Rolling Stones, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, January 16, 2003
This show was #39 of The Licks Tour, an international run that ultimately tallied 117 performances. This night was also a 'dress rehearsal' for a live HBO broadcast two nights later, also from Madison Square Garden.
The Licks Tour was meant to mark the band's 40th anniversary and saw the Stones presenting (somewhat different) shows across clubs, theatres, arenas and stadia, including trotting out material that was - and has since been - little-played in the band's sets.
Personal and pro-am digital electronics were making their way into venues at scale on this tour and there are many, many audio and video documents of a lot of it. Lucky for me, because although I saw many dates on this tour because of my job at the time, I was often working or hanging in a work environment. I was not always able to be solely in fan mode.
There are back-of-house moments I remember from this night - plus the fact that they played large parts of the Let it Bleed album (which Mick referred to from the stage as a "CD"), but two notable things about this show I have no recollection of: Ryan Adams as the opening act, and Hubert Sumlin joining the band for 'Let it Bleed'. The rest of the show is broken up over two videos here and here. This one is worth throwing on in the background for the 2-and-a-half hours it lasts.
Stones setlist: Street Fighting Man; Start Me Up; If You Can't Rock Me; Don't Stop; Monkey Man; Angie; Let It Bleed (with Hubert Sumlin); Live With Me; Midnight Rambler; Tumbling Dice; Slipping Away; Before They Make Me Run; Gimme Shelter; You Got Me Rocking; Can't You Hear Me Knocking; Honky Tonk Women; (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction; It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (but I Like It); When the Whip Comes Down; Brown Sugar; Encore: Sympathy for the Devil; Jumpin' Jack Flash.
Ryan Adams setlist: Firecracker; House of Cards; Hotel Chelsea Nights; Jeane; Wharf Rat; Shakedown on 9th Street; May Your Dreams Go Down in Flames; New York, New York; Nobody Girl.
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