Tag: Keith Richards

The Rolling Stones Play Soldier Field on June 27, 2024

On June 28, 2024

The Rolling Stones play Soldier Field on June 27, 2024.

The Rolling Stones played at Soldier Field (across the street from me) tonight, Thursday, June 27th.

We were 3 rows from the top of the stadium until the $16 beer my spouse had consumed drove us to lower levels to seek a rest room.

I was quite happy to move from the top section, because a man (who had to go at least 300 pounds) was sitting ON me. I can’t remember a time that was worse, except for the play “Tommy” when a very large lady sat on me,,,and it wasn’t even her seat!. There was also the air trip back from Europe when a very large crippled man sat ON me. I am not small, myself—(although I’m 50 lbs. lighter than in the past)—but I seem to be a magnet for extremely heavy people to come sit ON me, literally.

But I digress.

The last time we saw the Rolling Stones at Soldier Field nobody stood up and blocked the view of other people. That was not the case this time, which I think was because the audience seemed to be composed, that last time, of oldsters like us, but a lot of younger fans were there this night, who danced throughout. Unfortunately, two of the non-stop dancers were standing right in front of us. One of them had no sense of rhythm and reminded of the Elaine episode on “Seinfeld.”

Keith Richard, Ronnie Wood and Mick Jagger at the Chicago show in 2024.

Mick. Ronnie & Mick.

The Stones opened with “Start Me Up” and the first four songs were among their top hits.

Things slowed down a bit after that, with songs that either were newer or were not as well-known.

Near the end, while singing “Just a Shot Away”, a very impressive female singer was highlighted and sang with Mick on the stage that leads into the audience. Chanel Haynes was terrific! She immediately reminded me of the documentary about Mick’s previous Black female back-up singer. Both of these women have voices that are so powerful that they literally can blow the roof off the place! Amazing!

Near the end of the concert we made an early trip to the rest rooms and, following that, chose to watch the finale songs from seats that were not sold, for reasons that we did not understand. The entire section was vacant, and all of the seats were quite close to the stage, (although off to the left.) We sat in the front row near the stage for “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” and “Jumping Jack Flash” and other big hits.

The entire show was very enjoyable, except for the two girls that blocked our view of the stage most of the time..

Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood, and Keith Richards onstage in Chicago on June 27, 2024.

This was the view from the seats NOT sold near the left side of the stage.

The weather was cooperative, cooling to the sixties and seventies. It was so much cooler that I had to dig out a very old coat that I leave here for emergencies.

After we made it to our section (435) we had to climb 35 rows to seats 9 and 10. Since I generally was not able to walk at all at this time in 2022 and parts of 2023, I felt very happy that I was able to not only walk to the stadium, but also to climb multiple stairs to our seats and then down to the rest room areas on the ground floor. We didn’t spend long at the concession stand, where shirts were going for $50.

I’ve seen the Rolling Stones every tour since 1982, which is 32 straight years, but they have actually been touring for 62 years and this was their 40th show in Chicago. They bemoaned the possible destruction of Soldier Field (to be replaced with a newer stadium, ostensibly). I don’t think I’ve seen Keith Richards smile as much at any concert in those 32 years.

The other thing that made an impression on me was the new Black drummer, Steve Jordan, who replaced Charlie Watts. Very impressive that this band is still going strong after all these years, going back to my college years. I still remember hearing “Hey, You, Get Offa My Cloud!” as I walked through the student union on campus at the University of Iowa as a freshman, a song that they played tonight with a Reggae influence. I’ve been listening to the Rolling Stones ever since and—after the Beatles broke up (saw them in 1965 at the San Francisco Cow Palace)—I switched to following the Stones “live” when they tour.

Mick Jagger and his new Black back-up singer.

Mick Jagger and his Black back-up singer onstage in Chicago.

I still think their best tour was “Steel Wheels,” which I saw in Ames, but I remember the Voodoo Lounge, Bridges to Babylon, No Security and the very first one at the University of Northern Iowa Uni-Dome, when Mick and the boys dressed in American football outfits and he used a cherry-picker to float above the crowd. The worst show of theirs was the one that was held in Austin at a place (Circuit C? in 2022 that is normally used for road races. It was a disaster because of the venue. People could not make it to the place and turned around and went home. That was the last time before this one. One of the most memorable was when my daughter took me to the Indianapolis 500 race track for my 75th birthday celebration. It was held near the Fourth of July in 2020 and fireworks burst overhead as it ended.

