, Beat at The Beeb. Yesterday Radio 2 started "Like The Rolling Stones", a two parts programme by Paul Sexton (in the picture, taken from the BBC Website, with Keith) focusizing both on

the Stones place in music in 2005, and on the making of "A Bigger Bang". If you've missed it, don't worry. It will available for seven days after transmission, through this http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/documen taries/rollingstones.shtml?rhppromo" title="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/documen taries/rollingstones.shtml?rhppromo" target="_blank"http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r... . Ciao, Chris

Digital technologies, cameras, cell phones, and whatever else fits in your pocket and can record images or audio, will make this tour a sort of Highlander. Yes, it will live forever, thanks to all the shots/pictures fans will have taken and shared on the Net. Amazing how, just ten years ago, when the lads embarked on Vodoo Lounge, this was not a possibility. To quote my other favourite british band: "And You Run, And You Run / To Catch Up With The Sun". So, thanks to an unknown (to me, at least) fan who was very active at Relentscher, here is an handful of pic and videos from that show (26th August). Follow this http://www.notontelevision.com/stones" title="http://www.notontelevision.com/stones" target="_blank"http://www.notontelevision.co... and enjoy! Chris

I'm now pretty convinced that the best reviewer is you, nobody else but you (admitting you were at the show, of course). However, if a review per day could keep the doctor away, here is one on Relentscher' show.

Ciao, Chris

 ------------

Yours truly can't forget he is, first of all, a writer, then a collector. With "A Bigger Bang" out at the beginning of september, cd singles are what you can have fun with currently. Here is what, with the help of some precious friends (hey, if you're reading, you know who you are!), I tracked down so far.

PROMO 3 tracks - SOL / SOL Edit / RJ - cardboard - VSCDJ 1905

 

Detail of the back, as the front is pretty much the same of the others:

 

A few hours after the show, here are first video reports on Hartford:

WTNH - http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=3772594" title="http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=3772594" target="_blank"http://www.wtnh.com/Global/st...

The story has a "video" link. Should it not open, for some reason, head back to www.wtnh.com and select it among "top stories".

It features some interviews to fan and some 30 seconds of live Rough Justice. My congrats to the reporter for his overall look (had you heavily partied in the stadium, pal? :-) ).

WFSB - http://www.wfsb.com" title="http://www.wfsb.com" target="_blank"http://www.wfsb.com

It doesn't feature anything on the Stones, so far, but has watchable videos and they can be viewed online. Keep an eye on it on the next hours, I think something may show up.

To end it, nbc30, that has no video, but a story on the concert and a pic of the stage erection on the field.

http://www.nbc30.com/entertainment/4904806 /detail.html" title="http://www.nbc30.com/entertainment/4904806 /detail.html" target="_blank"http://www.nbc30.com/entertai...

Ciao!
Chris

Hartford, Conneticutt, USA - Rentschler Stadium, 26th August 2005

Second stand and third night of "A Bigger Bang" world tour

1- Start Me Up
2- You Got Me Rocking
3- She's So Cold
4- Tumbling Dice
5- Rough Justive
6- Ruby Tuesday
7- Beast of Burden
8- All Down the Line
9- Get Up Stand Up
intro
10-infamy
11-The Worst
12-Miss You--moving to b stage
13- Oh No Not You Again
14- Satisfaction
15- Honky Tonk Women
16- Out of Control
17- Sympathy
18- Jumping Jack Flash
19- Brown Sugar
encore
20- You Can't Always Get What You Want
21- It's Only Rock'n'Roll

Once again, setlist changes doesn't look on fans side. Why leaving BOMH after just playing it twice in the tour? But, most of all, why decreasing of one song (21 against the 22 of Boston both nights?) after just two shows? Only time will tell...

Once, the Stones rolled out, and the tanks rolled in. However, the times they're a' changin' and this week, at Fenway, once Jagger & co. left, it's lawn-mowers that got in. I'd say that complaints are always acceptable, when it comes to damage, but: a) I think it was clear what the Stones wereto do in the stadium; b) I promise I'll check Bost on press when the season will be over and if the Red Sox will be champions, and I won't find any line on "Stones healing" to their home, you'll hear me.

Ciao,

Chris

---------------

Fenway Outfield: Most Damage I've Seen in 20 Years

Usually, when more dates are dues in a single city, reviews apply just to the first night there. However, in Boston, someone took his time to see how the Stones were grown up, compared to the tour kick-off. It's Steve Morse, who already did interesting interviews with Mick and Keith for the Boston.com website (www.boston.com).

