Rolling Stones Rehearsals 2013

4/17/13 Rehearsal Report # 1

Rolling Stones Rehearsals near Los Angeles, CA April 17, 2013 (3rd day?)
My day started normal enough, in front of the computer with a cup of coffee catching up on the music message boards when I came across a photo of Rolling Stones backing vocalist Bernard Fowler with Waddy Wachtel taken outside the rehearsal studio. What struck me most was familiarity of the hill in the background. Hey, I live under that hill!
 
A bit of googling brought up matching pictures of the studio complex. Of course I am not the only one who recognized that hill so it wasn't long before the word was out. Pictures of the band taken from outside the studio the day before with identifying features hit the media a few hours later.
 
Decided to head over there after work. Pre-rehearsal reports the past several tours have taken on a legendary aura as daily updates from fans listening outside show how the show is coming together. Usually it's just random songs though sometimes they will play something resembling a regular concert setlist. This is the first time they have ever held pre-tour rehearsals in Los Angeles, usually preferring Toronto.
 
Get there about 3:15pm, there are already autograph hounds lingering around and a fan who has been there for a few hours. He said Charlie, Keith and Ronnie were already there and he had even shook Charlie's hand on the way in.
 
This place is set far back from the sidewalk in a large complex beyond an open gate. The No Trespassing signs were quite obvious. When Mick arrived and was driven to the front door, this woman, who I have recognized from shows for at least 20 years but never personally spoken to, followed Mick's car into the property. I only caught bits and pieces of the aftermath but apparently off the property a studio employee told her they have video of her on the property and also Mick's personal security guard followed her way down the street and out of sight.
 
On to the rehearsals... they get started after awhile. Keith's guitar must be really close to the door so it buries everything else but is loud and clear under the right circumstances. He sounds good. We can hear great when the wind isn't blowing, trucks aren't idling or planes aren't flying overhead. Not really suitable to even capture on any kind of device though. Mick only comes thru a few times so they almost sound instrumental. No Chuck or Ronnie in the mix either.
 
Ronnie, Keith and Charlie also occassionally come out in between songs and at some point Ronnie waves at us.
 
This is the setlist, spread out over about 4 hours, obviously following the basic structure of last year's shows with a few differences.
 
Get Off My Cloud
The Last Time
Its Only Rock 'N Roll
Paint It Black
Wild Horses
Dead Flowers
-seeing Paul McCartney pull out in a purple corvette takes everyone by surprise, apparently he is rehearsing there too-
Sway
Sway
Can't You Hear Me Knocking
Worried About You
Can't You Hear Me Knocking (bits and pieces)
Miss You (Mick plays harmonica)
Midnight Rambler
Start Me Up
Brown Sugar
Sympathy For The Devil
Jumpin' Jack Flash (stopped)
Jumpin' Jack Flash
Street Fighting Man
Fool To Cry
Memory Motel
I Heard It Through The Grapevine

 
 
By the end of the evening, the crowd outside numbers about 15.
 
Bernard comes out, gives a young lady a photo op and waits down the street until someone picks him up.
 
All the other vehicles leave in sequence, windows rolled up and soon the hounds take off after Keith.
 
That was fun, but no way I can spend the whole 2 weeks standing on the sidewalk even if this is taking place in my neighborhood. Will come back a few more times though.


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4/18/13 Rehearsal Report #2

Thursday April 18, 2013Read the first report here
http://www.freewebs.com/ijwthstd/apps/blog/show/25761284-rolling-stones-rehearsal-report
 
I had planned to go to the Dustbowl Revival record release party tonight but it was at the Edison and they said they would stick to their strict dress code for the show so after 2 minutes of dusting off my funeral suit and looking for the proper shoes, I said screw this. Never make it hard for me to get to one of your shows. Even the local bands and their little club gigs are getting more exclusive. Playing a place like that is a good way to get "unliked" with extreme prejudice.
 
