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History books usually obsess over the hits, but the real magic happened in a sweltering Zagreb arena in 1976. Forget the predictable setlists you’ve memorized; this night was all about the raw, sweating defiance of a band that didn’t care if they skipped their biggest radio anthems. While the crowd waited in agonizing darkness, wondering if their dinars were well spent, The Rolling Stones turned a humid Yugoslavian evening into pure, hypnotic mayhem. They didn’t even bother playing Satisfaction, yet the crowd left feeling like they’d witnessed something sacred—proving that sometimes, not getting what you want is exactly the point.
The Rolling Stones in Zagreb:Satisfied Even Without ‘Satisfaction’ (by Marko Jankovic, translated from original article in Zagreb newspaper)
No one was interested in The Meters. The heat was hellish. The hall was packed. Overall, things went smoothly. There was no chaos. The audience in Zagreb showed remarkable patience. At the concert of the greatest “live” legends of pop music: The Rolling Stones.
Maybe The Meters were at fault, or the tension and expectations surrounding the appearance of Mick Jagger, but no one could have expected this. A completely packed Dom Sportova auditorium waited in total darkness for about 15 minutes while thinking about whether they had wasted their money (150 dinars) on the fact that this was actually a “live” show and not just a long-overdue matinee.
The lights dimmed, Charlie Watts sat behind the drums, Keith Richards, Billy Wyman, and Ronnie Wood grabbed their guitars, and amid a storm of strong lights and sound effects, Mick Jagger, in a red jumpsuit and with the classic Jagger stance, entered to the rhythm of Honky Tonk Women.
The Stones gave the audience as much as they could have expected. Those thirty minutes of uninterrupted performance were full of enthusiasm like rarely before.
After a short break Mick returned,cooled with a shower of cold water, and continued with renewed energy. From the complete performance, a number of songs stood out, especially from the albumBlack and Blue, several old hits, and of course You Can’t Always Get What You Want.
Even Billy Preston (who was their guest on this tour) had a solo segment that caused new waves of euphoria (Starfucker), but just when the crowd “exploded,” the band said goodbye… and the audience had no complaints. The euphoria was stronger than disappointment that Satisfactionwas not played.
I think that feeling can’t really be described with words. One thing is clear – The Rolling Stones are hypnotic (so much so that one doesn’t even expect Satisfaction). And maybe that says it all?
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