Here comes his take.

Enjoy,

Chris

----------

Stones are solid in showmanship and their set list

By Steve Morse, Globe Staff | August 24, 2005

The Rolling Stones completed their two-show siege of Fenway Park with another over-the-top display of staging and music last night. The sound was better, the lighting was more coordinated, and any glitches from day one were far less apparent. And day one was already pretty flawless by opening-night standards.

It's hard to critique last night's show if you hadn't seen it before. However, if you caught the Sunday opener, you couldn't fail to notice that it had an almost identical set list. The only change was substituting the song ''Bitch" for ''Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" about midway through the show.

It seems that the Stones are going to use a more rigid set list on this tour, after really mixing it up on their last world tour. That was especially true in Boston in 2002 when they moved from the FleetCenter to Gillette Stadium to the Orpheum in succession. Fans got used to a rotating set list -- and it was a bit of a shock to see things fall back into rigidity at Fenway. They even did the same four new songs from their forthcoming album, ''A Bigger Bang," yet it would have been nice to see them debut some others.

That said, the show was still phenomenal. It's shaping up to be easily the best stadium tour by the Stones since 1988's ''Steel Wheels." The Stones are already the Dorian Grays of rock 'n' roll -- most are in their 60s but they perform like musicians half their age -- and this new tour is their most animated spectacle yet. Singer Mick Jagger was all over the Fenway outfield last night, racing along catwalks on each side the stage, and up flights of stairs to an overhead perch for ''Sympathy for the Devil," as jets of fire shot up from the top of the 90-foot-high stage (which looked like a futuristic airport terminal with two balconies in back full of standing-room-only patrons) with such intensity that fans could feel the fire's heat well into the crowd.

The Stones were clearly on a mission to prove they could still rock. With celebrity guests Whoopi Goldberg, John Kerry, and Sox owner John Henry in the house, the Stones blistered through their first three songs (''Start Me Up," ''You Got Me Rocking," and ''Shattered") in tight-combo, clubland fashion. These featured just the core unit, allowing guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood to interact with swashbuckling glee. It wasn't until the fourth tune, ''Tumbling Dice," that the band's backup singers and four-man horn section made an appearance.

The unquestioned highlights last night were the punky oldie, ''She's So Cold" (which the Stones have rarely performed) and the rip-roaring blast of tunes done on the B stage in the middle of the field: ''Miss You," the new rocker ''Oh No, Not You Again," the venerable ''(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" with Jagger prancing like a madman, and concert staple ''Honky Tonk Women." Fans around the B stage were dancing as though it were closing time at Avalon.

The Stones again excelled with their Ray Charles tribute on ''Night Time is the Right Time" (featuring a smoking duet between Jagger and backup singer Lisa Fischer while photos of the classy Charles were shown on the 60-foot-high video screen). They also soared on the climactic troika of ''Sympathy for the Devil," ''Jumpin' Jack Flash," and ''Brown Sugar" before the same encores of ''You Can't Always Get What You Want" and ''It's Only Rock 'N' Roll."

Bottom line: The Stones had definitely improved from the first night, as had opening act Black Eyed Peas, which delivered its party funk with more confidence and style.

© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.

Boston, Massachussetts, USA - Fenway Park, 23rd August 2005

Second night of the "A Bigger Bang" world tour

1. Start Me Up
2. You Got Me Rockin
3. Shattered
4. Tumbling Dice 
5. Rough Justice
6. Back of My Hand
7. Beast of Burden
8. She's So Cold
9. Bitch
10 Night time
Introductions
11 The Worst
12 Infamy
13 Miss You--going to B stage
14 Oh No Not You Again
15 Satisfaction
16 Honky Tonk Women--back to main stage
17 Out of Control
18 Sympathy for the Devil
19 Jumping Jack Flash
20 Brown Sugar
21 YCAGWYW
22 IORR

Only a song change (Bitch kicked in), comparing to the first night, but always 22 tracks performed. However, it's yet too soon to judge. We'll see how the whole thing will evolve in future.

Ciao,

Chris

In 1999 it was "No Security" time, but for Fenway II controls will be drastically increased. I guess you all know what happened. A fan fell from a rafter during Fenway I, below you'll also find her pic minutes before the 40 ft fall (quite unseen around). You won't hear moral judgments from me. I'm a writer, so what matters to me is chronicle. I think only a line could be appropriated: your freedom ends where mine begins.

