The Rolling Stones in Raleigh: Mixed Emotions

I have mixed emotions about the Stones in Raleigh (pun intentional). On the good side, Mick was actually singing instead of howling and talking in the songs. I think that was one of the best vocal performances I have seen from him live. And his voice held up pretty well, with only a few weak moments toward the end. And the set list was interesting at times. Moonlight Mile was fantastic. And they did Shine a Light by request, and it, too, was fantastic. They had admitted not practicing that one and asked for "patience." It was awesome! And I loved Out of Control.

The big problem of the night, however, was Keith's guitar. It was waaay to loud in the mix. At times it sounded like a metal show. The guitar was trebly and obnoxiously loud. Mick twice had difficulty correlating with Keith on harmonica. He even had to walk away from him because of his guitar outburst. I don't know if Keith is going deaf or what. But he ruined several songs. I had to plug my ear to compensate.

The Stones are built upon both guitars being equal, "talking" to each other in the songs. It's about a groove. There was not enough bass tone in the guitar mix, even though Ronnie Wood played Les Paul. Those rich tones were not turned up enough. Keith's "metal sound" just ruined so much.

Bottom line: I enjoyed the show. Mick was really good. But I wish Keith had been under control.