We were really looking forward to today’s show. Driving to the concert in the VIP guest bus was a real treat. After spending a lovely time in hospitality, we arrived in the pit just in time for a great and energetic ‘Street fighting man,’ strong guitar work, nice opener.
This was followed by the always popular ‘It’s only rock’n roll’ and ‘Tumbling Dice’. Just one blues song tonight with ‘Just your fool’ which always works well with Mick on harmonica. Then they played ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, great fun on stage and a rush of excitement went through the crowd. The first real climax of the night! This song is so popular and everyone was singing along. Keith and Ronnie were both great today, playing excellent solos.
On to the song vote. ‘She’s a rainbow’ was the winner. Mick was surprised and so were some other people in the crowd, but I love it. I understand why people claim it’s not fit for an overwhelming stadium setting, but I think it worked very well with Ronnie on pedal steel guitar. Afterwards they played a good version of ‘You can’t always get what you want’ with some nice guitarwork by Ronnie. ‘Paint it black’ and ‘Honky tonk women’ were both well performed and energetic.
Band introductions were great fun as usual. Mick introduced Ronnie as ‘arm aber sexy’ and had to translate this in his ear. Charlie was all smiles and Keith was greeted by a very enthusiastic crowd. He started his set with an emotional ‘Slipping away’ and went on with a rocking ‘Before they make me run’.
The second half of the show is rather predictable, but always well played these days. Everyone seems to be in good form. ‘Sympathy for the devil’ was very strong tonight and works great later in the setlist. ‘Miss you’ is rather long, but a great chance to see Darryl’s amazing bass playing. On with ‘Midnight rambler’, ‘Start me up’ and ‘Jumping Jack Flash’. The last two seemed a bit slow, but still great songs. After a very powerful ‘Brown Sugar’ the band went of stage and returned to deliver great versions of ‘Gimme shelter’ and ‘Satisfaction’. All in all, Berlin was a great show, again…