Anfield, Liverpool – 09/06/22
The Rolling Stones are a band that have been in my hypothetical ‘golden ticket’ list for years! To see them at Anfield in Liverpool the other week was definitely a dream come true. Growing up, they formed part of the soundtrack to my youth and in my teenage years as I was discovering my own music, the Stones always remained steadfast up there in my list of favourites.
Echo and the Bunnymen kicked the show off, a band that I must admit I wasn’t overly familiar with. They did an amazing set, unleashing their gothic rock to the crowd at Anfield. I really liked it and have since been listening to the bands album ‘Ocean Rain’ pretty much on repeat. Ian McCulloch was really taken by the gravitas of the gig at Anfield and the opportunity to play at his football stadium ahead of the ‘greatest band in the world’. The Bunnymen performed a great opening set, with my particular favourite being ’Nothing Lasts Forever’ which segways into a quick rendition of the Lou Reid classic ‘Take a Walk on the Wildside’. The band closed their set with ‘killing Moon’ and then it was a quick turnaround before the Stones!
Half an hour later, the music faded in the stadium and the screens lit up with pictures of Charlie Watts. A really touching tribute to Charlie showing pictures of him across the decades performing with The Stones. The band hit the stage to an alrighty cheer from the crowd and for the next two hours I was about to witness one of the greatest shows I have ever seen.
They kicked things off with ‘Street Fighting Man’ from Beggars Banquet, a song that is 54 years old but still today packs just as much of a punch as it ever did. Perhaps given the events in Ukrainian at the moment, maybe it’s more relevant now than it has ever been. The band were on fire. Ronnie Wood and Keith were holding fort as Mick Jagger worked the stage, every bit as energetic as he ever was!
‘19th Nervous Breakdown’ followed and then Mick dedicates the next song, ‘Get Out of My Head’ to late drummer, Charlie Watts. The Stones do what they do best, they play good, old fashioned rock and roll! Mick is a true Master of Ceremonies, joking with the crowd, apologetically saying that they didn’t have time to learn Liverpool fan anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ but that they did have a song by some local lads, before launching into The Beatles’ ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’.
Mick calls on the Liverpool audience to join in for the next two as they were sing alongs and sure enough the crowd obliged, singing back the chorus of ‘Out of Time’ and You Can’t Always Get What You Want’. The latter of the two songs was an interesting arrangement with Mick starting it off with an acoustic guitar, before the whole band joined in. The song sped up to almost galloping pace toward the end and was one of many great moments in the show!
Mid way through the evening, Mick leaves the stage and we see Keef take his place in front of the mic, backed up by Ronnie Wood, each brandishing an acoustic guitar. One of the greatest moments ensues, ‘You Got the Silver’ reminds us all of the Stones blues roots and that they are still, fundamentally a blues band at heart and Keith’s whiskey soaked voice fits it perfectly.
‘Connection’ was up next, and Keith seemed to be having some trouble with his guitar at the start of the song, he gathered the band around the drummer and they restarted; this was real music and with real 100% live music, things go wrong. There are no back up guitarists hiding under the stage for this band! Authentic rock and roll at its best.
Mick returned after ‘Connection’ and the hits kept coming and the energy never faded! He was running a marathon on that stage. Amazing to think that two days later, he tested positive for Covid! ‘Midnight Rambler’ was incredible, with its blues harp intro and blues backbeat! The sound at Anfield was incredible. Keith and Ronnie traded guitar riffs so well, such a cool groove. The song morphed into a blues spectacular, dipping into Robert Johnson’s ‘Come On In My Kitchen’, once again reminding us that they are a blues band at heart!
‘Start Me Up’, ‘Paint it Black’, ‘Sympathy’ and ‘Jumping Jack Flash’ brought the main set to a close before the Stones left the stage briefly. In true Anfield fashion, a chorus of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ rang through the stadium before the Stones re emerged for ‘Gimme Shelter’ with Mick still strutting up and down the runway, over two hours in and still performing like an Olympic athlete. A fantastic rendition, that was brought right into the present day with images of war torn Ukraine displayed on the screen. The final song ‘Satisfaction’ brought proceedings to a close and what a night it was.
I have seen hundreds of amazing gigs, however, The Stones at Anfield might top them all. This was an absolutely amazing display of rock and roll. They were the worlds greatest rock and roll band in the sixties and seventies, a title that they can well and truly hang on to, sixty years later! This band are still firing on all cylinders and show absolutely no signs of slowing down. You simply have to see them live, they play two shows at BST Hyde Park – Saturday 25 June and Sunday 3 July – if you have never seen them, then you are well and truly missing a treat!
