Rolling Stones: From The Vault - Sticky Fingers Live At The Fonda Theatre 2015

The sixth in what is proving to be an enthusiastically received From The Vault series from the Rolling Stones, on the face of it, feels a little less of a 'vault' experience, what with it being recorded only two years ago. However, with the whole reason behind this series being to document some of the true events in what has been a truly eventful career, it fits the bill perfectly. Recorded some 44 years after its release, this DVD/CD set relives the first night of a tour celebrating the band's 1971 record, Sticky Fingers, the album performed in its entirety - although out of sequence from the original track listing. However this isn't just a straight run through of the show from The Fonda Theatre, Hollywood, or at least the DVD isn't, short interview snippets with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watt and Ronnie Wood weaved between the songs as the band discuss the album being highlighted and the process of bringing its songs to the live stage. It's an interesting premise that works well, giving a strong insight behind the music and reservations the band had about performing a collection of songs that both Jagger and Richards describe as "slow". In practice the life and soul of songs such as "Sister Morphine", "Dead Flowers" and "I Got The Blues" hit really hard in this setting, the bank of backing musicians and singers somehow allowing the slower tempo to feel as urgent as any foot to the floor rocker. It's also really interesting to hear some of the lesser celebrated songs from the band's catalogue given an enthusiastic outing. However, holding back "Brown Sugar" as the final Sticky Finger(ed) number of the set ensures that portion of the show ends on a real high. What's most noticeable on what was more a warm-up date for the tour than a full show, is just how restrained Jagger is on this smaller stage - and how much more exciting it is watching him in that style. Similarly the interplay between the band feels much less contrived when they can actually see the whites (or more likely pinkish red) of each other's eyes.

Obviously, being a single disc vinyl release, Sticky Fingers isn't long enough for a whole evening's entertainment, so we're also treated to a brace of the band's best known numbers in opener "Start Me Up" and closer "Jumpin' Jack Flash", while a tribute to BB King, in the shape of the blues standard "Rock Me Baby", is also well received. In terms of extras, there's not a lot, other than three 'bonus' cuts, "All Down The Line", "When The Whip Comes Down" and "I Can't Turn You Loose". I put that 'bonus' in quotes due to the fact that the accompanying CD of the same show actually slots these songs into the set where they were originally intended. So why they were removed from the DVD in the first place, I'm not quite sure - although to be fair, more of Jagger's stage chatter is left in on the DVD instead.

The only other niggle is that it would have been a good to have the option to be able to watch the whole show with the interview snippets removed, as they do start to wear a little thin after a few views. However, that in itself shows how many times I've already watched this set - and I'm not the biggest Stones fan you'll ever find, so it must be doing something right.

See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!

Track Listing
DVD
1. Start Me Up  
2. Sway  
3. Dead Flowers  
4. Wild Horses  
5. Sister Morphine  
6. You Gotta Move  
7. Bitch  
8. Can't You Hear Me Knocking  
9. I Got The Blues  
10. Moonlight Mile  
11. Brown Sugar    
12. Rock Me Baby  
13. Jumpin' Jack Flash
Bonus Tracks
14. All Down The Line
15. When The Whip Comes Down
16. I Can't Turn You Loose

CD
1. Start Me Up  
2. When The Whip Comes Down  
3. All Down The Line  
4. Sway  
5. Dead Flowers  
6. Wild Horses  
7. Sister Morphine  
8. You Gotta Move  
9. Bitch  
10. Can't You Hear Me Knocking      
11. I Got The Blues  
12. Moonlight Mile  
13. Brown Sugar  
14. Rock Me Baby  
15. Jumpin' Jack Flash  
16. I Can't  Turn You Loose

Added: October 29th 2017
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: From The Vault at Rolling Stones online
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Language: english

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