1975 Tour of the Americas

The most grandiose undertaking the Stones had mounted so far was intended to hit an unprecedented number of cities throughout north and south america (five nights in a row in both New York and L.A., though the south american leg was cancelled) is also generally regarded as the sloppiest. This is probably due to a combination of factors including the assimilation of Ron Wood (a far less virtuoso guitarist than Mick Taylor, who left the band six months earlier), Richards being at the peak of his heroin addiction and insane lifestyle, the fact that they were supporting their two last...and least acclaimed to date...studio albums, and the general reality that Jagger had so exhausted all creativity in terms of how to reinvent his self presentation visually...in the face of now enormous preconceived ideas and expectations...that any pretenses of mystique, new dance moves, or outlandish attire he adopted was doomed to be characterized as self parody.

That having been said, the 1975 set list drilled down deep into their archive and presented a spectacular cross section of their later back catalogue: only two of the +/- 25 tunes in the set list were non-originals ('Ain't Too Proud to Beg', Y'ou Got to Move'), only one predated Beggars Banquet ('Get Off of My Cloud' which, regardless, was completely revamped into a more modern funk style), and the epic mini-operas like 'Midnight Rambler' and 'Sympathy for the Devil' were extended, embellished and joined by a new sibling ('Fingerprint File').

A huge cadre of extra musicians (and army of kettle drummers, Billy Preston, Ollie Brown, Ron Wood, guest appearances by Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana etc.), a massive, high tech mechanical lotus stage with integral neon lighting, special effects like a confetti vomiting dragon, a trapeze that flew Jagger out over the audience, and...of course...the giant inflatable phallus (that they affectionately nicknamed "old grandpa" because it's inadequate air compressor rendered it dysfunctional in failing to bring it to full 'erection').

With so many songs, cities and musicians you'd expect more rarities than there was: 'Rocks Off' was played once at the opening show, 'Dance Little Sister' twice, and 'Sure the One You Need' (Keith's lead vocal contribution to Wood's first solo album) once. 'Luxury' was played frequently. Special note must be given to the first live performances of 'Wild Horses', rendered hauntingly in both instrumentation and vocal (it was supposedly played at the first 1971 British Tour gig but there is no proof of this).