The Rolling Stones, 50 and Counting

Date: May 5, 2013
City: Oakland, CA
Venue: Oracle Arena
Artist: The Rolling Stones
Opening Act(s): N/A

WOW! This was a great show. I had never seen The Rolling Stones before, but now I know why they have been around for 50 years (and counting). They sounded great which is surprising considering I was in the nosebleed seats of an arena. I generally find that the sound in arenas is a bit subpar. Thankfully not for this show.

The stage was the shape of their infamous lips and tongue logo. The tongue area was the ‘pit’ and the bottom lip was part of the stage that allowed the band to walk around and for Mick Jagger to do all of his signature moves.

Mick Jagger technically had five outfits. My favorite was the shag floor length coat that he only wore for the first part of one song before tossing it aside. Keith Richards had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth a few times as he was playing. This was usually at the beginning of a song. He would get his puffs in a then put the cigarette down where their cups and water bottles were. I also spotted a box of tissues in the same area. That made me smile. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.

They performed hits like “Paint it Black”, “Brown Sugar”, “Honky Tonk Woman” and “Start Me Up”. Two guest musicians perform with them – Tom Waits sang “Little Red Rooster” and former Rolling Stones band mate Mick Taylor came in for “Midnight Rambler”.

The encore started with the San Jose State Choraliers singing “Can’t Always Get”. I’m always reminded of when I studied abroad on Semester at Sea when I hear this song. A fellow shipmate performed the song and altered the words to correspond with our experience of being broken down in the Straits of Malacca. I would have been very disappointed if they hadn’t performed the song.

“Jumping Jack Flash” and “Satisfaction” closed out the show. I’m very happy that I decided to shell out the $200+ to see this show. It was well worth the money and not just because I can now say I’ve seen The Rolling Stones, but because the show itself was spectacular. They may be in their late 60s / early 70s, but these old guys still know how to rock.