50 & Counting; The Rolling Stones 2013

[anni]

This from last night's show in Oakland:



Yes, folks It's the Rolling Stones with one of our all time favorites, Mr. Tom Waits....

[Brian]

From the Stones' official You Tube channel: The fans vote for "No Expectations" at the San Jose concert.

The Rolling Stones have played six arena concerts and the Echoplex in Silver Lake already this month, before Anni and I get to see them on Monday. I won't have to write down the setlist like I do for artists like Ian Hunter and Ray Davies, with everything the Stones are doing on this tour transferring seamlessly to the Web. I ran a sort on this thing called setlist.fm. So far, they're playing the same 16 songs every show, three quarters of the setlist. I can't object to any of them -- not even "Midnight Rambler" after 43 years of bootlegs, because that song is Mick Taylor's spotlight on this tour. I live for the surprises.

Which obscurity will they choose to play only once from four of their greatest albums -- "Beggars Banquet," "Let It Bleed," "Exile on Main St" and "Some Girls?" And who will be the evening's special guest star?

For Monday, we vote for Ry Cooder, who played on "Beggars Banquet" and performed at a union protest downtown last week, as the L.A.'s only chance to beat Tom Waits singing with them in Oakland.

I would go nuts if they launched into "Ventilator Blues" or "Let It Loose" from "Exile," or any song from their last great album and their best since "Some Girls," 2005's "A Bigger Bang," especially "Let Me Down Slow." We know they've been recording another album here -- a brand new song might be the ultimate treat.

[Brian]

Let's focus on what was new about Monday's show at the Staples Center, the Rolling Stones' last concert in California of this tour that began there on May 3. The guest surprise was that there was no guest at all. "You are the guest," Mick Jagger informed us, before leading a sing along for "Miss You."

Instead, we got more from Mick Taylor. He played on two songs from "Sticky Fingers" that were new to this tour -- "Sway" and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" -- in addition to his usual appearances with "Midnight Rambler" and the final encore song, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." I finally feel absolved for scalping my tickets to his last tour with the band in 1975 at the Fabulous Forum, although the sound at Staples frankly wasn't much better. Also new to setlist Monday was "Far Away Eyes," an even better sing along.

Anni and I heard the best Keith Richards solo pair yet: "You Got the Silver" and "Before They Make Me Run."

I wrote my own, so I can verify that the setlist at setlist.fm is correct, as of the ninth edit this morning.

[anni]

Brian found this already posted to YouTube...Keith (or Keef, as he's more properly known) singing "You've got the Silver":




Here's another all time favorite of ours, "Sway" (from the concert, Monday):