Review: The Rolling Stones, ‘Live At The Wiltern’ From the ‘Forty Licks’ Tour (2002) – A Glorious Theater Show!

When I think about artists who have a great “official bootleg” business going – i.e., bands who are actively releasing stuff from their vaults – I tend to think about Neil Young (whose Archive Series is remarkable), or Bob Dylan (whose “official bootleg” series started it all). Or I think about Springsteen who mostly (other than the box set Tracks, or deluxe versions of past LPs) has focused mostly on releasing concerts from years gone by (seriously, do yourself a favor and pick up anything from 1978 or 1980). Meanwhile, while I’ve been focused on those artists, my favorite band on the planet, the Rolling Stones have been quietly releasing – much like Springsteen – a series of concerts from past tours. Believe me, I’ve been front row for the Stones’ “Deluxe LP” versions of Tattoo You or Goats Head Soup with all those box set’s extra goodies (“Criss Cross” is still in high rotation around here). However, I guess I own so much live Stones that I’ve kind of turned a blind eye toward the live stuff they’ve been putting out. Shame on me…

I saw recently (last Friday), the Stones were releasing a concert from the Licks Tour which ran from 2002 to 2003. Recently I’ve seen the Stones release Steel Wheels Live or Voodoo Lounge Uncut or Grrr! Live from the 50 & Counting Tour. I saw the Stones on all of those tours and they were always great. Typically the Stones release a live album from every tour – and I’ve purchased many of those – so I figured I was covered. However, now that Stones are releasing complete shows from those tours, I have to admit, those play so much better than the live albums culled from those tours. Much like I said for the Who’s recently released Live At Shea Stadium 1982, when four or five certain musicians inhabit that magical space we call “the stage,” the chemistry can create magic. I’ve always felt that way about the Stones. It’s a kinda magic.

Originally, when I saw that the Stones were releasing this new live LP, Live At The Wiltern, I consigned it to the long list of live Stones’ stuff I probably wouldn’t jump in on. I mean, this wasn’t a legendary show like Live At The El Mocambo, or was it? Eventually curiosity got to me. I checked, and the Wiltern is a 1,850 seat theater in Los Angeles. That piqued my interest. The Stones can play the biggest stages/stadiums in the universe, but when you get them in a theater something special happens. Jagger always seems so much more relaxed in a theater when he’s freed from the onus of performing in front of 70,000 people. The show was from the Licks Live tour, in support of the greatest hits package Forty Licks, which was the first Stones show I went to where the Rock Chick was with me. I did see that this show was from November 4th, 2002 and the Rock Chick and I saw this tour in Chicago, less than 2 months prior on September 10th, 2002 at the United Center and that was a great, great show. The Pretenders opened up and Chrissie Hynde dedicated a reggae track to Mick & Keith who she said “helped bring reggae to the world.” Indeed, they did.

I couldn’t help myself, I had to check out Live At The Wiltern. Charlie Watts was still on drums, and that’s worth the price of admission. Charlie is joined, as always, by Mick Jagger (vocals), Keith Richards (guitar), and Ronnie Wood (guitar). The band that night was filled out with Darryl Jones (bass), Chuck Leavell (keyboards) and killer back up singers: Lisa Fischer, Bernard Fowler, and Blondie Chaplin. They even brought along a horn section (4 folks) which included legendary, late sax man Bobby Keys who had played on such classics as “Brown Sugar” and “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking.” When the Stones play theaters, they tend to mix up the setlist and they end up playing a bunch of deep tracks, which frankly I want to hear more than the usual stuff. And, once I saw the setlist on this concert album I knew it was going to kick ass. I put on some headphones and what a listen!! The guitars – one in each ear – accomplish what Keith always describes as “the ancient art of weaving.” This really is a special show. I am only commenting on the 2 CD version of this, I haven’t seen the Blu-Ray. As I mentioned  recently on a post about my journey as a collector, I’ve switched back to CDs, but I have to sneak those into the house in elaborate ways to get them past the Rock Chick…I do have a birthday coming… but I digress.

