Welcome to Shepherd’s Bush – The Rolling Stones (Review)

While The Rolling Stones were preparing for two sold-out concerts at Wembley Stadium, the band surprised their fans on June 8, 1999 with a concert in the small hall of Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London. Only 1800 fans were lucky enough to attend this intimate concert. The setlist consisted of real Stones classics and songs that the band rarely performs live. This unique concert was released on December 6 2024 on the album ‘Welcome To Shepherd’s Bush’.

After the words of the announcer “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome The Rolling Stones”, the concert starts with the fiercely rocking Shattered, followed by It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It), with fierce guitar duels and sparkling keyboards. The throttle is then further opened with the guitar rocker Respectable led by a stoic drumming Charlie Watts.

With All Down The Line the band goes back to 1972 (‘Exile on Main St.’). A steaming version with plenty of backing vocals and the fantastic horn section. The tempo then drops in the ballad Some Girls with a Mick Jagger in top vocal form, next to the fat guitar parts. The piano playing of Chuck Leavell is beautiful in the ballad Melody, a song that is played live for the first time since 1977. Wonderful backing vocals, a jazzy guitar solo and a trombone solo by Michael Davis.

I Got The Blues (‘Sticky Fingers’ 1971) is also a song that is rarely played live. The soul drips from this slow blues with horns and an organ solo. Memories of Otis Redding spontaneously come to mind. The tempo increases again with two songs from the album ‘Voodoo Lounge’ (1994). First Brand New Car with wah wah guitar and the fine horns and then Moon Is Up, with an imperturbable drumming Charlie Watts, a song that is played live for the first time.

Next one is Saint Of Me, a song from their album ‘Bridges To Babylon’, released two years earlier. The enthusiastic audience sings the chorus a capella at the end. In Honky Tonk Women, Sheryl Crow has a guest vocal role. After introducing the band members, Jagger withdraws for a moment and it is time for Keith Richards to take over the lead vocals with the usual two songs. You Got The Silver is absolutely brilliant, with acoustic slide, alongside Ronnie Wood and Blondie Chaplin.

Then all hell breaks loose in the fat guitar rocker Before They Make Me Run. A steaming version with the horn section prominently present again, as well as the backing vocalists, including Leah Wood this time. With a tightly played Route 66 by Bobby Troup, The Stones go back to 1964. Charlie Watts lays the foundation and Richards and Wood go for it guitaristically in You Got Me Rocking. The horn section then steals the show in Tumbling Dice. The soulful backing vocals of Lisa Fischer are also worth mentioning. The penultimate song is a long, rousing version of Brown Sugar with of course the well-known tearing sax solo by Bobby Keys. Jumpin’ Jack Flash is the passionate closer in which everyone goes for it 100% again.

Conclusion:

It is incomprehensible that it took so long before this sublime concert can now be heard and seen by every (Stones) lover.

https://open.spotify.com/album/1NCnDEf1jdXXmJTPv76uAL?si=rTLP-Aq9Q4yJhBHOI0ewsA