Opening With Security (Exile EXCD-037AB)
Oakland Arena, Oakland, CA – January 25th, 1999
Disc 1 (65:13): Opening, Jumping Jack Flash, Live With Me, Respectable, You Got Me Rocking, Undercover Of The Night, Moonlight Mile, Shine A Light, Some Girls, Paint It Black, band introduction, You Got The Silver, Before They Make Me Run, Out Of Control
Disc 2 (52:02): Route 66, I Just Wanna Make Love To You, Honky Tonk Woman, Saint Of Me, It’s Only Rock N Roll, Start Me Up, Brown Sugar, Midnight Rambler, Sympathy For The Devil
The Security tour in 1999 was the second Rolling Stones tour in support of a live album (the first being the 1970 European tour in support of Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out). No Security was a lighter version of the massive Bridges To Babylon tour the previous year. In contrast to the arenas they played in, No Security booked smaller venues with no more than 20,000 capacity.
No Security opened on January 25th at the 19,000 capacity Oakland Arena with Bryan Adams opening the show. Opening With Security on Exile utilizes a newer, excellent stereo audience recording of the entire show. It is very detailed, capturing all the dynamics of the show and cold pass for a soundboard recording. Other versions of this show include No Security For the Devils (Glimmer Twins Record G.T.-004/5), Stone Age Opening Night Oakland 99 (Rabbit Records RR 026/027) and Moonlight Mile (VGP-215) which come from another great sounding recording.
There is great balance in the recording between the instruments with everything being nice and clear. There are cuts in the tape after “Route 66” a cut before “Honky Tonk Woman,” a cut after “Saint Of Me,” and cuts around the encore numbers “Midnight Rambler” and “Sympathy For The Devil” none of which affect the music. There is also a five second gap one minute into “Honky Tonk Women” which is filled with another excellent audience recording.
The tape begins with the Ed Sullivan sounding mc introducing the Stones before they start off with a tight “Jumping Jack Flash” followed by the pounding sledgehammer rhythm of “Live With Me.” They band are very tight for a opening night and Jagger is in very good spirits leading the band through the opening songs.
Fast tempo songs continue with “Respectable,” “You Got Me Rocking” and “Undercover Of The Night.” After this opening salvo thing slow down a bit. It’s also the point where the tour’s new songs are premiered. “Moonlight Mile” from Sticky Fingers is introduced by Jagger as “like a ballad. This is the first time we’ve ever done it on stage and I’m sure it’s gonna be alright.” The arrangement is stripped down from the studio version and the performance is tentative but is very much welcome.
After a bit of gospel with “Shine A Light” they have the second premier of the night with “Some Girls.” Jagger changes the line “black girls just want to get fucked all night” to “white girls” and afterwards jokes “I hope I offended everybody now.”
The final live premier occurs in the Keith Richards mini-set after Jagger introduces the band. Richard tell the audience, “Happy new year, you know. That’s good for another few days right. Anyway, on with the impossible” before attempting “You Got The Silver.” Like the other two debuts, it’s a tentative and careful performance. A self-conscious singer jokes afterwards, “I don’t think I’ve done that since I did it. There’s nothing like taking a chance.”
The two singles from Bridges To Babylon, an eight minute “Out Of Control” and “Saint Of Me,” envelope the three song b-stage set “Route 66,” a very slow and bluesy arrangement of “I Just Wanna Make Love To You” and “Honky Tonk Women.”
“Brown Sugar” closes the set. “Midnight Rambler,” sounding closer to the versions played in 1969 is the first encore. “Sympathy For The Devil” is the second encore of the night. This arrangement is dominated by the horns and sounds more like a Vegas revue than a paean to the evil one. Opening With Security is a very nice production from the Exile label and is an affordable way to obtain this show.