For a long time Stones fan, this set list is a treat. They open with “Jumping Jack Flash,” which I consider a Stones’ “standard.” When the Rock Chick and I saw them they opened with “Street Fighting Man,” so I knew they were shaking things up here. But I never expected a rocking version of deep track “Live With Me” as the next track. A rocking “Hand Of Fate” from Black And Blue, one of those albums only I like, was a wonderful surprise. Again, I love that the guitars are right up front and Jagger sounds delighted to be singing something other than “Satisfaction.” Country-blues track “No Expectations” is an absolute highlight with Ronnie on pedal steel. They even do “Stray Cat Blues” (which they did when I saw them) and while it’s not politically correct anymore, it’s a great blues tune. The whole first half of the set is a Rolling Stones’ Deep Tracks fan’s wish list.

They even dig deep for one of their disco songs from the 70s, “Dance, Part 1.” Like, I’ve said before about disco, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. It’s sloppy as hell, but as usually happens the Stones lock into the groove and pull it out in the end. After that, the Stones go into the “soul review” part of the show where they play three tracks from the acts that inspired them. It was a cool mini-set and utilized the horn section well. They do Solomon Burke’s “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love” which they’d recorded years and years ago. Since Solomon was the opener that night, it makes sense he’d come out and join them to sing the song. From there, they cover the wonderful Otis Redding song “That’s How Strong My Love Is.” They wrap the soul thing up with “Going To A Go-Go” which is a track they started playing on the first tour I saw them on, in support of Tattoo You. Bobby Keys kills on the sax solo.

After Mick introduces the band, it’s Keith’s turn at the mic. Keef’s singing sends a lot of people to the beer line, but I’ve always loved the Keith songs. He starts with “Thru And Thru” which I think is much better live than on record. He then digs deep for a reggae tune “You Don’t Have To Mean It.” Keith used to just do “Happy” and I just love that he’ll sing any song he’s ever sung at any point in the Stones’ career. It’s always a highlight when he walks up to the microphone. Mick comes out and they just kill “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” a song I would have sworn they played at the United Center… I’d never seen them play that song… it turns out, I didn’t hear it until the Bigger Bang tour. Memory is a tricky thing… After the old blues tune “Rock Me Baby,” which perhaps foretold that Blue And Lonesome might happen and the great track “Bitch,” the Stones start to hit the “standards” list again. To get to the finish line they run through “Honky Tonk Woman,” “Start Me Up,” “Brown Sugar” and finally “Tumbling Dice.” And I’m not complaining, they rock those songs. Yes, I’d have loved if they’d kept on the deep tracks thing and played say, “Ventilator Blues,” but then I’d have been the only one jumping up and down on that one. Ronnie Wood is solo’ing all down the line on these tracks and he’s fabulous.

Live At The Wiltern captures the Stones on a very, very good night in L.A. When the Stones are sloppy and off, they’re still pretty good – just like pizza. But when they’re good – like they are at this show – they are simply sublime. The Stones get dinged for being sloppy but to me it’s more about a willful recklessness that to me represents freedom… freedom from restraint or worry – than mere sloppiness. They come out and leave it all on the stage. When the Stones gel, it’s magic, baby.

Turn this live treat up loud and dance around the room doing your best Jagger impersonation, I know I’ll doing that. It’s one of their better live performances. Sure, it’s not Get Your Ya Ya’s Out, but not many live albums are. The guy we got the United Center Tickets from actually had a spare ticket to a show they did a few nights later in a Chicago theater, the Aragon. Bono jumped on stage and sang with the band on “It’s Only Rock N Roll.” The dude, didn’t go… he wasn’t a Stones fan. I’d have flown back up for it… Oh well. I now realize, listening to this album, what a magical night I’d missed when the Stones played that theater. Bygones… At least I now have this wonderful document to sooth my wound…

Cheers!