WASHINGTON- It seemed fitting that on the opening night of the Rolling Stones’ first tour since 1989, the drollest line came from the mouth of rock’s reigning 51-year-old grandfather.
“I haven’t heard so much talk abut health care for the elderly since Bill left the band,” teased Mick Jagger, referring to departed bassist Bill Wyman, much to the delight of 55,000 revelers Monday at cavernous RFK Stadium.
It was the closest brush the Stones had with even acknowledging the fact that, hey, it isn’t 1969 anymore, and, gosh, shouldn’t we be doing something a little more . . . dignified?
Nuts to that.
After a promising but hardly revelatory start, the idea of these geezers making a go of it on such a grand scale yet again began to make sense when they kicked into “Satisfaction.”
The tune is almost a cliche by now, and older than many people in the audience. Yet the band thrashed it back to life. Keith Richards’ guitar turned The Riff at its core into a buzzsaw as Jagger fought to be heard. “Satisfaction,” as in “I can’t get no,” sounded totally of the moment, a Nirvana-like wail from the gut instead of fodder for a classic-rock radio countdown.
What impressed most was that the Stones didn’t cave in to the distractions of putting on a stadium show. They came to rock, and even if they were sometimes ragged, their willingness to allow for the possibility of human error-instead of micro-chip precision-made the musical peaks resonate.
The visual attractions-a hideous menagerie of inflatable freaks, a couple of beasts on stilts-were arranged on a sprawling 220-foot-wide stage, which looked less like a cyberworld jungle than a Great America rollercoaster with a circuit problem.
The band didn’t need the glitz. Jagger had no trouble being Jagger, with wrist turns borrowed from Tina Turner, slip-and-feint moves worthy of Jackie Wilson and a still-authoritative voice. But it was Richards who seemed most in his element, alternately facing the crowd to rip off a train-wreck solo or turning to grin at guitarist Ronnie Wood or drummer Charlie Watts, who was obviously enjoying the instant chemistry achieved with new bassist Darryl Jones.
Before the predictable war horses bunched at the end, the set list for the 27-song, 2 1/2-hour show was idiosyncratic, sometimes inspired. The opening “Not Fade Away,” a Buddy Holly song with a Bo Diddley beat, was a nod both to the Stones’ beginnings and their current state of mind.
Two songs were pulled from the oft-neglected 1976 “Black and Blue” album: a pretty ballad, “Memory Motel,” with Jagger on keyboards, and “Hot Stuff,” little more than a groove, with apologies to James Brown. Even more surprising was “I Can’t Get Next to You,” closer in feel to Al Green’s slinky Memphis-soul version than the Temptations’ original 1969 Motown hit.
The audience merely tolerated the seven tunes culled from the recent “Voodoo Lounge” album, though the performances were generally strong, particularly on the salacious “Brand New Car” and “You Got Me Rocking.”
Just as often the band stumbled: “Rocks Off” was haphazard and “Shattered” distressingly thin. Bum notes were everywhere, but the band slammed onward. “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll” rollicked, with pianist Chuck Leavell playing Johnnie Johnson to Richards’ Chuck Berry. And on the closing “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” Jagger’s leap was matched by the Vegomatic blur that was Richards’ right arm pumping his guitar. After that, the fireworks seemed superfluous.