 
Anyway not really too much to report, the hounds show up early, the band shows up and ignores them, the hounds split but come right back before they leave. However, the main hound who is supervising a few pups is parked in the red. Parking enforcement comes along, he gets to his car in time and moves to another red zone. Parking enforcement comes back and nails him and ends up staying there for an hour. One reason I don't drive, cars are huge and it's hard finding places to put them.
 
You Got Me Rocking
Bitch
Ruby Tuesday
Tumbling Dice
All Down The Line
Sway
Sway
She Was Hot (aborted and restarted)
Love In Vain
If You Can't Rock Me
Loving Cup (started with Keith outside smoking, eventually morphs into full band version)
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Doom And Gloom
One More Shot
One More Shot
Live With Me
Shine A Light
 
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4/19/13 Rehearsal Report #3

They started early as they had played 2 songs by the time I got there. A bit more of a crowd than yesterday. Charlie briefly came out to the gate for about a minute. I didn't bring anything to sign but it was totally cool of him just the same.
 
This followed Wednesday's format of loosely following the standard concert setlist structure, with Keith's songs after JJF and worked thru some more ballads at the end.
 
They usually take weekends off and I am busy all weekend anyway. I am starting to get that festival pain in my back and hips from standing on the pavement so much.
 
No sign of Mick Taylor but they played plenty of songs he would sound good on.

 
Get Off My Cloud
The Last Time
It's Only Rock N Roll
Paint It Black
Gimme Shelter
Wild Horses
Dead Flowers
All Down The Line
Doom And Gloom
One More Shot
Honky Tonk Women
Miss You
Can't You Hear Me Knocking
Start Me Up
Tumbling Dice
Brown Sugar
Sympathy For The Devil
Jumpin' Jack Flash
Before They Make Me Run
Happy
Waiting On A Friend
Waiting On A Friend
Moonlight Mile
Beast Of Burden
Worried About You
That's How Strong My Love Is

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4/22/13 Rehearsal Report #4

Today was a little tougher. A lot more trucks coming and going, and Dinosaur Jr's tour bus and trailer parked for several hours a few feet away while their equipment was unloaded into the studio complex. We had a hard time trying to decipher the music under the din. Charlie's bodyguard even came out and said "tell them to turn off the bus so you can hear." I told a few people Burbank PD's number and dared them to report the bus was parked in the red. The roadies finally wished the driver safe travels and everyone departed. A studio employee did mistake the roadies for Stones fans and told them to get off the property. Or maybe recognized them as Dinosaur Jr roadies and figured they had enough time to take care of business.
 
The band was already inside when I got there but I don't appear to have missed anything. Due to the noise it was hard to hear at times. Some people insist they heard Dance Little Sister but I am pretty sure they imagined out of a possible rendition of I Heard It Through The Grapevine. On the other side of the driveway was at least 2 Studio Waggon trailers. One person claimed to have seen Shakira walk in one while everyone was looking toward the studio.
 
More people outside than any day and I feel the idiot factor is rising.
Biggest surprise of the evening is that Dinosaur Jr can still use a tour bus.
 

Tumbling Dice
Bitch
Honky Tonk Women
Rocks Off
That's How Strong My Love Is
Brown Sugar
I Heard It Through The Grapevine (?)
All Down The Line
She Was Hot
She Was Hot (interrupted and restarted in the middle)
Can't You Hear Me Knocking
I Heard It Through The Grapevine (?)
Loving Cup
Sway
If You Can't Rock Me
Shine A Light
Moonlight Mile
Get Off My Cloud
The Last Time
No Expectations
Some Girls
She's So Cold
Respectable (stopped and restarted from beginning)
Rip This Joint
Live With Me
 

I see Chuck exit, show him a really ridiculous yet sincere request sign, get a thumbs up and figure it's over and decide to head home though I did flash my More Mick Taylor sign at Mick Jagger's car going down Hollywood Way. Like an almost 70 year old man could see a sign from a speeding car with tinted windows from a few lanes away.
 
