Image Sources: Koimoi, The Guardian

The famous rock band Rolling Stones dedicated their first live show of 2021 to their drummer Charlie Watts, who died in August at 80. 

Image Source: Live Music blog

Mick Jagger was all emotional and teary when the rock band gave an emotional tribute to their long-time friend and drummer Charlie Watts. The rockers performed at a warm-up show on Monday night, which took place in Massachusetts Gillette Stadium. 

The show was an intimate affair held for the billionaire Robert Kraft, with about 300 people present at the event. The show was a warm-up for the 13-date No Filter tour of the band which will be held around the US. 

Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards joined Mick Jagger on the stage and reminded the crowd that they were “missing Charlie so much”. It’s the first time the band was seen without the drummer. In a video of the show that was released on social media by the singer where he can be seen telling the audience how “poignant night” it was for the rest of the bandmates. 

He went ahead and said that this was their first tour in the last 59 years without the lovely Charlie Watts. Charlie Watts joined the band in 1963, and since then, he was one among the three members who appeared on each of their albums. 

Mick continued by saying how they all miss Charlie “so much” as a friend and as a part of the band, and both “on and off the stage”. He added about the number of memories they have of Charlie and how the fans who have seen them perform together have memories of Charlie. 

And he hopes that everyone will remember Charlie like the band do. Ronnie wood dedicated the night to Watts by announcing that they were praying for him and playing for him. 

Image Source:  UCR classic rock and culture

A lot of other star musicians have praised Watts and we’re saddened by the news of his demise. Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said, in a band, the spotlight would especially fall on Mick and Keith, not many people understood how valuable Watts was to the band.

Ben Thatcher of Royal Blood says, “he influenced every rock’n’roll drummer”. He adds that none of the rock’n’roll drummers would be doing what they are doing if it was not for Charlie, Watts brought the shuffle and the swing to the rock music making it the rock’n’roll.

The band played a 14-song setlist at their warmup show, the list featured hits like “Let’s spend the night together”, which was the opening song for the show, the 1966 classic “19th Nervous Breakdown” and “Sympathy for the Devil”. The band did not include their most played songs like Brown Sugar” or “Honky Tonk Women” which are always on the playlist of their shows. 

Making its live debut was the song Living in a ghost town, which was released last year during the lockdown due to the ongoing pandemic. The band also gave a live debut to the song ‘Troubles a-Comin’ which will be released on the 40th anniversary of the 1981 released album Tattoo your sessions.

The Rolling Stones had Steve Jordan who joined them on the drums, he has a history of working with the band since the 1980s. Jordan was announced as a stand-in for Watts for the US tour. Watts was supposed to join the band on the tour as he recovered from the medical procedure, but with his sad demise, Steve had to step in.