It's often best to begin a concert review with a history of the band, unless the band is The Rolling Stones. Formed in 1962, this British rock phenomenon has been the subject of countless books and it seems next to impossible to draw up a short curriculum vitae. The band formed by Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ian Stewart, Dick Taylor and Tony Chapman has gone through many transformations over the years. Along the way, it has catalyzed and transformed rock music as well as people's views about popular music. The Stones have themselves become a part of history.
The band led by Jagger (64) and Richards (63) has sold more than 200 million records and played several thousand concerts over the past forty years. The band was also one of the first to focus not only on the music, but on the way it is presented. The big lips and protruding tongue, designed by John Pasche, have become universally recognisable as an emblem of the band.
Design was also a central element at the Budapest show - the stage setup was very much part of the performance. Playing in Budapest as part of their The Bigger Bang tour, the Stones gave to audiences everything they could expect: their greatest hits and a spectacular show complete with fireworks.
Unlike Axl Rose before them, The Rolling Stones did not play a Hungarian folk tune, but rumours turned out to be true that Jagger had learned entire sentences in Hungarian. My favourites were "These are some cheap shoes!" and "You're a fantastic audience!"
Today, rock bands are the equivalent of the travelling spectacles of the 19th century. Real superstars are expected to offer an awe-inspiring display in which the music is almost secondary. But The Rolling Stones showed in Budapest that they are more than superstars. Despite playing on a grandiose stage, which resembled a castle with towers, bridges and passageways, they managed to maintain the focus on the music. The two sides of the stage looked like towers or multi-storey car parks, with a giant screen between them. As it turned out during the show, spotlights were installed on every level of the towers and there was real fire blazing on the top. The technical staff must have been pleased to see that everything worked like a charm.
The sound mix reflected the hierarchy within the band, with Jagger's voice and Richards' guitar overpowering everything else. Ron Wood's guitar-playing, Charlie Watts' drums and bassist Daryl Jones' jazzy performance could hardly be heard.
Mick Jagger could stand as the perfect example to today's retro-singers, demonstrating unbelievable energy and a powerful voice. Perhaps the only Hungarian vocalist who can radiate a similarly high energy level is Attila Grandpierre. Despite his age, Jagger was moving and running about for 110 minutes, kicking off the show with the epic "Start me up." The supporting female vocalist was also excellent; one felt that she could have easily outperformed Jagger, had she been allowed to. The high-paced concert consisted almost entirely of greatest hits, with only a few songs that never made it to the top of the charts. These few were sung by Richards, who demonstrated that he made the right choice long ago when he picked up the guitar instead of trying to be a vocalist.
The old pirate is not the best of singers. His slack and easy-going
approach also shows when he is supposed to hit the right notes. However, his guitar playing adds a unique scruffiness to the Stones' music. Sometimes one cannot tell whether he played the wrong chord or intentionally added something new to the music. After forty years of playing in big stadiums, he was still able to play as if he were in a pub. And at times like this, one also learns that The Rolling Stones is the most famous blues band in the world.
It was obvious that the Hungarian audience loved Richards and he loved them. He acknowledged their applause by placing his hand on his heart. There is a big difference between The Rolling Stones and Hungarian retro bands, and not only in terms of remuneration. The Rolling Stones performed with true taste, sometimes shifting into improvisation, and always radiating real charisma.
Unfortunately, they played only one encore, but it must be said that crowd-pleasers like "Paint it Black," Sympathy for the Devil" and of course "Satisfaction" were all part of the show. The stage was so sophisticated that its central part was movable and so the entire band sailed into the middle of the crowd at one point, like a boat full of rockers. There, while the centre of attention, they performed some of their most famous songs.
Jagger only mixed once with the crowd (at least in this area he was outdone by Iggy Pop, who performed in Budapest last summer). But the Stones had fireworks at the beginning and also at the end of the show, which pleased everyone.
When the lights went up afterward, Bob Marley's classic song "Exodus" came from the speakers. Some in the audience seemed to enjoy this almost as much as listening to the concert, until they were told this was not a cover version by the Stones. On the way home, I found myself thinking why legends are always old and why I somehow do not find the money they receive excessive.
Perhaps this is indeed the band's last tour and the old Stones will stop rolling one day.
