Bootleg Review: Tokyodome 2006!

When the Rolling Stones played the Tokyodome in March 2006, somewhere in the audience was the one millionth fan to see the band at this particular venue. This is the type of statistic that seems relatively meaningless except for its pure abstract shock value and in driving home the point that the Stones have played Tokyo an awful lot.

This recording is the first of two shows and unfortunately, is the less interesting setlist. But! It's still a good quality recording and a few things stand out. After a rousing Jumpin' Jack Flash, in the second slot, rarely played since the Bridges to Babylon tour, is Let's Spend the Night Together.

Chuck's piano drove earlier live versions of this but the 2006 version is more ragged and gritty due to the somewhat inconsistent anchoring guitar on the familiar riff. It really works in all this ragged glory.

The band sounds loose and upbeat and the recording suffers only from the fact that the backup vocals are nearly lost. Lisa gets a bit of help from the soundboard during her solo on Night Time is the Right Time but the backing parts in obvious vocal fills throughout the rest of the show are missing. This presents an interesting sort of sparseness and allows the marvel of open spaces amidst fifteen musicians to be revealed.

The only place this seems to hurt the band is when Keith sings Happy. Maybe somebody can help out with this, but on which tour did Mick stop singing the choruses on Happy? When I hear him singing behind Keith in the early seventies on Happy it sounds amazing. Now it sounds like Keef could use a little help on the vox. Not that he didn't sound almost identical thirty years ago when he took his turn on the mic, but I hear those recordings and can at least picture Mick caterwauling on stage behind him until the choruses.

The jewel of the entire performance is the inclusion of Sway. It was performed for the first time this tour and appeared on only a handful of setlists. It was not what I thought it would be because both guitars are considerably less distorted than on the Sticky Fingers recording. But isn't this what we all want? Versions of songs and not reproductions. Hearing it performed live is certainly a treat and Ronnie's solos put the definitive late-era stamp on this as a live number. I'd kill to hear Mick shoot for the high notes on this. Perhaps he's only willing to sing it now because he expects different things from himself as a singer? Who knows what sort of alchemy goes into choosing these setlists. A few minutes on the rollingstones.com message boards will confirm that it is a full time obsession for some to complain about inclusions and exclusions. For me the answer is simple: get an internet connection and you can hear the Stones do nearly any set from any era....

On a final note, I really like She's So Cold live. I know its not considered the coolest Stones song of all time, but it sounds like one riff where Keith and Ronnie have to communicate (telepathically or otherwise) to not totally lose track of the song. I wish they would play it more.

The setlist:

JJ Flash / Let's Spend The Night Together / She's So Cold / Oh No Not You Again / Sway / As Tears Go By / Tumblin' Dice / Rain Fall Down / Night Time Is The Right Time / This Place Is Empty / Happy / Miss You / Rough Justice / Get Off My Cloud / Honky Tonk Woman / Sympathy For the Devil / Paint It Black / Start Me Up / Brown Sugar / Can't Always Get What You Want / Satisfaction