Rolling Stones Torch ‘Sticky Fingers’ at Small Surprise L.A. Show
“Hey, hey, hey!” Mick Jagger shouted as he rushed to the stage last night at the humble Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, beginning a surprise Rolling Stones gig to officially launch the 2015 Zip Code Tour. The appearance followed days of rumors suggesting that the band was set to play an intimate club show in Los Angeles, and all speculation ended Wednesday morning when the Stones announced the concert online. The $5 tickets, believe it or not, immediately sold out.
At the Fonda, the Stones wasted no more time with talk. They immediately ripped into their signature opener, 1981’s “Start Me Up,” with a restless onstage energy, and Jagger anxiously paced and waved his arms, snarling, “Kick on the starter, give it all you got, you got, you got!” Ron Wood took the night’s first guitar solo, hopping in place until Jagger playfully bumped him hard on the shoulder.
Jagger, 71 years old, led with a lean physical energy that could outpace most of the fans in the room, and the years have only added ease and depth to his bluesy growl. When the band followed with “When the Whip Comes Down,” he shouted the lyrics like a crank on a New York street corner. Keith Richards then flashed a bright grin, gray hair tumbling from beneath a scarf tied across his forehead, and leaned into the riff on “All Down the Line.”
Just days ahead of the tour’s first stadium show in San Diego, the band appeared well-rehearsed and fully-charged for the summer. Stripped of video screens, fireworks and the giant inflatable girls they’re known to bring to the world’s biggest stages, the Stones remain a supremely gifted rock & roll band. On this night, no theatrics were needed.
The tour is timed to the coming Sticky Fingers reissue, and here the band played its 10 songs in one set for the first time. “We’re going to do the whole of Sticky Fingers – but in the order of the 8-track tape,” Jagger joked, rearranging the set list for a better-paced show. “Next time we’ll come back and do Satanic Majesties.”
“Sway” included some sultry soloing from Wood, who added his own accent into the song while Jagger sang wearily of living “that evil life.” The singer was raw and vulnerable on “Moonlight Mile,” and as Charlie Watts pounded the mallets, a light fog hovered over the stage.
“There might be some Sixties drug references in this record,” said Jagger, introducing “Sister Morphine” to a generation-spanning crowd that included everyone from Harry Styles to Jack Nicholson. Opening with the stark acoustic chords of Richards, the song was scratchy and haunted as ever, Wood recreating the searing Ry Cooder slide guitar twang. “That is seriously a bit of a down song,” the frontman concluded. “There’s more to come. I think it was sort of a down period.”