Even now, with the band members in their 80s, The Rolling Stones remain a must-see live band. Worldwide, fans clamber at the chance to see the iconic troupe perform their rip-roaring tour of their greatest hits on stadium stages. Anyone who’s managed to bag a ticket will attest to the fact that they still give it their all for an electric show, proving that gigs are what they do best. That’s precisely why Keith Richards believes one of their songs sounds better on stage than it ever has in the studio.
It could be argued that this point is a testament to a great band. What is a rock group for if not to put on incredible live shows? Fans are hungry for that moment when a certain riff comes to live, or the drums kick in, or the singer they’ve adored on record is suddenly there and sounding as good as ever. Perhaps songs sounding better live is actually the ultimate complement to a group or a concern that everyone should be striving towards.
Richards seems to believe that’s true. As a guitarist, he’s been gigging around the world since his teenage years, so he’s a more than seasoned pro for live shows. But the thing he’s realised he loves most about it is the way that the energy of a performance changes songs. He seems to see the two things in conversation. But in the case of one track, it was more like a competition.
“I believe things like ‘Midnight Rambler’ come through better live because we’ve extended it more,” he said. In his mind, a bluesy track like their 1969 song needs space to jam and have fun with the instrumentals. It has too much energy to be confined to a neat package, which is why he prefers it live.
“Sometimes when you record something, you go off half-cocked because maybe you haven’t ever played it live. You’ve just written it and you record it,” he explained. “From then on you take it and keep on playing it and it gets different,” he continued, describing how a song evolved over time, year by year, show by show.
The Stones have now played ‘Midnight Rambler’ over 730 times. It’s one of the final songs to feature Brian Jones, credited only for bongos. But it got its first public outing and live debut at the group’s Hyde Park show in 1969, held in memory and celebration of their originator after his passing.
Since then, the track has remained a firm favourite in their live set. Even as they interchange hits on their setlists each night, this big blues number regularly gets added in as Richards continues to evolve the song live on stage, sometimes winding it out into a longer, extended jam session for the whole band to play on, perhaps allowing him to play it as it was always intended.
