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The Rolling Stones live in Chicago 1981
November 24, 1981: Rosemont Horizon, Chicago, IL, USA Under My Thumb/When The Whip Comes Down/Let’s Spend The Night Together/Shattered/ Neighbours/ Black Limousine/Just My Imagination/ Twenty Flight Rock/Going To A Go Go/Let Me Go/Time Is On My Side/Beast Of Burden/Waiting On A Friend/Let It Bleed/You Can’t Always Get What You Want/Band introduction/Little T & A/Tumbling Dice/She’s So Cold/Hang Fire/Miss You/Honky Tonk Women/Brown Sugar/Start Me Up/Jumpin’ Jack Flash/Satisfaction
The Rolling Stones hit Chicago on November 24, 1981, blowing the roof off the Rosemont Horizon during one of the hottest stretches of their gigantic American Tour ’81. This wasn’t just another stop — it was the Stones deep into their swaggering, high-octane stadium era, running on the momentum of Tattoo You and delivering a show that felt more like a traveling rock-and-roll carnival than a regular tour date.
The Energy Behind the 1981 Run
By 1981 the band had shifted into full spectacle mode. Huge video screens (still a novelty at the time), bold, colorful stage designs, and those now-iconic inflatable figures turned the tour into one of the first truly modern stadium productions. Chicago got the whole package. Mick Jagger sprinted and strutted across catwalks like he owned the place, changing outfits between songs and working the crowd with that manic front-man energy. Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood locked into their ragged-but-right guitar weave, firing riffs back and forth with a looseness that somehow always clicked. And behind them, Charlie Watts, cool as ever, kept the pulse steady — the real quiet anchor of the madness.
The setlist was a mix of fresh Tattoo You cuts and the heavy hitters everyone came for, and a finale that left the crowd wrecked in the best way. The 1981 tour was loud, bold, chaotic, and totally alive — and Chicago got the Stones at full blast: sweaty, playful, loose, and absolutely unstoppable.
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