The Rolling Stones Return to the States with a Bang...Well, Sort of

There's nothing wrong with having a "big" show. The Rolling Stones want one, and they put one on. At Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. Wednesday night, which kicked off the fall North American leg of their "A Bigger Bang" tour, they performed on what was possibly the largest concert set ever erected in music history.

The steel structure that supported the stage weighs 170 tons. The video screen perched in the middle of that steel monster is the largest in the world. It took 36 miles of cable to rig up the whole set. The stage itself was roughly the size of a small island in the Pacific Ocean.

They had fire, fireworks, near-blinding lighting effects, and a detachable mini-stage that rolled the boys out into the center of the crowd for a four-song interlude which included "Honky Tonk Women" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash." The only problem was, that four-song interlude was when the show really got started. And that was about an hour into the show.

Before that The Stones waded through relatively obscure tunes that might be great for an afternoon on the porch but didn't exactly set things off with, shall we say, a bang. Those songs included "Monkey Man," "Sweet Virginia," and a dull "Sway."

Even their choice of song to open the show was odd - "Paint It, Black," an ominous rocker, a great song, an obvious departure from their usual kick-starter "Start Me Up," which they played about two-thirds of the way through the show, and should put back in the opening slot as soon as possible.

"Start Me Up" is a natural opener, not just because of the song's title, but its energy, which was sorely lacking at the show's outset. Though some fans seemed happy to be reveling in the Stones of yore during the beginning of the set, many seemed to wonder when the show was going to start. When The Stones dragged on with guitar solos and random chants on songs like "Midnight Rambler," it just rambled.

It didn't help that acoustics were poor as the wind swirled throughout the giant, open stadium. And unless you had floor seats, Mick Jagger appeared to be a moving dot on the stage that periodically changed color.

The show wasn't all boredom and big video screens, though. An extended version of "Tumbling Dice," was a highlight, as was "Under My Thumb" and "Sympathy for the Devil," all blood red lighting and Jagger prancing around in a red velvet jacket and matching top hat.

Jagger deserves kudos for his performance. Whatever the rest of the show may have been lacking, he was its star, with his serpentine pseudo-choreography, arm thrusts that made him appear to be casting a spell on the audience, and impressive work on harmonica, guitar and vocals in between skip-hopping around the stage.

Keith Richards was almost as interesting, sauntering around playing guitar with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. During the band introduction he told the crowd "it's been a hell of a year" and when they responded with loud cheers, said only "I needed that" and bowed his head.
The Stones have come to be known as "The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World," and for good reason. Their recordings speak for themselves, their longevity is virtually unmatched and their live shows have been record-setting, and for many, life-changing affairs. Mick, Keef and the boys could basically show up and twiddle their thumbs for three hours and still warrant a ticket price of at least $50.

That said, when you go to see The Stones live, a production of that size, a group of that stature, you expect something explosive. Unfortunately, the biggest bang Wednesday night was the fireworks display that ended the show.

Opening for The Stones was rapper and Chicago native Kanye West, an interesting choice who unfortunately played to a mostly empty stadium. Fans missed an impressive performance of songs like "All Falls Down," "Goldigger" and a moving "Jesus Walks" as Kanye, dressed in a white suit, sprinted back and forth across the mammoth stage just to make sure he worked every angle.