People seem to think Mick Jagger reads the fan boards. If he is reading these reports he should know that at least one person hanging around outside doesn't want an autograph, doesn't want a photo op, doesn't want any personal acknowledgement whatsoever. After spending way too much money on tickets, he just hopes to hear Mick Taylor do more than an unrehearsed appearance noodling over one song.
 
This is tedious, this is painful, this is fun, this is a compulsion.
 
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4/23/13 Rehearsal Report #5

I am dead tired so it's just the setlist today. Bobby Keys is there now. He was there yesterday but I forgot to tell you. Maybe I am forgetting something else now but can always update this later. Several days straight of fast food for breakfast, snack food for lunch, fast food for dinner is starting to take it's toll. I hope I live long enough for the show.

 
(jamming/possibly I Heard It Through The Grapevine - just too noisy)
Around And Around
Let It Bleed
Just My Imagination
Miss You (harmonica)
Paint It Black
Sweet Virgina
Waiting On A Friend
When The Whip Comes Down
Start Me Up
(long break - jamming - a lot of noise at this point, saw Shakira and a baby, thankfully no one bothered them)
You Got The Silver
Before They Make Me Run
Before They Make Me Run
Happy on and off for at least 10 minutes
I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Doom And Gloom
One More Shot
Around And Around (off and on)
Rocks Off
That's How Strong My Love Is
You Got Me Rocking
Shattered
Spider And The Fly
and another real short attempt at a blues song and that was it

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4/24/13 Rehearsal Report #6

A few more people outside than usual. At first I thought were going to get a regular concert set as they blazed through this set with few breaks between the songs.

 Get Off My Cloud
The Last Time
Start Me Up
Gimme Shelter
All Down The Line
Bitch
Honky Tonk Women
Ruby Tuesday
It's Only Rock N Roll
Tumbling Dice
Sympathy For The Devil
Brown Sugar (botched intro ala 2003)
Brown Sugar (restarted)
 

then a long break. Someone claims to see Mick Taylor go past in a van but someone had already mistaken Bobby Keys for him a few days ago. Rumors had him landing in town every day for the past few weeks. I was telling everybody I didn't expect to see him before May 1st.

But I must say seeing him get out of the van and hug Ron Wood was one of my most exciting moments as a Stones fan. I sincerely got chills. THIS was why I paid my money yet again when I swore I have given them enough.

Anyway it could have been upwards of an hour between the sets.
 

Sway (slowed down, started from the middle?)
Sway
Can't You Hear Me Knocking (long jam, ending redone)
Love In Vain
Shine A Light
Midnight Rambler
(MT smoke break)
Little Queenie
If You Can't Rock Me (can hear vocals, Jagger is working this one as hard as he did on the Licks tour)
Worried About You (while MT smokes outside)
Beast Of Burden (is he playing on this? it was a 3 guitar song in 2002/2005)
I Heard It Through The Grapevine (a lot more guitar than previous renditions, almost positive he is playing)
Dead Flowers
Angie
???? (something slow, real short,  3 mins but it was hard enough to figure out Angie under the teeming throngs on the sidewalk, someone ask Ronnie to post today's canvas, the best guess was Fool To Cry but pretty sure that wasn't it)
 
The last one stumped everyone who was trying to pay attention, But I am also embarrassed to say I haven't listened to Exile, Goat's Head Soup or IORR in about 10 years. Oh well, maybe the real fans should have had their ears peeled rather than holding records that probably won't get signed and waiting to see how the fast the cars can whisk by.
Finally a celebrity sighting I found a little interesting. Apparently Nigel Mogg formerly of the Quireboys is a friend of Ron Wood and was hanging out. A friend of mine dropping something off at the studio told me it was him. He walked past, saw me looking at him and he said "They sound good, don't they?" They are another bucket list band.
 
