At a Rolling Stones concert last month near New York City, lead singer Mick Jagger motioned subtly and then vigorously with his right hand for guitarist Keith Richards to join him for a rock-star strut on the runway during an instrumental bridge in the song “Miss You.”
But Richards just stood there. Finally, Jagger coaxed him into the spotlight, briefly. Soon, Richards walked back — and sat down — as the song continued. This partly answered a musical question posed long ago by the late singer Dan Hicks: “How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away?”
Before long, “Miss You” went missing from some (but not all) shows on the current tour called “Hackney Diamonds,” an ironic and euphemistic nickname for the broken glass of vandalism in London.
The tour is sponsored — no kidding or irony here — by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). Both Jagger and Richards are 80 years old with more than 60 years in the band and no public declaration of retirement intentions.
In that the Stones on this tour aren’t playing Detroit (where I first saw them for $8 at the Olympia Stadium in 1969), I felt obligated to buy over-priced tickets for their shows in New York (East Rutherford, NJ), Atlanta and Los Angeles. (How much? Don’t ask.)
However, just coincidentally, several doctors told me right around then that I needed a heart procedure.
This transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is the same operation Jagger underwent in 2019, delaying a Stones tour. I was delighted with my own Mick Jagger procedure because it fixed my heart, improved my dancing, and plumped up my lips.
However, it also forced me to miss the New York show, the one in which Richards went MIA during “Miss You.” I discovered it on amateur videos posted on the internet. Dozens appear now after every show and Keith’s energy seems to be growing as the tour slogs on.
So I finally caught up to the Stones earlier this month in Atlanta, where the train service of a metropolitan rapid-transit system drops you off for $2.50 at Mercedes-Benz stadium, a new structure with a domed roof that opened in jagged pieces like, well, Hackney Diamonds.
The ceiling’s pre-show metamorphosis drew oohs and aahs from the audience and the Stones’ two-hour set also earned cheers. It included a local political reference when Jagger introduced “Sweet Virginia,” one of four song choices presented before every show on their internet site so fans vote for one.
With a nod toward this autumn’s presidential election, Jagger said “There’s a more important vote coming in November. Don’t forget to vote in that one.”
But that was just his set-up line. His punch line alluded to something said by former President Donald Trump after he lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. In a recorded telephone conversation with Georgia officials, Trump tried to persuade them to help him steal the presidency.
Jagger joked that he would have preferred “Wild Horses” to win the balloting over “Sweet Virginia.”
“All we needed was 11,000 more votes,” Jagger said, paraphrasing Trump’s words.
The show itself was a typical Stones’ football stadium extravaganza, with big TV screens, coordinated light displays, well-blended sound quality, and audience members ranging from children with parents and grandparents to grizzled Boomers with wheelchairs and walkers.
There were plenty of visual effects, like flames dancing on screen during “Sympathy for the Devil.” For a change, “Midnight Rambler” sounded tight and disciplined. In such a big space, heavy rockers dominated the set. Curiously, they eliminated “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” a soft spiritual, from their encore.
It’s one of the popular numbers from their current album (also Hackney Diamonds). Early in the tour, this near-hymn blended with the lustful “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” in the encore. But they left it out of a few shows until restoring it to the list last week in Denver.
From that album, earlier in the Atlanta set, they did “Angry” and “Mess It Up,” although, from that collection of new material, two better choices might have been “Live By The Sword” and “Bite My Head Off.” (Hey, Mick: Where do we vote?)
The oldest tunes were a bouncy version of “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” a mid-’60s hit, and the lyrical darkness of “Paint It Black” from the same era. Another highlight was the mournful French horn that opened a convincing version of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
Richards sang lead on three songs in the middle of the show (instead of his usual two) as some of the retirees in the audience took a bathroom break. In Atlanta, he seemed more engaged than on some nights, grinning for the fans and mumbling words of greeting.
His tune “Little T & A” was his most risque and his guitar flourishes (better than his vocals) were a tribute to Chuck Berry. To his dismay, due to the #MeToo movement, the Stones have dropped “Brown Sugar” from their repertoire.
Richards showed few of the guitar-slinging moves of younger years, and struck even fewer poses than he used to. But it’s not quite fair to compare him to Jagger, who still exhibits astonishing energy.
Mick no longer sprints down the lengthy runways off both ends of the stage, but he still stalks one that runs about 40 yards out from the middle, sometimes dancing backward.
Jagger’s voice remains strong and distinctive. In that veteran keyboardist Chuck Leavell was a Georgia boy appearing before his home-town crowd, the Stones allowed him a sparkling star turn on piano during “Honky Tonk Women” and Leavell raised the barrelhouse level to delightful.
As has been the case since the death of drummer Charlie Watts in 2021, the band includes six white members and five Black members, including drummer Steve Jordan. Only Jagger and Richards are among the founding members.
In summary, it’s still a really slick show, kind of Vegas, well-paced and professional. Although the Stones use the word “Diamonds” in a symbolic way for this tour and album, consider what else this specific word literally invokes: Gems, hard rocks, precious stones. These guys are still all that. On to L.A. Let’s roll.
