Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (March 3, 2024)
During the band’s 2002-03 “Licks” tour intended to celebrate their 40th anniversary, the Rolling Stones mainly played the usual arenas and stadiums. However, in a handful of cities, they performed in both of those sorts of venues as well as much smaller facilities.
This meant audiences on places like New York or Philadelphia could see the Stones on three evenings with three different setlists. For a look at one of the special “small venue” concerts from 2002, we go the Live at the Wiltern.
Shot in Los Angeles on November 4, 2002, the only songs newer than 1981 came from Keith Richards’ two lead vocals. Keith warbled “You Don’t Have to Mean It” from 1997’s Bridges to Babylon and “Thru and Thru” from 1994’s Voodoo Lounge.
Otherwise, the newest songs became “Neighbours” and “Start Me Up” from 1981’s Tattoo You. 1980’s Emotional Rescue delivered “Dance (Pt. 1)” and 1978’s Some Girls brought “Beast of Burden”.
From there, 1976’s Black and Blue contributed “Hand of Fate” and 1972’s Exile on Main Street offered “Tumbling Dice”. 1971’s Sticky Fingers boasted “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”, “Bitch” and “Brown Sugar”.
Going into the 1960s, 1969 included “Live With Me” from Let It Bleed and the non-album single “Honky Tonk Women”. 1968’s Beggars Banquet contributed “No Expectations” and “Stray Cat Blues”, and they also did that year’s non-album single “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”.
For the set’s remaining four songs, the Stones performed covers, two of which they recorded in the studio as well. They taped Solomon Burke’s July 1964 single “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” almost immediately, as it appeared on their second UK album in January 1965.
The Stones pounced on Otis Redding’s “That’s How Strong My Love Is” quickly as well. That version hit in spring 1965 and the Stones included it on summer 1965’s Out of Our Heads. (Note that OV Wright recorded the song first in 1964, but since Mick refers to it as a Redding track at this concert, we’ll assume that’s the version the Stones covered.)
Though the Stones never did a studio cut of the Miracles’ 1965 single “Going to a Go-go”, they played it at concerts in 1981-82. It made the 1982 live album Still Life.
Finally, “Rock Me Baby” gives us a blues standard popularized by BB King, though the Stones may have been mainly influenced by Muddy Waters’ take on the song. Like “Go-go”, it never received attention from the Stones as a studio recording, but it did appear on the 2004 Live Licks album that covered this 2002-03 tour.
Due to a numerical coincidence, I saw the Rolling Stones for the 30th time on the 30th of September 2002. Like Wiltern, this concert took place at Roseland Ballroom in New York, another fairly small venue.
The Stones put on unquestionably the best performance I’ve ever seen from them in a concert-going career now up to more than 60 Stones concerts and counting.
Not only did the Stones play a setlist packed with rarities and only a few of the old “standbys” like “Brown Sugar” and “Start Me Up”, but also the band performed with an energy and intensity that seemed remarkable. Without a huge stage to fill, they didn’t fall back on the standard stadium posturing, and the focus remained on the music.
The band kicked into the tunes with a serious level of passion and aggression that made the night something genuinely remarkable and special. I didn’t think the Stones could surprise me after all those shows, but the Roseland concert thoroughly knocked me for a loop.
Based on Wiltern, I get the impression that this level of energy and ferocity became the standard for the Stones’ handful of 2002 small venue concerts. The show gives us a band more invested than usual and that results in a pretty terrific concert.
In particular, Mick Jagger seems on fire. Always an active frontman, of course, he simply appears more engaged with the songs and the audience than usual.
This extends to the whole band as well. As much as I’ve enjoyed all my Stones concerts, I can’t claim they don’t go on cruise control at times, but that never becomes a factor here.
This doesn’t even become an issue when they crank into the handful of “warhorse” songs. If forced to pick a disappointing aspect of Wiltern - and my Roseland show, for that matter – it stems from the inclusion of too many songs that acted as staples of Stones’ tours over the decades.
Obviously the Stones knew these small venue concerts would act as something special, so why bother with the played-to-death songs at all? They knew the crowd would be with them no matter what – and a good percentage of attendees wanted rarities.
No, I didn’t expect the Stones to play nothing but songs unique to the small venues, though a few did occur. “Dance Pt. 1” made its live debut in 2002 and never got played again outside of seven 2002-03 theater concerts.
As far as I know, only one other song made a complete “live debut”: “She Smiled Sweetly” from 1967’s Between the Buttons. The Stones did that one at Roseland and never again.
While those two acted as the only “never played live” songs, others delivered rarities. From Wiltern, the Stones hadn’t done “Neighbours” since 1982, “Fate” since 1977 and “Stray” since 1976. “Knocking” debuted on the 2002-03 tour, but it was a staple and not special for the small shows.
Does it sound like nitpicking for me to whine that the Stones didn’t play 20 ultra-rarities? Yes, and a lot of this comes from the hindsight of 21-plus years and 30-plus more Stones concerts since I went to Roseland in 2002.
Face it: I’m not the typical Stones concertgoer. Obviously my 60-plus shows doesn’t make me unique, but it also means I don’t have a lot of company among fans who’ve also been to that many concerts.
Which is why the Stones beat those warhorses to death: they’re the songs people who only see the band one or two times want. But obviously those of us with more shows under our belts crave the obscurities.
And though I might gripe more than 21 years later, I left Roseland pretty happy. The same feeling comes from a viewing of Wiltern, as it helps me recapture the vibe on the Roseland show.
I’d be hard-pressed to find a particular highlight, as the Stones sound good all night. The Stones being the Stones, flubs occur, but honestly, I wouldn’t want an airtight, flawless Stones concert.
That’s not the Stones. They’ve always been rough and raw, so a Stones show played note-perfect all night would feel airless and sterile.
No one can say that about the vibrant and visceral show on display here. The Stones show energy and verve that makes the concert a total delight.
It also justifies my memories of just how strong Roseland was. Sometimes a concert seems amazing at the time but when you watch/listen to a recording, some issues become apparent.
That doesn’t occur here. Wiltern shows all the strengths of my Roseland memories and does nothing to contradict those feelings.
Note to anyone at the label: this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t produce an official Roseland release! Fans demand it – well, this one does, at least.
As great as the Stones’ performance is, the visual presentation on this Blu-ray seems more pedestrian. The concert comes with a pretty no-frills vibe that seems neither here nor there, as it were.
Not that I’ll complain, as too many concert videos get destroyed with crazy-fast cutting or various gimmicks. While the direction of Wiltern seems fairly uninspired, at least it allows us to usually focus on the band and not “creative” interpretation of the show.
Wiltern offers a terrific performance from the Stones and replicates it in a more than adequate manner. If forced to complain, I’d gripe that this gem sat in the vault for more than 21 years and should’ve seen release much sooner.