Anyway this was so much fun I almost wish I didn't have a trip booked April 30/May 1. If they are still rehearsing there, someone needs to put up some effort and document whatever is going on. A few people say they might try but a few more wouldn't hurt.

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4/25/13 Rehearsal Report #7

Not as much music, longer breaks and many more people, inside and out. Whether the rumors of this being the last night are true or not, the adventure may be coming to an end for us either way.
 
The crowd numbered up to 25 people today, including many people who don't realize you can't block a busy driveway and brought threats from studio staff to close the gate. Didn't really stop this trio from continually venturing past any reasonable boundaries and also someone from that group ventured past the gate on to the property. She probably should have been tazed and arrested butwas just escorted off by Stones security. Probably less likely to get any splatter on me than if they were mowed down by an inattentive driver.
 
Not as much Mick Taylor either but some spots that really bode well for the tour.

 
Ain't Too Proud To Beg
Ain't Too Proud To Beg
Route 66
---
Street Fighting Man with Mick Taylor (comes to a halt in the middle)
Street Fighting Man with MT (best version since 1972, loud triple guitars, really vicious at the
 
end)
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She Was Hot
Out Of Control
---
Wild Horses with MT
You Can't Always Get What You Want with MT (with a seemingly revised improv ending)
 
 

long break during which Mick Taylor walks toward us escorted by security, stops, greets some people getting out of a car and walks back. Eventually he comes toward us again, the throngs gather, really excited. He makes a left into the office. Exits and heads toward the studio ignoring verbals pleas. He doesn't play again.
 

Doom And Gloom
One More Shot
Respectable (aborted)
Respectable
 (short slow blues, Mick Taylor leaves in a small car with 3 other people followed by white van)
When The Whip Comes Down
Some Girls
Emotional Rescue (off and on for at least 15 mins, once I started to pointing out to it written on the list the chatter halted immediately)
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (stopped and restarted)
Shattered (stopped and restarted)
She's So Cold
I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Moonlight Mile

 
8:00 on the dot, see movement toward the vehicles, take off, later see Mick Jagger's car on Hollywood Way. Last night some people caught Keith at the light (it's a LONG light) and he rolled down and signed.
 
Still really fun doing all this. My back and legs stopped hurting so I was probably just paying the price for sitting on my ass the last 15 years. Could definitely keep doing this until Monday night if I had to.
 
Heard this was the last night and also heard 6 more days I forget how many days ago. I guess I will pop in some afternoon and find everything abandoned.

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Rehearsal Report #8

I was hoping to have something a bit more indepth for the final night but I am already thinking about the next gig which is why I don't write many reviews even though I am going out constantly. Or maybe I am not motivated enough to write about paying $5 to see the Itchy Pissholes with 6 other people for 67th time even though they are great every time.
 
It's going to be simple tonight but every good story has an epilogue, and one is forthcoming with other details, like Mick Jagger coming to the gate and signing for 5 us on Tuesday.
 
Mick's bodyguard did come out and hand the guy next to me a handful of Mick Jagger Grrrtar picks to pass out so I have another souvenir.
 
Before Mick arrived we can hear some of Emotional Rescue.
 
After Mick's arrival I heard the mystery song again though it's entirely possible it's something Keith is singing. No one is recognizing it.
 
setlist:
 
Sway (with MT)
Sway (with MT)
Can't You Hear Me Knocking
Emotional Rescue for like a LONG time, upwards of 30 mins
Rip This Joint with MT (real shambolic)
Rip This Joint with MT amazing now that they figured out who plays what
I Heard It Through The Grapevine with MT? the loosest the guitars have sounded.
You Got Me Rocking
She's So Cold
She's So Cold (again, from middle)
Live With Me with MT
Let It Bleed with MT
That's How Strong My Love Is
Little Queenie with MT
Love In Vain with MT
Midnight Rambler with MT
 
It's entirely possible Mick Taylor provided guitar work on additional songs.
 
The music ended early.
 
