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Posted by Rocky Mountaint News on February 03, 1999 at 05:19:44:
In Reply to: Denver Show Review posted by Keno on February 03, 1999 at 04:33:08:
Cocky as ever, Rolling Stones deliver the Goods
By Michael Mehle
News Popular Music Writer
Fighting the flu and a $50 million divorce wasn't the way Mick Jagger
hoped to start his band's first arena tour in 25 years. But the singer and his Rolling
Stones shrugged off illness and ill press at McNichols Arena on Tuesday to deliver a
powerful set that lived up to all the hype that preceded it.
For fans in Denver, Jagger's recovery came just in time. The band skipped Colorado on
its last tour, and Tuesday's show was its first here since 1994. Despite Super Bowl-sized
prices, tickets were harder to find than the singer's wedding certificate. Ticket holders
were left to worry when Jagger's flu forced the band to cancel the last two dates on its
young "No Security" tour. So all eyes and ears were on the singer as he prowled
about the stage in black jeans and white shirt while his bandmates kicked off with the
trademark Jumpin' Jack Flash. And after old chestnuts Live With Me and Respectable, the
verdict was in: Jagger sounded fine and moved with a healthy swagger belying his 55 years.
Indeed, he had more spirit, energy and randy dance moves than he displayed a week ago on
opening night in Oakland. He spit out the words
to Some Girls with all the bitter venom of someone in the middle of a divorce, and later
playfully pulled his shirt over his head to show off washboard abs. But mostly he just
shucked and jived as only Jagger can, showing that he'll likely give sexagenarian a whole
new meaning in a few years. For the next two hours the Stones played to both the Beggar's
Banquet-era faithful and the neophyte fans getting their first glimpse of the world's
greatest rock 'n' roll band.
The first half of the show sparkled with a handful of rare songs without much road
wear, including You Got The Silver and Sweet Virginia.
Playing on a bare metal and wood stage that rose in steps in the back, the band blasted
through You Got Me Rocking to a bombastic Paint It Black that shook the arena floor and
was joined from time to time by backup singers and horn players. The show missed the pomp,
pyrotechnics and costume changes of a stadium affair, but it benefited from the more
relaxed and sraightforward approach played out in a smaller
setting.
Later, the Stones walked down a long runway to a smaller stage at the other end of the hall, where they cranked through the barroom R&B of Route 66, Just My Imagination and Midnight Rambler. Toward the end, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood carried the show on the more familiar Stones classics, including Start Me Up and Brown Sugar.
But was it worth the eye-popping price tag, which went as high as $250? For triple digits, fans had a right to expect a show that lifted their hearts or blew their minds. The Stones didn't deliver quite that concert. But the band and its larger-than-life aura did manage to make a sports arena feel intimate, and that alone was a trick no other band could duplicate.
February 3, 1999
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