The Rolling Stones – Pour Some Brown Sugar (Sweet Records SV-82706)

Pour Some Brown Sugar
(Sweet Records SV-82706)

Dom Valley Stadium, Sheffield, England – August 27th, 2006

Disc 1 (60:13): Opening, Jumping Jack Flash, Start Me Up, She’s So Cold, Let’s Spend The Night Together, Sway, Streets Of Love, Bitch, It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll, Tumbling Dice, Band Introductions, Slipping Away, Before They Make Me Run

Disc 2 (50:53): Miss You, Rough Justice, Get Off Of My Cloud, Honky Tonk Women, Sympathy for The Devil, Brown Sugar, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Satisfaction

Pour Some Brown Sugar is the first silver pressing of The Rolling Stones’ Sheffield show on the Bigger Bang tour.  Played on a rainy Sunday evening in the Dom Valley Stadium, it’s one of the smallest shows in Britain but one of the most enjoyable and Sweet Records utilizes an excellent stereo audience recording of the entire gig.  

The show gets off to a rough start.  “Jumping Jack Flash” is a bit out of tune at the very beginning and, after Mick greets Sheffield, Keith plays the opening notes to “Brown Sugar.”  Realizing his mistake, he stops and then rips into the opening riff to “Start Me Up.”  It’s also raining during the show making it difficult for the band to play.  The road crew lay down carpets on the stage to give the band traction while they’re playing.  

“They’re doing the kitchen next” Jagger jokes after “It’s Only Rock And Roll.”  

Otherwise Sheffield is a fun show.  Before “Let’s Spend The Night Together” Jagger offers “congratulations to United getting back into premiership after twelve years. It’s a big sporting place here I know.  I went down to city center and everyone was wearing track suits.  And not only sports … Def Leppard are from here right?  We’re gonna do our version of ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ after.  Or should it be the ‘Greasy Shit Butter Song.'”  

A review in The Press reviewed the show to days later, asking:  “SHOULD the Stones knock it on the head like Keith Richards in that unfortunate encounter with a tree?  Don’t be daft. The ‘best pub band in the world’ still defy all before them: the calcifying ravages of age and the fickle flicker of pop fashions; Keith’s brain surgery; a dearth of Top Ten singles for two decades; even Keith flouting Glasgow’s smoking ban last Friday in what passes for latter-day rock rebellion.

“On Sunday, as if countering the Stones’ shooting flames and fireworks that lit up the night with a bigger bang, Sheffield’s industrial skies threw all they could at Sir Michael Jagger and his 35,000 subjects.

“The ageless anthems and stadium style remain the same, with the familiar format of a couple of new numbers (Streets of Love surpassing the strutting rock of Rough Justice): a lesser known oldie (Sway); a ropey vocal interlude for Keef and the inevitable farewell of Satisfaction guaranteed as they still reign in the rain.”

Fighting the elements seems to bring warmth to the performance.  The set list is almost standard for this point in the tour.  “Streets Of Love” and “Rough Justice” are the only newer songs from A Bigger Bang to be played.  All the other songs come from the eighties and earlier.   

The set on the B-stage, “Miss You,” “Rough Justice,” “Get Off Of My Cloud” and “Honky Tonk Women” are also standard for the tour.  Some of the songs like “She’s So Cold” feature great guitar duetting between Keith and Ronnie.  “Sympathy For The Devil” sounds a bit rough, but the “Brown Sugar” finale is very good as are the encores “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Satisfaction.”  

Pour Some Brown Sugar is packaged in a double slimline jewel case with artwork decorated with photographs from the actual show.  Along with Godf’ather’s Where’s Bobby K? and Fuel For Life, it’s good to see labels paying attention again to A Bigger Bang tour after a break of several years.  Nice packaging, excellent sound quality and a very good performance makes this worth having.