The last time the Rolling Stones walked the lawn of the Longchamp racecourse, on June 30 and 1is July 1995, we wondered how, at their canonical age – Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were 51 years old – these billionaires dispersed to the four corners of the planet could continue to play “World’s Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band”.
Twenty-seven years later, our legs have a little trouble, this July 23, to cover the kilometers separating the Porte d’Auteuil from the equestrian ring of 16e arrondissement of Paris, but the thoroughbred singer (78 years old) and his accomplices still have quite a stride. Of course, each new race brings them closer to the last, as the tribute paid in the prelude to their drummer Charlie Watts, who died on August 24, 2021, reminds us. images of this discreet elegant who, in concert, was traditionally the most applauded member of the group at the time of the presentation of the musicians.
“We miss Charlie so much, we would like to dedicate this concert to him”, insists Jagger, in French, after two songs. The arrogant riff of Street Fighting Man – the best evocation in song of the spirit of 1968 according to Daniel Cohn-Bendit – and the mocking frenzy of 19th Nervous Breakdown had set the tone. The atmosphere of this Sixty Tour is not dictated by melancholic nostalgia, but by a joyous celebration of the 60-year career of a group which gave its first show in 1962 on the stage of the Marquee in London.
Jagger’s XXL smile
In Lyon, on July 19, for the first of the two French concerts of their European tour, the Stones surprised with their energy, despite a heat wave that made more than one fan turn eyes. No reason why the ideal softness of this Parisian evening should not make them do at least as well. In front of a human tide of 56,000 people, the powerful and clear sound system demonstrates, from the first notes, that the singer is in voice. Despite a recent Covid, Mick Jagger twirls around with stunning poise.
In 1995, a lighting tower erected like a snake’s head spat flames, before giant dolls towered over the crowd at the racecourse. Since the early 1980s, the Stones had become accustomed to enhance their stadium tours with a rock circus full of effects. But if the stage remains huge, bordered by two tracks adapted to Mick Jagger’s jogging, and accompanied by a long promenade advancing in the public, scenographic sobriety is essential. The large screen in the back of the stage and the two smaller ones hung on each side are content with a few rare video creations, to favor the images of the musicians, filmed live. Even at the other end of the racecourse, we can enjoy the XXL smile and the mischievous eye of the singer with the wasp waist and the swaying of a heterosexuality bursting with femininity. Pink bandana on remnants of silver hair, old pirate wrinkles, Keith Richards shakes his Fender with hilarious joy, followed like his shadow by Ron Wood, his ideal friend (more than a guitarist), with ever more prominent cheekbones.
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