Slight threadjack, as this one started with remarks about the Super Bowl and my note here has to do with the live show I saw on March 9, 2006 in Little Rock. It still seems to fit. This is a note I posted on a couple of other boards, so some have seen this:
The show was good, but a bit too loud (and no, I'm not too old); the sound was not as crisp as I thought it should be, and I think it was the volume that muddled it. Maybe it's the arena--or their equipment in an arena instead of a stadium (you'd think they'd know that by now, though). The big screen behind the band was much appreciated, as I was too far away to really see their faces otherwise. The stage had a trick to it, as I'll discuss in the section below).
I saw the Stones on the Steel Wheels tour, when they were in their mid-40's, and Voodoo Lounge 5 or 6 years later; the band now in their 60's (well, Woody may be short of that) didn't seem to have lost a thing. The only concession to age may be a 20 song set list; I think the other two were a bit longer. On the other hand, it was the middle of the week, a workday or school day for most of the fans, so maybe that was behind the slightly shorter set. It lasted right at 2 hours, maybe 2:10 at the most (I didn't look to see exactly when they hit the stage).
Here's the set list (I did it from memory, but it's a correct list of the songs; the order may be off slightly, but I don't think so), and my comments on each:
1. Jumpin' Jack Flash (good opening track, tightly performed)
2. Let's Spend The Night Together (good)
3. It's Only Rock And Roll (pretty fiery performance)
4. She Saw Me Coming (obligatory new song, brought the pace down)
5. Dead Flowers (well done, but not one of my favorite songs--I'd have preferred "Wild Horses")
6. Back Of My Hand (another new song, with Jagger on a slide guitar, playing the same riff over and over, I think)
7. Tumblin' Dice (coming off the previous three, it picked up the pace again)
8 Midnight Rambler (a smoking version)
9. The Night Time Is The Right Time (great cover song, with Ray Charles' picture on the big screen as it started. The back-up chick singer did a whale of a job on this)
10. This Place Is Empty (Keith takes center stage, and things slow down again)
11. Happy (Keith again, and without Mick doing backup vocals, it wasn't as good as it could have been)
12. Miss You (they jammed on it a bit, but the highlight here was that the center stage extended the band into the middle of the arena for this song and the next three)
13. Get Off My Cloud (the arrangement was odd, I didn't even recognize it at first.)
14. Rough Justice (the best of the four new songs, it rocks well)
15. Honky Tonk Women (not bad at all)
16. Sympathy For The Devil (they jammed on this a bit; I recall Keith's amazing solo in Dallas in 1989, and this one was only great, not amazing)
17. Start Me Up (odd place in the lineup for this, it was much like the Super Bowl performance. This was the only song after 1980, other than the four new tracks)
18. Brown Sugar (the end of the first set, they again jammed on it)
19. You Can't Always Get What You Want (1st song of the encore, Mick got the audience to sing along)
20. Satisfaction (I've seen it live three times and this one was the best--great guitar interplay as they just kept going an extra minute or two).
Songs missing that I wanted to hear: "Gimme Shelter" (especially after hearing that woman singing on "Night Time), the aforementioned "Wild Horses," "Mixed Emotions" and "Paint It Black." Best surprise was the cover song.
All in all, it was better than sitting at the room at the hotel--by a long shot!
JcS