(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Sun 14 September 2025 1:00, UK
It’s bloody hard to imagine The Rolling Stones ever struggling to bring any song to life when those old frames step on stage. They have always had an aura of authenticity about them that makes even their mishaps seem charming. And yet, Keith Richards once said there was one song they couldn’t make work.
One of the most obvious things people observe about the Stones’ gigs is their high energy. It’s always been their thing, but even in the early days, it came with a kind of audacity that was different to bands like The Beatles. It was a sort of freeing experience that felt like it went elsewhere, beyond the laws of live performances and somewhere truly visceral. It reinvented the meaning of live sets, where it was as much about the audience as it was the performance.
But another part was that, even at the peak of explosive energy, they always seemed to tell some kind of story. Maybe not explicitly, or maybe it was more generally the Stones’ story through the years, the ages. But it was there – something you couldn’t really put your finger on, just the way that the songs bled into one another felt important. Like you were witnessing history unfold, and each sound of each track made sense side by side.
Unbeknownst to most audience members, this was actually a meticulous affair. It still is. For most bands and acts, curating the perfect list is a delicate art. An exact science, to some. Something that must be done with so much thought and consideration that it all ties together nicely and makes complete sense. There are the obvious formats, like big, show-stoppers as the opener and hits in the encore. But generally, each song must have a place for a specific reason.
For the Stones, it’s no surprise that a lot of this hinges on energy. But it also comes from a place of sonic intelligence, of knowing exactly how songs feel when they’re placed among others. For the Stones, it’s about a merging of worlds, somewhere where it all feels easy and yet subtly nostalgic. Especially now, when the Stones have come to mean so much to so many people.
So what about the staples? Well, it’s probably a given that at any Stones show you’ll be blessed with the classics: ‘Brown Sugar’, ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’, ‘Sympathy for the Devil’, ‘Gimme Shelter’, ‘Paint It Black’, to name a few. There’s also ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’, their most played track that’ll come up at almost every single show. Mick Jagger is usually the master creator of setlists for the band, knowing exactly what will get the biggest reactions from the audience.
But there are some castaways, too. Not in the sense that they’re not popular, because they are. But there are ones that people adore that have yet to really experience their big bang of a live experience. One of which is Exile on Main St.’s dark horse ‘Sweet Black Angel’. Inspired by activist Angela Davis, the song still holds up today. And yet, according to Richards, they just can’t get it to work in a live setting.
“Mick and I made the record and said, ‘That’s very nice,’” Richards told Harper’s Bazaar. “But it never seemed to really fit into a Stones show.”
He went on, “We played it live only once, and it stuck out like a sore thumb. But anything can happen with the Stones. I’ll throw it in during rehearsal and see what happens. It’s still quite relevant, isn’t it? And that’s unfortunate. This stuff has stayed with us for too long.”
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