Edinburgh 1982 (Singer’s Original 2007 SODD 040/041)
Green’s Playhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland – May 28th, 1982
Disc 1: Under My Thumb / When The Whip Comes Down /Let’s Spend The Night Together / Shattered /Neighbours / Black Limousine / Just My Imagination / Twenty Flight Rock / Going To A Go-Go / Chantilly Lace / Let Me Go / Time Is On My Side / Beast Of Burden /Let It Bleed
Disc 2: You Can’t Always Get What You Want / Band Introductions / Little T & A / Tumbling Dice / She’s So Cold / Hang Fire / Miss You / Honky Tonk Women / Brown Sugar / Start Me Up / Jumping Jack Flash / (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
SODD has released this 3rd show of the Stones 1982 portion of their 1981 – 1982 World Tour in very good to excellent audience sound quality. One picks up on the crisp cymbals immediately with Charlie’s constant rhythmic beat. The low end is rather weak throughout. The crowd is enthusiastic, appreciative + energetic from the get go.
There are short pauses between songs initially. The Stones played faster renditions of their songs. Jagger checked in on the crowd intermittently. “Black Limousine” slowed the pace down followed by an 8 minute “Just My Imagination” that was upbeat with a tempo that didn’t quit. This performance in particular was solid. There seemed to be a punk-like beat to most of the songs up to this point.
The Stones blazed through “Twenty Flight Rock” with the band sounding tight and in synch and they literally slammed into “Going To A Go-Go” with the rousing crowd behind it. Jagger extended himself on a fast + furious “Let Me Go” which further pumped up the crowd. “Time Is On My Side” was the slowest track followed by “Beast Of Burden”. “Let It Bleed” featured an aggressive beat once again. You felt that you could dance to just about every one of the above 14 tracks.
When the Stones played “She’s So Cold” it didn’t seem to be played so fast because the other tracks were played at such an accelerated pace and I became immune to the speed. There were no cuts for this concert and the tape kept rolling to match the frantic but measured performance. The Stones were on the mark for this show and the crowd reaction was indicative of that. Charlie’s sense of rhythm was at the forefront and completely enjoyable. He just never let up and served to fuel the band from beginning to end.
There are a number of other releases covering this show. VGP-257: Let’s Play House is the same tape source as the above SODD release. There are very minor differences between the 2 with the SODD having slightly more gain which tends to minimally accentuate the high end. The VGP version offers a slight gain on the low end. They are both, however, very comparable releases overall.
The 1982 portion of the Stones 1981 – 1982 World Tour has been maligned in some circles due to the lack of variation in the set lists and shorter shows. I think that when one listens to these 1982 performances, however, one can come away realizing the frantic energy that the band displayed. There were no “back-up” singers except the Stones themselves. The above SODD release represents a solid offering of a stripped down Stones performance that is very worthwhile and a fine listen.
