The Rolling Stones, ‘Welcome To Las Vegas’ (Goldplate GP-1604CD1/2)
Opening / Jumping Jack Flash / Let’s Spend The Night Together / It’s Only Rock ’n Roll (But I Like It) / Tumbling Dice / Ride ‘Em On Down / Paint It Black / Honky Tonk Women / band introductions / Slipping Away / Little T&A / Happy
Midnight Rambler / Miss You / Gimmie Shelter / Start Me Up / Sympathy For The Devil / Brown Sugar / You Can’t Always Get What You Want / (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Following the double date Desert Trip shows in October, the Stones had one last live show booked for 2016 in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas – Again, this was to be a double header – two shows, the first on the 19th, the second on the 22nd of the month.
However, disaster struck on mighty Mick’s vocal-cords for the first of the shows as, under strict doctors orders, the mouth was silenced and Mick spent a quiet couple of nights resting in his hotel room as the rest of the band spent their sabbatical scattered round Vegas watching shows and visiting theme parks. Less than 96 hours later, Jagger was back on stage and, dependent on the reviews you read, back on form again. Between swigging from bottles of water, dousing his dried throat, Mick was on good humour, enjoying the atmosphere of this newish venue and the vibe that was brewing for the band.
The Goldplate crew use a nice if slightly distant tape for their presentation of this show – Close enough for you to catch the fading bars of the stadiums surround music (The Clash’s ‘Rock The Casbah’) but also nuanced enough to catch all the little ends that come with a rock-worn band of advanced years – Including Keith’s now reliable faux-pas as he begins, well, what ever song starts the show – We just know to expect a flub in the first few chords.
The set itself is no more exceptional than the last Desert Trip show, only the introduction of a ‘Blue and Lonesome’ track (“Ride ‘Em On Down”) to this years set really changes things around but dependent on whether your thoughts are ‘Crowd Pleasers’ or ‘Money rakers’, then that should be marker to make your first choice for buying this CD by scrutinising the set list. (At this point, and without wanting to sound like I’m pushing the PC button – Little T&A, Keith – are we still playing that? C’mon – you’ve got better form than that.)
The breathlessly gushy review on the internet from the Las Vegas Journal would have you believe that the Stones pull off a show that’s on a par with 1972 / 1973 but I would defer and suggest that while it’s a good show, and maybe it’s the quality of the tape or the cost of the band, they’d be nudging most fans views of ‘Still Life’. The chatter in-between tracks is mildly entertaining and blindingly topical for the time but that being the case, you could just watch Jagger interviews promoting ‘Blue and Lonesome’ on YouTube.
This set is by no means essential but if you’ve heard the second Desert Trip recordings and want to fill that gap in your collection, Goldplate have your CD. A nod to the artwork which is beautiful and simple and simple and beautiful, just for those reasons. And we know what they say about a nice looking package don’t we, Keith?
