Associated Press – Musician Bruce Springsteen, center left, performs with, from left, Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012.
Sunday December 16, 2012
You could say Bruce Springsteen, guest-starring at Saturday’s Rolling Stones show in Newark, returned good for ill.
One of a battalion of “surprise” visitors that kicked the Stones’ second Prudential Center show into high gear, Springsteen came on late in the evening and proceeded to turn “Tumbling Dice” into what amounted to a Jersey shore anthem. “You got to ro-ho-ho-ho-holl me” he sang, in his best Asbury rasp.
All this after Mick Jagger, earlier in the night, had the cheek to crack Jersey jokes. “Anybody here from New Jersey?” he asked the boisterous crowd, being filmed for a pay-per-view special. “The Garden State! I like an ironic [license] plate.”
He was easily forgiven – especially after he turned the last of three metro-area shows into a rollicking all-star jamboree. In addition to the previously-announced “surprise” guests – Springsteen, Lady Gaga, The Black Keys – there were surprise “surprise” guests. John Mayer, who had appeared Thursday with the Stones, made an unexpected reappearance Saturday, along with guitar ace Gary Clark Jr., who played with The Stones in Brooklyn last week. The two of them, trading solos with Ron Wood and Keith Richards, turned “I’m Going Down” into a spectacular four-way guitar-off.
Lady Gaga didn’t emerge from a chrysalis on this occasion, but she did reveal – who knew? — a formidable blues voice as she wailed “Gimme Shelter” with Mick. Of course, she was still Gaga – complete with skin-tight outfit and outrageous platform shoes.
The Black Keys jammed with the Stones on the old Bo Diddley classic, “Who Do You Love?” It was one of several additions to a set list that mostly adhered to previous ones at Prudential and Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Another welcome addition was “Dead Flowers” – the winner of an “audience request” lottery.
Two things the Stones didn’t do, on an otherwise memorable night: they didn’t bring their guests back onstage for an all-star finale, and they didn’t make any earth-shaking announcement about their future plans. Some have been suggesting that this golden anniversary “50 and Counting. . .” tour could be their endgame. For now, it’s wait and see. “This is the last show of the anniversary tour, and it’s been fun,” Jagger said. “We hope to see you again soon.”
Rolling Stones Set List – Prudential Center:
1. “Get off of My Cloud”
2. “The Last Time”
3. “It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)”
4. “Paint It Black”
5. “Gimme Shelter”
6. “Wild Horses”
7. “I’m Going Down”
8. “Dead Flowers”
9. “Who Do You Love?”
10. “Doom and Gloom”
11. “One More Shot”
12. “Miss You”
13. “Honky Tonk Women”
14. “Before They Make Me Run”
15. “Happy”
16. “Midnight Rambler”
17. “Start Me Up”
18. “Tumbling Dice”
19. “Brown Sugar”
20. “Sympathy for the Devil”
21. “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
22. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
23. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
Jim Beckerman – AP Staff
UNRULY HEARTS 