I always wonder if I’m seeing the Stones on their final tour. How can Mick Jagger continue to perform at this level when he was born in 1943 (July 26) and is 81 years old next month? If only Joe Biden looked as fit and capable as Mick did this night. Instead, our president looked very frail. Jagger referred to the debate as “Viagarapalooze,” We were missing the debate between Biden and Trump this night and, after we saw it on tape afterwards, I am glad. It was so sad for such a good man, who seemed to have no voice at all this night to be attacked by DJT. I’m glad I was not there “live.”

Mick leaves the stage.

The field at Soldier Field on June 27, 2024.

The stage. It resembled the stage used at the Indianapolis Speedway.

The band onstage near the end of their June 27, 2024 concert at Soldier Field in Chicgao.

Stage up close.

Mick Jagger and his Black female back-up singer.

Mick and the female Back-Up Singer with the dynamite voice (Chanel Haynes) leave the stage.

Mick Jagger and his female Black back-up singer.

Mick Jagger and Chanel Haynes,

Mick Jagger and his female Black back-up singer take a bow.

Taking a bow with Chanel Haynes singer.

“Little Richard: I Am Everything” Rocks the House At SXSW

By Connie Wilson

On March 17, 2023

In Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Reviews, Texas

“Little Richard: I Am Everything,” a documentary from Lisa Cortes, premiered at SXSW on March 13^th.

I’ve saved the best for last, because this was genuinely one of the best documentaries—if not THE best documentary—-that I saw this year (and I saw a lot of them).

There are extensive clips of Little Richard, the flamboyant showman from Macon, Georgia, one of twelve children of Leva Mae and Richard Penniman, a minister who ran bootleg on the side.

Richard was born somewhat crippled (one arm was longer than the other) and queer and his father kicked him out of the house because of his sexual orientation. He found a place to stay at Ann’s Tic Toc speakeasy, where he sang blues and gospel and listened to Sister Rosetta, the Mother of Black soul.

Director of “Little Richard: I Am Everything” Lisa Cortes.

We learn that Billy Wright helped Richard get a record deal and that Esquerita, a musician, taught him to play piano. The technique was boogie woogie on the left and Ike Turner with the right hand. However, the music that Richard was making was considered “race music” and was only allowed on Black stations. The documentary is right when it says, “It says something profound when Black music is the wellspring” for rock and roll. Of course, record producers tried to steal the sound and put white singers like Pat Boone on vinyl.

Little Richard was not much of a businessman and was paid only half a cent a record, which was a very low return. He played to segregated audiences, but he was so popular and so electric that white teenagers broke the color barrier to get into his shows in Black clubs. As Richard said, “My music broke down the walls of segregation.” He mentions Fats Domino and Blueberry Hill, as well as Bo Diddly and B.B. King and others who followed.

Little Richard used make-up and said “I don’t give a damn what they think.” But, ultimately, he lived in a constant state of contradiction because of his religious upbringing and would try to go ‘straight’ multiple times. These were the days of Emmet Till (Sept. 2, 1955) and Richard wanted “the capacity to own the right to be in the world.”

As Bo and Richard said, “We built a hell of a highway and people are still driving on it. And they ain’t paying for it!”

Various singers like Tom Jones, David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards pay tribute to Little Richard, who also helped the Beatles out when they were just starting out.

Then, Richard withdrew from rock and roll and enrolled at Oakwood College, a Black conservatory. He thought his music was the devil’s music, and a comet or Sputnik going overhead made him think the world might be coming to an end. He even married Ernestine Harvin, a fellow student, in Los Angeles. She described him as “positive, loving and caring” as a husband.

Richard toured in 1962 on a bill in London with Jet Harris and Sam Cooke. It was in Liverpool that he would meet the Beatles and Billy Preston in Hamburg at the Star Club. English bands, at that time, were very static, but Mick and the boys learned from Little Richard.