Ciao,

Chris

-----------

Security increased for Stones show



BOSTON (AP) - Fans at Tuesday's Rolling Stones concert will see more security than on opening night, when a woman climbed into the rafters at Fenway Park and fell to the seats below.

Twenty-year-old Claire O'Leary of Westport, Conn., was hospitalized with two broken ankles and a broken wrist after she fell 10 to 12 metres Sunday from the rafters above the right-field grandstand.

Although more than 50 police officers and Red Sox security personnel patrolled the ballpark during Sunday's concert, they didn't see O'Leary climbing.

Additional officers will be stationed in the grandstands Tuesday night. City officials said they hadn't realized a fan could reach the rafters from the stands at Fenway.

Emergency workers cleared the seats beneath O'Leary before she fell, which helped avoid injury to other concertgoers, police said. Firefighters were also dispatched to bring her down, but they didn't reach her in time.

"This is one of those freak things that no one could prevent from happening," said Patricia Malone, director of the mayor's office of consumer affairs and licensing.


Michael McCarthy, a spokesman for the Boston police, said O'Leary was "very belligerent, unco-operative and verbally abusive toward medical staff."

"If she had hit someone (when she fell), she would have killed them," he said. "People need to be responsible for their own actions as well."

Sunday's show was the first on the Stones' new North American tour.

As obvious, I try to offer you the most interesting picks on every show of the tour. However, it's useless to mention that the guys at Rollingstones.com - the official site by the lads - are doing a great job. After every Stones event (the press conference, the surprise gig at the Phoenix, the first Fenway show), they provide interesting (and EXCLUSIVE) video footage, pictures and stories. Needless to mention, an "A Bigger Bang" juke-box (providing 4 songs from the new album) is there. Check out the home page (link on top of the left side), it's where everything new is announced. It has a membership fee, but I'm sure you won't complain. And then, think how many times you spent some money in an idiot way... Done? Congratulations, you could have invested them in Stones. And you're still on time to start doing it!

Ciao,

Chris

It took less than three days to have a recording (and a decent one) of Fenway I to surface on Internet's most popular Bit Torrent trackers. So, if this thing is for you, here is where you will find it:

On "The Trader's Den":

http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11205" title="http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11205" target="_blank"http://www.thetradersden.org/...

On "Dimeadozen":

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=56626&" title="http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=56626&" target="_blank"http://www.dimeadozen.org/tor...;hit=1

Both require registration, the former being much easier to access than the latter (which has a close number of registrations available).

An mp3 version of the site (Bit Torrent is in looseless format), can be found on Rockpassion (www.rockpassion.com) download section. Mail the webmaster for a password.

Ciao,

Chris

Are you disappointed by the opening night's setlist (only 7 "new" songs, including a Ray Charles cover that has nothing to see with the lads)? Well, yours truly has been too a bit. However, read below what it takes to be Keith Richards and you'll dry your tears.

Ciao,
Chris

------------------

Keith Richards: Being, Keef

As the Rolling Stones prepare to release a new album - with the inevitable world tour to follow - their legendary guitarist discusses drugs, guns, music ... and why they refused to play Live8. James McNair listens in

Published: 20 August 2005

The Grim Reaper is sitting at home watching TV when the doorbell rings. He opens up and Keith Richards is standing there in hooded black sackcloth, a sharp-looking scythe at his side. "Sorry," says the Rolling Stones' seemingly indestructible guitarist. "Your number's up."

Presented with the above vignette, Richards gets the joke. "Yeah, I'd like to see the Reaper off," he says with a gruff laugh, "but people shouldn't try and do what I've done with my body, because not everybody can." As though to underline that truth, he swigs at a large vodka and orangeade-based concoction called a Nuclear Fall-Out. Would I like to try one? No, I'll stick with beer, thanks.

Sixty-two in December, Richards is enjoying his tipple while chain-smoking full-strength Marlboros. Though it's only 5.30pm, his skulls-and-guitars-appoin ted dressing room is candle-lit. The air is heavy with incense, and a small, coffin-shaped box on the table lies open to reveal Keith's rolling papers. He's wearing lime-green work boots, and a black tracksuit top with the word "Jamaica" emblazoned in yellow on the back.

You take in his gnarly knuckled fingers, his swarthy, heavily latticed face. On his right hand is the familiar silver skull ring that he has long worn as a memento mori. Keith's eyes are so brown they are almost black, and juju trinkets dangle from his gloriously unkempt hair. An amiable rogue who has been described as "a grinning baboon" and "the human riff" , the guitarist proves surprisingly well spoken. As the vodka kicks in and he starts to slur a little, he puts me in mind of Rowley Birkin, the genial, dipsomaniac QC from The Fast Show.

