The Rolling Stones’ Rocking Return to Detroit

 

After a notoriously long delay of over a year and a half (and nearly two years since tickets went on sale), rock legends, The Rolling Stones, returned to Detroit’s Ford Field Monday night to perform for a huge and very enthusiastic crowd. Performing at Ford Field for the third time, including their 3-song set during the halftime of Super Bowl XL in 2006, and performing in Detroit for the 21^st time, overall, the band charged through a powerful set full of mainly hits from the 1970s and late ‘60s with enough fan favorites that no one left unsatisfied. Aside from the experienced crew’s fantastic and professional production, the Stones’ performance itself represented everything from a triumphant celebration of making it through the worst of the pandemic (or at least the worst of it, so far), a celebration of these elder statesmen on the eve of the 60^th anniversary of their impressively ongoing project, and a celebration and remembrance of the group’s late drummer, the irreplaceable Charlie Watts, who passed just weeks before the tour began. While substitute drummer, Steve Jordan, played well throughout the night, it was impossible to escape how noticeable it was to see and hear the band without Charlie.

The evening began with a spirited opening set from newcomer Seattle guitarist, Ayron Jones, and his versatile backing band who blended elements of classic rock, R&B, blues, funk, punk, and psychedelia into an up tempo set of originals and an original arrangement of Nirvana’s “Breed”. The set featured a few other nods to Seattle including a few licks of Hendrix’s take on “The Star-Spangled Banner” that accompanied the conclusion of the closing number, “Take Me Away”. The engagement among the crowd varied throughout, but it will be interesting to see what kind of impact Jones may have on the modern rock and blues worlds.

After a short set change, the lights came down again to the roar of the anticipatory crowd, and the sound of a thunderous kick drum filled the room, an unreleased recording of Charlie Watts which was then joined by a video montage that ran for about a minute before Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, and their ace backing band took the stage to launch into the familiar chords of the classic, “Street Fighting Man”. It was clear Charlie was heavily on the band members’ minds (and everyone’s) as this was the band’s first Detroit show without him, and he was mentioned two additional times between songs later in the show garnering applause from the audience each time.

After a rousing, “You Got Me Rocking” and runs through classic live staples like “19^th Nervous Breakdown” and “Tumbling Dice,” Jagger spoke to the crowd about having fun around the city the previous day, mentioning coney dogs, local drinks, and jokes about how the Lions “are getting better” and praised them for having “tied the match!” last Sunday as laughter rolled through the crowd. Introduced both to celebrate that fact and to honor the legacy of Detroit’s rich contribution to rock history, the band launched into their 1974 arrangement of The Temptation’s, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” which hadn’t been performed since 2007. While a few spots in the song were a tad rusty due to its rare inclusion in recent years, the Motown crowd sang and clapped along with love and appreciation. While she did not appear on stage with the band, photos of Martha Reeves visiting with them backstage before the show appeared online shortly after the concert ended.

“Wild Horses” was included as the van vote winner (a running bit the Stones have used since the early ‘90s), and an extended jam on “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” may have lost the attention of some by the time it concluded. “Living in a Ghost Town,” the band’s funky new reggae song from 2020, followed by the 1981 smash, “Start Me Up” stood out as being two of only three performed songs that were written after 1978. In spite of the current tour partly promoting the recent release of the new super deluxe edition of Tattoo You, “Start Me Up” was the only song featured from that era in Detroit, though a few other tracks have been included in other cities on the tour.

Keith Richards took over on vocals for his traditional two songs mid-way through the show, this time featuring “Connection” from Between the Buttons and “Before They Make Me Run” from Some Girls. While Richards got the second biggest individual applause from the audience (behind Charlie’s ovations), he was definitely in very sloppy form most of the night. While his style mostly allows for sloppiness within a performance anyway, it’s clear everyone has aged considerably over the band’s six decades together, and it leaves one wondering whether or not the group will attempt to continue live, as a studio act, or perhaps not at all, instead relying on releasing (and re-releasing) previously recorded music? In contrast, long time band members like guitarist, Ron Wood, and replacement players such as bassist, Darryl Jones, and keyboardist, Chuck Leavell were extra sharp and kept the songs focused and moving forward even when there were a few speed bumps here and there. Jam band veteran, Karl Denson, shined on saxophone, taking over for the late Bobby Keys in 2014, and Jones’ amazing bass solo during “Miss You” was one of the musical highlights of the night.

After a lengthy romp through the blues jam, "Midnight Rambler," which featured phenomenal harmonica work from Jagger and segued into a portion of Robert Johnson's, "Come on in My Kitchen" at one point, the band broke out the biggest hits and blasted through "Paint It Black," "Sympathy for the Devil" (which was missing a verse), and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" to close out the main set. A brief encore break gave way to two more '60s classics, "Gimme Shelter" and, of course, "Satisfaction," to end the night. As the Stones roll on to finish the last two shows of this tour, fans around the world are hopeful it won't be the band's last, but regardless of that concern, the fact that these living legends have produced so much amazing music and continued to perform for so long makes them the gold standard for rock and roll longevity.

Ayron Jones set list:

Boys from the Puget Sound

Emily

Supercharged

Breed (Nirvana)

Killing Season

Baptized in Muddy Water

Mercy

Take Me Away/The Star-Spangled Banner (Key)

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

***********************************************

 

Rolling Stones set list:

Street Fighting Man

You Got Me Rocking

19^th Nervous Breakdown

Tumbling Dice

Ain’t Too Proud to Beg (The Temptations)

Wild Horses

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Living in a Ghost Town

Start Me Up

Honky Tonk Women

-------------------------
Connection

Before They Make Me Run

-------------------------
Miss You

Midnight Rambler/Come on in My Kitchen (Robert Johnson)

Paint It Black

Sympathy for the Devil

Jumpin’ Jack Flash

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

Gimme Shelter

Satisfaction

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