In 1964 Little Richard was on “American Bandstand” and, in fact, Dick Clark would organize the only testimonial awards tribute to Little Richard very late in his career, after he returned to music from spreading the word of God. Richard was described as “generous” and “so real” and he spoke up and told the world, at the 1989 induction of Otis Reddng into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, “He’s the root of all this.” Richard would also say, “I feel so real. I feel so unnecessary.”

It can truthfully be said that Little Richard paved the way for everything that followed.

The documentary director previously worked on “All in the Fight for Democracy,” a documentary about Stacey Abrams. She said she wants to “Explore figures and people who move things forward and are a continuation of how change is possible.” She gave credit to Gus Wynner (“Rolling Stone”) for their partnership and said that the documentary took 18 months to make.

For instance, Ernestine Penniman, Richard’s one-time love, was said to be dead, but came forward when the film was in post production. The family, when they finally saw the finished product, said, “You did Richard right.”

She sure did. It’s a terrific documentary and one of the best things at SXSW this year.

Rolling Stones Rock Soldier Field on Friday, June 21st, 2019

By Connie Wilson

On June 22, 2019

In Music, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews

The Rolling Stones on June 21st, 2019 at Soldier Field.

The Rolling Stones played for the 8th time at Soldier Field on Friday night, June 21st, beginning at 7:30 p.m. with the lead-in act, St. Paul and the Broken Bones from Alabama.

Before arriving at the venue, we were told not to bring large purses. Specific dimensions were sent and a suggestion was made that we use quart-sized plastic bags. All metal objects had to be placed in trays as we went through metal detectors up front. I was able to get my plastic bag contents down to cash, one credit card, my cell phone, my small camera,

We were waaay up in the stadium and these were taken with a Canon PowerShot with a 40 zoom.

and opera glasses (that turned out to be useless). Tickets in the nosebleed section were $69.50 and we climbed a long time. (I told my husband, “I’ll just keep climbing until I pass out.”)

The booths selling shirts and the like ($45 for a regular tee shirt; $85 for a hooded sweatshirt) were set up in a particularly problematic way. You could barely walk through to get to your section because of the presence of several tables selling merchandise.

Mick Jagger.

Finally, we climbed to the 18th row in the highest section. The night was cool and rain threatened, but the four things that amazed me most about the concert this night were as follows: (1) Mick Jagger definitely is in amazing shape for someone his age (75, born July 26, 1943) (2) Jagger is back from the heart surgery that had originally postponed this concert date, but was re-programmed for the original date shortly after he had stents placed in his heart (3) my new small camera (Canon Powershot) with a 40 zoom did a pretty fair job of getting pictures from this far away and (4) how far other concert-

Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood.

goers had come to hear the Rolling Stones. We heard Germany, England, New York, Cleveland, Minneapolis and St. Louis and everyone around us was from out-of-town. In fact, following the concert, we had to provide directions to a gentleman who was to meet his friends at Scout bar on Wabash and Michigan and had little idea how to get back there.

Mick shared that the Stones had played Soldier Field 8 times and Chicago 38 times over the years since 1964. Only 2 of the songs were from later than 1981. Which, as the Chicago Tribune noted, is exactly what the vast majority of fans paid to see.

Other musicians assisting the band included keyboardist Charlie Leavell and Chicago born bassist Darryl Jones ably backing the Stones (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood).

The Rolling Stones, June 21, 2019.

Since 1998, the stones have produced only 2 studio albums, yet they play their hits differently each night. I can vouch for this, having seen them for the first time in 1982 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, at Northern Iowa University and, after that, during the Steel Wheels tour, the Bridges to Babylon tour (2x), the VooDoo Lounge tour, the Tattoo You tour, twice inside the United Center (one of them the No Security tour) and at the Indianapolis Speedway in 2015, as well as tonight’s No Filter tour. Mick had never danced more and I had never seen Charlie Watts AND Keith Richards smile more onstage.

Mick Jagger.

To me, tracking the band in person for 37 years, Keith Richards looked the most changed. Something about the expanse of forehead looked very different. The joke about Keith is that he has looked like he is at death’s door for at least 40 years. He really did look different to me, tonight, and his comment when he spoke was, “I’m happy to be anywhere.”

Keith (Richards) and Mick Jagger onstage.

