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Some bands age quietly; The Stones prefer to age like a stadium-sized event that refuses to acknowledge the concept of slowing down. Watching Mick Jagger sprint around the stage at an age when most people are negotiating with their knees feels less like nostalgia and more like performance art with a survival instinct. Somewhere between the precision of Charlie Watts, the steady support of Ronnie Wood, and the famously complicated chemistry with Keith Richards, the show becomes its own ecosystem—part brilliance, part habit, part shared delusion. Even when Paint It Black cuts through the air, it’s not just a song anymore; it’s proof that rock can outlive almost everything except the audience’s willingness to believe in it.
June 9, 2013: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 2013: (50 & Counting… Tour, North American Leg) Get Off Of My Cloud/It’s Only Rock’n Roll/Paint It Black/Gimme Shelter/Wild Horses/Dead Flowers/The Last Time/Emotional Rescue/Doom And Gloom/One More Shot/Honky Tonk Women/Band introduction/You Got The Silver/Happy/Midnight Rambler /Miss You/Start Me Up/Tumbling Dice/Brown Sugar/Sympathy For The Devil/You Can’t Always Get What You Want/Jumpin’ Jack Flash/Satisfaction *With special guests Win Butler on The Last Time and Les Choeurs Des Petits Chanteurs De Laval choir on You Can’t Always Get What You Want All photos from IORR
Still Standing: A Night of Vintage Power and Pricey Nostalgia
The Stones didn’t waste a second getting the crowd fired up at Montreal’s Bell Centre, kicking things off with a roaring Get Off of My Cloud. The setlist leaned heavily on the classics, making the night feel more like a gift to longtime fans than an attempt to reinvent the wheel. Lisa Fischer absolutely stole the spotlight on Gimme Shelter, Bobby Keys brought plenty of firepower to Emotional Rescue, and a lively Dead Flowers—picked by fan vote—went down a treat. Local heroes got their moment too, with appearances from Win Butler of Arcade Fire and former Stone Mick Taylor. Meanwhile, Mick Jagger spent the night working the “tongue pit” like he owned the place, serving up Honky Tonk Women with all the charm, swagger, and cheekiness you’d expect.
There were plenty of great moments throughout the night. Ronnie Wood delivered a beautifully played solo on You Got the Silver, while bassist Darryl Jones laid down a thick, funky groove on Miss You that gave the song some extra punch. Not everything landed perfectly, though. Keith Richards, looking a bit off his usual game, fumbled a few introductions, most noticeably on Paint It Black and Gimme Shelter. Even so, the roughly 15,000 fans in attendance didn’t seem to care much. They cheered just about every song, happily overlooking the rough edges in exchange for another night with the band whose soundtrack had followed them for decades.
Jagger’s Fire, Richards’ Shadow, and the Glimmer of Mortality
All thi while at nearly 70 Mick remained a force of nature, sprinting, strutting, and commanding the stage with the kind of energy that makes people half his age reconsider their exercise habits. Charlie, as always, was the band’s human metronome, keeping everything locked in place while Ronnie quietly shouldered much of the guitar work with style and ease. The relationship between Jagger andRichards, however, felt noticeably cooler than in years past. Gone was much of the old mischievous chemistry; what remained looked more like two seasoned professionals showing up and getting the job done. Not that the audience seemed bothered. Fans desperately wanted to believe the magic was still there, and for a couple of hours, many did. Maybe that’s the real performance—not just the songs, but the shared agreement between band and audience to keep the myth alive a little longer.
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