STONES SHOULD DIG UP GEMS
Band has so many hits, but some post-Tattoo You tracks would go down well at B.C. Place
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood and the cast of other players who make up the Rolling Stones tour retinue will set up shop at B.C. Place for two performances this weekend.
The tour is the legendary rock act’s first since ace drummer Charlie Watts died in 2021.
Nominally, it’s in support of Hackney Diamonds, the 24th studio album from the U.K. band that dropped Oct. 30, 2023.
The first record of original material since 2005’s A Bigger Bang has received some of the best reviews the group has had since 1981’s Tattoo You.
The group is playing all three singles — Angry, Mess it Up and Sweet Sounds of Heaven — nightly, and Richards sings Tell Me Straight from the record as well.
That leaves another 16 spots to fill in the average 20-song set list.
The band is showcasing classics from its storied career with a fair amount of variety in the selection of “must-play” chestnuts and deep album cuts.
Fans vote in one song per show, and these have typically been pretty obvious selections such as Let it Bleed, Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) and She’s a Rainbow, all from albums released in the group’s 1960s/’70s heyday.
Based on setlist.fm data, Mick and the lads aren’t showing much love for any of the music released post-Tattoo You right up to A Bigger Bang.
While there’s no doubt that any of the six albums from 1981 to 2005 are ever going to knock Some Girls or Sticky Fingers from the Stones’ top albums list, a dive into their material found five songs entirely worthy of being incorporated into any show right next to Paint it Black and Honky Tonk Women.
Here are the five songs fans should consider voting in for the Stones to play at their two concerts in Vancouver: PRETTY BEAT UP
Album: Undercover of the Night Year: 1983
Why: As the band tried to keep in stride with emerging trends in the pop music of the 1980s, it often failed to retain the swagger and soul that has always defined its bluesy rock ’n’ roll. This full-frontal funk-out does little more than ride the groove for four minutes while Jagger mumbles the title over and over. It works because the hook is so relentless, and gives both Richards and Wood plenty of time to jam, as well as boasting a blast of Maceo Parker-style sax that would slay in a live setting.
TOO RUDE
Album: Dirty Work
Year: 1986
Why: There is very little to recommend Dirty Work, an album so mired in the worst excesses of late-’80s gated drums and layer upon layer of reverberating guitar shimmers. But Richards singing this Lindon Roberts song that was a hit for reggae artist Half Pint is classic. Imagine UB40 playing Red Red Wine after drinking far too much of it and you’ve got this track. The song was a regular feature in sets by Richards and the Expensive Winos and should be brought back into the fold.
BREAK THE SPELL
Album: Steel Wheels
Year: 1989
Why: Remember all the Steel Wheelchair jokes when the band went on tour supporting this album? Guess they proved the naysayers wrong many times over as the Stones keep on rolling. One of the reasons is likely due to the fact that the blues basis of the music is just so much fun to play at any age. That is made clear on this dirty boogie that featured some truly awesome Bill Wyman bass licks bubbling underneath distorted harmonica and Mick sounding like Chester Burnett’s British cousin.
SUCK ON THE JUGULAR
Album: Voodoo Lounge Year: 1995
Why: Another slinky funk cut that finds Mick leading the crew in a shout-out lyric that is perfectly made for a fan singalong in concert — complete with perfectly placed F-bombs and a freewheeling vibe — this loose and lazy jam session somehow rises above its fairly obvious place as album filler, becoming one of the deepest cuts on the entire record. Who doesn’t want to hear Jagger talking about all getting together to feel all right, all night?
FLIP THE SWITCH
Album: Bridges to Babylon
Year: 1997
Why: The opening track on Bridges to Babylon was easily the roughest rocker the group had dropped in many years. All the reasons to love the Stones are here in this one: a great riff; a relentlessly driving rhythm section; some searing lead guitar from Richards; Motown-type backing vocal hooks that get your toe tapping; and Jagger managing to make singing about the contents of his shaving kit as though they were more than a little bit risqué. This song should have become a set mainstay long ago.