Mick Jagger rolled down the window and signed, he got totally mobbed, since I already had mine, I had stepped back. Heard breaking glass and the car pulled away. Someone else got him at the stoplight.
 
Loadout commenced even before I left the site at 7:55pm
 
What an amazing week, I am going to be out and about all day, most likely a show I bought tickets for several months ago. I will post the details of the meeting and a few other details that may have been eclipsed by the main priority of getting down the setlist.
 
Have a grrreat weekend everybody.

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Rehearsal Report - The Epilogue (Meeting Mick)

Mick Jagger came to the gate on Tuesday. I didn't post this because it was irrelevant to the original objective of reporting the songs. A hundred people showing up hoping for their moment too would be counterproductive. The more people chattering outside, the harder it is to hear.
 
Much like the Keith set at concerts, a sizeable portion of the crowd outside just faded leaving only four of us. Charlie's bodyguard comes up and says "Guys, we're bringing Mick out, no photos, be orderly and if he wants to sign, he'll sign" and suddenly he was just there like he materialized out of thin air.
 
I had a sign that said "More Mick Taylor Please" on one side but I didn't want him to feel that signing it might be an endorsement so even though that sign was made to show to him driving by, I flipped it over to my sincere yet ridiculous song requests I wrote to show Chuck Leavell. Too Much Blood & Grown Up Wrong. I handed him the sharpie and said Fat Chance huh? He said Grown Up Wrong, a few more words I totally didn't hear or understand, then moved down the line with my sharpie. James, an autograph collector with such a kind and joyful disposition that he get autographs from everybody, started telling him how much he loved the Lets Work video.
 
Mick handed me my sharpie back and split. The whole thing from the security briefing to his exit was less than 60 seconds. The looming spectre of Mick Taylor was hanging over the proceedings so intensely that one person thought the bodyguard said he was bringing Mick Taylor over.
 
Met a lot of really cool people, some interesting characters too. The middle aged man who saw us standing around and thought it was the AA meeting on the next block hung out a bit saying a few times, "wow, it's really the Stones." Also someone working in the area asked us if it was the Stones playing and before we could answer he said "Of course it is, that's You Got Me Rocking off Voodoo Lounge." He cruised by a few more times throughout the day.
 
A family of four got out of a car with a plastic storage container. A kid who couldn't have been more than ten asked if anybody famous was there. I thought the container held stacks of stuff to get autographed and perhaps they were regulars here too. Someone said "Rolling Stones." Blank stare, kept walking.
 
A lot of people would just come hang out for a bit, or just one day or bits and pieces of various days and take off, some visiting more than others. I was the only one there every day. I never thought it would be possible for me to go every day but once it seemed like making the Dustbowl Revival show last Thursday would be too difficult, the grip real life had on me was loosened and the Stones took over. No way I would have done this if it happened in Hollywood or beyond but I live here so that made it really convenient and compulsory.
 
A lot of people were curious and waiting for autographs and those seemed to outnumber the people who wanted to know what was going on behind those walls. Found myself repeating a lot of info over and over again, everything from what was played to where do I think is the club gig going to be and especially is Mick Taylor here yet
 
I was actually threatened by an autograph collector last Friday over something he read on a fan board. Then he said we aren't Ebayers, we are real fans. Like I care what people do with the autographs once they get them. I don't think it was anything I wrote but it doesn't matter as he wasn't intimidating in the least. Did take down his license plate just in case. Another autograph collector brought everybody pizza and bread sticks the two days he was there.
 
I wish I had some sort of device for the mystery track but unless I was the only one there, trying to seriously record would have been an exercise in frustration and futility. Not to mention I wouldn't want any prohibited devices on me should we be invited in.
 
Anyway the rehearsals were an amazing once in a lifetime experience. Oddly enough, it was painful, tedious and boring when I was actually there as there was more downtime than music but typing it out after the fact and thinking, wow, I was really there was what made it really exciting.