Rolling Stones kick off European tour

The Rolling Stones kicked off the latest European leg of the A Bigger Bang tour on Tuesday, June 5th, in Werchter, Belgium. The tour, which includes make up dates for shows postponed due to Keith Richards' brain injury last year, wraps up in late August.

On Friday (June 1st) the Stones played a brief set at their rehearsal space in Vilvoorde outside Brussels, Belgium, for invited members of the press. The songs included, "Rough Justice", James Brown's "I'll Go Crazy," "Monkey Man," "Tumbling Dice," and "Rocks Off."

According to fan reports on the website iorr.org (itsonlyrockandroll.org), during rehearsals over the past week, the Stones ran through over 80 different numbers while working out the tour's setlist.

Highlights in the Stones rehearsals included such '60s hits as "19th Nervous Breakdown," "Ruby Tuesday," "Get Off Of My Cloud," "Under My Thumb," "It's All Over Now," "Let's Spend the Night Together," and "I'm Free," along with such '70s favorites as "Rocks Off," "Some Girls," "Sway," "Sweet Virginia," "Heartbreaker," "Memory Motel," "Far Away Eyes," and "Rip This Joint."

The band also rehearsed Sly and the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)."

The Stones have been averaging about 21 songs in the current setlists, with roughly a third of the show open for new songs to be worked into the show.

Guitarist Ron Wood says that after playing with the band for 32 years, they're become a well-oiled machine: [ Click to listen if you have a backstage pass] "Oh, we're still working on riffs, and tightening up. I think it's the best we've been. It's a pretty unsaid thing in a way, though, we're blessed with this kind of interplay, that we don't have to talk about a lot, we just do it."

The Stones officially kicked off their A Bigger Bang tour on August 21st, 2005 at Boston's Fenway Park.
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