The Rolling Stones played East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Thursday night (May 23rd), the first of two concerts at MetLife Stadium. The legendary band rocked a two-hour show filled with their iconic hits.
Following a massive thunderstorm earlier in the day, the skies cleared in plenty of time for opening act Jon Batiste to take the stage. The former Late Show with Stephen Colbert bandleader and multitalented musician entertained the crowd with original songs like “Freedom” and “I Need You,” as well as stirring renditions of classics tunes like “When the Saints Go Marching In” and Ray Charles’ “Hallelujah I Love Her So.”
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At 9:25 p.m., the Rolling Stones took the stage, appropriately kicking things off with “Start Me Up,” followed by “Get Off of My Cloud.” Mick Jagger and company then treated the New York metropolitan area fans with the tour debut of the Big Apple-centric “Shattered.”
“Angry” was the first of three songs played from the Stones’ new album Hackney Diamonds, with “Mess It Up” and “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” also making the 19-song setlist. Meanwhile, the fan-voted song of the night was “Wild Horses.”
Guitarist Keith Richards got his moment in the spotlight when he sang lead vocals on “You Got the Silver” and “Little T&A.” The rest of the set was comprised of nothing but classics, including “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Paint It Black,” and the show-closing “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”
Overall, Jagger and Richards both looked spry at 80 years old each, and the band sounded in fine form.
The Stones will play a second night at MetLife stadium on Sunday (May 26th) and continue their North American tour through a July 17th show in Santa Clara, California. Pick up tickets via Ticketmaster or StubHub.
Consequence photographer Kevin RC Wilson captured the MetLife show. See his photos of The Rolling Stones and Jon Batiste in the gallery below.
Photo Gallery – The Rolling Stones and Jon Batists at MetLife Stadium (click to expand and scroll through):
Setlist:
Start Me Up
Get Off of My Cloud
Shattered (tour debut)
Angry
It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (but I Like It)
Wild Horses (fan-voted song)
Mess It Up
Tumbling Dice
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
You Got the Silver (Keith Richards on lead vocals)
Little T&A (Keith Richards on lead vocals)
Sympathy for the Devil
Honky Tonk Women
Miss You
Gimme Shelter
Paint It Black
Jumpin’ Jack Flash
Encore:
Sweet Sounds of Heaven
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction