The Smiley Smile Message Board

So what did you all think of the Stones on the Super Bowl?

I thought they were OK.  Actually pretty good all things considered.  I concede the Mick appears to be in better condition than I am, prancing and singing like he does without running out of wind.

Charlie looks and sounds fine.  Ronnie was respectable.


Keith looks very tired.  More tired than ever.  But what really stands out when I've seen their recent performances, is that Keith apparently no longer sings. 

In fact, only Jagger is singing now.   I miss those discordant harmonies. 

I guess Keith is simply unable?  That is what was missing in the performance at the Super bowl.

The Stones SUCKED....their guitars were out of tune and Jagger can't sing his way out of a paper bag.
he sounded winded as all hell.........when do people realize that he is impersonating Tina Turner ??? and a
bad impersonation at that.
Jagger the white bluesman ...yea right .....black people must look at the Stones and shake their heads ,
Jagger doing his Solomon Burke , Wilson Pickett , Don Covay ( who he really, copied !!!) routine for all the white people.
Like Pat Boone singing Little Richard songs.......

I really hadn't thought of it that way.

I hadn't either, considering they're responsible for some of the BEST MUSIC ANYBODY'S EVER MADE.

But would someone please address my comment/question about Keith.  Why is Mick singing alone, no harmony, not even of the classic discordant Stone variety?

Is Keith UNABLE to do it?

Did Keith ever harmonize with Mick that much live though?  On record no doubt, but I don't seem to recall much attempt at that in Gimme Shelter, for instance.

I don't recall.

On the early tours he did.
Check the live cut of I'm Movin' On, with Keith singing "Yes, I'm MOVIN'!". Killer.
In fact, play all your early Stones albums today.

I saw the stones two weeks ago , and i'm telling ya Mick and Keith stay as far away from each other as possible.

Yep, and they have sucked live since 1972.

I just wanted to hear "If You Can't Rock Me."

I saw it, and I still don't care for the Stones that much, but that's my opinion. I really enjoyed Paul McCartney's during last year's Superbowl. Brian should do it next year,  :D haha

The Motown pre-game was pretty awesome with Stevie Wonder in there, that was my favorite part of the whole thing, aside from watching Pittsburgh win hehe

Mick's in pretty good shape for an old dude.

New song sounded good and provided the only dose of freshness or life.

I'm so done with the Stones. Somebody needs to do an intervention to get 'em to stop.

They're tired, predictable, sloppy, corporate,  geriatric money whores.

I love 'em, but they've gotta go.

They also make the huge mistake of thinking a big stage is a good idea. Bands should be TOGETHER in the middle of the stage, not spread out over a huge oval. Looks stupid and gives you no sense of a group. They've been doing that since I saw them in 76 and they were crap then too.

And Satisfaction is the lamest live song in their repetoire.

The new song sucked too.

The sound/mix was messed up for most of "Start Me Up". I prefer the studio version of this song to the live version(s). I always think it loses something live.

While I thought they performed "Rough Justice" pretty well, I question the selection of the song. I understand why they chose it (something new, gotta stay current), I wish they'd have chosen one of their many classics. When you're only playing a 3 song set, and with that repetoire...

I thought "Satisfaction" was awesome. Jagger gave me goosebumps. I have never seen a singer his age (what is he, 62?) perform like that. Tremendous performance!  Not to sound like the current Brian Wilson, but with some of the music that is out there today, I thought the Stones made a statement, showing what real rock and roll sounds like. I LOVED IT!

Ack, people are picky!  The Stones are great!  I loved the tongue stage, I loved the rough 'n' ready guitars, I loved Mick, I loved the whole thing.  Keep in mind that the Stones are the first and only act to actually perform live at the Super Bowl, everybody else has used pre-recorded tapes, including McCartney last year. 

As for Keith, he really hasn't done back-up vocals much since "Steel Wheels."  His voice has dropped about an octave, and he can no longer do those whiny high parts.  If he does sing back-up, he's mixed in with Blondie, Lisa Fischer, and Bernard Fowler.  He barely can croak out the two solo songs he does in the middle of their concerts.  Mick and Keith joined hands and took a bow together at the end of the Superbowl performance, and put their arms around each other during the final whole-band bow.  I think they still get along after all these years.

I've seen 'em five times, including last year at SBC Park.  For that one, I just stood outside the park with a few thousand other fans and watched the video screens over the fence (can't see spending that kind of money on a stadium show).  You either like 'em or you don't.  They're not at their peak, for sure, but I'd still rather listen to and watch them than most acts out there. 

Huh -- wha? Dude, you are absolutely the LAST person I would've expected to throw out that tired old line! (With all due respect ... )

I know a few people who saw them back when and they are in consensus that the Stones were far, far better in their late '80s and '90s shows than they were in their supposed "heyday." (One person with whom I'm not personally acquainted but who also is agreement on this point is the great Nick Kent, who oughtta know ... ) I thought "Stripped" was a fun album and way underrated as far as live Stones outings go. I can't vouch for the Super Bowl show because I didn't see it, and I haven't seen the Stones live in 12 years, but when I did see them they fodaing COOKED, no matter what ANYbody says. I mean,  even if Keith Richards is leaning so far into his cups and riffs he's about to fall over, how bad can you suck when you've got Charlie Watts -- who irrefutably STILL HAS IT -- back there driving?

