“I was a little worried about the weather — I thought we were gonna have a Stormy Daniels,” the Rolling Stones‘ Mick Jagger quipped to the MetLife Stadium crowd during their first of two “Hackney Diamonds” tour shows there.
Luckily, the weather was clear for the Stones' two-hour show. Their return to MetLife Stadium felt like a summer concert supplemented by their iconic back catalog of songs.
It was the perfect atmosphere for a perfect show. Make no mistake, the Rolling Stones' “Hackney Diamonds” tour isn't centered around their first studio album of new music in nearly 20 years. They know their audience is there to see them play the hits, and they deliver on that end.
Rolling Stones' “Hackney Diamonds” tour review
“Someone wake Mick up,” a restless fan anxiously called out as we all awaited the Rolling Stones' presence.
To be fair, it was well past 9:00 pm now. I'm only 23 years old and was exhausted just watching Jagger with those iconic moves. That makes it even more impressive that they were able to put on a hit-filled show with no lulls.
“Start Me Up” got the entire MetLife Stadium crowd moving. It was remarkable seeing Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood perform and come to grips with the fact that they have been famous for the better part of a century.
Like their music or not, the Rolling Stones have undeniable star power. They reach generations, as evidenced by their crow demographic.
It's also amazing to see three men well into their seventies and eighties performing at a high level. Richards and Wood were practically flawless.
Even with a few occurrences of Jagger visibly forgetting what he was singing, he's a natural showman. Seeing the Rolling Stones live proves why he is the greatest leading man of all time. Jagger doesn't have the angelic voice of Paul McCartney or the soul of The Boss, but his voice is still distinctive all these years later.
And to his credit, Jagger still sounds remarkably like his younger self. Some artists lose their youth as their careers advance, but the Rolling Stones must have made a deal with the devil to be this good at this age.
Hackney Diamonds songs
As noted, the Stones' “Hackney Diamonds” tour is hardly centered around their new material. Mick Jagger even warned the audience before they went into one of their new songs, “Angry” (which proved that they still could write a banging rock-and-roll song). They also played “Mess It Up” and “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” from the album.
It's a bit of a shame. Me and the Rolling Stones both understand what our audiences want to hear. However, Hackney Diamonds is a great album that deserves to be highlighted. Now, in fairness, I don't believe Paul McCartney played more than one or two songs from McCartney III during his “Got Back” tour. The Stones and any remaining icons from the era are now crowd-pleasing nostalgia acts.
Starting the energy back up
About halfway through the show, Jagger took a break and handed the microphone to Richards. He sang “You Got the Silver” and “Little T&A” before Jagger returned to the stage.
From there, the setlist took off with hit after hit. “Sympathy for the Devil” kicked off a six-song sequence that closed out the main set. Even if you hated the rest of the show this sequence was undeniably fun.
Apple Music can rank their top 100 albums — they can't measure lasting impact. The Rolling Stones have more iconic songs than most of the artists on that list. This sequence proved that if nothing else.
The backing band
The Rolling Stones have had a tall task of filling Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman's shoes. They made fantastic choices with their backing band.
I think some of the backing band members have been with the Stones for years including Darryl Jones. Jones got his moment to shine with a bass solo. But the biggest standout was Chanel Haynes — she goes toe-to-toe with Mick Jagger on “Gimme Shelter” and “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.”
What did The Stones play during MetLife Stadium show #1
- “Start Me Up”
- “Get Off of My Cloud”
- “Shattered”
- “Angry”
- “It's Only Rock ‘n' Roll (But I Like It)”
- “Wild Horses” (fan-voted song)
- “Mess It Up”
- “Tumbling Dice”
- “You Can't Always Get What You Want”
- “You Got the Silver” (Keith Richards on vocals)
- “Little T&A” (Keith Richards on vocals)
- “Sympathy for the Devil”
- “Honky Tonk Woman”
- “Miss You”
- “Gimme Shelter”
- “Paint It Black”
- “Jumpin' Jack Flash”
Encore
- “Sweet Sounds of Heaven”
- “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction”
The Rolling Stones will continue their “Hackney Diamonds” tour until July 21.
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