"I went to see my dentist the other day," Richards says, still on the topic of his rude good health. "Chipped tooth. Hadn't seen him in 20 years. He thought he'd put me out on anaesthetic, but he hadn't - I was just sitting there feeling pleasant with my eyes closed. First I hear him praising his own handiwork; then he starts rooting around with his dental tools. After a bit I hear, 'This guy's immune system is fucking unbelievable!' I chuckled to myself but I didn't say anything."

Richards' dressing room is stationed within Greenwood College School. It is here, incongruously, in a quiet suburb of Toronto, Canada, that the Rolling Stones are once again rehearsing for an upcoming US tour. Richards' manager, Jane Rose, is on site, as is her tiny white Maltese, Ruby Tuesday, so named by Keith himself. On closer inspection the pooch is seen to be wearing a leopard-print scrunchy.

By Richards' account, rehearsals are going well: is contemplating the 43-date August-January tour like contemplating Everest?

"No, it's like downhill skiing! Nobody is dragging their ass to come on this one." Even Charlie Watts, traditionally the most touring-reticent Stone, can't wait to get going - and this despite the drummer's recent battle with throat cancer. "Charlie's fine now and he came back firing on all cylinders, maybe to prove a point," says Richards of his 63-year-old colleague. "If that's what chemo does for you, I'm going in for some."

Later, when I sit in on the Stones' rehearsal session, it's clear that Richards' claims about the camp's high morale are valid. It's fascinating to watch the group in something like private, Keith perusing the set-list through dainty pince-nez while he and 58-year-old Ronnie Wood's gritty guitars spar to glorious effect. Mick Jagger - 62, black baseball boots sans laces, 28-inch waist still intact - looks almost boyish as he beams at backing vocalist Lisa Fischer during "Gimme Shelter". When he catches sight of me on the balcony he does a double take, however - the thought bubble above his head reading: "Who let him in?"

If the Stones' appetite for their upcoming jaunt is tangible, Richards, for one, was less enamoured with the notion of Live8, and actually vetoed the idea of the Stones playing the event. "I didn't understand why everybody who was trying to coax me in happened to be knighted," he says with a laugh. "I got hit on by Sir Bob and Sir Mick, but I said to Mick, 'We ain't doing it, pal. You can do it, but I ain't.'

"Decreasing debts?" the guitarist goes on. "It all seemed a bit nebulous to me. Plus I couldn't believe the amount of pressure, even from 10 Downing Street. I was like, 'We're finishing the new album and getting ready for the tour - sorry, but we can't spare the men.' I heartily applaud what they were trying to do, except that it was tied in with Government policy and I always try and separate politics and music. I mean, Bob's a nice bloke and all that, but ultimately he's the one who comes off best, isn't he?"

The new album Richards mentions is A Bigger Bang, due in September. It's the group's first studio outing since 1997's Bridges to Babylon, and as its title suggests, it sees the world's greatest extant rock band shirking complacency and roaring loud. Not every track is a classic, it's true, but " Laugh, I Nearly Died" is as agreeably raunchy as anything on Sticky Fingers, while "Rain Fall Down" is the band's funkiest moment since 1983's "Undercover of the Night".

Elsewhere, on the flagship single "Streets of Love", an uncharacteristically lovelorn Jagger delivers one of the most compelling performances of his career, his diction masterful and his ad-libs on the fade-out unmistakably heartfelt. Lyrically, it's one of several songs on the new record that have led some to posit that the work is partly Jagger's love-letter to his estranged wife, Jerry Hall. "The awful truth/Is really sad/I must admit/I was awful bad," sings the old philanderer at one point. It sounds awfully like he's acknowledging his costly dalliance with a 20-year-old Brazilian lingerie model by the name of Luciana Morad (in 1999, Morad bore Jagger a child; Hall filed for divorce shortly afterwards).

With Charlie recuperating and Ronnie Wood facing equally testing times (the guitarist was devastated when his first wife Krissy took her own life earlier this year) Richards says he and Jagger were forced to pull their fingers out on A Bigger Bang.

"We were short staffed," he quips, enjoying a quotidian phrase and deliberately sounding like himself as caricatured by John Sessions on Stella Street. "Mick and I got the news that Charlie was going in for treatment just as we started writing. There was a pregnant pause, and we thought, 'Should we put things on hold?' But then it was, 'No, let's forge ahead - it will be a good incentive for Charlie. Actually, this is probably the closest Mick and I have worked together since Exile on Main Street. Both of us took on tasks that normally wouldn't have occurred to us, playing bass or whatever.

