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Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood about taking chances at shows (2003):
Keith: “The small shows make it possible to do a tour and keep it interesting and alive, because you are able to try a new idea or a new song out. If it really works, you can bump it up to the medium show, and if it really, really works, then you bump it up to large. We did rehearse a lot of songs for Forty Licks and I was always pushing Mick to use them: Why did we rehearse all these songs, Mick, if you’re not going to sing them on the road? Mick’s general inclination is to stick on the safe side of what he knows, whereas I usually like to take a few more chances, and so the small gigs give us the opportunity to say to him, Go on, throw it out to the wind…

…In general I would let Mick decide the set lists because he’s the one who has to sing the songs, and his decision depends on how he feels on any particular day, but sometimes if I thought he was flaking me, I would push him… For instance, Mick would want to open the shows with Start Me Up because he’d say it was totally obvious, and I would say, Yeah, that’s what wrong with it, it IS totally obvious. That is the difference between our brains. That’s Mick and me”

Ronnie: “On the Forty Licks tour we changed the set list every night, throwing in some songs and often going back to the drawing board… We all got off on the challenge of a new surprise every day. The variety and the choice of the songs helped contribute to keeping the liveliness of the band alight, plus the fact that we were still doing a soundcheck before every new show” taking chances

*Click for MORE ROLLING STONES QUOTES THROUGH THE YEARS