I won't make any claims that they've made a great record since the '70s, but the Stones live are still worth seeing, even if it's a mere, paltry entertainment. As far as such things go, it's about as good as you can get.

Yep, sorry to blow the same old trumpet. But I genuinely feel that they haven't sounded good since then, from evidence of countless bootlegs and the few shows I've seen.

Well, then ...

TO THE PAVEMENT!!!!!!!!

 ;D

Having seen the Stones a little over a week ago, I can say that, well...... the Stones are basically a high end oldies act. Reading about their tours in ROLLING STONE, one gets the impression that  they want to remain current and focus on their obscurities. But the show I saw leaned very heavily on the familiar hits with only 3 songs from A Bigger Bang being played.  It was quite a spectacle, though and Keith and Charlie Watts do know how to rock an arena, but personally, if I'm going to see an expensive arena show, I'd rather see Paul McCartney.

We all know Macca has much too much integrity ever to THINK of trading on his past ...

You could just go see Coldplay...unless, they're not a. expensive enough or b. old enough?

Macca's an oldies show too, but I enjoyed his shows more than I enjoyed the Stones. Of course I'm a Beatles fiend...

or c.) I'm not enough of a fan to want to see them. Especially when Clocks is the only song of theirs that I really like.

Point taken, BUT Mac got a new younger band who simply KICK THE sh*t out of his songs, inspiring him to better levels of performance than he's given in a long time.
The Stones are a band, though, so not a really good comparison.

I agree. Macca has a great band. What Rusty Anderson, Brian Ray, and Abe Laboriel give Paul is similar to what Wondermints give Brian.

Much better in some ways.

I wouldn't go THAT far.  Wondermints are pretty damn hard to beat. And you actually got to see them before they joined Brian, you lucky bastard!!!!!!

All you have to do is compare that lame dude with Brian to Abe Laboriel!

Ian, you may know -- is Abe the drummer any relation to the bass session player with I think the same name or close who did the jazz group Koinonia?  I have always wondered that but didn't know who to ask.

He is his son!

That's what I figured.  I would love some bio details on the man....

Jim Hines isn't THAT bad. he's quite good, except for that annoying fill that he insists on putting into Good Vibrations.

But seriously, seeing Mike Kowalski with Mike and Bruce on TV made me appreciate Jim Hines.

I like how compact Paul's band is, yet he gets a lot of bang for the buck, since they all sing back up as well as play.  Well, except for Wix.  But, still, it's a rare and cool thing, them along with The Wondermints.

Abe Jr. has recorded and toured with Sting, kd lang and others. Abe is the drummer on Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles".

Brian Ray is Etta James' musical director and wrote "One Heartbeat" for Smokey Robinson.

Rusty Anderson played the "surf" guitar on "Livin' La Vida Loca".

Here's a bit:
http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Abe_Laboriel_jr.html

And I don't mean to discount Abe. Abe is an absolute monster on the drums! Like Ringo on a 'roid rage!

I went see them in their Voodoo Lounge tour. It was worth it but the concert was as spontaneous as a broadway show, if you know what I mean. I haven't felt moved to see them again since then.

They are a beautiful band but are hit or miss live.  They have always had a raunchy sound.

That's partly because the Superbowl TV broadcasting folks were censoring the 'inappropriate' lyrics in this tune and "Rough Justice", as well, for those watching at home with a five second delay taping deal, dropping out the sound whenever it appeared Mick might have conceivably sung something smutty!

At least that's how it's being reported today in a bunch of places including this one:

http://musicnews.virgin.net/Virgin/Lifestyle/Music/virginMusicNewsDetail/0,13556,1002990_music,00.html

The entire song "Start Me Up" is pure smut.  It's laughable that they censor two little words, but the Stones are singing a song about the subject of anal sex.  Receiving anal sex at that (from a guy, or perhaps a girl with some, er, purchased equipment).  It's filthy!  But, of course, it is a sports arena anthem.  But maybe the powers that be did figure that out, and that's why they messed up the mix on it.

Yeah, I wondered why Jagger sounded like he was forgetting words during that performance.  It wasn't that bad, just a crappy mix.   Also it being set up like that in the open air with Richards leaning down towards the monitors a bit obviously showed they couldn't hear themselves much. 

It's rather unfair to say THEY sucked when the whole thing was non-condusive to any real band to come out and jam.  Seemed to me like a shaky deal from the start and the Stones pulled it off with what they could. 

As for them live, they're not a bad band.

By the way, last time Keith did lead vox for the Stones was during the Steel Wheelchairs Tour in 1989 when he sang "Can't Be Seen", which isn't that bad of a song.   It's got some nice little airy riffs to the song during the background vocal parts.   You can find the live version on their 1991 release "Flashpoint", which is just another live release from the Stones to keep up with their live catalog since Ya-Yas.