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Rating: "A BIGGER BANG"
Rome, July 6, 2007, Olympic Stadium, Rolling Stones 35,000 spectators.
We could end it here.
Instead, I want to tell you about an evening that had nothing nostalgic about it, but was a true rock event. The only real flaw was the organization. A parterre that for the 160 and 200 euros ticket was absolutely not up to par. On the contrary, quite the opposite. Around 8:40 p.m., a large group of spectators managed to "break through" from the stands and reach the stage. Further evidence that the pricing system adopted was absolutely wrong. No populism and no exaggeration like "we're in Italy," but at least some reflection is necessary. The audience, despite the overly high prices, encompassed all age groups from 10 to 75 years. Entire families with children in tow, the great rock community is also this.
Then you can snub it... rock. You can say you don't like the sound of distorted guitars, that you don't love mass events, ... you can say it's the devil's music, but you can't say you've never listened to at least one Stones song. Who hasn't at least once listened to or hummed the melody of Satisfaction, or Miss You, or Jumpin' Jack Flash. Even Bill Gates, when it was time to launch Windows '98, bought the rights to Start Me Up to include it in the famous operating system. And it is precisely with Start Me Up that at 9:30 p.m. a very special rock night begins.
Initial pyrotechnics, fireworks, and explosions, and the two chords of Start Me Up burst powerfully from Ron Wood and Richards' guitars. The stage, as tall as a 4-story building, lights up as if it were day. On the central big screen appears Mick Jagger. Wood, Jagger, and Watts have their usual look, Richards, however, after acting in the sequel to "The Pirates of the Caribbean," seems to have taken another path. He is now a pirate in every respect. In a cascade of electricity, the notes of You Got Me Rockin', Rough Justice, Rocks Off and She's So Cold arrive. And it's rock.
Ruby Tuesday gives us a moment to breathe, a ballad like few others. Rock is not just music but poetry and a cultural symbol for entire generations. And they're here to remind us of that. Hardly any time to recover from the emotion when the riff of Can You Hear Me Knockin' brings us back down to earth. In all this, they also pay homage to the great father of Soul. I'll Go Crazy, by James Brown, sung in a duet by Jagger and the splendid vocalist Lisa Fisher.
A pause comes when Keith Richards, having put down the guitar, intones You Got the Silver accompanied by Ron Wood on the steel guitar. The most canonical of blues. We thought we had seen it all, and instead, it was just the beginning because it starts again with Gimme Shelter followed by Miss You, while the moving stage starts to walk towards the stands, and the crowd bath is total. From the fixed structure emerges a huge red mouth almost ten meters high with the tongue sticking out. And then It's Only Rock'n'Roll and Satisfaction as if to say: folks, we're the Rolling Stones, and now we're getting serious. On the notes of Honky Tonk Woman, the moving stage retracts to the main structure, just in time for the scenery to take on a fiery red hue and for Jagger to don a red coat. The percussions start, and a phrase crosses our thoughts: "Pleased to meet you..." the moment has arrived: Sympathy for the Devil. They could have ended it here, but no, there's still Paint It Black.
The finale is a classic of classics, Jumpin' Jack Flash. Almost two hours have passed in which Jagger has jumped, danced, sung, and run despite his 64 years. Yet after they've said goodbye, they return to the stage once more. Brown Sugar, another anthem of a generation that, for better or worse, it's not for us to say, still had ideals. Only at this point do the lights go out, and the last fireworks illuminate a scene worthy of bearing witness to an event that is not easily forgotten. Also because, it has to be said, it will be difficult for them to do another biennial tour with 150 dates around the world.
Anyway, for many years in England, it's been said that in case of nuclear conflict, there would be two survivors: cockroaches and the Rolling Stones. Perhaps it's time to start believing it.
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