LIVE REVIEW: The Rolling Stones at BST Hyde Park, London

LIVE REVIEW: The Rolling Stones at BST Hyde Park, London 2

2022 is a year of poignant anniversaries for the Rolling Stones. This Hyde Park gig, their second of 2022, occurred exactly 53 years after the Rolling Stones founder and guitarist Brian Jones died, and July 2022 also marks 60 years since the original six-piece Rolling Stones played their first London gig.

With thirty studio albums and scores of hits, the 65,000 fans were not looking for anything new from the Stones. They wanted the band to play what they knew and sing back the most well-known verses and choruses. Before the band addressed the stage, a visual tribute to Stone’s late drummer Charlie Watts was held, which received emotional praise and cheering from the crowd. The remaining three Rolling Stones members, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood, addressed the stage with a full band, including Steve Jordan on drums, who opened the set with “Get Off of My Cloud” and then played “19th Nervous Breakdown”. Audience participation was so passionate one could barely hear Mick sing as they chanted the choruses verbatim.

Whether it was Mick ditching his jacket early on or Keith Richards, after playing the third song, “Tumbling Dice”, removing his to reveal a black t-shirt with the message “Do Not X-Ray” in yellow typeface, by the time the Stones were onto track five “Angie”, there was seldom a smartphone not lit up. The torch-lit smartphones continued waving as the Stones then sang an extended version of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, where French horn arrangements and a boogie-woogie outro replaced the original organs.

Mick then shed another layer to reveal an elegant black slim-fit t-shirt. Ronnie Wood removed his jacket to reveal a purple t-shirt with a ram visual as the band then covered Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”, which saw Mick impress on harmonica before playing “You Got Me Rocking” and “Honky Tonk Women” which was supported by impressive Mexican inspired artwork visuals. The elated crowd appeared to become more sanguine yet still engaged as Keith then sang “You Got the Silver” and “Happy”, which saw Ronnie Wood master the zither.

The temporary placidness was soon swept away to reach new adrenaline-rushing crescendos as the Rolling Stones played extended versions of “Paint It Black”, “Start Me Up”, “Gimme Shelter”, and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”, which offered many opportunities for the audience to sing back song lyrics and make several “ooh ooh’s” when prompted by Jagger.

Following a brief encore, the band returned to the stage with Mick now wearing a green shirt, and a glittery Billie Jean style jacket whilst Keith sported a faux tiger skin jacket to sing “Sympathy for the Devil”. The extended play of this song pandered to the audience, who couldn’t get enough of singing back “woo woo”. Jagger continued to indulge the crowd further as the band played out with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”. Many audience members, if it weren’t for a curfew, would have recited back “I can’t get no!” until they passed out.

Maroon 5 has referenced the hypnotic powers of the Rolling Stones frontman’s ability to captivate an audience. At almost 79 years old, Mick’s agility is second to none he outguns many who are half his age. By claiming to have more sparkly dresses than Adele, Mick’s humour and his vocals remain intact. Furthermore, Jagger with Richards and Wood are still able to appeal to Rolling Stones fans with a perchance to their singles as opposed to their albums hasn’t faltered.

Xsnoize Author
Michael Barron 338 Articles
Michael first began writing whilst studying at university; reviewing the latest releases and live gigs. He has since contributed to the Fortean Times as well as other publications. Michael’s musical tastes vary from Indie to psychedelic, folk and dubstep.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*