Rolling Stones/NY,USA 9.30.2002 Recorder3

It has been 20 years since the Rolling Stones’ LICKS tour, which took place from 2002 to 2003. Looking back, it was an aggressive tour, with three types of venues selected: stadiums, arenas, and theaters, and the set list varied greatly depending on the size of the venue. It was a milestone in the Stones’ tours, which had been held since 1989 with support members. The American tour in the fall of 2002 was the epitome of the LICKS concept, with the set list changing every time, which attracted a lot of attention. Naturally, the theater gig was very popular among enthusiasts. The LICKS tour was not accompanied by a new studio album, but instead featured a best album and a plethora of past numbers, which was a clean and groundbreaking concept. Therefore, three venues were used each time, and the set list was changed to suit the size of each venue. What was most groundbreaking was that they even incorporated a small theater venue with a club gig-like atmosphere as part of the tour. Naturally, if it’s a theater, the set list is a parade of rare numbers. Especially in the first half of the tour, a wide variety of songs were performed, which also served as a review of the repertoire. For example, in Boston, the first stop of the tour, “Parachute Woman” and “Heart Of Stone”, and in Chicago, “Torn And Frayed”, an astonishing repertoire was generously performed. The highlight of the theater gigs in the first half of the LICKS tour was the Roseland Ballroom in New York, which was held as the final show of the tour in September 2002. There, the R&B ballad “She Smiled Sweetly” from the album “BETWEEN THE BUTTONS” was performed. This is the only time that the song has been performed live to this day (there is a record of it being sung on TV when the album was released, but unfortunately it has not been preserved in any form), and as a result, it became one of the rarest theater gigs in the early part of the LICKS tour in 2002. As was the case with the Budokan the following year, it was extremely difficult to get tickets for the theater gig of the LICK tour, but there were still several tapers who managed to sneak into Roseland and record the precious scene. Thanks to this, “recorder 1” was released as VGP “SO GLAD TO BE NEW YORK CITY” in real time, and “recorder 2” was released as “BALLROOM BLITZ”. Of these, “recorder 1” excelled in terms of sound quality. “recorder 2” was very noisy around. However, there was a painful scene in “recorder 1” where a conversation that was so loud that it interrupted the performance just as “She Smiled Sweetly” reached the third verse. In addition, each title was more or less equalized with the technology of 2002, and it cannot be denied that it now feels like a time. Above all, both titles have been difficult to obtain for a long time, and now that 20 years have passed, there are probably many enthusiasts who don’t even know that these extremely valuable numbers were played. In addition to these real-time sound sources, there was a third audience recording of this gig, namely “recorder 3”. However, it was distributed almost 10 years after the gig, and even that has now fallen into a situation where it is not easy to find, so there are probably many enthusiasts who do not even know that such sound sources exist. Rather, it should be easier to find VGP records on the Internet. Such a hidden rare audience has finally been released. Of the sound sources of this gig, “recorder 1” is the best in terms of sound closeness, but while the sound image of this sound source is farther away than the other two, the big advantage is that the surroundings are much quieter than those. Especially when it comes to the R&B-style ballad “She Smiled Sweetly”, it is a high point that you can listen to it in this calm environment. Of course, there were no conversations that interrupted the performance, and it was not a noisy situation like “recorder 2”. In addition, by applying equalization using the latest technology, both the distant sound image and the dark feeling were alleviated at once. Although it still does not reach the level of “recorder 1”, the balance where the surrounding conversations are not loud is exceptional. This equalization has evolved the sound quality into one that looks great on speakers. Although the sound quality of the three types of audiences at the Roseland Ballroom is more enjoyable when played from speakers than headphones, this processing has made it even more prominent in this sound source. And the reason “She Smiled Sweetly” was played only on this day was because this song was used in the movie “THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS”, which was released the previous year and was a huge hit, along with “Ruby Tuesday”. Mick also mentioned this in the MC before the performance, and he probably thought it was a good opportunity to try this song out live. The key of the performance is higher than the album version, which is interesting because it gives off a slightly Mick solo number “Party Doll”-like atmosphere. Furthermore, Keith harmonizes just like the original song, and it was a great performance that made me think that it would have been fine to continue playing it as a repertoire. However, even without “She Smiled…”, the LICKS theater mode set list for this day was too luxurious. The beginning starts off solidly, but from “Hand Of Fate” there is a parade of dazzling rare numbers. Like “She Smiled…”, it is luxurious to play even “That’s How Strong My Love Is”, an R&B ballad from the Brian period. Another rare song is Keith’s 2002 version of “You Don’t Have To Mean It”, which was only played a few times in 2002 after this day. As the theater concept of this LICKS tour progresses, the repertoire becomes routine, so there is something all the more attractive about the ambitious set list here. However, it is typical of the Stones at the beginning of the tour to see Bobby Keys almost flying his saxophone on “Neighbours” or the intro to “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” sluggish. The forgotten sound source of the legendary theater gig at the beginning of the LICKS tour is literally unveiled! Roseland Ballroom, New York City, NY, USA 30th September 2002 TRULY AMAZING/PERFECT SOUND (Recorder 3) It is an easy-to-listen-to, very good recording. Disc 1 (65:44) 1. Intro 2. Start Me Up 3. You Got Me Rocking 4. All Down The Line 5. Hand Of Fate 6. Sweet Virginia 7. She Smiled Sweetly 8. Neighbours 9. Dance 10. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love 11. That’s How Strong My Love Is 12. Going To A Go Go 13. Ain’t Too Proud To Beg 14. Band introduction s 15. You Don’t Have To Mean It Disc 2 (55:53) 1. Before They Make Me Run 2. Midnight Rambler 3. Rock Me Baby 4. Stray Cat Blues 5. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking 6. Honky Tonk Women 7. Brown Sugar 8. Jumping Jack Flash