The Stones have weathered sixties drug busts, seventies heroin addictions, the Jagger/Richards split during the eighties, Keith’s brain surgery after he fell out of a tree in 2006 and, now, Mick’s heart surgery (stents) in March. They sound as good as ever, and Mick danced more, if possible, than I’ve ever seen him, in a “Look! I’m still standing!” move. It was a great show! Even the weather cooperated. The downside was that it took us a full hour to walk across the street from the stadium.

Their play list this night was as follows:

1) Street Fighting Man

2) Let’s Spend the Night Together

3) Tumbling Dice

4) Sad Sad Sad

“Brown Sugar,” Mick Jagger.

5) You Got Me Rocking

6) You Can’t Always Get What You Want

7) Angie

8) Dead Flowers

9) Sympathy for the Devil

Charlie Watts.

10) Honky Tonk Woman

11) You Got the Silver

12) Before They Make Me Run

13) Miss You

14) Paint it Black

15) Midnight Rambler

Mick Jagger.

16) Start Me Up

17) Jumpin’ Jack Flash

18) Brown Sugar

Encores

19) Gimme Shelter

Ronnie Wood.

20) I Can’t Get No Satisfaction

Mick, center stage.

Keith Richards

Mick, far left.

The Rolling Stones Rock the United Center in Chicago on May 28, 2013

By Connie Wilson

On May 29, 2013

In Music, Reviews

The Rolling Stones backdrop for “Honky Tonk Woman” in Chicago.

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form] Chicago, IL – The Rolling Stones played the first of 3 shows in Chicago’s United Center on Tuesday May 28th, 2013. Despite the power outage to 21,000 Chicago residents caused by severe weather in the Chicago area, the Stones had plenty of power: power riffs from guitar greats Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood and frontman power from perennial hipster Mick Jagger.

Mick Jagger, dancing non-stop, onstage at the United Center in Chicago on May 28, 2013.

Jagger gave a senior class in aerobics for the almost-70 (in July) set that went on, uninterruptedly, for 2 and ½ hours, despite starting nearly 45 minutes late. He defied both age and the tornado-like weather that dumped at least 2 inches of rain on the area just before 8 p.m. showtime. Flash flood warnings were issued for the area and a small tornado touched down in the western suburbs.

Mick Jagger on the lip-shaped stage he prowled during the Tuesday night (May 31) show.

Opening with “Hey, You, Get Off Of My Cloud,” a song popular in 1963), Mick Jagger appeared onstage wearing a black sparkly jacket (with tails) and continued to give a senior seminar in “How to Continue Rocking for 50 Years” by never slowing down during the entire show.

Film of the very young Jagger and Richards was projected on the large screen behind the stage, along with clips of other music greats.

The second song on the band’s play list was “It’s Only Rock & Roll” followed by “Paint It Black,” which led to a brief break where Mick Jagger referred to the United Center as “The house that M.J. built,” meaning Michael Jackson.

Opening of the concert: “Hey, You, Get Of Of My Cloud.” May 28, 2013. Tuesday. Chicago’s United Center.

Nearly every major hit the band has recorded (minus,for me, “Time Is On Our Side”) was performed in this first of 3 shows with ticket prices of $150 to $600 a ticket. One of the best sequences featured the band playing “Wild Horses.” It featured filmed tributes to many greats projected on the screen behind the band, including Leadbelly, B.B.King, Bo Diddley, Bob Dylan, John Lee Hooker, Etta James, Elvis Presley, the Staple Singers, Howlin’ Wolf, James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, Hank Williams, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Otis Redding, Johnny Cash, Louis Armstrong, Charles “Bird” Parker, Merle Haggard, Miles Davis, Little Walter, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Sonny Rollins, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Little Richard and Tina Turner.

The show continued for an entertaining 150 minutes with hits like “Honky Tonk Woman, “Brown Sugar,” “Midnight Rambler,” “Miss You,” “Paint it Black,” “Sympathy for the Devil” (with Mick wearing a boa feather decorated cape), “Start Me Up,” and “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.”

I’ve seen the Rolling Stones at least 13 times; the lack of camaraderie between Mick and Keith was never more apparent than at this show. Still, name another band still going this strong after 50 years.
See them while you can, because nobody lives forever.