Midway through The Rolling Stones’ concert Saturday night at Cleveland Browns Stadium, frontman Mick Jagger referenced the band’s first full show in the Forest City six decades ago.
“It was pretty empty but it was still rowdy,” Jagger said of the 1964 Public Auditorium show.
The comment was no doubt a throwaway line meant to amp up a capacity crowd at one of the biggest shows the city will host this year. Still, it highlighted that the British rock ’n’ roll band has put out music and toured for 60-plus years. How many groups can claim that?
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That longevity, plus a killer songbook with numerous hits, are the reasons the Stones still fill stadiums. And even though principals Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards are now north of 80 years old (decades past the age required to join AARP, which sponsors the band's current jaunt) and guitarist Ronnie Wood is in his late 70s, the members and their eight backing musicians put on a lean, muscular show that had them sounding as good as ever.
Jagger in particular is a human specimen that science must struggle to explain. He may not sprint across stages anymore, but he was still in constant motion during Saturday’s 19-song, nearly two-hour performance, frequently making use of the massive stage and catwalk. As for Richards and Wood, their guitar “weaving” gave the show a spontaneity that many bands of the Stones’ stature lack.
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Like so many of the band’s tours in the back half of their career, most of the focus was on a core set of their best-known songs. Opening the show with rocker “Start Me Up” and closing with the sneering “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” the show was heavy on the hits and light on the deeper cuts that make their catalog so rich.
The concert was the Stones’ first since a 2002 show at Gund Arena. They were set to perform at the football stadium in 2020 but cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, the band lost the steady backbeat of original drummer Charlie Watts in 2021 and replaced him with longtime Richards associate Steve Jordan.
Jordan lacks some of the finesse of his predecessor but his pounding drums (which he seemingly played with his entire body) kept the show moving at a brisk pace. They powered a show light on frills (no geysers of flames during “Sympathy for the Devil,” for example) but heavy on expert instrumental interplay, like the work Jordan did with bassist Darryl Jones on a groove-heavy “Miss You.”
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The new album Hackney Diamonds, the band’s first in seven years, was represented with a handful of cuts that, well, sound like the Stones. While the band can be lauded for still putting out new material, none of the songs, save for perhaps “Angry,” made much of an impression. They likely won’t make lists of the band’s best tunes.
Another (possibly evergreen) gripe: diehards like this reviewer will always long for some deeper cuts. While it’s thrilling to hear “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Honky Tonk Women” played live, some of the most special moments were when the band busted out rarer songs like “Monkey Man” and the fan-voted “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker).”
At this stage in their career, that may be asking a lot. And hey, if they’re not going to mix it up, it’s best to focus on what makes each night’s show different: Richards and Wood’s guitar interplay.
Both improvise heavily live, which can lead to the occasional flubbed note and sloppy solo. But when they’re on, their bluesy lick-trading capabilities are unmatched, like on highlights “Tumbling Dice” and the Richards-fronted “Happy."
Given that the band’s last show in Cleveland was more than 20 years ago, it’s anybody’s guess whether, given the members’ ages, they’ll play here again. If Saturday’s show is the last time the band sets foot here, it can do so knowing that they gave a performance as strong as any by bands half their age.
The Rolling Stones Setlist: June 15, 2024, Cleveland Browns Stadium
- “Start Me Up”
- “It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (but I Like It)”
- “Let's Spend the Night Together”
- “Angry”
- “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)”
- “Monkey Man”
- “Whole Wide World”
- “Tumbling Dice”
- “You Can't Always Get What You Want”
- “Tell Me Straight”
- “Little T&A”
- “Happy”
- “Sympathy for the Devil”
- “Honky Tonk Women”
- “Miss You”
- “Gimme Shelter”
- “Paint It Black”
- “Jumpin' Jack Flash”
- “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction”
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