Rolling Stones / Tokyo, Japan 3.17.1998 DAT Master

The 1998 Japan tour provided this time, the first appearance sound source of the fourth day at the Tokyo Dome, is also a wonderful audience recording. Compared to the third day, Mick’s singing voice is a distant sound image, but on this day, Keith’s sound is still close. This was a fact that was often overlooked at the time, but the charm of the Babylon tour was that Keith’s guitar sound was pushed out more than ever after the Stones restarted the tour. This sound source also has an interesting stereo feeling centered on Mick’s sound image, and when listening with headphones, you can feel the unique spread of the reverberation of the singing voice coming back from the right. In that respect, this sound source may be said to be in a recording state suitable for headphones compared to the third day. This is also the first appearance and a uniquely obtained sound source, so the disc is also devoted to the atmosphere of the venue before the Stones’ appearance. In the midst of all this, the voice of a woman selling drinks passes by, which is a pleasant feeling as a sense of realism that seems to be before the start of the Tokyo Dome concert. The day before was such a maniac number night, so I wonder what kind of songs they will play today… I think the memories of that day will come back to the maniacs who were excited about it. Also, the performance of the Stones members, including Mick, was wonderful on this day as well. Listening to it like this, I was reminded of how “TOKYO 1998 2ND NIGHT” became a flashpoint in the 1998 Japan tour, and the performance was full of energy again on this day. On the contrary, all of the new songs are superbly done, as if to show the active feeling unique to the Stones at that time. “Flip The Switch”, which was great the day before, was even more exciting, and the way Keith plays a phrase that attacks in the afterplay of the singing part is conveyed because of the recording state of this sound source. “Anybody Seen My Baby?”, which was also included in “BRIDGES TO BABYLON” and was played every day at the beginning of the tour as the first single, was played less in 1998 because it was difficult to reproduce the atmosphere of the song in the album version on stage, and this was the second time it was played at a Japanese performance. The first was the second day in Tokyo when Mick was in top form, but here you can hear his singing with even more tension. This is a great performance that clearly shows that Mick and the Stones were still in good form. In this way, it was a day where inspiration was felt in the new songs, in stark contrast to the previous day, when the past numbers were surprisingly selected, but it was still a day that pleased the enthusiasts in that the selection of songs from the old repertoire turned into a “BLACK AND BLUE” night. That was “Memory Motel”, which was selected as the voting number. Although it was a great song that had already been performed in Japan in 1995, the excitement was incomparable to that time. After all, it was 1998 when Stones-loving enthusiasts gathered at the Dome. However, the highlight of the “BLACK AND BLUE” night was “Crazy Mama”! At the time of writing this article, the holy grail El Mocambo 1977 has been released, but it seems as if this song was performed on the B stage, creating a “Petit Mocambo”-like space, and this is because El Mocambo has finally been released. In other words, the meaning of the performance at this time has changed in a good way. In the first place, this song was not performed frequently on the Babylon tour, so there were many enthusiasts who were ecstatic about the performance on this day. Even if that was not the case, the El Mocambo items released at the time were in a state where the recording was interrupted when Mick started singing in this song, so there must have been many enthusiasts who overlapped this frustrating situation with the performance here. In addition, the sound image of this sound source becomes closer when it is on the B stage, and it also has the great appeal of being able to hear the only “Crazy Mama” that has been performed in Japan to date with a powerful sound quality. As a result, the releases came at the perfect time. Now is the time to compare the long-awaited El Mocambo take with the “Crazy Mama” that was shown in Japan in 1998! High quality sound with a natural texture. Live at Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan 17th March 1998 TRULY PERFECT SOUND(from Original Masters) Disc 1 (79:59) 1. Pre-Show ★17 minutes 30 seconds 2. Introduction 3. Satisfaction 4. Let’s Spend The Night Together 5. Flip The Switch 6. Gimme Shelter 7. Anybody Seen My Baby? 8. You Got Me Rocking 9. Saint Of Me 10. Out Of Control 11. Memory Motel 12. Miss You Disc 2 (79:34) 1. Band Introductions 2. Thief in the Night 3. Wanna Hold You 4. Little Queenie 5. Crazy Mama 6. Like A Rolling Stone 7. Sympathy For The Devil 8. Tumbling Dice 9. Honky Tonk Women 10. Start Me Up 11. Jumping Jack Flash 12. You Can’t Always Get What You Want 13. Brown Sugar