"Mick playing great guitar helped," Richards continues. "I sleep downstairs and the studio is upstairs. One night I thought I was hearing this old Muddy Waters track I didn't know, but it turned out to be Mick working on a slide part for "Back of my Hand". He's always been a good, smooth acoustic player, but the electric seemed like an untamed beast for him until this year. When I heard him this time I thought, 'My God! The boy's finally got it.'"

This is how Richards goes on: holding court, spinning anecdotes, and generally leaving no buckle unswashed. No huge surprise, then, that he has reportedly been offered a part in Pirates of the Caribbean III (Pirates II is already in the can). While his pal Johnny Depp famously used Keith as a template when playing the roguish Jack Sparrow, Richards says he can neither "confirm nor deny" his own involvement in the trilogy.

"What I can tell you," he says, "is that when we were finishing the album in LA, Johnny came down to the studio to talk about the movie. Behind him was, like, the Disney wardrobe department or something, and we spent the rest of the afternoon hilariously dressing up in pirate clothes. I'm up for doing the film and so is Johnny, so hopefully we can schedule something in ... I'd obviously bring my own cutlass, ha ha!"

Joking aside, this last is not a fact that anyone who knows Keith Richards would doubt. Ask director Julien Temple: before he worked on the 1983 video for "Undercover of the Night", Richards reportedly flicked open a switchblade, held it to Temple's throat and said, "You better not fuck up."

My host's liking for firearms has been well documented too, but he says that these days he leaves his handgun in the drawer at home. When he was scoring dope in the US in the late 1960s, however, he carried one around as a matter of course. "I'd read that Muddy Waters had one, and I suppose there was a bit of emulation going on there. America was a strange, lawless place back then. You'd be in some motel, and people would be shooting at each other, but unfortunately you'd be in the room in between. I used to keep my gun under my pillow [laughs], but then it becomes like your fetish, and you can't go to sleep unless it's there. Then you start wondering what you're worried about and if you'd actually use the gun anyway. I got pretty good at light bulbs and chandeliers, though. You had to check it was still working."

Asked what the biggest misconception about him is, Richards is stumped for a few moments. The public face of Keith Richards, he says, is a caricature with a large element of truth in it. "I've been cast in the role of the rascal and I accept the role gracefully," he laughs, "but everybody changes. The problem is that, when you've been famous for this long you drag all the key events and rumours of your life around with you like Jacob Marley's chain."

For Richards, these would include the night he wrote the riffs for " Satisfaction" and "Brown Sugar", the bloodbath that was the Rolling Stones at Altamont in 1969, the mysterious death of Brian Jones earlier that same year, and the persistent myth that a Swiss blood transfusion process akin to premature embalming was what enabled Keith to temporarily kick heroin prior to an important, 1973 tour of Europe. The mere mention of the latter proves enough to help Richards find an answer to my previous question. The biggest myth about him, he now posits, is probably that he was constantly endangering himself with drugs. "Actually, I would take drugs quite responsibly," he says. "A nice fix at breakfast, one for elevenses, and another one at teatime - it was like breaks at the cricket, or something.

"The times I fucked up was when I scored from people I didn't know and the stuff was laced with strychnine. I'm lying on the bed, and people are going, 'Well, he's still breathing ...' It was a bit Edgar Allen Poe-ish; a bit like being buried alive. You could hear every word they were saying, but you couldn't say anything back because you were paralysed.

"John Lennon did that, too," Richards goes on. "He seemed to be in competition with me over drugs, and I never really understood that."

Was he a Rolling Stone in Beatles clothing?

"That's interesting - you might have something there. I think the Stones behaved like he'd like the Beatles to behave, and [because of that] he felt constricted."

Richards' main home is still in Weston, Connecticut, and he continues to share it with Patti Hansen, the Staten Island-born model whom he married in 1983. It was at home on the couch that Keith penned "This Place is Empty " [without you], a fine country-style ballad from the new album that he croons raggedly à la Tom Waits. The guitarist concedes the song was partly written for Patti (one great line runs: "Come on, honey/bear your breasts/and make me feel at home"), but the lyric's wider resonance may take in empty-nest syndrome.

"Our daughters, Theodora and Alexandria, have grown up and got their own apartment in the city," he says. "For a while we didn't know what to be doing, but then Patti said, 'Jesus Christ! We can do want we want! Let's be a couple again, darling!'"

