Rolling Stones Play Club Gig to Preview Tour
The upcoming Rolling Stones tour will see the band performing in the biggest venues in the world, but on Saturday night (April 27), the Stones played a tour preview gig at a tiny Los Angeles club, wowing the crowd with a 14-song set that included an appearance by former guitarist Mick Taylor.
New Musical Express reports that tickets for the gig at the Echoplex in the trendy Echo Park neighborhood were distributed mostly by lottery after news of the show broke Saturday morning. "Welcome to Echo Park, a neighborhood that's always coming up," front man Mick Jagger saluted the crowd after the group played 'Respectable,' the second song of an hour-and-a-half-long set. "And I'm glad you're here to welcome an up and coming band."
That crowd included celebrities like Johnny Depp, Bruce Willis, Owen Wilson and members of Green Day and No Doubt, who elbowed in alongside other Stones fans to enjoy classics including 'Start Me Up,' 'Brown Sugar' and 'Street Fighting Man.' The group also gave a nod to their own heroes with covers of Chuck Berry's 'Little Queenie,' Otis Redding's 'That's How Strong My Love Is,' and 'Just My Imagination' by the Temptations -- like a window back to the group's early years in the London club scene.
Taylor joined his former band mates onstage for their rendition of the Robert Johnson classic 'Love in Vain,' as well as 'Midnight Rambler.'
Jagger was in classic form throughout the night, at one point thanking the crowd for "the first show of the tour, probably the best one!"
The group closed with a high-energy rendition of 'Jumpin' Jack Flash,' with Jagger flashing back to the '60s as he left the stage. "Thank you very much everybody, you've given us hope, peace, love and understanding," he told the fans. "Goodnight!"
The Rolling Stones' '50 & Counting' tour will formally kick off on May 3 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and run through July before wrapping up in London.
Rolling Stones Set List at the Echoplex:
'You Got Me Rocking'
'Respectable'
'She's So Cold'
'Live With Me'
'Street Fighting Man'
'That's How Strong My Love Is'
'Little Queenie'
'Just My Imagination'
'Miss You'
'Love in Vain'
'Midnight Rambler'
'Start Me Up'
'Brown Sugar'
'Jumpin' Jack Flash'