Here, they’re not so much curios slotted in with live tracks from late-’70s London, LA, and Paris arena shows, but rather illuminating details of the Stones’ bigger picture. While the blues classics from Love You Live-“Mannish Boy,” “Crackin’ Up,” “Little Red Rooster,” and “Around and Around”-have obviously been heard before, they’re given a more reverential framing among these 23 tracks. But with the rollicking “All Down the Line” and the slate of tracks from the previous year’s Black and Blue that follows, things coalesce quickly, Mick so fully present, and hilariously overdoing it, on songs like “Crazy Mama” and “Fool to Cry.” And by the time they’re halfway in, the taut “Dance Little Sister” and, appropriately, “Rip This Joint" are essentially the standard against which all other live rock performances of the era are measured. The delightfully sluggish opener, “Honky Tonk Women,” may not be the best evidence of the band’s bulletproof playing at that time. But the March 5 gig-presented in its entirety, along with a handful of March 4 tracks-is a snapshot of the Stones sounding as fun and alive and intimate as they ever would. Guitarist Keith Richards was out on bail for the shows after being arrested the week prior for heroin and cocaine possession at the Harbour Castle Hilton. Estranged from her Prime Minister husband, Pierre, First Lady Margaret Trudeau showed up with Mick, partied with the band, and sparked a lifetime of rumors to follow. Those shows have gone down in Stones lore as some of the band’s most legendary, both for their on-form musicianship (Billy Preston also plays keys here) and the controversy that surrounded them. The winners were ferried by bus to the venue, at which point they would learn that The Cockroaches were, in fact, the Stones-and April Wine would dutifully play support act. They held a contest with the help of a local radio station: What would you do to see the Stones play live? The prize? Well.the prize, officially, was the chance to see Montreal rockers April Wine (a going concern in Canada at the time), with an opening band called The Cockroaches. sojourns, their manager had the idea to put on a couple of tiny gigs to record some tracks for a forthcoming live compilation (which became 1977’s Love You Live) in front of the Stones’ devoted-but unsuspecting-fans. ![]() ![]() But the Stones’ Toronto club stint that started it all was a pair of shows at Spadina Avenue’s El Mocambo Tavern that took place March 4-5, 1977.ĭuring one of their T.O. And during those months-long rehearsal stays, they’ve regularly held secret shows around town at small venues, such as the Horseshoe Tavern, RPM, and The Phoenix Concert Theatre. ![]() It’s been a home away from home for the group for decades, a place where they’ve set up shop to prep before hitting the road since at least as far back as 1989’s Steel Wheels tour. Toronto has long played a sizable role in the myth-making of The Rolling Stones.
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