There are also grandchildren to enjoy, these fathered by Keith's son, Marlon, who together with Angela, his other child by Anita Pallenberg, is now well into his thirties. "Marlon's got little Ella, bless her heart, and Orson, who's about five now," says proud granddad. "Thanks to Johnny [Depp], Orson actually thinks I'm a real pirate. He's coming up just nicely, learning all the right cuss words."

Clearly, Richards is in fine fettle. He's already had three Nuclear Fall-Outs, but this has merely whetted his appetite for the rehearsal session that will begin immediately after our chat. What, though, of absent friends and family? Richards has lost Brian Jones, and his own father, Bert. He has lost musical soulmates such as country star Gram Parsons, and the Rolling Stones' unofficial extra member and keyboard player, Ian Stewart.

As his own pension book looms closer, are there moments when Keith recalls these people? Does he dream of them, perhaps?

"They come and visit now and then, and not necessarily when I'm asleep. I'll be talking away to someone and Bert will come in and say, 'A fox never shits in his own hole, Keith!' Parsons sometimes comes to me in dreams, but that's more of a musical thing. Ian Stewart? Man, he just rings like a bell. Whenever one of us in the band tries to pull a number, somebody will drop a little Stu-ism like, 'Come along my little shower of shit.' These people resonate; you never forget them. I miss all those cats."

And Brian? Is it all just too long ago now?

"Brian could be the most frustratingly obnoxious, nasty person. Which he never was until the minute we had a hit record. It was a fame thing, maybe; something seemed to snap in him. It could be that he thought he was numero uno and Mick didn't like that. I wasn't thinking about hierarchy at the time - I was just trying to find [the chord of] E7.

"We were pretty mean to him. We started to pick on him just to let him know: either you're in or you're out. And then he got more and more stoned, and he'd check into a clinic in Chicago while we were touring the Mid-West. I'm standing on stage trying to cover two guitar parts - it doesn't endear you to the guy.

"Later, I made a real effort to hang with Brian. This would be '66-'67, when we finally got off the road for a year. Everybody's getting stoned out of their brains and there's acid flying about. We were having a good time, but unfortunately there was Anita [Pallenberg - Jones's girlfriend before Richards "rescued" her from him], and then we get into that. That was the final nail in the coffin."

At that, our time is up. One last question, though: does he have any kind of fitness regime prior to going on the road? "Yeah," he deadpans, " It's called 'Rehearsals'.

"Mick's your guy for a fitness regime and a schedule," he adds, " but then he has to cover a lot more stage than me.

"When I wake up in the morning I just say, 'Ahh! Jah wonderful! Let's see what the day brings.' I'm happy to be here. I'm happy to be anywhere.

'A Bigger Bang' is out 5 September on Virgin Records. The US leg of the Rolling Stones' World Tour begins in Boston tomorrow, with European dates still to be announced

Boston, Massachussetts, USA - Fenway Park, 21th August 2005

The Rolling Stones "A Bigger Bang" world tour kick-off

Setlist:

1. Start Me Up
2. You Got Me Rockin
3. Shattered
4. Tumblin Dice
5. Rough Justice
6. Back of my Hand
7. Beast of Burden
8. She's So Cold
9. Heartbreaker
10. Night Time (Ray Charles cover)
Intros
11. The Worst (Keith)
12. Infamy (Keith)
13. Miss You (Main stage moves out to B-Stage)
14. Oh No, Not You Again
15. Satisfaction
16. Honky Tonk Woman (Stage moves back to front)
17. Out of Control
18. Sympathy for the Devil
19. Jumpin Jack Flash
20. Brown Sugar
Encores
21. You Can't Always Get What You Want
22. Its Only Rock n Roll

For all the hardcore fans, especially the European ones who dare to remain awake at night while US shows are on, I highly advice the Rocks Off and Shidoobee boards (links on the left), where the setlist goes online live!

We left it at 15th december, last year. The Stones were reported recording with Don Was. Then, another tour started and a new record - a mindblowing sixteen tracks by Jagger'n'Richards - will hit the streets next September. However, you've not read anything about the above in here! Why? Because yours truly - in these months - lived his life that, being as a river, not always flows where you want.

Now, remaining silent with all that Stones activites out there would be outrageous. So, "Stonesland" will be back to his regular schedule. Maybe, a bit less rich and wild than before, but I hope it'll be awarded by many visitors, as in its glory days!

Back to work, back to zero now. Enjoy!

Chris